Introduction
Shaghad is Rostam's half-brother, son of Zal, remembered in the Shahnameh as the architect of the great hero's death through a cowardly and carefully planned betrayal, born of long-standing envy of Rostam's fame and accomplishments.
Family
Envy and betrayal
Resentful of his more famous and celebrated half-brother, Shaghad conspired with the ruler of Kabul to arrange Rostam's death. He invited Rostam to a hunting expedition in Kabul's territory, where a series of deep pits had been dug and lined with sharpened, poisoned blades and stakes, then concealed to look like ordinary ground.
Rostam's death and final vengeance
Rostam and his horse Rakhsh fell into the concealed pit and were mortally wounded. In his final act before dying, Rostam, learning of Shaghad's treachery, asked for his bow, claiming he wished only to perform a final act of piety; when Shaghad, unsuspecting, hid behind a nearby tree, Rostam's arrow passed through the tree and killed him as well, ensuring that his betrayer did not escape justice even as the hero himself succumbed to his wounds.