Zaydi al Qahtani

### Relatives

Khader al Qahtani (decendant), Ghassan (decendant), Muntadhir (decendant), Zaynab (decendant), Alizayd (decendant)

### Affiliations

The Geziri tribe, the Ayaanle tribe, the shafit

### Enemies

The Nahid Council, the Daeva tribe, Darayavahoush e-Afshin

## Behind the Scenes

### Appears in

* The City of Brass (mentioned)
* The Kingdom of Copper (mentioned)
* The Empire of Gold (mentioned)

Prince Alizayd's namesake, Zaydi was a Geziri warrior that led a djinn rebellion 1500 years ago that dethroned the Nahid Council and put the Qahtani line in charge of Daevabad.

## History

### **Adult Life**

Information on Zaydi's personal life is limited, but he was a Geziri soldier in the Daevabad army 1500-some years ago, and had a shafit wife and children back home in Am Gezira. Around that time, the Nahids had developed a genocidal pox that specifically targeted shafit. It was mixed with paint and applied to their Geziri soldiers' scabbards, so that when their soldiers went back home to Am Gezira the pox would be spread to the shafit living there. Zaydi was one of those soldiers, and the following morning after he returned home, he found his wife and children dead.

Upon returning to his garrison, Zaydi killed his Daeva commander by taking a khanjar to his throat, thus beginning his revolt.

### **Zaydi's Rebellion**

It took Zaydi nearly a hundred years of gathering support before he and his troops attacked Daevabad head-on. In his fight against the Nahids, Afshin, and Daevas, he had the support of the Geziri, the shafit, the Ayaanle, and the Sahrayn. The Tukharistani were loyal to the Nahids, and the Agnivanshi were carefully retreating back to their own country as tensions grew. Somewhere along the way he became allies with Armah, an Ayaanle who was allied with the marid. This would be vital in how they breached Daevabad by being transported through the lake that surrounded the city.

As the rebellion grew, the Nahid Council tried to strike back in the form of horrifically destroying Qui-zi, a Tukharistani merchant city that openly embraced its human and shafit inhabitants, in hopes of ending the war. Led by the young Darayavahoush e-Afshin, he then brought the pureblooded survivors back to Daevabad who spread word of what had happened. Earning him the title Scourge of Qui-zi and banishment from Daevabad, the slaughter of Qui-zi spurred the remaining Tukharistani clans to support Zaydi's cause.

Five years after the Scourging of Qui-zi, Zaydi's army breached Daevabad's city walls. The Nahid Hospital was the first place to fall. Combined with revolting shafit in the area, they brutally murdered every Nahid and Daeva within before they had a chance to escape.
The Daeva Quarter was sacked next, Dara's family killed along with many other Daevas.

### **Ruling Daevabad**

After the Nahid Council was overthrown and Zaydi became king, the towering Citadel was built in the Geziri Quarter. A symbol of his rebellion and a home for the Royal Guard, Zaydi ruled Daevabad from that tower for years.

He took Suleiman's seal ring from the Nahid Council, and destroyed any documents related to it.

At some point, Zaydi remarried and had more children.

### **Darayavahoush's Rebellion**

After Zaydi took claim of Daevabad, Darayavahoush spurred surviving Daeva forces to revolt against him.

During the height of the Daeva rebellion, Darayavahoush had lured Zaydi to the Dasht-e Loot, an inhospitable desert in southern Daevastana. He had captured and killed Zaydi's son in battle, and a plan for Zaydi was to follow. Except, instead, Darayavahoush was enslaved and killed by the ifrit, removing him from the war. As his relic is kept in a Qahtani blood-sealed box in a crypt under the Daevabad Palace, it is likely that Zaydi knew of this plan.

## References

1. ↑ The Kingdom of Copper, ch. 5, pg. 92
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Kingdom of Copper, ch. 25, pg. 412
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Empire of Gold excerpt read at VoyagerCon 2019
4. ↑ The Empire of Gold
5. ↑ The City of Brass, ch. 30, pg. 514
6. ↑ The City of Brass, ch. 30, pg. 515
7. ↑ The Kingdom of Copper, ch. 3, pg. 64
8. ↑ The Kingdom of Copper, ch. 1, pg. 35
9. ↑ The Kingdom of Copper, Prologue, pg. 22
10. ↑ The City of Brass, ch. 14, pg. 251