the limits of the city, but none that might have served for that struggle in the legendary past ; and it may be for this reason that the allusion to the maidan has been thought to refer to the general plain that surrounds Sabzavar.[1] By way of comment on this legend, it may be worth while to add that Firdausi's ver- sion of the combat places the lair of the White Div in a moun- tain cavern (ghār) from which he is summoned forth by Rustam to the fray.[2] The townsfolk of Sabzavar, with whom I spoke on the subject, had some idea of the story of the Div-i Safid from the Shāh Nāmah, but seemed to have no special information to give. At all events, the tradition, with its claims, tends to show how great is the antiquity that is ascribed to the city.
A more moderate legend, though bold enough, is content to allow that the town came into existence at a later date through Sasan, who was, according to Firdausi and others, the son of the Bahman above mentioned, and who was, at any rate, the reputed ancestor of the House of Sasan, or Sasanian dynasty.[3] In other words, this legend would concede that Sabzavar was in existence at the beginning of the Sasanian era, or as early as
- ↑ The idea that the reference is to the plain is given by Ritter, Erdkunde, 8. 331, who refers to an article by von Hammer, Über die Geographic Persiens, in Wien. Jahrbuch, 7. 295, Vienna, 1819; so also Spiegel, Erānische Alterthumskunde, 1. 67, Leipzig, 1871.
- ↑ Firdausi, Shāh Nāah ed. Vullers-Landauer, 1. 352, tr, Mohl, 1. 424, and tr. Warner, 2. 59-62. The mountains are there called Haft Kuh, 'Seven Mountains,' but are difficult to locate because of the generality of the name.
- ↑ See Fraser, p. 380; and, for the descendants of Sasan, see Justi, Grundr. iran. Philol. 2. 514, and the same scholar's Iranisches Namenbuch, pp. 419-422, Marburg, 1896.
According to Ahmad, 'on montrait encore au milieu de la ville I'endroit ou eut lieu le combat de Roustam et de Sohrab; il portait le nom de Meïdān du Div blanc.' This implies also that the fateful combat of the hero with his own son Sohrab likewise took place on this spot. For the date of Ahmad Razi, see Browne, Literary History of Persia, 2. 218. References to Firdausi's version of the story of the White Div will be found in a note below. It maybe barely possible that the basis of the White Demon myth was a victory by Iran in the primitive ages over pioneer members of the white race that had invaded Persia from the north, but were driven back by Rustam's prowess.
