''Faramarz-nama'' or ''Faramarz-nameh'' ( fa, فرامرزنامه, italic=yes) is a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

epic recounting the adventures of the hero

Faramarz Faramarz ( fa, فرامرز) is an Iranian legendary hero (''pahlavan'') in Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"). He was son of Rostam and at last killed by Kay Bahman. The book Faramarz-nama, written about a hundred years after Shahnameh, ...

"FARĀMARZ-NĀMA" in Encyclopedia Iranica by Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh. Accessed April 4, 2010

/ref> who is the son of

Rustam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a wel ...

Manuscripts

The history book ''

Tarikh-i Sistan The ''Tarikh-i Sistan'' (''History of Sistan'') is an anonymous Persian-language history of the region of Sistan, in modern north-eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, ام ...

'' (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 ...

) mentions an account of Faramarz (akhbar-e Faramarz) in twelve volumes, but this work, which was likely in prose, has been lost. Instead, two Faramarz-namas (epic of Faramarz), both in the form of epic poems, are extant.

First manuscript

The first manuscript, which appears to be older, is written by an anonymous poet who introduces himself as an admirer 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 is dated between the mid-11th and 12th centuries. In the manuscript he introduces himself as a villager from Piruzabad (or possibly an orthographical error in the text for Forsabad, a town near Marv in

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

). The poet states that he composed the Faramarz-nama at the age of thirty-six and his major source is a book by Azadsarv.Encyclopedia Iranica, "Azadsarv" by Djalal. Khaleghi-Motlagh
/ref> Like other Persian writers of epic poetry who came after Ferdowsi, the author of this work was heavily influenced by the style of the

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...

Second manuscript

The second Faramaz-nama is a known book in 464 pages and containing between nine and ten thousand distichs. It was printed in Bombay in 1906 by the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

scholar named Rostam, son of Bahrām Soruš of Taft, a contemporary of Moẓaffar-al-Dīn Shah (r. 1896-1907) who traveled to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to gather stories about Farāmarz.

Plot based on the first set of manuscripts

The plot is about the voyage of Faramarz to

in order to help the Indian king Nowshaad(Nowšād) Shah on the orders of the

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 ...

ian King Kay Kavus. Faramarz was ordered by Kay Kavus to help the Indian king Nowšād Shah. While there, he slays Konnās Dīv (a carrion-eating demon who had abducted the daughter of the Indian king), Karg-e Gūyā (a talking rhinoceros), Aždahā (q.v.; a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

), and thirty thousand rhinoceroses. He then leaves for the land of Jaypāl where he has to accomplish seven labors or tasks. (compare with Ferdowsi who in his Shahnama has also mentioned the seven labors of Rustam). The cycle of seven stages or labors is a model for heroic epics in Persian literature. The sixth labor of

is a debate with an Indian

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

; upon its conclusion the Brahman abandons his belief in idols and becomes a worshipper of Yazdān. This concludes the Faramaz-Nama which finishes without an account of Faramarz's seventh labor or his journey to Jaypāl.

Plot based on the second set of manuscripts

The story begins with the Iranian hero

. During Rustam travels to

, Faramarz is born from the union of Rustam and the daughter of the king of India. The second section recounts the exploits of Banu Gushasp, the daughter of

. Here Faramaz is cast as a secondary role and story mainly focuses on Banu Gushasp. The third section comprises the version of Faramarz-nama discussed in the first set of manuscripts above. The fourth section of the book contains about 6000 couplets of poetry, which gives another version of Faramarz's aventures in India and Qīrvān. These exploits occur during the reign

Kay Khusraw Kay Khosrow ( fa, کیخسرو) is a legendary king of Iran of Kayanian dynasty and a character in the Persian epic book, ''Shahnameh''. He was the son of the Iranian prince Siavash who married princess Farangis of Turan while in exile. Be ...

, and this section of the story may be considered a continuation of the first set of manuscripts. This fourth sections contains many episodes of Faramarz's adventure including: * His battle with the warrior Tovorg * His battle with the warrior Rāy * His battle with a demon called Tajānū * The return of Faramarz to

* The second trip of Faramarz to

to vanquish Mahārak * His trip to the island of Kahīlā1 * His slaying of the black demon who held the daughter of the king of Kahīlā captive * The wedding of Faramarz with the daughter of the king of Kahīlā captive * His travels to the lands of the East of

* His battle with the people of the island of Fīlgušān (literally Elephanet ears) * His debate with the Indian

Brahmans Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru o ...

* The slaying of a roc and a

* His journey to Qīrvān and the slaying of a dragon, a wolf, and a lion * His acquisition of

Garshasp Garshāsp ( fa, گرشاسپ ) was, in Persian mythology, the last Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to ''Shahnameh''. He was a descendant of Zaav, ruling over the Persian Empire for about nine years. His name is shared with a ...

's treasures; his travels to the lands of bāḵtar (west) * His visit to the tomb of

Hushang Hushang Help:IPA/English">hʊ'ʃəŋ.html" ;"title="Help:IPA/English.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Help:IPA/English">hʊ'ʃəŋ">Help:IPA/English.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Help:IPA/English">hʊ'ʃəŋor Hōshang (in ), Middle Persian 𐭤𐭥𐭱𐭭𐭢 ...

* His falling in love with the daughter of Fartur-tush, the king of the fairies, the disappearance of the girl in a spring, and his search for her. * His accomplishment of the seven tasks to reach the kingdom of fairies. * The seven tasks include the slaying a lion, a wolf, a rhinoceros, a dragon, and an ogre (ḡūl), and traveling through cold and hot climes. * Farāmarz reaches the land of Farṭūr-tuš and marries his daughter * Farāmarz return to Iran where his wives give birth to two noble sons, Sām who is the daughter of the king of the fairies and Āḏar-Borzīn, whose mother is the daughter of the king of Kahīlā. The exploits of Sām are the subject of

Khwaju Kermani Khwaju Kermani ( fa, خواجوی کرمانی; December 1290 – 1349) was a famous Persian poet and Sufi mystic from Iran. Life He was born in Kerman, Iran on 24 December 1290. His nickname Khwaju is a diminutive of the Persian word ''Khwaja ...

's ''Sām-nāma'' (8th/14th century). The adventures of Āḏar-Borzīnare are recounted in the last part of the ''

Bahman-nama The ''Bahman-nameh'' ( fa, بهمن نامه) is a Persian epic poem of around 9500 lines, which describes the exploits of Kay Bahman, the son of Esfandiyar of the royal Kayanid dynasty. The earliest attestation of this work is in the book '' M ...

''.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faramarz Nama 11th-century poems 12th-century poems Persian mythology Persian poems Epic poems in Persian Roc (mythology)