The Myth of Haftvad

Subject Areas : Epistemological and methodological researcher of historical research

shamsadin  najmi ¹ (دانشیار گروه تاریخ دانشگاه شهید باهنر کرمان)

Received: 2016-02-09 Accepted : 2016-02-09 Published : 2015-02-20

Keywords: Kerman, Artaxerxes, Haftvad, Arg-e Bam, Sassanid’s, Parthians  ,

Abstract :

In the beginning of the Sassanid reign in Iran, a king who was appointed by the Parthians, ruled over Kajaran, a district in Bam. A man, who was the father to seven sons (vad), called Haftvad, lived in that territory. He came to a great fortune through the spell of a worm (kerm), until Artaxerxes decided to destroy him. Artaxerxes gathered a great army and headed for Kajaran or Kalalan (as cited in “Karnameh”). With the help of the traitorous courtiers he killed the worm, destroyed Haftvad, and set Bahram’s fire there; as a result, the name of the city Kerman has been related to kerm (worm). This study, firstly, presents the myth of Haftvad and its relation to Kerman and Bam and then proves that the name of Kerman has no connection to the kerm (worm) of Haftvad, and that the city has existed long before the formation of the myth