The King of Hamavaran, filled with secret enmity over paying tribute to Iran and grieving the loss of his daughter Sudabeh, plotted a treacherous scheme to free his realm from vassalage. After a week's time, he dispatched a smooth-tongued envoy to King Kay Kavus, cordially inviting the monarch and his retinue to feast in his royal city of Shaheh. Sudabeh, perceiving the dark intentions of her father, urgently warned Kavus that this invitation was a perilous trap laced with treason under the guise of hospitality. Yet the proud Kavus dismissed her forewarnings, believing his hosts lacked the courage to challenge him, and set forth to Shaheh alongside his paramount champions—Goudarz, Giv, and Tous.
In Shaheh, the city was sumptuously decorated; pearls, saffron, and ambergris were showered upon the Iranian sovereign. For an entire week, festive banquets raged, and the King of Hamavaran along with his captains served Kavus like humble vassals, thoroughly lulling the Iranians into a false sense of security. But as soon as the Iranians let down their guard, allied forces from Barbaristan struck in a night ambush. In the darkness, Kavus, Goudarz, Giv, Tous, and the chief lords of Iran were bound in chains. The King of Hamavaran banished the captive Iranian king and his champions to an impregnable mountain fortress whose peaks pierced the clouds.
When messengers were sent to fetch Sudabeh back to her father's court, she fiercely resisted. She tore her royal garments, gouged her cheeks in grief, called her father's envoys dogs, and swore that she would never abandon Kavus, choosing captivity beside her husband over ease. Infuriated by her defiance, her father cast her into the same mountain citadel, where she devotedly tended to the imprisoned Kavus. Meanwhile, word of Kavus's captivity plunged Iran into chaos. Taking advantage of the vacant throne, Afrasiab launched a massive invasion, crushing the Arab spear-bearers and overrunning Iran. For three months, fierce battles raged, ending in the subjugation of Iran and the enslavement of its populace. Desperate for salvation, two-thirds of the Iranian people fled to Zabulistan, pleading with Rostam to rescue the motherland. Moved to tears of blood, Rostam swore to march his vast host, shatter the Turanian yoke, and liberate Kavus from his high mountain prison.