The Death of Luhrasp in Battle against the Forces of Arjasp (painting, recto; text, verso), folio from a manuscript of the Shahnama by Firdawsi

Luhrasp, Kay Khusraw’s successor as king of Iran, ceded the throne to his son Gushtasp and became a Zoroastrian devotee in the city of Balkh. But when the new Turanian king, Arjasp, ordered his son Kuhram to lead the Turanians against Iran, the elderly former king met them in battle and was slain. According to the text, Luhrasp fends off individual attackers and is killed only when surrounded by his foes. Not until they remove the fallen warrior’s helmet and see his white hair do the Turanians realize that he is an old man. The artist has composed this scene symmetrically, crowding the background with two groups of warriors who proudly fly their banners and sound their trumpets.