Arash the Archer ( fa, آرش کمانگیر ''Āraš-e Kamāngīr'') is a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

ic archer-figure of

Iranian mythology Iranian mythology or Iranic mythology may refer to any of the following mythologies of various Iranian peoples: * Persian mythology * Kurdish mythology * Scythian mythology ** Ossetian mythology * Azerbaijani mythology See also *Iranian religions ...

. According to Iranian folklore, the boundary between Iran and Turan was set by an arrow launched by Arash, after he put his own life in the arrow's launch. The arrow was traveling for days before finally landing on the other side of the

Oxus The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

on the bark of a walnut tree hundreds of miles away from the original launch site atop a mountain.

Origins of the name

Although several sources (e.g. al-Biruni) appear to have considered 'Arash' to be the origin of the name 'Arshak' (i.e. Arsaces), the name of the Parthian dynasty derives from a

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

Eastern Iranian The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian diale ...

equivalent of 'Ardashir', i.e. 'Artaxerxes', specifically Artaxerxes II, from whom the Arsacids claimed descent. (Within the scheme of the mythologically conflated genealogies of Iranian dynasts, the Arsacids also claimed to descend—via the other Arash—from Kai Kobad.) As is typical for names from oral tradition, there are numerous variations of 'Arash'. In the Avesta the name appears as 'Erekhsha' (''Ǝrəxša'') "of the swift arrow, having the swiftest arrow among the Iranians" ('' Yasht'' 8.6). This

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

-language form continues in Zoroastrian

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

as 'Erash' (''Bundahishn'', ''Shahrastanha-i Eran'', ''Zand-i Vahuman Yasht'', ''Mah i Frawardin''), from which the anglicized 'Eruch' derives.

New Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...

forms include 'Erash' and 'Irash' in

al-Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...

and ibn al-Atir; Aarashshebatir in al-Tabari; 'Arash' in al-Talebi; 'Aarash' in Maqdesi, Balami, Mojmal, Marasi, al-Biruni, and in the

Vis o Ramin Vis, ViS, VIS, and other capitalizations may refer to: Places * Vis (island), a Croatian island in the Adriatic sea ** Vis (town), on the island of Vis * Vis (river), in south-central France * Vis, Bulgaria, a village in Haskovo Province * Vis ...

of Gorgani. Names with a stock epithet representing the Avestan "swift arrow" include al-Tabari's 'Aarashshebatir' and Mojmal's 'Arash-e Shewatir'. A surname form includes 'Arash/Aarash kaman-gir' "Arash, bow-expert."

Summary

The basic story of the bowman runs as follows: In a war between the Iranians and

Turan Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...

ians over the "royal glory" ('' khwarrah''), the Turanian general

Afrasiab Afrasiab ( fa, ''afrāsiyāb''; ae, Fraŋrasyan; Middle-Persian: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi. The mythical king ...

has surrounded the forces of the righteous Manuchehr, and the two sides agree to make peace. Both reach an agreement that whatever land falls within the range of a bow-shot shall be returned to the Manuchehr and the Iranians, and the rest should then fall to Afrasiab and the Aniranians. An angel (in al-Biruni it is ''Isfandaramad'', i.e. the

Amesha Spenta In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spenta ( ae, , Aməša Spəṇta—literally "Immortal (which is) holy/bounteous/furthering") are a class of seven divine entities emanating from Ahura Mazda, the highest divinity of the religion. Later Middle Persian ...

Spenta Armaiti, in

called ''Spendarmad'') instructs Manuchehr to construct a special bow and arrow, and Arash is asked to be the archer. Arash then fires the specially-prepared arrow at dawn, which then traveled a great distance (see below) before finally landing and so marking the future border between the Iranians and the Aniranians. In Talebi and Bal'ami, Arash is destroyed by the shot and disappears. In

, he is exalted by the people, is appointed commander of the archers and lives out his life in great honor. The distance the arrow travels varies: in one, it is a thousand leagues (''

farsakh The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of walking distance, the length of which varied according to terrain and speed of travel. The European equivalent is the league. In modern terms the distance is about 3 or 3½ miles (4.8 or 5.6 km). Hist ...

s''), and in another, forty days' walk. In several, the arrow traveled from dawn to noon; in others, from dawn until sunset. A few sources specify a particular date for the event. The Middle Persian ''Mah i Frawardin'' notes the 6th day of the 1st month (i.e. Khordad of Frawardin); later sources associate the event with the name-day festivities of Tiregan (13th of Tir) "presumably" provoked by the homonymity with the '' Yazata'' Tir or ''tir'' "arrow." () The location from which Arash fired his arrow varies as well. In the Avesta (which does not mention places in Western Iran), it is ''Airyo.khshaotha'', an unidentified location in the Middle Clime. Islamic-era sources typically place the location of the shot somewhere just south of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

, variously in

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...

(Tabari, Talebi, Maqdesi,

Ibn al-Athir Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian a ...

, Marashi) and (al-Biruni, Gardēzī);

Amol Amol ( fa, آمل – ; ; also Romanized as Āmol and Amul) is a city and the administrative center of Amol County, Mazandaran Province, Iran, with a population of around 300,000 people. Amol is located on the Haraz river bank. It is less than ...

fortress ( Mojmal); Mount Damavand (Balami) or

Sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...

(Gorgani). The place the arrow landed is variously identified as 'Mount Khvanvant' in the Avesta (likewise an unknown location); a river in

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

(Tabari, al-Atir); east of Balkh (Talebi);

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

Tokharistan Tokharistan (formed from "Tokhara" and the suffix ''-stan'' meaning "place of" in Persian) is an ancient Early Middle Ages name given to the area which was known as Bactria in Ancient Greek sources. In the 7th and 8th century CE, Tokharistan c ...

(Maqdesi, Gardizi); the banks of the

Oxus River The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

(Balami) or

Merv Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...

(Mojmal). According to al-Biruni, it hit a walnut tree between "

Fargana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

" and Tabaristan "in the furthest reaches of reaterKhorasan." The name Arash remains a popular name among Iranians.

Modern legend

Siavash Kasraie Siavash Kasrai ( fa, سیاوش کسرائی; February 25, 1927 – February 8, 1996) was an Iranian poet, literary critic and novelist. He is well-known for his epic poem of Arash the Archer written in the late 1950s. An active supporter of ...

, an Iranian poet, wrote the long poem of ''Arash the Archer'' in 1959. This epic narrative, based on the ancient Persian myth, depicts Arash's heroic sacrifice to liberate his country from foreign domination. Bahram Beyzai wrote ''Āraš'', which opened in 1977, as a response to Āraš-e kamāngīr. Neither a short story nor a play, Beyzai's ''Āraš'' was staged a number of times around the world, most notably at the Annenberg Auditorium at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, in July 2013. Peykan Zarrin Arash

Arash Kamangir's golden arrow

The unveiling ceremony of Arash Kamangir's golden arrow (peace, romantic defense) was held by the Nowruz World Institute on the occasion of World Peace Day (20 September 2020). Arash Kamangir's symbolic look at an arrow adorned with gold and jewelry is in fact an artistic ideal in the form of depicting myths that are all peaceful.

References

External links

* . * {{Zoroastrianism Iranian male archers People from Amol Legendary Iranian people