Hystaspes

, a noble Persian, of the family of the Achæmenides. His father’s name was Arsames. His son Darius reigned in Persia after the murder of the usurper Smerdis. It is said by Ctesias that he wished to be carried to see the royal monument which his son had built between two mountains. The priests who carried him, as reported, slipped the cord with which he was suspended in ascending the mountain, and he died of the fall. Hystaspes was the first who introduced the learning and mysteries of the Indian Brachmans into Persia, and to his researches in India the sciences were greatly indebted, particularly in Persia. Darius is called Hystaspes , or son of Hystaspes, to distinguish him from his royal succe ors of the same name. Hero dot us , bk. 1 , ch. 209 ; bk. 5 , ch. 83 .— Ctesias , Fragments .