form of the Middle Persian Wardakhsh/Walakhsh (Inscriptional Pahlavi: ?{{lrm?lrm}}??lrm}}???}} wrd?hsy; late Book Pahlavi forms gwlhs- Gulakhsh- and Gulash-). The etymology of the name is unclear, although Ferdinand Justi proposes that Walagas, the first form of the name, is a compound of words "strength" (var?da), and "handsome" (gas or ges in Modern Persian).

The