Story of Sargash and Bārbud

Khushru was in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, and there was peace in his kingdom. In the court of the king there was a very accomplished singer and musician by the name Sargash. When another musician by the name Bārbud came to know that the king wanted to choose a royal musician, he decided to go and try his luck in the king’s court.

When Sargash came to know that Bārbud was trying to enter the court, he bribed the guards and asked them to bar his entry. Bārbud tried several times but he was denied entry for one reason or the other.

Then Bārbud tried another strategy. He befriended the royal gardener and requested to grant him an entry in the king’s garden on the day on which the king was to come to entertain himself in the garden.

The gardener agreed, and he told Bārbud about the day when the king would spend the evening in the garden. On the appointed day Bārbud went into the garden early in the morning wearing a green dress. He painted himself green and coloured all his musical instruments like Sitar, Sarangi and Morchang in green. Early in the morning he hid himself on top of a Sarv (Cyprus) tree and waited for the king to come.

The king came in the evening and started sipping wine. Bārbud started playing rāg (musical mode) Dād-Āfrid. The king enjoyed his singing and music. The he played another song in the rāg Paykāre-Gord. The king was intrigued hearing the beautiful music and voice, and asked his soldier to find out who was playing the music and who was singing.

The soldiers searched everywhere but could not find Bārbud as he was hiding up in the tree. Then Bārbud started the third rāg called Sabz-dar-sabz, which was totally tantalizing and captivating. The king showered praises on this heavenly music. Hearing the praises, Bārbud came down and presented himself before the king. At the king’s behest, he narrated his tale of woe. The king was very angry at Sargash and appointed Bārbud as the court musician.

Opulence and oppression

Then Khushru Parviz had a magnificent palace built at Madāyān by a Roman architect, which took seven years to complete. In the palace, he had a magnificent throne made from carefully preserved parts of an ancient throne which was originally created during the time of Peshdadian king Faridun, destroyed later by Alexander and then once again rebuilt by Sasanian emperor Ardeshir Babegan.

When Khushru came in possession of this throne, he had it dismantled and made it once again, employing hundreds of craftsmen, goldsmiths and jewelers. On account of his opulent lifestyle, the treasury started depleting and hence Khushru started levying heavier tax thus leaving his subjects reeling under immense misery. He also became oppressive, and things got so bad that people started leaving the country.