Hushang

Hūshang (Persian: هوشنگ, romanized: Hōšang; Middle Persian: Hōšang, Avestan: 𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬱𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬀, romanized: Haošyaŋha), also spelled Hōshang, is an early hero-king in Iranian mythical history. He is known from Avestan, Middle Persian, and Sasanian-based Persian and Arabic sources. He appears to have been one of several 'first man/king' figures in different Iranian traditions, along with Jamshid, Keyumars, and Tahmuras. In the Avesta, he is called Haoshyangha and is given the epithet Paradhāta, whence Persian pishdad. While this title is given only to Hushang in the Avesta, in later tradition the first Iranian dynasty (the Pishdadians), including Hushang's predecessor and successors, are called by this title. According to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, which drew from the traditional history developed in the late Sasanian period, Hushang was the second king of the Pishdadian dynasty and the grandson of the first man and king Keyumars.