Parvezravan

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Parvezravan, originally named Kisra then renamed Kisra Parvez after his adoption by Ormazd,^[4] was a historical figure in Sumeru who was best known as the second-to-last king of the ancient city-state of Gurabad. His renown in battle gave him the epithet Spirit of Victory.^[5]

He was Liloupar's son, making him the biological younger brother of Shirin of Gurabad, whom he married. He was Shiruyeh's father, but his wariness of his son due to Liloupar's warning ultimately led to his death and Gurabad's destruction.

Story

Kisra was Liloupar's son whom she had as part of her vengeance against her lover, Ormazd.^[2] She left Kisra to be raised by the giant divine bird Ghognus, and Kisra's ambitions and Ghognus' aid led Ormazd — the vassal-king of King Deshret and Liloupar's lover — to adopt him. Kisra's many exploits and feats, such as allegedly conquering ninety-nine other vassal states, gave him the epithet "Spirit of Victory."^[4]

To reward Kisra for his valor, Ormazd bestowed him with the name "Parvez." He also gave Kisra his daughter Shirin's hand in marriage,^[4] unaware that their fates were part of Liloupar's plan to take revenge on him.^[2] The marriage turned out to be a loveless one as Kisra saw Shirin as a means to the throne and did not truly love her. Liloupar took advantage of this to have Shirin, with Kisra as a reluctant co-conspirator,^[3] serve poisoned honey to her father and her other siblings at a banquet, causing their deaths. Shirin went insane after seeing the consequence of her actions, while Kisra took advantage of the situation to become the new king,^[6] dubbing himself "Kisra Parvezravan."^[4]

As Vassal-King

Parvezravan desired even greater power and turned to his mother for guidance. Liloupar designed machines driven by Jinn spirits and gave them to her son, and then gave him the idea of creating a massive machine to mass-produce them through a dream. The Jinn for these machines were created by Shirin, whose insanity led the Jinn to be created "mindless and malformed." These machines brought Parvezravan a vast amount of wealth and he seemingly abolished slavery for the betterment of Gurabad. However, because the slave labor was now performed by the Jinn machines, this led to increasing socioeconomic disparity as former slave owners no longer needed to sustain a human workforce and the former slaves no longer had a means to make a living.^[2]

This had all been part of Liloupar's machinations, who had fostered Parvezravan and Shirin's son, Shiruyeh. Parvezravan, having heard Liloupar's warning that his son would become even greater than himself, had always been wary of Shiruyeh and banished him from Gurabad once he reached adulthood. Forced to don a brass mask to disguise his identity, he took on the name "Khorramdin" and touted himself as the savior of the common people, as well as the emissary of Nabu Malikata. He led a rebellion against Parvezravan and eventually emerged victorious. However, his victory — brought by Liloupar, who had used the power of the "dark abyss" — caused the deaths of his followers and the inhabitants of Gurabad, and the city itself sank down into a deep chasm.^[2][3]

Parvezravan's exact manner of death is unknown; in Liloupar's memories, he turned into a dark monster,^[2] whereas Eremite history claims he was killed in his bedchambers by Shiruyeh.^[3]

Legacy

Few people know the truth behind Gurabad's destruction, and many different interpretations of Gurabad's history exist. Parvezravan is recorded in Eremite history as both a great hero and a tyrant, Shirin is seen as a schemer who plotted Ormazd's and Parvezravan's deaths to get her vengeance at her dull and loveless life,^[3] and Shiruyeh is known as a coward who caused Gurabad's fall and unleashed Shiruyeh's Plague.^[4]

At Lamb-Devourer Rock, the password to Thutmose's secret base is "Marg bar parvezravan."^[7] The phrase is Persian for "Down with Parvezravan."

Trivia

• In Memories of Gurabad, Liloupar refers to Shirin as Parvezravan's elder sister (Chinese: 亲生姐姐 "biological elder sister"). At the same time, the original Chinese text for Nameless Tablet (II) refers to Parvezravan as Shirin's older brother (Chinese: 胞兄 "elder brother from the same parents").
• Parvezravan is likely based on different rulers in the history of the Middle East; Khosrow II — who is regarded as the last great Sasanian king — is the basis for Parvezravan's character (etymology section below). Additionally, Parvezravan could also be inspired by those different rulers:
  • Nebuchadnezzar II, the son of Nabopolassar (whom Ormazd is partially inspired by), is known for his various building projects in Babylon and military campaigns across the Levant. Before his rise as a king, Nebuchadnezzar II performed many successful military campaigns under Nabopolassar; in a similar manner, Parvezravan does a multitude of campaigns for his adoptive father Ormazd, which leads him to gain the honorific title of "Parvez," later evolving into Parvezravan when he dubs himself king.
    • Parvezravan turning into a monster because of Liloupar's use of abyssal powers could be a reference to Daniel 4:35, where Nebuchadnezzar II gets punished by YHWH for his prideful arrogance and rebellion against God, resulting in him becoming a wild animal living in the fields. In the same chapter however, he regains his sanity back after seven years, making this more dubious.
  • Ashurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king whose death started the rapid decline of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, is also identified with the "King of Assyria" mentioned and alluded to in different parts of the Book of Nahum, a Biblical book referenced multiple times in the World Quest Series Apocalypse Lost; (New International Version): "King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them." The book's content is about the fall of the capital city of Nineveh and its kings, who are described as having built the city on injustice, cruelty, and the blood of its subjects.
  • Astyages was the last king of the Median Kingdom, whom the Magi prophecised to be overthrown by his grandson Cyrus the Great according to Herodotus' Histories, which eventually happened and led to Astyages' and his kingdom's undoing despite his attempts at preventing it. Parvezravan, fearing his mother's prophecy about a son that was one day going to take over the kingdom of Gurabad and overthrow him, banishes his son Shiruyeh from the city in order for him to never return again. However, Shiruyeh — with Liloupar's aid — amasses a rebellion that emerges victorious from various conflicts against Parvezravan, culminating in the destruction of the city with the latter turned into a dark monster.
  • Al-Mu'tasim, the eight Abbasid Caliph, is the ruler who confronted the Iranian revolutionary leader Babak Khorramdin the longest during his reign. To quell his rebellions, al-Mu'tasim called on the general Al-Afshin, who manages to defeat the Khurramites leader and hands him over to the Caliph. Both Shiruyeh and the general Hibehrous, whom Parvezravan sent to crush Shiruyeh's rebellion, derive inspirations from Al-Afshin and Babak Khorramdin, respectively. Parvezravan's abolishion of slavery causing societal collapse might be loosely based on al-Mu'tasim's devastating reforms, which started the slow decline of the Abbasid Caliphate following the end of his rule.

Etymology

• Parvezravan's name is derived from that of the Sasanian king Khosrow II:
  • The name "Kisra Parvez" and his epithet, Spirit of Victory, comes from Khosrow's alternate name, Khosrow Parviz (Persian: خسرو پرویز "Khosrow the Victorious"), with Kisra being the Arabic version of Khosrow's name. For both Khosrow and Kisra, the epithet was derived from their numerous conquests and victories in battle.
  • Khosrow's marriage to Shirin and his death at the hands of his son Sheroe were popularized, and heavily fictionalized, in the tragic romance Khosrow and Shirin. Genshin Impact depicts the overall relationship between the characters rather differently from the historical and historical fiction counterparts: Kisra and Shirin were in a loveless marriage, which motivated Shirin to convince their son Shiruyeh (the real-life Sheroe was the son of Kisra and one of his other wives, Miryam) to plot Kisra's murder.
• "Ghoghnus," which is briefly mentioned in Kisra's backstory, appears to be an alternate romanization of the Persian word ققنوس qaqnos, which means "phoenix." It is derived from the Arabic قُقْنُوس quqnūs, "swan," which itself came from Ancient Greek κύκνος kúknos, "swan."
  • Parvezravan being raised by Ghoghnus is likely a reference to the legendary Persian king Zāl who is raised by the bird Simurgh. Ghoghnus is likely to be the same as the Simurgh, a creature created from Khvarena by Nabu Malikata, the mistress and creator of the jinn.
  • Various notes and messages related to the Ruin Golems in Devantaka Mountain and the Valley of Dahri reveal the existence of a Khaenri'ahn group known as the Schwanenritter (German: Swan Knights). They were active in Sumeru during the cataclysm 500 years ago, during which they used their Ruin Golems to fight against creatures of the Abyss. However, the similar naming scheme between the Schwanenritter and Ghoghnus appears to be coincidental.

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References