Celestial Commanders

General of generals

The polar star stood above the four directional commanders. Its nearly stationary position made it the commander-in-chief of the stars, with Pahlavi titles translated as “Peg of the Place”, “Peg of the Meridian”, and “Peg of Culmination”. Apart from this celestial office, it has relatively little independent mythology. Taqizadeh established the Pahlavi readings Gāh and Mex-i Gāh for the star. Henning distinguished these names from expressions for the zenith and nadir, including Mex ī miyān āsmān and Mex ī azēr zamīg.

A possible Avestan counterpart is mərəzu, found in Vendidad 19.42. The term has been connected with Iranian words meaning “peg” or “pivot”. In a New Persian version of the passage, Gāh is identified with the polar star. Mərəzu has also been interpreted as a dual form referring to the two celestial poles, while an alternative identification with Venus has been rejected.

Commander of the east

Tishtar, personification of the star Sirius, is the general of the eastern quarter and a major patron of atmospheric and earthly waters. The Mēnōg ī Xrad calls Tishtar the foremost star and connects its course with the prosperity and fertility of the world. In the account of the primordial creation, Tishtar fights in the second battle, associated with the struggle over water. It receives particular reverence in Zoroastrian prayers and observances. Its association with the zodiacal sign Cancer, the “water-lord”, is expressed in the epithet “horse of Cancer”.

The Avesta calls Tishtar the “lord and overseer of all stars”. Tishtar is assisted by minor celestial divinities described as stars of “watery nature” (afščiθra-); These include Tishtarēni, the Paoiryaēnī (Pleiades), and the Upapaoiri, which is the stars preceding the Pleiades. Tishtarēni has been identified as Canis Minor, while the heliacal rising of these water-associated stars was connected with the approach of the rainy season. The Greater Bundahishn gives related names, Tishtar, Tlysk, Padevar, Pesh-Parviz, and the Pleiades called Parviz, on the basis of which Henning equated Tishtarēni with Tlysk and Upapaoiri with Pesh-Parviz.

Commander of the north

Haftōrang, the general of the northern quarter, is identified with Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Its Young Avestan name is Haptōiriṇga-. The identification with Ursa Major is supported by Pahlavi and Persian traditions, while an alternative identification with the Pleiades has been rejected. The name has been interpreted as meaning “having seven signs”, although its etymology remains disputed. It has been compared with Sanskrit liṅga, an interpretation that has been challenged, and possible Middle Iranian parallels have also been proposed. The constellation is mentioned in Avestan hymns and the Siroza litanies. These texts call its stars healing, created or given by Ohrmazd, and endowed with xᵛarənah (glory). The stars are invoked alongside Tishtar against the Yātus and Pairikās, demonic beings associated with sorcery. Their worship on Tishtar's day is also reflected in the liturgical order.

Haftōrang guards the north, where hell was situated at the time of Ahriman's invasion. In chapter 49 of the Mēnōg ī Xrad, it is accompanied by 99,999 faravahars of the righteous and holds back an equal number of divs, witches, and wizards at the gates of hell. Its movement around hell also maintains the proper courses of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The other constellations support it and seek its protection at the Alburz mountains. Each of its seven stars is linked by a tether to one of the seven continents, helping maintain the continents during the Mixture of good and evil when Ahriman invades the good creation. This connection gave rise to a Pahlavi explanation of its name as haft rag, “seven veins”. The Haftōrang is also a patron of rivers.

Different Pahlavi accounts assign Haftōrang different planetary opponents. The Iranian Bundahishn names Ohrmazd (Jupiter). The Škand-gumānīg Wizār names Bahrām (Mars), while a Pazand variant names Kēwān (Saturn). Another account describes Haftōrang and Sadwēsh as restraining the harmful influence of Jupiter and Anāhīd (Venus) at the beginning of Ahriman's attack. Haftōrang is also called the abāxtar spāhbed, the general of the northern celestial quarter.

The association of the northern sky with hell has received further interpretation. Panaino suggests that the Avestan diiau- may evoke an older realm of darkness beyond the created cosmos, rather than simply denoting hell. He connects the guarded gates of hell with the myth of Ahriman's breach of the sky. Haftōrang's motion around hell is then read as the circumpolar rotation of Ursa Major. In this reading, the breach was sealed after Ahriman entered, trapping the hostile powers within creation. The movement of the stars was intended to prevent their escape and interference with the zodiac. The rotation of the heavens was likewise part of this defense. The Šāyest nē Šāyest assigns the sacrificial kidneys to Haftōrang. The Greater Bundahishn connects the constellation with the origin of the dog. In New Persian, the Great Bear bears names referring to seven thrones. Other forms mean “seven stars” or “seven brothers”. The Arabic-derived name “daughters of the bier” is also used. Still other names mean “Great Bear”.

Commander of the west

Wanand, “the Conqueror”, is the general of the western quarter and is identified with Vega. The name appears as Vanand in the twentieth Sogdian lunar mansion, corresponding to the Indian Abhijit, and also designates the twentieth Pahlavi mansion. The Pazand form Varant reflects another spelling of the name.

Wanand guards the passes and gates of the mythical Alburz mountains, through which the sun, moon, and stars travel. It drives away divs, pairikas, and fiends so that they cannot interrupt the passage of the heavenly bodies. As a protector against demons, Wanand could also be invoked as a healer. Its short hymn, Yašt 20, functions as an exorcistic formula. A later tradition holds that the priest Meherji Rana recited it before the emperor Akbar to end an eclipse in the sixteenth century.

In another cosmological arrangement preserved in the Persian Rivāyats, Wanand occupies the eighth and outermost sky alongside four unnamed demons. The lower seven skies are assigned to Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon.

Commander of the south

Sadwēsh, also called Satavaēsa, is the divinity commanding the southern celestial quarter associated with balance and the autumnal harvest. It assists Tishtar by distributing rainwater over the earth, a role linked to Yašt 8.9 and to a rain-making figure in the Manichaean version of the myth. Its identification with a modern star has long been disputed.

The star Canopus (Suhail) has been proposed, but other scholars objected that Canopus is too far south to have been readily visible from regions associated with the Avesta, and could not have been observed from Sogdiana, citing instead the Sogdian lunar-mansion name myn-Sadwes, related to lunar mansions associated with the sting of Scorpio, as evidence for identification with Antares. Antares is consequently the identification used in Henning's reconstruction of the four generals. Fomalhaut has also been proposed. Brunner describes it as an assistant to Tishtar in protecting the seas, together with Haftōrang and Wanand. The ordering of the commanders by right ascension has been offered as an argument for this identification, although MacKenzie discussed the continuing uncertainty.