Saleb Dowleh

King Saleb Dowleh, originally known as Goudarz, is a mentioned character involved in the history of Sumeru as a ruler during the era of the city-states of the Great Red Sand.^[1] Saleb claimed to have become king with the patronage and support of King Deshret and made efforts to venerate Deshret during his reign.^[2]

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Before his rise as king, Goudarz is known to have fought against rebels at Tulaytullah who were allied with a "false" Khagan. Supposedly, Goudarz's forces fought the rebels for three days with no clear end in sight. However, on the third day, a mirage appeared which helped Goudarz "repel" the rebels (who were branded as traitors afterwards).^[2]

In the aftermath, an unspecified person or group who lived in Gurabad heard about the rebels' defeat and fled to avoid pursuit from an elder brother; at the same time, Goudarz is recorded as heading to Gurabad in triumph. This unknown person is possibly Goudarz' younger brother, whom Goudarz allied with again near the end of his life.^[3]

Goudarz proceeded to re-establish Gurabad as the capital city of the desert,^{[Note 1]} inviting the people of the Cities of the Seven Towers (a list including Ay-Khanoum, Saleh, and Tulaytullah) to return there. He changed his name and was declared as King Saleb Dowleh. It is claimed that Al-Ahmar appeared before Saleb Dowleh and gifted him with an "illusion," legitimizing his reign. Saleb Dowleh, in turn, is recorded as declaring the construction of widespread public works, including many statues of Al-Ahmar.^{[2][4][Note 2]}

There followed ten years of peace under Saleb's rule, which became known as the era of "fine rain at sunset."^[2] At some point during those years, Saleb Dowleh made an alliance with the Dharma Forest port city of Orghana (now known as Port Ormos). Orghana promised to stop raiding Saleb's lands, and Saleb in return ceased to pillage the lands and people of Orghana.^[2]

The years of "fine rain at sunset" ended with the death of Saleb's son, Prince Hojir, who died suddenly after drinking poisoned wine. In mourning, Saleb Dowleh ordered that one thousand slaves would be buried with Hojir, while one hundred nobles were also recorded as drinking the wine while "overborne with grief," causing their own deaths as well. Saleb Dowleh was accused of orchestrating these events and thus being guilty of filicide. In the resulting power vacuum, the king's brothers, heirs, and nephews turned against each other and fought over the throne.^[3]

Seeking support, Saleb Dowleh summoned Muzaffar, a Dey from Orghana with whom he had declared an alliance. However, instead of providing support, Muzaffar Dey pillaged and killed his way to Gurabad,^[5] causing Saleb to ally "once more" with his younger brother. They were defeated by Muzaffar Dey, who attributed his victory to the infighting between Saleb's family. Muzaffar Dey forced Saleb Dowleh to watch Gurabad burn before executing him and his entire family. Instead of returning to Orghana, Muzaffar Dey decided to take reign and build his city in the desert, while leaving Gurabad abandoned once more.^[3]

The fate of Saleb Dowleh led Muzaffar Dey to instruct his son Zumurud to have many heirs (99 sons and daughters) to avoid the power vacuum scenario which ended up deposing Saleb.^[6]

Trivia

• Goudarz (Persian: گودرز) is an Iranian hero of the Shahnameh, a Persian epic poem. Prince Hojir is similarly based on Hojir, one of the four sons of Goudarz, who also appears in the Shahnameh.
  • Goudarz in the Shahnameh was most likely based on Gotarzes II, a real-life ruler of Parthia.
• Saleb (Persian: صَلِيب) refers to a geometrical cross shape. Ed-Dowleh (Persian: الدوله) is a title used by governors of the Qajar dynasty in Iran.
• Khagan is a title used by Mongol and Turkic rulers when they established empires in the Eurasian steppe and around the Middle East region.
• Goudarz's character seems to be largely inspired by the Roman emperor Phillippus the Arab, who ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century, a highly unstable part of Roman history where multiple emperors died in succession. The peace treaty with the Deys of Orghana is about Philip's peace treaty with the Sasanians; compared to how the Romans described it as a "most shameful treaty," the in-game one instead is implied to have been mostly positive.
  • Furthermore Goudarz's brother who helped him near the end of his life is most likely based on Gaius Julius Priscus, the brother of Philip the Arab. He ruled over the Eastern Roman Provinces tyrannically. Unlike the rebellion of the successive Roman emperor Trajan Decius, which ended up with the death of Philip the Arab and his brother not being present; Saleb Dowleh and his brother both fought together against Muzaffar when he was getting closer to Gurabad following his betrayal. Equivalently to how we know Goudarz died, his brother's fate, like Priscus, is completely unknown. We can assume however that he died in the battle to stop Muzaffar.
• Prince Hojir's death bears a ressemblance to that of the Ottoman Prince Şehzade Mustafa. Due to spreading rumors that Mustafa was going to betray his father Suleiman the Magnificent, he would be executed because of the latter's paranoia as Suleiman feared succession threats; Mustafa was overall widely beloved which provoked widespread grief and shock across the empire. Since Hojir's death had stained the reputation of Saleb Dowleh and put an end to the years of "fine rain at sunset,"^[7] it is safe to assume that likewise Hojir was favorably esteemed.
  • It might also be about Gordianus' death, a young Roman emperor who was succeded by Philip the Arab — the latter of which got suspected of having betrayed and killed the young emperor. Nonetheless, there are multiple accounts as to how Gordian III could have died and this is only one of them.

Notes

Other Languages

Language	Official Name
English	Saleb Dowleh
Chinese (Simplified)	撒勒布・道莱 Sālèbù Dàolái
Chinese (Traditional)	撒勒布・道萊 Sālèbù Dàolái
Japanese	サリブ・ドーレイ Saribu Doorei
Korean	자레브・다울라 Jarebeu Daulla
Spanish	Saleb Dowleh
French	Saleb Dowleh
Russian	Салеб Довла Saleb Dovla
Thai	Saleb Dowleh
Vietnamese	Saleb Dowleh
German	Saleb Dowleh
Indonesian	Saleb Dowleh
Portuguese	Saleb Dowleh
Turkish	Saleb Dowleh
Italian	Saleb Dowleh

Change History

References