Cyrus the Great occupies a special place in Iranian history. It was he who created the Persian state and became the ancestor of the Achaemenid dynasty, which ruled Persia before its conquest by Alexander the Great. The life story of the founder of the Persian state has come down to us thanks to the Greeks, a people who can hardly be suspected of sympathizing with the Persians because of the long and bloody series of Greco-Persian wars. However, Greek historians, first of all Herodotus, pay tribute to Kurush (this is how the name Cyrus sounds in Persian) and speak of him as a wise ruler.
Information about Kurush is very fragmentary, and the story of the king's life, described by Herodotus, is more like a fairy tale from The Thousand and One Nights.
Like many other Eastern legends, Kurush's story began in a dream. Once the king of Media Astyages, whose tributaries at that time were the Persians, dreamed that a vine was growing from the belly of his daughter Mandana. This vine first wrapped around Media, and then all of Asia. The next morning the king gathered the priests and asked what the dream meant? The magicians replied that the son of the king's daughter, when he grows up, will seize first Media, and then all of Asia. Worried, Astyages decided to marry his daughter to a Persian, so that his grandson could never become king of Media. But when a son was born to his daughter from the Persian warrior Cambyses, the king was frightened. He summoned his distant relative, the most faithful of Harpag's courtiers, and ordered him to kill his grandson.
Harpagus out loud agreed to fulfill the will of Astyages. But when he came home, he was seized by heavy thoughts. He knew that the old king had no male offspring, that the baby, whom the king had ordered to be killed, was a distant relative of Harpagos himself. The murder of a boy, and even a blood relative, could cause the wrath of the gods. Therefore, Harpag himself did not want to commit an evil deed. He gave the baby to the shepherd, who at that time worked for him, and ordered to kill the newborn Kurush. So that the shepherd does not deceive, Garpag threatened to send soldiers for the boy's body.
The shepherd, having come home with the child, learned that his wife had just given birth to a dead son. Seeing the baby, the wife persuaded the shepherd to show the stillborn to the guards, and left little Kurusha with her.
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The boy's true origins came to light ten years later. One day the son of a Median official came to a mountain pasture. He liked the play of the children of the shepherds. Kurusha was chosen as king because of his proud posture and tall stature. The rest served him, performing various duties - someone commanded an army, someone guarded the palace, someone spied and collected news. The Mede was also taken into the game, but since he did not do what he was ordered to do well and argued with the king, Kurush ordered to teach him a lesson with whips. At home, the boy complained to his father, who, in turn, indignant at the fact that the common Persians raised their hand against the noble Median, went to the king. Astyages, having heard his complaint, ordered to bring Kurush to him.
- How dare you raise your hand against the Median? - Menacingly asked the Median king of the imaginary son of the shepherd.
“I did this because by the rules of the game I was a king. The king should punish the disobedient. If I am wrong, then I am in front of you, in your power,”Kurush replied boldly.
The answer embarrassed Astyages. So it was not the son of a shepherd who could speak, but the royal heir. In addition, the resemblance of Kurush with his daughter was not hidden from the gaze of the king. Astyages dismissed the boy, but lost his peace. He summoned Garpag to his office and demanded to tell about the events of ten years ago. The loyal nobleman did not deceive the king. For this, Astyages, in anger, ordered the murder of Harpan's son for disobedience. And although Harpagus accepted the punishment with humility, deep inside he harbored a mortal grudge against the king and vowed to take revenge.
The next day Astyages gathered his priests and asked them what to do with Kurush. The close ones advised not to kill the boy, because the prophetic dream came true - Kurusha had already been elected king in the children's game. In addition, the dignitaries feared that the murder might cause unrest among the Persians. Astyages agreed with the arguments, but ordered to keep an eye on Kurush so that no one could tell him that he was from a royal family.
Harpagus, planning to overthrow the hated Astyages, wrote a letter to Kurush, sewed it into the belly of a live hare, put the hare in a net and gave it to the servant so that he could carry the message like that. In the letter, Garpagus revealed to Kurush the secret of his birth and offered assistance in overthrowing Astyages. But Kurush understood that the Medes would not want to see him, the son of a Persian, as their king. Therefore, he summoned all the noble Persians to him. Since Kurush by that time had become the most valiant of the Persian youths, they came to him. After telling about his noble origin and showing Harpag's letter as a sign of proof, Kurush said:
- Persians! All your life you have obeyed the Median Astyages. I ask you to obey me, Persian, for two days.
The Persians agreed. On the first day Kurush ordered them to appear with sickles and axes and forced them to uproot bushes without rest. By the end of the work, all the Persians were barely on their feet. On the second day, Kurush sat everyone at the table, where a sumptuous feast lasted until late at night. At the end, Kurush said:
- Persians! Whoever wants to live like yesterday, let him continue to obey the Medes. And whoever decides to live like today, let him prepare for battle. After all, we are not worse than the Medes, but as warriors are stronger and bolder. Let's win our freedom!
Thus began the Persian uprising against Median rule. Kurush, one after another, defeated all the armies of Astyages. In the decisive battle, part of the noble Medes, arranged by Garpagus, went over to the side of Kurush, and the Persians won the battle. Astyages was taken prisoner and lived out his life in custody. Finally, Kurush captured the capital of Media, Ecbatana, and founded the Persian state.
Having seized power, Cyrus began to expand his state. During his 29 years in power, he created a gigantic empire that stretched from India to Egypt and the coast of Greece. The center of this empire was Babylon, the largest city of the time. It was surrounded by impregnable walls, and Kurush had to use a trick to capture it. The soldiers of the Persian king dug a canal, with the help of which they diverted the Euphrates River, which flowed through the city, and entered the city along a shallow channel.
Like many times before, Cyrus did not destroy the city. On the contrary, he donated large sums of money for the rebuilding of Babylon, sent rich gifts to the temples of local gods. For his time, Kurush showed a rare tolerance for the captured peoples. Realizing that in such a large and multinational state, which became his empire, one cannot rely only on the power of Persian weapons, Kurush tried to gain support from the conquered peoples, giving them relative independence in internal affairs in exchange for tribute.
Kurush's reign came to an end when the king in 530 BC. launched a military campaign against the Massaget tribe. The campaign began successfully for the Persians. Kurush lured into a trap a large detachment of nomads led by the son of the queen of the Massagetae Spargapis. The Persians left their wagon train with wine to plunder the enemy, and when the Massagets got drunk, they attacked at dawn. Tsarevich Spargapis was captured. The queen of the Massagets, Tomiris, promised to give Kurush blood to drink if he did not return her son. But the Persian king failed to fulfill her demand. Recovering in captivity, Spargapis committed suicide. Upon learning of this, the Massagetan queen gathered all her soldiers and attacked the Persian troops. In the battle, which Herodotus describes as "the most brutal of all that the barbarians had," Kurush died. Tomiris ordered to find the body of the fallen king, cut off his head and place it in a wineskin,filled with the blood of Persian warriors.
Later, the body of their king was given to the Persians. Kurush was buried in Pasargadae, where now you can find his mausoleum with a short inscription: "I am Kurush, king, Achaemenid."