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{{short description|Mythical king and hero of Turan}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Afrasiyab 
| series = 
| image = Afrasiyab (The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp).png
| caption = Painting of Afrasiab in the [[Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp|''Shahnameh'' of Shah Tahmasp]]
| creator = 
| based_on = 
| portrayer = 
| alias = 
| affiliation = 
| family = 
| nationality = [[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]]
}}

{{About|an Iranian mythical hero|the village in Iran|Afrasiab, Iran|the ancient site of northern Samarkand|Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|other uses|Afrasiyab (disambiguation){{!}}Afrasiyab}} 

In Iranian legend, '''Afrasiab''' ({{langx|fa|افراسياب}} ''afrāsiyāb'';  {{langx|pal-Latn|Frāsiyāv}}, {{lang|pal-Latn|Frāsiyāk}}), also known as '''Fraŋrasyan''', is the mythical king and hero of [[Turan]]. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic ''[[Shahnameh]]'', written by [[Ferdowsi]].

==Name and origin==
The oldest attested form of the name is the [[Avestan]] {{Lang|ae-Latn|Fraŋrasyan}}, which [[Émile Benveniste]] derived from *{{Lang|ae-Latn|fra-hrasya-}} 'to make disappear, to fell, to destroy'. This etymology is connected with a myth in which Afrasiab holds back rain. The Persian form of the name is derived from a version of the name which ends in {{Transliteration|fa|āb}} 'water' (*''Frahrasyāpa-'' > *''Frārasyāp'' > ''Frāsīāb'').{{sfn|Yarshater|1984}}

==In the Avesta==
The oldest mention of Afrasiab is found in the [[Avesta]], where he is called ''Fraŋrasyan''.{{sfn|Yarshater|1984}} Although the Avesta does not present his story in a single coherent narrative, it is alluded to numerous times in the so called ''Legendary [[Yashts]]''.{{sfn|Hintze|2014|loc="The mythical and legendary history of the Iranian people as related in the Yašts largely agrees with that of the Persian epic, especially Ferdowsī’s Šāh-nāma"}} In these hymns, he is already presented as the King of the [[Turya (Avesta)|''Turanians'']] and archenemy of the [[Arya (Iran)|''Iranians'']]. His common epithet ''mairya-'' (deceitful, villainous) can be interpreted as meaning ''an evil man''. He lived in a subterranean fortress made of metal, called ''Hanakana''.{{sfn|Nyberg|1938|loc=p. 257}}  

According to the [[Aban Yasht]], he sacrificed to [[Anahita]] to obtain the royal glory of the Kayanians. According to the [[Gosh Yasht]] and [[Zamyad Yasht]], however, Anahita instead granted [[Kay Khosrow|Kavi Haosravah]] his wish to slay him. This is achieved with the help of [[Haoma]], who overcomes and delivers him to Kavi Haosravah. He is slain near the ''Čīčhast'' (possibly either referring to [[Lake Hamun]] in [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province|Sistan]] or some unknown lake in today's Central Asia).{{sfn|Yarshater|1984|loc=pp. 440-442}} 

==In later sources==
According to Islamic sources, Afrasiab was a descendant of [[Tur (son of Fereydun)|Tūr]] (Avestan: ''Tūriya-''), one of the three sons of the Iranian mythical King [[Fereydun]] (the other two sons being [[Salm (son of Fereydun)|Salm]] and [[Īrāj|Iraj]]). In the ''[[Bundahishn]]'', he is named as the seventh grandson of Tūr. 

==In the Shahnameh==
[[File:Afrasiyab Executes Nauzar Wellcome L0068903.jpg|200px|thumbnail|Scene from the ''Shahnameh''. Afrasiab (standing figure) executes [[Nowzar|Nauzar]] (lying down)]]
According to the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' (''Book of Kings'') by the Persian epic poet [[Ferdowsi]], Afrasiab was the king and hero of [[Turan]] and an archenemy of Iran. He is the most prominent of all [[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]] kings in Iranian mythology. He is a great warrior, an able commander, and an agent of [[Ahriman]]. He possesses supernatural powers and is intent on destroying the Iranian lands.{{sfn|Yarshater|1984}} He is brother to [[Garsivaz]], and the son of [[Pashang]]. He was an enemy of [[Rostam]] and [[Kay Khosrow]], and was defeated by them. According to the ''Shahnameh'', he met his death in a cave known as the Hang-e Afrasiab, or the dying place of Afrasiab, on a mountaintop in [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]]. The fugitive Afrasiab, having been repeatedly defeated by the armies of his adversary, the mythical King of Iran [[Kai Khosrow|Kay Khosrow]] (who happened to be his own grandson, through his daughter [[Farangis]]), wandered wretchedly and fearfully around, and eventually took refuge in this cave and died.

== Hypotheses ==
[[Ernst Herzfeld|Ernst Hertzfeld]] believed that the name [[Parsondes]] is etymologically identical to the name Afrasiab.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kramers |first=Johannes Hendrik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qg4_AQAAIAAJ |title=Analecta Orientalia: Posthumous Writings and Selected Minor Works |date=1954 |publisher=E.J. Brill |pages=247 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Herzfeld |first=Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kB38twAACAAJ |title=Zoroaster and His World by Ernst Herzfeld |date=1947 |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=707–708 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dulęba |first=Władysław |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WpIaAQAAIAAJ |title=The Cyrus Legend in the Šāhnāme |date=1995 |publisher=Enigma Press |isbn=978-83-86110-19-3 |pages=63, 80 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Herzfeld |first=Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJltAAAAMAAJ |title=Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran |date=1982 |publisher=Dietrich Reimer |pages=179 |language=de}}</ref> [[Al-Tabari|Tabari]] in his works mentions the derivative ''Afrasiab'' / ''Aspandiat'' under the name of the [[Hephthalites|Hephthalite]] king [[Akhshunwar|Akhshunvar]] or Akhshunvaz.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tabakov |first=Dimitŭr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PWgAAAAMAAJ |title=Horizontăt na poznaniâta: Bălgarite prez vekovete |date=1999 |publisher=Propeller 92 |isbn=978-954-9669-39-8 |pages=165 |language=bg |script-title=bg:Хоризонтът на познанията: Българите през вековете |trans-title=''The horizon of knowledge: Bulgarians through the centuries''}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)]]
* [[Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand]]
* [[Alp Er Tunga]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|3}}

===Bibliography===
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* {{Cite book|last=Hintze|first=Almut |author-link=Almut Hintze|year=2014|chapter=YAŠTS|title=Encyclopædia Iranica|title-link=Encyclopædia Iranica|location=New York|publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul|chapter-url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/yashts}}
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* {{Cite book|last=Nyberg|first=Henrik S.|author-link=Henrik Samuel Nyberg|year=1938|title=Die Religionen des Alten Iran|publisher=Hinrichs|location=Leipzig|url=https://opendata.uni-halle.de/handle/1981185920/33480}}
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* {{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of Iran|title-link=The Cambridge History of Iran|chapter=Iranian National History|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan|author-link=Ehsan Yarshater|editor-last=Yarshater |editor-first=Ehsan|editor-link=Ehsan Yarshater|year=1983|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=3(1)|isbn=978-0-521-24693-4}}
* {{Cite book|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan|year=1984|chapter=AFRĀSĪĀB|title=Encyclopædia Iranica|title-link=Encyclopædia Iranica|location=New York|publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul|volume=I|pages=570-576|chapter-url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afrasiab-turanian-king/}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091123232245/http://www.barabass.ru/eng/7.php The battle of Rustam and Afrasiab] depicted in a 15th-century miniature

{{Avesta}}
{{Shahnameh}}

[[Category:Shahnameh characters]]