Hystaspes

Vishtaspa

ویشت اسپه ، هیستاسپس

Vishtaspa, the son of Aurvat-aspa, was the king of a country that has been identified with Chorasmia and Aria. According to Avesta, Vishtaspa offered asylum to Zarathustra when the latter was hunted down by his opponents. Later, the king organized a debate between the two parties; when Zarathustra had proved that his doctrines were superior, Vishtaspa became an adherent of the new religion.
One of the Yashts, Avestan hymns to lower deities, is said to have been written by Vishtaspa, but this is almost certainly untrue. In the first centuries CE, a book of Oracles of Hystaspes was very popular in the Roman Empire; it was probably written by a Magian who used Avesta and elements from the Persian folk lore, and describes the end of the world.
Vishtaspa is also Hystaspes, the father of the Persian king Dariush I the Great. Hystaspes' birth year can be deduced from the fact that his son Dariush was born c.550 BCE; Thus Hystaspes must have been born before c.565 CE. According to the Greek researcher Herodotus, he had several other sons (Artabanus, Artaphernes and Artanes) and at least two daughters, who were married to Gobryas and Otanes, Persian noblemen.

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