Zarir: The Martyr-Hero of the Holy War
- Dala Sarkis
- 6 days ago
- 12 min read
Introduction
Zarir is one of the great martyr-heroes of the ancient Iranian tradition, the gallant brother of King Goshtasp and the commander of Iran's army in the holy war fought for the new faith of the prophet Zoroaster. He is remembered as a champion who gave his life in defence of his religion, falling in battle against the enemies of the faith, and his death and its avenging form one of the most stirring episodes of the epic tradition.
What makes Zarir especially remarkable is that his story is preserved not only in the Shahnameh but in a far older and separate work, the Memorial of Zarer, one of the oldest surviving heroic poems of the Iranian world, composed in the Middle Persian tongue and rooted in a still earlier tradition. Zarir is thus a hero of unusual antiquity, his fame reaching back to some of the earliest Iranian epic poetry, and honoured even in the sacred Avesta as one of the first followers of the prophet.
Belonging to the shared epic and religious heritage of the Iranian peoples, a tradition the Kurds hold in common with the Persians and others of the Iranic world, Zarir is a figure of deep antiquity and high devotion. To know him is to know the heroic ideal of the warrior who dies for his faith, and to glimpse the most ancient layers of the Iranian epic tradition, in which the martyrdom of Zarir was sung long before it was woven into the great Book of Kings. His is one of the oldest and most honoured of the heroic tales of the Iranian world.
Contents
Who Was Zarir?
Zarir, known in the older tradition as Zarer and in the Avestan form as Zairivairi, is a hero of the ancient Iranian epic, the brother of King Goshtasp and a son of Lohrasp. He is celebrated as the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army in the great holy war waged against the Turanian king Arjasp over the new faith of Zoroaster, and as a martyr who fell heroically in that war, slain by an enemy sorcerer. His death was avenged by his young son, and his story is told both in the Shahnameh and in the ancient Memorial of Zarer, making him one of the oldest and most honoured heroes of the Iranian tradition.
Brother of Goshtasp
Zarir was the brother of Goshtasp, the king who embraced the prophet Zoroaster and made his faith the religion of Iran, and like his brother he was a son of the devout king Lohrasp. He belonged thus to the royal house at the very moment of its great religious transformation, and he was among the first and most ardent to embrace the new faith. So honoured was his devotion that in the sacred Avesta itself his spirit is praised among those of the first followers of the prophet, the earliest believers of the house of Goshtasp.
As a prince of the royal house and a champion of great prowess, Zarir stood at his brother's side as one of the foremost warriors and counsellors of the realm. When the new faith brought war upon Iran, it was to Zarir that the command of the army fell, a mark of his standing as the leading warrior of the kingdom and the most trusted defender of the throne and the faith. He was, in the tradition, a model of the devout warrior-prince, joining royal blood, martial valour, and ardent faith in a single heroic figure, and it was this union of qualities that would make his death so resonant a martyrdom.
Key Takeaways
Zarir was the brother of King Goshtasp and son of Lohrasp.
He was honoured in the Avesta as one of the first followers of Zoroaster.
He was commander-in-chief of Iran's army in the holy war against Arjasp.
He was martyred in battle, slain by the enemy sorcerer Bidarafsh.
His death was avenged by his young son Bastwar.
His story is told in the ancient Memorial of Zarer and the Shahnameh.
Quick Facts
Name: Zarir (older Zarer; Avestan Zairivairi)
Sources: The Memorial of Zarer, the Shahnameh, the Avesta
Father: Lohrasp, the devout king
Brother: Goshtasp, the royal patron of Zoroaster
Faith: Among the first followers of the prophet
Role: Commander-in-chief of the Iranian army
Enemy: Arjasp, the Turanian king
Slain by: Bidarafsh, the enemy sorcerer
Avenged by: His young son Bastwar
Remembered as: A martyr-hero of the faith
The Memorial of Zarer
One of the most remarkable things about Zarir is the antiquity of his fame. His story is preserved in a work known as the Memorial of Zarer, a heroic poem composed in the Middle Persian tongue, which in its surviving form is among the very oldest examples of Iranian epic poetry to come down to us. Rooted in a still older tradition, likely an earlier minstrel lay, the Memorial of Zarer is a compact and stirring tale devoted entirely to the holy war and the martyrdom of its hero, and it preserves a layer of the Iranian epic far more ancient than the great work of Ferdowsi.
This older poem tells the heart of Zarir's story: the demand of the enemy king Arjasp that Iran abandon the new faith, the wise counsellor Jamasp's prophecy of the deaths to come, the great battle, the heroic fall of Zarir, and the vengeance taken by his young son. When centuries later the tradition was gathered into the Shahnameh, this ancient material was woven in, in the tradition by way of the poet Daqiqi, whose verses on the coming of the faith were incorporated into the great epic. The Shahnameh tells the tale at greater length, with longer speeches and combats, while the older Memorial records it as the swift and stirring event of a single day. Through both works, the martyrdom of Zarir passed down the centuries, one of the most enduring of the heroic tales of the Iranian world.
Commander in the Holy War
The great event of Zarir's life was the holy war fought over the new faith. When his brother Goshtasp embraced the religion of Zoroaster and the worship of Ahura Mazda, the Turanian king Arjasp sent envoys with a threatening demand: that Iran abandon the pure faith of the Mazda-worshippers and return to the old ways, or face a brutal war. It was Zarir, as the leading warrior of the realm, who in the tradition penned the proud reply rejecting the demand, and when Arjasp duly invaded, it was Zarir who took command of the Iranian host.
Before the battle, the wise counsellor Jamasp, renowned for his power to foretell the future, made a grievous prophecy: that Iran would win the war, but that many of the king's kin would fall in it, and Zarir foremost among them. Knowing this, the Iranians nonetheless joined battle in defence of their faith, and Zarir led them into the field. The war thus took on the character of a holy struggle, a war for the religion of the prophet against the enemies who would destroy it, and Zarir stood at its head as the commander and champion of the faith, going knowingly toward the death that had been foretold. In this he embodied the ideal of the devout warrior who places his faith above his life.
The Martyrdom of Zarir
In the great battle, Zarir fought heroically at the head of the Iranian army, cutting down many of the enemy and bearing the brunt of the struggle as their commander. But the prophecy was fulfilled: Zarir was slain, and in the tradition his death came not in fair combat but by treachery, at the hand of Bidarafsh, a sorcerer of Arjasp's court, whose epithet marks him as a worker of wicked magic. The foul slaying of so noble and devout a hero by a sorcerer gave Zarir's death the character of a martyrdom, the fall of a champion of the faith at the hands of its evil enemies.
The martyrdom of Zarir is the emotional heart of his story and of the ancient poem that bears his name. His death was a grievous blow to Iran and to the house of the king, the loss of its foremost warrior and one of the first and most ardent followers of the prophet. Yet in the logic of the tradition, his death was not a defeat but a martyrdom, a laying down of his life in the holy war for the faith, and it called forth in turn an act of vengeance that would become as famous as the death itself. The fall of Zarir, the devout commander slain by the enemy's sorcery in defence of his religion, stands as one of the great images of heroic and faithful sacrifice in the Iranian tradition.
The Vengeance of Bastwar
The avenging of Zarir is among the most moving episodes of the ancient tale. Zarir left a young son, named Bastwar in the older tradition, a boy still in his childhood. When word came of his father's death, the young Bastwar went out to the battlefield and found his father's body, and there, in the tradition, he uttered a moving lament over the fallen hero, one of the affecting passages of the old poem. Though his uncle the king Goshtasp had forbidden him to fight on account of his youth, the grieving boy defied the command and rode into the battle to avenge his father.
In a stirring reversal, the young Bastwar fought valiantly against the enemy, slew many of them, and at last struck down Bidarafsh, the sorcerer who had killed his father, shooting an arrow through his heart and so taking vengeance for Zarir's death. The war was then brought to its end by Zarir's nephew, the great hero Esfandiyar, the invulnerable champion and son of Goshtasp, who captured Arjasp and won the final victory for Iran and the faith. So the martyrdom of Zarir was avenged by his own son and crowned by his nephew's triumph, and the holy war ended in the victory that Jamasp had foretold, bought with the blood of the devout commander and the valour of the boy who avenged him.
Symbolism and Meaning
Zarir embodies the ideal of the martyr for the faith, the devout warrior who lays down his life in defence of his religion. As one of the first followers of Zoroaster and the commander who died in the holy war against the enemies of the faith, he is the type of the believer who holds his religion dearer than his life, going knowingly to a foretold death rather than abandon the worship of Ahura Mazda. In him the tradition honours the union of valour and devotion, the heroism that serves a sacred cause.
His story carries also the deep theme of sacrifice and vengeance, of a noble death foully dealt and righteously avenged. The martyrdom of the father and the vengeance of the young son form a single arc of grief and justice, in which the wrong of the hero's treacherous killing is set right by the valour of his child, and the faith for which he died is vindicated in victory. There is, too, in the great antiquity of Zarir's tale a special resonance: that this image of faithful sacrifice was sung in the oldest layers of the Iranian epic, long before it entered the great Book of Kings, speaks of how deeply the ideal of the martyr for the faith was woven into the Iranian heroic imagination. In Zarir, the tradition offers one of its most ancient and most moving portraits of devotion sealed in blood.
Zarir and the Kurds
Zarir belongs to the shared epic and religious heritage of the Iranian peoples, the tradition of the Shahnameh and of the ancient faith of Zoroaster that the Kurds hold in common with the Persians and other Iranic peoples. As an Iranic people deeply rooted in this cultural world, the Kurds are heirs to its great cycle of heroes and to the memory of the holy war for the faith, in which Zarir was the foremost martyr.
It is honest to say that Zarir, like the other heroes of this tradition, is part of the wider Iranic heritage rather than a specifically Kurdish figure; he is a champion of the shared legendary and religious past of the Iranian peoples as a whole. Yet the ideal embodied in his story, the devotion of the warrior who dies for his faith, and the deep antiquity of his fame in the oldest Iranian epic poetry, belong to the common heritage of all the Iranic peoples, including the Kurds, among whom the ancient faith and its memory long endured. In the figure of Zarir, the shared heritage offers one of its most ancient portraits of faithful sacrifice, a portrait that belongs to all the peoples who are heirs to the Iranian epic and religious tradition.
Debates and Misconceptions
Is Zarir's story older than the Shahnameh? Yes, and this is one of the most important things about him. While Zarir appears in the Shahnameh, his story is preserved independently in the Memorial of Zarer, a Middle Persian poem that in its surviving form is among the oldest examples of Iranian epic poetry, far older than Ferdowsi's work and rooted in a still earlier tradition. The Shahnameh's account of the holy war drew on this ancient material. Zarir is thus not merely a character of the later epic but a hero of the most ancient layers of the Iranian tradition, his fame reaching back to some of the earliest Iranian heroic poetry that survives.
Who killed the sorcerer Bidarafsh, Bastwar or Esfandiyar? The traditions differ on this point. In the ancient Memorial of Zarer, it is Zarir's young son Bastwar who avenges his father by slaying the sorcerer Bidarafsh. In some later renderings, the killing is attributed instead to the more famous Esfandiyar, Zarir's celebrated nephew. This is a natural divergence in a tradition told and retold over many centuries, in which deeds are sometimes transferred to the most renowned heroes. The older and likely original version credits the vengeance to Bastwar, the grieving son, which gives the tale its special pathos.
Is the story of Zarir history? Zarir belongs to legend, though his tale is set at the meeting point of legend and the religious memory of the early days of the Zoroastrian faith, which has deep historical roots. He is a hero of the legendary Kayanian age, and his story is to be appreciated as heroic and religious legend rather than as documented history, even as it reflects, in legendary form, the memory of the early struggles and martyrdoms of the faith. His tale is rich in devotional and heroic meaning, belonging to the realm of sacred legend and ancient epic rather than verified fact.
Related Topics
Goshtasp: the king and brother of Zarir, patron of the prophet
Lohrasp: the father of Zarir and Goshtasp
Esfandiyar: the nephew of Zarir who ended the holy war
Zoroaster: the prophet for whose faith Zarir was martyred
Ahura Mazda: the supreme God of the faith Zarir defended
The Faravahar: the emblem of the faith of the Mazda-worshippers
The sacred fire: the holy flame of the religion of Zoroaster
The Shahnameh: the epic in which Zarir's tale was gathered
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Zarir?
Zarir, known in the older tradition as Zarer, was a hero of the ancient Iranian epic, the brother of King Goshtasp and a son of Lohrasp. He was among the first followers of the prophet Zoroaster, honoured even in the sacred Avesta, and served as commander-in-chief of Iran's army in the holy war against the Turanian king Arjasp. He was martyred in that war, slain by an enemy sorcerer, and his death was avenged by his young son. His story is told in the ancient Memorial of Zarer and in the Shahnameh.
What is the Memorial of Zarer?
The Memorial of Zarer is a heroic poem composed in the Middle Persian tongue, which in its surviving form is among the very oldest examples of Iranian epic poetry. Rooted in a still older tradition, it is devoted entirely to the holy war and the martyrdom of its hero Zarir, telling of the enemy's demand that Iran abandon the faith, the prophecy of the deaths to come, the great battle, Zarir's heroic fall, and the vengeance of his son. Its material was later woven into the Shahnameh.
How did Zarir die?
Zarir died as a martyr in the holy war against Arjasp. Fighting heroically at the head of the Iranian army, he was slain not in fair combat but by treachery, at the hand of Bidarafsh, a sorcerer of the enemy king's court whose epithet marks him as a worker of wicked magic. The foul slaying of so noble and devout a hero gave his death the character of a martyrdom, a champion of the faith struck down by its evil enemies, just as the wise Jamasp had foretold.
How was Zarir avenged?
Zarir was avenged by his young son, named Bastwar in the older tradition, who was still a child. Finding his father's body on the battlefield, the boy uttered a moving lament, and though forbidden to fight because of his youth, he defied the command, rode into battle, and slew the sorcerer Bidarafsh with an arrow through the heart. The war was then brought to its end by Zarir's nephew, the great hero Esfandiyar, who captured Arjasp and won the final victory.
Why is Zarir important?
Zarir is important as one of the great martyr-heroes of the Iranian tradition, the devout commander who died defending the faith of Zoroaster. He is also important for the antiquity of his fame: his story is preserved in the Memorial of Zarer, among the oldest surviving Iranian heroic poems, and his spirit is honoured in the sacred Avesta as one of the first followers of the prophet. He embodies the ideal of the warrior who holds his faith dearer than his life.
Is the story of Zarir history?
Zarir belongs to legend, though his tale is set at the meeting point of legend and the religious memory of the early days of the Zoroastrian faith, which has deep historical roots. He is a hero of the legendary Kayanian age, and his story is best appreciated as heroic and religious legend rather than documented history, even as it reflects, in legendary form, the memory of the early struggles and martyrdoms of the faith. His tale is rich in devotional and heroic meaning.
References and Further Reading
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