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The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet
Ferdowsi Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the
national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with as ...
of
Greater Iran Greater Iran ( fa, ایران بزرگ, translit=Irān-e Bozorg) refers to a region covering parts of Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Xinjiang, and the Caucasus, where both Culture of Iran, Iranian culture and Iranian langua ...
. Consisting of some 50,000 " distichs" or couplets (two-line verses), the ''Shahnameh'' is one of the world's longest epic poems. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the
Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
from the creation of the world until the
Muslim conquest The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
in the seventh century.
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
and the greater
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
influenced by Persian culture such as
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
,
Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
, Georgia,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...
and
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
celebrate this national epic. The work is of central importance in Persian culture and
Persian language Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of the ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of
Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...
, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion and the death of the last Sasanian emperor, which brought an end to the Zoroastrian influence in Iran.


Composition

Ferdowsi Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
started writing the ''Shahnameh'' in 977 and completed it on 8 March 1010. The ''Shahnameh'' is a monument of poetry and
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
, being mainly the poetical recast of what Ferdowsi, his contemporaries, and his predecessors regarded as the account of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's ancient history. Many such accounts already existed in prose, an example being the
Abu-Mansuri Shahnameh ''Abu-Mansuri Shahnameh'' or ''The Shahnameh of Abu-Mansur'' ( fa, شاهنامهٔ ابومنصوری) was a prose epic and history of Persian Empire before Muslim conquests. It was the main source of ''Shahnameh'' of Ferdowsi. The ''Shahnameh'' of ...
. A small portion of Ferdowsi's work, in passages scattered throughout the ''Shahnameh'', is entirely of his own conception. The ''Shahnameh'' is an epic poem of over 50,000
couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...
s written in
Early New Persian Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and u ...
. It is based mainly on a prose work of the same name compiled in Ferdowsi's earlier life in his native
Tus Tus or TUS may refer to: * Tus (biology), a protein that binds to terminator sequences * Thales Underwater Systems, an international defence contractor * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language, ISO 639-3 code Education * Technological Univ ...
. This prose ''Shahnameh'' was in turn and for the most part the translation of a Pahlavi (
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 ...
) work, known as the '' Xwadāynāmag'' "Book of Kings", a late Sasanian compilation of the history of the kings and heroes of Persia from mythical times down to the reign of Khosrau II (590–628). The ''Xwadāynāmag'' contained historical information on the later Sasanian period, but it does not appear to have drawn on any historical sources for the earlier Sasanian period (3rd to 4th centuries). Ferdowsi added material continuing the story to the overthrow of the Sasanians by the Muslim armies in the middle of the seventh century. The first to undertake the versification of the Pahlavi chronicle was
Daqiqi Abu Mansur Daqiqi ( fa, ابومنصور دقیقی), better simply known as Daqiqi (), was one of the most prominent Persian poets of the Samanid era. He was the first to undertake the creation of the national epic of Iran, the Shahnameh, but ...
, a contemporary of Ferdowsi, poet at the court of the
Samanid Empire The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian peoples, Ira ...
, who came to a violent end after completing only 1,000 verses. These verses, which deal with the rise of the prophet
Zoroaster Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label=New Persian, Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastria ...
, were afterward incorporated by Ferdowsi, with acknowledgment, in his own poem. The style of the ''Shahnameh'' shows characteristics of both written and oral literature. Some claim that Ferdowsi also used Zoroastrian ''nasks'', such as the now-lost ''
Chihrdad Čihrdād nask is one of the lost ''nask''s (books) of the Avesta and survives only as a summary preserved in ''Dēnkard'' 8.13. In the summary, the text is said to have been a history of mankind from the beginning down to the revelation of Zoroa ...
,'' as sources as well. Many other
Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944 ...
sources were used in composing the epic, prominent being the ''
Kārnāmag-ī Ardaxšīr-ī Pābagān The Kār-Nāmag ī Ardašīr ī Pāpakān ("''Book of the Deeds of Ardeshir, Son of Papak''") (New fa, کارنامهٔ اردشیر بابکان), is a short Middle Persian prose tale written in the Sassanid period (226-651). The story narrates ...
'', which was originally written during the late Sassanid era and gave accounts of how
Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...
came to power which, because of its historical proximity, is thought to be highly accurate. The text is written in the late Middle Persian, which was the immediate ancestor of Modern Persian. A great portion of the historical chronicles given in ''Shahnameh'' is based on this epic and there are in fact various phrases and words which can be matched between Ferdowsi's poem and this source, according to Zabihollah Safa.


Content

Traditional historiography in Iran has claimed that Ferdowsi was grieved by the fall of the
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
and its subsequent rule by "Arabs" and "Turks". The ''Shahnameh'', the argument goes, is largely his effort to preserve the memory of Persia's golden days and transmit it to a new generation so that they could learn and try to build a better world. Although most scholars have contended that Ferdowsi's main concern was the preservation of the pre-Islamic legacy of myth and history, a number of authors have formally challenged this view.


Mythical age

This portion of the ''Shahnameh'' is relatively short, amounting to some 2100 verses or four percent of the entire book, and it narrates events with the simplicity, predictability, and swiftness of a historical work. After an opening in praise of God and Wisdom, the ''Shahnameh'' gives an account of the creation of the world and of man as believed by the
Sassanians The Sasanian dynasty was the house that founded the Sasanian Empire, ruling this empire from 224 to 651 AD in Persia (modern-day Iran). It began with Ardashir I, who named the dynasty as ''Sasanian'' in honour of his grandfather (or father), Sa ...
. This introduction is followed by the story of the first man,
Keyumars Keyumars or Kiomars ( fa, کیومرث) was the name of the first king (shah) of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to the ''Shahnameh''. The name appears in Avestan in the form of ''𐬔𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬊 𐬨𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬀𐬥 Gai ...
, who also became the first king after a period of mountain-dwelling. His grandson Hushang, son of Sīyāmak, accidentally discovered fire and established the Sadeh Feast in its honor. Stories of
Tahmuras Tahmuras or Tahmures ( fa, تهمورث ,طهمورث, ; from Avestan ''Taxma Urupi'', meaning ''strong fox'') was the third Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran (Persia) according to Ferdowsi's epic poem, the ''Shahnameh''. He is considered th ...
,
Jamshid Jamshid () ( fa, جمشید, ''Jamshīd''; Middle- and New Persian: جم, ''Jam'') also known as ''Yima'' (Avestan: 𐬫𐬌𐬨𐬀 ''Yima''; Pashto/Dari: یما ''Yama'') is the fourth Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Iran acco ...
, Zahhāk, Kawa or Kaveh, Fereydūn and his three sons Salm, Tur, and Iraj, and his grandson Manuchehr are related in this section.


Heroic age

Almost two-thirds of the ''Shahnameh'' is devoted to the age of heroes, extending from Manuchehr's reign until the conquest of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
. This age is also identified as the kingdom of Keyaniyan, which established a long history of heroic age in which myth and legend are combined. The main feature of this period is the major role played by the
Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...
or Sistānī heroes who appear as the backbone of the Empire. Garshāsp is briefly mentioned with his son Narimān, whose own son Sām acted as the leading paladin of Manuchehr while reigning in Sistān in his own right. His successors were his son Zāl and Zal's son Rostam, the bravest of the brave, and then Farāmarz. Among the stories described in this section are the romance of Zal and Rudāba, the Seven Stages (or Labors) of Rostam, Rostam and Sohrab, Sīyāvash and Sudāba, Rostam and Akvān Dīv, the romance of
Bijan and Manijeh ''Bijan and Manijeh'' (also ''Bizhan and Manizheh'', Persian بيژن و منيژه - ''Bīžan ow Manīža'') is a love story in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Bijan was the son of Giv, a famous Iranian knight during the reign of Kay Khosrow, the Sh ...
, the wars with Afrāsīyāb,
Daqiqi Abu Mansur Daqiqi ( fa, ابومنصور دقیقی), better simply known as Daqiqi (), was one of the most prominent Persian poets of the Samanid era. He was the first to undertake the creation of the national epic of Iran, the Shahnameh, but ...
's account of the story of Goshtāsp and Arjāsp, and Rostam and Esfandyār.


Historical age

A brief mention of the Arsacid dynasty follows the history of Alexander and precedes that of
Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...
, founder of the Sasanian Empire. After this, Sasanian history is related with a good deal of accuracy. The fall of the Sassanids and the Arab conquest of Persia are narrated romantically.


Message

According to Jalal Khaleghi Mutlaq, the ''Shahnameh'' teaches a wide variety of moral virtues, like worship of one God; religious uprightness; patriotism; love of wife, family and children; and helping the poor. There are themes in the Shahnameh that were viewed with suspicion by the succession of Iranian regimes. During the reign of
Mohammad Reza Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...
, the epic was largely ignored in favor of the more obtuse, esoteric and dryly intellectual Persian literature. Historians note that the theme of regicide and the incompetence of kings embedded in the epic did not sit well with the Iranian monarchy. Later, there were Muslim figures such as Ali Shariati, the hero of Islamic reformist youth of the 1970s, who were also antagonistic towards the contents of the Shahnameh since it included verses critical of Islam. These include the line: ''tofu bar to, ey charkh-i gardun, tofu!'' (spit on your face, oh heavens spit!), which Ferdowsi used as a reference to the Muslim invaders who despoiled Zoroastrianism.


Influence on Persian language

After the ''Shahnameh'', a number of other works similar in nature surfaced over the centuries within the cultural sphere of the Persian language. Without exception, all such works were based in style and method on the ''Shahnameh'', but none of them could quite achieve the same degree of fame and popularity. Some experts believe the main reason the Modern Persian language today is more or less the same language as that of Ferdowsi's time over 1000 years ago is due to the very existence of works like the ''Shahnameh'', which have had lasting and profound cultural and linguistic influence. In other words, the ''Shahnameh'' itself has become one of the main pillars of the modern Persian language. Studying Ferdowsi's masterpiece also became a requirement for achieving mastery of the Persian language by subsequent Persian poets, as evidenced by numerous references to the ''Shahnameh'' in their works. Although 19th century British Iranologist E. G. Browne has claimed that Ferdowsi purposefully avoided Arabic vocabulary, this claim has been challenged by modern scholarship, specifically Mohammed Moinfar, who has noted that there are numerous examples of Arabic words in the ''Shahnameh'' which are effectively synonyms for Persian words previously used in the text. This calls into question the idea of Ferdowsi's deliberate eschewing of Arabic words. The ''Shahnameh'' has 62 stories, 990 chapters, and some 50,000 rhyming couplets, making it more than three times the length of
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
'', and more than twelve times the length of the German '' Nibelungenlied''. According to Ferdowsi himself, the final edition of the ''Shahnameh'' contained some sixty thousand distichs. But this is a round figure; most of the relatively reliable manuscripts have preserved a little over fifty thousand distichs. Nezami-e Aruzi reports that the final edition of the ''Shahnameh'' sent to the court of Sultan
Mahmud of Ghazni Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At th ...
was prepared in seven volumes.


Cultural influence

The
Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...
dynasty adopted many of their names from the ''Shahnameh''. The relationship between Shirwanshah and his son, Manuchihr, is mentioned in chapter eight of Nizami's '' Leili o Majnoon''. Nizami advises the king's son to read the ''Shahnameh'' and to remember the meaningful sayings of the wise. According to the Turkish historian Mehmet Fuat Köprülü: Shah Ismail I (d.1524), the founder of the
Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...
of Iran, was also deeply influenced by the Persian literary tradition, particularly by the ''Shahnameh'', which probably explains the fact that he named all of his sons after ''Shahnameh'' characters. Dickson and Welch suggest that Ismail's ''Shāhnāmaye Shāhī'' was intended as a present to the young Tahmāsp. After defeating Muhammad Shaybāni's
Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...
, Ismāil asked Hātefī, a famous poet from Jam (Khorasan), to write a ''Shahnameh''-like epic about his victories and his newly established dynasty. Although the epic was left unfinished, it was an example of '' mathnawis'' in the heroic style of the ''Shahnameh'' written later on for the Safavid kings. The ''Shahnameh'''s influence has extended beyond the Persian sphere. Professor Victoria Arakelova of Yerevan University states:


On Georgian identity

Jamshid Sh. Giunashvili remarks on the connection of
Georgian culture The culture of Georgia has evolved over the country's long history, providing it with a unique national identity and a strong literary tradition based on the Georgian language and alphabet. This strong sense of national identity has helped to pre ...
with that of ''Shahnameh'': Farmanfarmaian in the '' Journal of Persianate Studies'':


On Turkic identity

Despite a belief held by some, the
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 of ''Shahnameh'' (whose sources are based on Avesta and
Pahlavi Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 **Reza Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944 ...
texts) have no relationship with Turks. The Turanians of ''Shahnameh'' are an
Iranian people Iranians or Iranian people may refer to: * Iranian peoples, Indo-European ethno-linguistic group living predominantly in Iran and other parts of the Middle East and the Caucasus, as well as parts of Central Asia and South Asia ** Persians, Irania ...
representing Iranian nomads of the
Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnistri ...
s and have no relationship to the culture of the Turks.Bosworth, C.E.
Barbarian Incursions: The Coming of the Turks into the Islamic World
. In ''Islamic Civilization'', ed. D.S. Richards. Oxford, 1973. p. 2. "Firdawsi's Turan are, of course, really Indo-European nomads of Eurasian Steppes... Hence as Kowalski has pointed out, a Turkologist seeking for information in the Shahnama on the primitive culture of the Turks would definitely be disappointed. "
Turan, which is the Persian name for the areas of Central Asia beyond the Oxus up to the 7th century (where the story of the ''Shahnameh'' ends), was generally an Iranian-speaking land. According to
Richard Frye Richard Nelson Frye (January 10, 1920 – March 27, 2014) was an American scholar of Iranian and Central Asian studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University. His professional areas of interest were Irania ...
, "The extent of influence of the Iranian epic is shown by the Turks who accepted it as their own ancient history as well as that of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
... The Turks were so much influenced by this cycle of stories that in the eleventh century AD we find the
Qarakhanid The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek K ...
dynasty in Central Asia calling itself the 'family of Afrasiyab' and so it is known in the Islamic history." Turks, as an ethno-linguistic group, have been influenced by the ''Shahnameh'' since advent of
Saljuqs The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...
.
Toghrul III of Seljuq Toghrul III ( fa, طغرل سوم) (died 1194) was the last sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire and the last Seljuk Sultan of Iraq. His great uncle Sultan Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud (1134–1152) had appointed Shams ad-Din Eldiguz (1135/36–1175) as ata ...
s is said to have recited the ''Shahnameh'' while swinging his mace in battle. According to
Ibn Bibi Ibn Bibi was a Persian historiographer and the author of the primary source for the history of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rum during the 13th century. He served as head of the chancellery of the Sultanate in Konya and reported on contemporary events. ...
, in 618/1221 the Saljuq of Rum Ala' al-Din Kay-kubad decorated the walls of
Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...
and Sivas with verses from the ''Shahnameh''. The Turks themselves connected their origin not with Turkish tribal history but with the Turan of ''Shahnameh''.Schimmel, Annemarie. "Turk and Hindu: A Poetical Image and Its Application to Historical Fact". In ''Islam and Cultural Change in the Middle Ages'', ed. Speros Vryonis, Jr. Undena Publications, 1975. pp. 107–26. "In fact as much as early rulers felt themselves to be Turks, they connected their Turkish origin not with Turkish tribal history but rather with the Turan of Shahnameh: in the second generation their children bear the name of Firdosi’s heroes, and their Turkish lineage is invariably traced back to Afrasiyab—whether we read Barani in the fourteenth century or the Urdu master poet Ghalib in the nineteenth century. The poets, and through them probably most of the educated class, felt themselves to be the last outpost tied to the civilized world by the thread of Iranianism. The imagery of poetry remained exclusively Persian. " Specifically in India, through the ''Shahnameh'', they felt themselves to be the last outpost tied to the civilized world by the thread of
Iranianism Pan-Iranism is an ideology that advocates solidarity and reunification of Iranian peoples living in the Iranian plateau and other regions that have significant Iranian cultural influence, including the Persians, Azerbaijanis (a Turkic peoples, T ...
.


Legacy

Ferdowsi concludes the ''Shahnameh'' by writing: Another translation of by Reza Jamshidi Safa: This prediction of Ferdowsi has come true and many Persian literary figures, historians and biographers have praised him and the ''Shahnameh''. The ''Shahnameh'' is considered by many to be the most important piece of work in
Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
. Western writers have also praised the ''Shahnameh'' and Persian literature in general. Persian literature has been considered by such thinkers as
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
as one of the four main bodies of world literature. Goethe was inspired by Persian literature, which moved him to write his '' West-Eastern Divan''. Goethe wrote:


Biographies

''Sargozasht-Nameh'' or biography of important poets and writers has long been a Persian tradition. Some of the biographies of Ferdowsi are now considered apocryphal, nevertheless this shows the important impact he had in the Persian world. Among the famous biographies are: # ''Chahar Maqaleh'' ("Four Articles") by Nezami 'Arudi-i Samarqandi # ''Tazkeret Al-Shu'ara'' ("The Biography of poets") by Dowlat Shah-i Samarqandi # ''Baharestan'' ("Abode of Spring") by Jami # ''
Lubab ul-Albab ''Lubab ul-Albab'' (لباب الالباب) is a famous anthology written by Zahiriddin Nasr Muhammad Aufi in the early 13th century in eastern Persia. It is considered as the oldest extant biographical work in Persian literature and the most imp ...
'' by Mohammad 'Awfi # ''Natayej al-Afkar'' by Mowlana Muhammad Qudrat Allah # ''Arafat Al-'Ashighin'' by Taqqi Al-Din 'Awhadi Balyani


Poets

Famous poets of
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and the Persian tradition have praised and eulogized Ferdowsi. Many of them were heavily influenced by his writing and used his genre and stories to develop their own Persian epics, stories and poems: *
Anvari Anvari (1126–1189), full name Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mohammad Khavarani or Awhad ad-Din 'Ali ibn Mahmud ( fa, اوحدالدین علی ابن محمد انوری) was a Persian poet. Anvarī was born in Abivard (now in Turkmenistan) and died in ...
remarked about the eloquence of the ''Shahnameh'', "He was not just a Teacher and we his students. He was like a God and we are his slaves". * Asadi Tusi was born in the same city as Ferdowsi. His ''Garshaspnama'' was inspired by the ''Shahnameh'' as he attests in the introduction. He praises Ferdowsi in the introduction and considers Ferdowsi the greatest poet of his time. * Masud Sa'ad Salman showed the influence of the ''Shahnameh'' only 80 years after its composition by reciting its poems in the Ghaznavid court of India. *
Othman Mokhtari Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish language, Turkish and Persian language, Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and nota ...
, another poet at the Ghaznavid court of India, remarked, "Alive is Rustam through the epic of Ferdowsi, else there would not be a trace of him in this World". * Sanai believed that the foundation of poetry was really established by Ferdowsi. * Nizami Ganjavi was influenced greatly by Ferdowsi and three of his five "treasures" had to do with pre-Islamic Persia. His ''Khosro-o-Shirin'', ''
Haft Peykar ''Haft Peykar'' ( fa, هفت پیکر ''Haft Peykar'') also known as Bahramnameh (, ''The Book of Bahram'', referring to the Sasanian king Bahram Gur) is a romantic epic by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi written in 1197. This poem forms one part of ...
'' and ''Eskandar-nameh'' used the ''Shahnameh'' as a major source. Nizami remarks that Ferdowsi is "the wise sage of Tus" who beautified and decorated words like a new bride. * Khaghani, the court poet of the
Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, a ...
, wrote of Ferdowsi: *
Attar Attar or Attoor ( ar, عطار, ) may refer to: People *Attar (name) *Fariduddin Attar, 12th-century Persian poet Places *Attar (Madhya Pradesh), the location of Attar railway station, Madhya Pradesh, India *Attar, Iran, a village in Razavi Kho ...
wrote about the poetry of Ferdowsi: "Open eyes and through the sweet poetry see the heavenly eden of Ferdowsi." * In a famous poem, Sa'adi wrote: * In the ''Baharestan'', Jami wrote, "He came from Tus and his excellence, renown and perfection are well known. Yes, what need is there of the panegyrics of others to that man who has composed verses as those of the Shah-nameh?" Many other poets, e.g. Hafez,
Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...
and other mystical poets, have used imageries of ''Shahnameh'' heroes in their poetry.


Persian historiography

The ''Shahnameh'''s impact on Persian historiography was immediate and some historians decorated their books with the verses of Shahnameh. Below is sample of ten important historians who have praised the ''Shahnameh'' and Ferdowsi: # The unknown writer of the ''Tarikh Sistan'' ("History of
Sistan Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan (N ...
") written around 1053 # The unknown writer of '' Majmal al-Tawarikh wa Al-Qasas'' (c. 1126) # Mohammad Ali Ravandi, the writer of the ''Rahat al-Sodur wa Ayat al-Sorur'' (c. 1206) #
Ibn Bibi Ibn Bibi was a Persian historiographer and the author of the primary source for the history of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rum during the 13th century. He served as head of the chancellery of the Sultanate in Konya and reported on contemporary events. ...
, the writer of the history book, ''Al-Awamir al-'Alaiyah'', written during the era of 'Ala ad-din KayGhobad # Ibn Esfandyar, the writer of the ''Tarikh-e Tabarestan'' # Muhammad Juwayni, the early historian of the Mongol era in the ''Tarikh-e Jahan Gushay'' ( Ilkhanid era) # Hamdollah Mostowfi Qazwini also paid much attention to the ''Shahnameh'' and wrote the '' Zafarnamah'' based on the same style in the Ilkhanid era # Hafez-e Abru (1430) in the ''Majma' al-Tawarikh'' # Khwand Mir in the '' Habab al-Siyar'' (c. 1523) praised Ferdowsi and gave an extensive biography on Ferdowsi # The Arab historian Ibn Athir remarks in his book, '' Al-Kamil'', that, "If we name it the Quran of 'Ajam, we have not said something in vain. If a poet writes poetry and the poems have many verses, or if someone writes many compositions, it will always be the case that some of their writings might not be excellent. But in the case of Shahnameh, despite having more than 40 thousand couplets, all its verses are excellent."


Illustrated copies

Illustrated copies of the work are among the most sumptuous examples of
Persian miniature painting A Persian miniature ( Persian: نگارگری ایرانی ''negârgari Irâni'') is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a ''muraqqa''. Th ...
. Several copies remain intact, although two of the most famous, the Houghton ''Shahnameh'' and the Great Mongol ''Shahnameh'', were broken up for sheets to be sold separately in the 20th century. A single sheet from the former was sold for £904,000 in 2006. The Baysonghori ''Shahnameh'', an
illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...
copy of the work (Golestan Palace, Iran), is included in
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's
Memory of the World Register Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
of cultural heritage items. The Mongol rulers in Iran revived and spurred the patronage of the ''Shahnameh'' in its manuscript form. The "Great Mongol" or Demotte ''Shahnameh'', produced during the reign of the Ilkhanid Sultan Abu Sa'id, is one of the most illustrative and important copies of the ''Shahnameh''. The Timurids continued the tradition of manuscript production. For them, it was considered ''de rigueur'' for the members of the family to have personal copies of the epic poem. Consequently, three of
Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
’s grandsons— Bāysonḡor, Ebrāhim Solṭān, and Moḥammad Juki—each commissioned such a volume. Among these, the
Baysonghor Shahnameh The Baysunghur ''Shahnameh'' ( fa, شاهنامه بایسُنغُری) is an illustrated manuscript of the ''Shahnameh'', the national epic of Greater Iran. The work on this manuscript was started in 1426 at the order of Baysunghur Mirza, the ...
commissioned by Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Bāysonḡor is one of the most voluminous and artistic ''Shahnameh'' manuscripts. The production of illustrated ''Shahnameh'' manuscripts in the 15th century remained vigorous during the Qarā-Qoyunlu or Black Sheep (1380–1468) and Āq Qoyunlu or White Sheep (1378–1508) Turkman dynasties. Many of the extant illustrated copies, with more than seventy or more paintings, are attributable to
Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
,
Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
, and
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
beginning in about the 1450s–60s and continuing to the end of the century. The
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
era saw a resurgence of ''Shahnameh'' productions. Shah Ismail I used the epic for propaganda purposes: as a gesture of Persian patriotism, as a celebration of renewed Persian rule, and as a reassertion of Persian royal authority. The Safavids commissioned elaborate copies of the ''Shahnameh'' to support their legitimacy. Among the high points of ''Shahnameh'' illustrations was the series of 250 miniatures commissioned by Shah Ismail for his son's Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp. Two similar cycles of illustration of the mid-17th century, the ''Shahnameh'' of Rashida and the Windsor ''Shahnameh'', come from the last great period of the Persian miniature. In honour of the ''Shahnameh'''s millennial anniversary, in 2010 the
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...
in Cambridge hosted a major exhibition, called "Epic of the Persian Kings: The Art of Ferdowsi’s ''Shahnameh''", which ran from September 2010 to January 2011. The
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., focusing on Asian art. The Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. Th ...
of the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington, DC also hosted an exhibition of folios from the 14th through the 16th centuries, called "Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings", from October 2010 to April 2011. In 2013
Hamid Rahmanian Hamid Rahmanian (born 1968) is a New York–based Iranian multi-disciplinary artist working mostly in cinema, graphic art and shadow theater. Since the late 1980s, he has combined his love of traditional Persian art forms with modern technology to ...
illustrated a new English translation of the ''Shahnameh'' (translated by
Ahmad Sadri Ahmad Sadri is an Iranian sociologist, author, and translator. He is the James P. Gorter Professor of Islamic World Studies and Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Lake Forest College. He is the twin brother and collaborator of Mahmoud Sadri. ...
) creating new imagery from old manuscripts.


Modern editions


Scholarly editions

Scholarly editions have been prepared of the ''Shahnameh''. In 1808 Mathew Lumsden (1777–1835) undertook the work of an edition of the poem. The first of eight planned volumes was published in Kolkata in 1811. But Lumsden didn't finish any further volumes. In 1829 Turner Macan published the first complete edition of the poem. It was based on a comparison of 17 manuscript copies. Between 1838 and 1878, an edition appeared by French scholar
Julius von Mohl Julius von Mohl (25 October 1800 – 4 January 1876) was a German Orientalist. Life The brother of Hugo von Mohl and Robert von Mohl, he was born at Stuttgart. He abandoned the idea of entering the Lutheran ministry, and in 1823 went to Pari ...
, which was based on a comparison of 30 manuscripts. After Mohl's death in 1876, the last of its seven volumes was completed by
Charles Barbier de Meynard Charles Adrien Casimir Barbier de Meynard (6 February 1826 – 31 March 1908), born at sea on a ship from Constantinople to Marseille, was a nineteenth-century French historian and orientalist. Biography His studies focused on the early history ...
, Mohl's successor to the chair of Persian of the College de France. Both editions lacked critical apparatuses and were based on secondary manuscripts dated after the 15th century; much later than the original work. Between 1877 and 1884, the German scholar Johann August Vullers prepared a synthesized text of the Macan and Mohl editions under the title ''Firdusii liber regum'', but only three of its expected nine volumes were published. The Vullers edition was later completed in Tehran by the Iranian scholars S. Nafisi, Iqbal, and M. Minowi for the millennial jubilee of Ferdowsi, held between 1934 and 1936. The first modern critical edition of the ''Shahnameh'' was prepared by a Russian team led by E. E. Bertels, using the oldest known manuscripts at the time, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, with heavy reliance on the 1276 manuscript from the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
and the 1333 Leningrad manuscript, the latter of which has now been considered a secondary manuscript. In addition, two other manuscripts used in this edition have been so demoted. It was published in Moscow by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in nine volumes between 1960 and 1971. For many years, the Moscow edition was the standard text. In 1977, an early 1217 manuscript was rediscovered in Florence. The 1217 Florence manuscript is one of the earliest known copies of the ''Shahnameh'', predating the Moghul invasion and the following destruction of important libraries and manuscript collections. Using it as the chief text, Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh began the preparation of a new critical edition in 1990. The number of manuscripts that were consulted during the preparation of Khaleghi-Motlagh edition goes beyond anything attempted by the Moscow team. The critical apparatus is extensive and a large number of variants for many parts of the poem were recorded. The last volume was published in 2008, bringing the eight-volume enterprise to a completion. According to Dick Davis, professor of Persian at Ohio State University, it is "by far the best edition of the ''Shahnameh'' available, and it is surely likely to remain such for a very long time".


Arabic translation

The only known Arabic translation of the ''Shahnameh'' was done in c. 1220 by al-Fath bin Ali al-Bondari, a Persian scholar from
Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
and at the request of the
Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
ruler of Damascus
Al-Mu'azzam Isa () (1176 – 1227) was the Ayyubid emir of Damascus from 1218 to 1227. The son of Sultan al-Adil I and nephew of Saladin, founder of the dynasty, al-Mu'azzam was installed by his father as governor of Damascus in 1198 or 1200. After his father's ...
. The translation is ''Nathr'' (unrhyming) and was largely forgotten until it was republished in full in 1932 in Egypt, by historian Abdelwahhab Azzam. This modern edition was based on incomplete and largely imprecise fragmented copies found in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, Paris, Astana, Cairo and Berlin. The latter had the most complete, least inaccurate and well-preserved Arabic version of the original translation by al-Bondari.


English translations

There have been a number of English translations, almost all abridged. James Atkinson of the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
's medical service undertook a translation into English in his 1832 publication for the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland, now part of the
Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...
. Between 1905 and 1925, the brothers Arthur and Edmond Warner published a translation of the complete work in nine volumes, now out of print. There are also modern incomplete translations of the ''Shahnameh'':
Reuben Levy Reuben Levy (28 April 1891 – 6 September 1966) was Professor of Persian at the University of Cambridge, who wrote on Persian literature and Islamic history. Life Levy was educated at the Friars School, Bangor, the University College of North ...
's 1967 prose version (later revised by Amin Banani), and another by Dick Davis in a mixture of poetry and prose which appeared in 2006. Also a new English translation of the book in prose by
Ahmad Sadri Ahmad Sadri is an Iranian sociologist, author, and translator. He is the James P. Gorter Professor of Islamic World Studies and Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Lake Forest College. He is the twin brother and collaborator of Mahmoud Sadri. ...
was published in 2013. The Parsis, Zoroastrians, whose ancestors had migrated to India in the 8th or 10th century so they could continue practice of their religion in peace, have also kept the ''Shahnameh'' traditions alive. Dr. Bahman Sohrabji Surti, assisted by Marzban Giara, published between 1986 and 1988 the first detailed and complete translation of the ''Shahnameh'' from the original Persian verse into English prose, in seven volumes.


Other languages

There are various translations in French and German. An Italian translation was published in eight volumes by
Italo Pizzi Italo Pizzi (Parma, 30 November 1849 – Turin, 6 December 1920) was an Italian academic and scholar of Persian language and literature. He was the first to establish the academic field of Persian language and literature in Italy. Biography Fro ...
with the title ''Il libro dei re.'' Poema epico recato dal persiano in versi italiani da Italo Pizzi, 8 voll., Torino, Vincenzo Bona, 1886–1888 (later reissued in two volumes with a compendium, from UTET,
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, 1915). Dastur Faramroz Kutar and his brother Ervad Mahiyar Kutar translated the ''Shahnameh'' into Gujarati verse and prose and published 10 volumes between 1914 and 1918. A Spanish translation was published in two volumes by the Islamic Research Institute of the Tehran Branch of McGill University.


In popular culture

The ''Shahnameh'', especially the legend of Rostam and Sohrab, is cited and plays an important role in the novel '' The Kite Runner'' by Afghan-American writer
Khaled Hosseini Khaled Hosseini (;Pashto/Dari ; born March 4, 1965) is an Afghan Americans, Afghan-American novelist, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR goodwill ambassador, and former physician. His debut novel ''The Kite Runner'' (2003) wa ...
. The ''Shahnameh'' has also been adapted to many films and animations: * ''Shirin Farhad'' (1931), Indian
Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language feature film based on the story of
Khosrow and Shirin Khosrow and Shirin ( fa, خسرو و شیرین) is the title of a famous tragic romance by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), who also wrote Layla and Majnun. It tells a highly elaborated fictional version of the story of the love ...
, directed by
J.J. Madan J.J. Madan was a theater business owner and film director in India. He was the third son of Indian film magnate Jamshedji Framji Madan who started Madan Theatres Ltd. in 1919. After his father died in 1923, J. J. Madan took over the management of ...
and starring
Jehanara Kajjan Jahanara Kajjan (15 February 1915 – December 1945), or "Miss Kajjan", was an Indian singer and actress active during the 1920s and 1930s, often referred to as the "Nightingale of Bengal".Orsini 2006: 272 The reigning queen of early talkie ...
and Master Nissar. It was the second Indian
sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
after ''
Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves on a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a '' fakir'' (Muhammad Wazir Khan) ...
'' (also released in the same year). * ''Shirin Farhad'' (1956), Indian
romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
adventure drama film based on the story of Khosrow and Shirin, directed by Aspi Irani and starring
Madhubala Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi; 14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was an Indian actress and producer who worked in Hindi-language films. She ranked as one of the highest-paid entertainers in India in the post-independence era, ...
and Pradeep Kumar. *''
Rustom Sohrab ''Rustam Sohrab'' is a 1963 Indian Hindi-language film, produced by F.U. Ramsay and directed by Vishram Bedekar.
'' (1963), Indian adventure drama film based on the story of Rustam and Sohrab, directed by Vishram Bedekar and starring
Prithviraj Kapoor Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and establish ...
and Premnath. *In 1971–1976,
Tajikfilm Tajikfilm ( tg, Тоҷикфилм, russian: Таджикфильм) is a Tajik (former Soviet) film studio. Tajikfilm was founded in 1930 as a newsreel studio; the studio released its first feature film in 1932 and its first talky in 1935. In 19 ...
produced a trilogy comprising ''Skazanie o Rustame'', ''Rustam i Sukhrab'' and ''Skazanie o Sijavushe''. *''Zal & Simorgh'' (1977), Persian short animation directed by
Ali Akbar Sadeghi Ali Akbar Sadeghi ( fa, علی‌اکبر صادقی, also Romanized as "Ali-Akbar Sādeqi"; born 22 November 1937) a graduate of the College of Art, University of Tehran, is one of the most prolific and successful Iranian painters and artists. A ...
, narrates the story of Zal from birth until returning to the human society. * ''Chehel Sarbaz'' (2007), Persian TV series directed by
Mohammad Nourizad Mohammad Nourizad ( fa, محمد نوری زاد), born 10 December 1952) is an Iranian filmmaker, activist, and former journalist for the conservative daily '' Kayhan''.
, concurrently tells the story of Rostam and Esfandiar, biography of
Ferdowsi Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
, and a few other historical events. * '' The Legend of Mardoush'' (2005), a long animated Persian
trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
, tells the mythical stories of ''Shahnameh'' from the kingdom of
Jamshid Jamshid () ( fa, جمشید, ''Jamshīd''; Middle- and New Persian: جم, ''Jam'') also known as ''Yima'' (Avestan: 𐬫𐬌𐬨𐬀 ''Yima''; Pashto/Dari: یما ''Yama'') is the fourth Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Iran acco ...
to the victory of Fereydun over
Zahhak Zahhāk or Zahāk () ( fa, ضحّاک), also known as Zahhak the Snake Shoulder ( fa, ضحاک ماردوش, Zahhāk-e Mārdoush), is an evil figure in Persian mythology, evident in ancient Persian folklore as Azhi Dahāka ( fa, اژی دهاک) ...
. *'' Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi'' (2012), Indian Hindi-language
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film about the love affair of a middle-aged Parsi couple loosely based on the story of Khosrow and Shirin, directed by Bela Segal and starring Farah Khan and Boman Irani. * ''
The Last Fiction ''The Last Fiction'' ( fa, آخرین داستان, Akharín Dāstān) is an animated film adaptation of the story of "Zahhak", a page from the historical identity of Iranians and one of the central tales of ''Shahnameh'' by Ferdowsi. Ashkan Rahg ...
'' (2017), a long animated movie, has an open interpretation of the story of Zahhak.


See also


Notes


References


Sources

*


Further reading

* Poet Moniruddin Yusuf (1919–1987) translated the full version of ''Shahnameh'' into the
Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
(1963–1981). It was published by the National Organisation of
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
Bangla Academy, in six volumes, in February 1991. * Borjian, Habib and Maryam Borjian. 2005–2006. The Story of Rostam and the White Demon in Māzandarāni. ''Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān'' 5/1-2 (ser. nos. 9 & 10), pp. 107–116. * Shirzad Aghaee, ''Imazh-ha-ye mehr va mah dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi'' (Sun and Moon in the Shahnama of Ferdousi, Spånga, Sweden, 1997. () * Shirzad Aghaee, ''Nam-e kasan va ja'i-ha dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi'' (Personalities and Places in the Shahnama of Ferdousi, Nyköping, Sweden, 1993. ()
Eleanor Sims. 1992. ''The Illustrated Manuscripts of Firdausī's "shāhnāma" Commissioned by Princes of the House of Tīmūr'' Ars Orientalis 22. The Smithsonian Institution: 43–68.


Persian text

* A. E. Bertels (editor), ''Shāx-nāme: Kriticheskij Tekst'', nine volumes (Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Nauka, 1960–71) (scholarly Persian text) * Jalal Khāleghi Motlagh (editor), ''The Shahnameh'', in 12 volumes consisting of eight volumes of text and four volumes of explanatory notes. (Bibliotheca Persica, 1988–2009) (scholarly Persian text). See
Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University


Adaptations

Modern English graphic novels: * , about the story of Rostam & Sohrab. * , about the story of Kai-Kavous and Soodabeh. * , the story of the evil White Deev. * , the story of Rostam's childhood.


External links


Iraj Bashiri, ''Characters of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh'', Iran Chamber Society, 2003
*
Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encycl ...
entry o
''Baysonghori Shahnameh''

Pages from the ''Illustrated Manuscript of the Shahnama''
at the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

Folios from the Great Mongol ''Shahnama''
at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

The ''Shahnameh'' Project
Cambridge University (includes large database of miniatures)
Ancient Iran’s Geographical Position in Shah-Nameh

A richly illuminated and almost complete copy of the ''Shahnamah''
in Cambridge Digital Library
Resources about ''Shahnama''
at the University of Michigan Museum of Art ; English translations by: *
Helen Zimmern Helen Zimmern (25 March 1846 – 11 January 1934) was a naturalised British writer and translator born in Germany. She was instrumental in making European culture more accessible in English. Biography Zimmern and her parents emigrated in 1850 t ...
, 1883
''Iran Chamber Society''
* Arthur and Edmond Warner, 1905–1925, (in nine volumes) at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

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''A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF)
Firdowsi & the Shahname , Kaveh Farrokh

Text of the ''Shahnameh'' in Persian, section by section
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