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{{Short description|Last Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to Shahnameh}}
[[Image:Garshasp slays the dragon Azi-Sruwar.jpg|thumb|Garshasp slays the dragon. Miniature from the [[Jainesque Shahnama]]. India, c. 1425-1450. [[Museum Rietberg]]]]
[[File:Sadiqi Beg, Garshasp fighting the sagsars who are using tree branches as weapons. Garshaspnama 1573 British Library Or. 12985, f.45v.jpg|thumb|Garshasp fighting the sagsars who are using tree branches as weapons. Miniature by [[Sadiqi Beg]] from ''[[Asadi Tusi|Garshaspnama]]''. Iran, 1573. [[British Library]]]]
{{about|the mythological hero|the 2011 video game|Garshasp: The Monster Slayer}}

'''Garshāsp''' ({{langx|fa|گرشاسپ}} {{IPA|fa|gæɹ'ʃɒːsp|pron}}<!-- as IPA -->)  was, in [[Persian mythology]], the last [[Shah]] of the [[Pishdadian dynasty]] of [[Persia]] according to ''[[Shahnameh]]''. He was a descendant of [[Zaav]], ruling over the [[Persian Empire]] for about nine years. His name is shared with a monster-slaying hero in [[Persian mythology|Iranian mythology]]. The [[Avestan]] form of his name is '''Kərəsāspa'''.

Garshasp is depicted as a [[dragonslayer]] in the [[Avesta]]. In Zoroastrian [[eschatology]], Garshasp's [[resurrection]] was depicted. His role was to slay the monster [[Zahhak]].

==Garshasp in Zoroastrian literature==
In the '''[[Zoroastrian]]''' religious text of the [[Avesta]], Kərəsāspa appears as the slayer of ferocious monsters, including the '''Gandarəβa''' and the '''Aži Sruvara'''.  In later Zoroastrian texts Kirsāsp is [[resurrection|resurrected]] at the [[Eschatology|end of the world]] to defeat the monster '''[[Zahhak|Dahāg]]'''.

Kərəsāspa is the son of Θrita and belongs to the Sāma family. Θrita is originally the name of a deity; cf. the Vedic [[Trita]].

===Garshasp and the Aži Sruvara===
According to the [[Zoroastrian]] holy book, [[Avesta]], Kərəsāspa once stopped on a hill to cook his midday meal.  Unbeknownst to Kərəsāspa, the hill was actually the curved back of a sleeping [[dragon]]—the Aži Sruvara. As Kərəsāspa's fire began to crackle merrily, the heat from it caused the dragon to stir from its sleep and overturn the hero's kettle.  The startled Kərəsāspa fled, but, on regaining his composure, returned  to [[dragonslayer|slay the dragon]] that had spoilt his lunch.

Later texts, the ''Persian [[Revayats|Rivayat]]'' and ''Pahlavi Rivayat'', add more details. According to them, the Az ī Srūwar was a dragon with horns, with huge eyes and ears, and teeth upon which the men it had eaten could be seen impaled. It was so long that Kərəsāspa ran along its back for half a day before he reached its head, struck it with his mace, and killed it.

===Garshasp and the Gandarəβa===
Another monster that garshasp fought was the ''Gandarəβa'', Middle Persian ''Gandarw''. (This name is cognate to the Indic [[gandharva]], but the exact way in which the word acquired its respective meanings in Indic and Iranian cultures is uncertain.) The Gandarw lived in the sea.  It was also enormous, big enough to swallow twelve provinces in a single gulp, and so tall that when it stood up the deep sea reached only to its knee and its head was as high as the sun.  The Gandarw pulled Garshasp into the ocean, and they fought for nine days. At last, Garshasp flayed the Gandarw and bound it with its own skin. Garshasp, weary from the combat, had his companion Axrūrag guard the Gandarw while he slept, but it proved too much for him&nbsp;– the Gandarw dragged Axrūrag and Garshasp's family into the sea.  When Garshasp awakened, he rushed to the sea, freed the captives, and killed the Gandarw.

===Garshasp and Dahāg===
The Zoroastrian text called the ''Sūdgar'' tells that when the monster [[Zahhak|Dahāg]], who is now bound in chains on Mount Damāvand, bursts free of his fetters at the end of the world, Kirsāsp will be resurrected (his corpse having been guarded from corruption) to destroy Dahāg and save the two thirds of the world that Dahāg has not devoured.

==In Persian literature==
===In the ''Shāhnāma''===
Garshasp or Garshasb was a king who ruled over parts of [[Greater Persia]]. Certain of his deeds are recounted in the epic poem ''[[Shahnameh|Shāhnāma]]'', which preserves, in late form, many of the legends and stories of Greater Persia. Garshasb had been ruling for more than 50 years when the royal family fell victim to [[black magic]] and were killed one after the other. Legend has it that there were a few members of the Garshasp clan who survived, but also that they remain enchanted to this day.
Garshāsp is only tangentially mentioned in the ''Shāhnāma''. There he appears as a distant ancestor of the hero [[Rostam]], who lived at about the same time as King [[Fereydun]]. Garshāsp is the father of [[Nariman (father of Sām)|Narēmān]], who is the father of [[Saam|Sām]], father of [[Zal|Zāl]], who is in turn Rostam's father.

===In the Garshāspnāma===
Garshāsp  received his own poetic treatment at the hands of [[Asadi Tusi]], who wrote a ''Garshāspnāma'' about this hero.

In the [[Garshāspnāma]], Garshāsp is the son of Esret (اثرط), the equivalent of the Avestan Θrita, and grandson of Sham (Avestan Sāma). His genealogy goes back through other characters not mentioned in the Avesta: Sham is the son of Tovorg (طورگ), son of Šēdasp, son of Tur, who was an illegitimate son of [[Jamshid]] by the daughter of Kurang, king of Zābolestān, begotten at the time that Jamshid had been deposed was fleeing from the forces of [[Zahhak|Zahhāk]].

Zahhāk reigned for 1000 years, and so was still king at the time that Garshāsp was born. On one occasion when Zahhāk was traveling in Zābolestān, he saw Garshāsp and encourages him to slay a dragon that had emerged from the sea and settled on Mt. Šekāvand. Equipped with a special antidote against dragon-poison, and armed with special weapons, Garshāsp succeeds in killing the monster.  Impressed by the child's prowess, Zahhāk now orders Garshāsp to India, where the king&nbsp;– a vassal of Zahhāk's&nbsp;– has been replaced by a rebel prince, Bahu, who does not acknowledge Zahhāk's rule. Garshāsp defeats the rebel and then stays in India for a while to observe its marvels and engage in philosophical discourse. 

After returning from India, Garshāsp woos a princess of [[Rüm|Rum]], restores his father Esret to his throne in Zābol after the king of Kābol defeats him, and builds the city of [[Sistan|Sistān]]. He has further anachronistic adventures in the Mediterranean, fighting in [[Kairouan]] and [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]].

When he returns to Iran, his father dies, and Garshāsp becomes king of Zābolestān. Although he has no son of his own, he adopts [[Nariman (father of Sām)|Narēmān]] as his heir, who would become [[Rostam]]'s great-grandfather. The poem ends with another battle and dragon-slaying, followed by Garshāsp's death.

{{Commons}}

===Rule===

{{Start box}}
{{Succession box|
  before=[[Zaav]] |
  title=Legendary Kings of the ''[[Shahnameh|Shāhnāma]]'' |
  years='''2432–2441''' (after [[Keyumars]])|
  after=[[Kay Kawad]]|
}}
{{End box}}

==Bibliography==
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/garsasp-nama Encyclopedia Iranica, "GARŠĀSP-NĀMA", FRANÇOIS DE BLOIS]
*[[Ferdowsi]] Shahnameh. From the Moscow version. Mohammed Publishing. {{ISBN | 964-5566-35-5}}

{{Shahnameh}}

[[Category:Mythological kings]]
[[Category:Pishdadian dynasty]]
[[Category:Zoroastrian literature]]
[[Category:Resurrection]]
[[Category:Dragonslayers]]