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an illuminated and gilded manuscript of Ferdowsī’s Šāh-nāma measurꏂing 26.5 ⨉ 38 cm, containing 346 pages and twenty-one paintings, written in nastaʿlīq, and kept in the former Royal Library (Golestan Palace Museum, no. 6) in Tehran. i. The manuscript. ii. The paintings. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 1, pp. 9-11 i. The Manuscript The Bāysonḡorī Šāh-nāma manuscript was commissioned by the Timurid prince Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Bāysonḡor b. Šāhroḵ (d. 837/1433) in 829/1426 and was completed on 5 Jomādā 833/30 January 1430. According…

name of a Roman slave-girl of Bahrām Gōr. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 2, pp. 174 ĀZĀDA, name of a Roman slave-girl of Bahrām Gōr. According to Ferdowsī ( Šāh-nāma [Moscow] VII, p. 273, vv. 153ff.) and Ṯaʿālebī ( Ḡorar, pp. 541f.) Bahrām Gōr, during his stay as a young man at the court of his Arab mentor the Lakhmid Monḏer b. Noʿmān, became the owner of Āzāda (Āzādvār in Ḡorar), who was a fine harpist. Whenever a hunt was arranged, Bahrām would place her behind himself on his camel and take her with him to the hunting ground. On on…

(from Pahlavi Burzēn), the name of several figures in the Šāh-nāma. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 8, pp. 841 BARZĪN (from Pahlavi Burzēn), the name of several figures in the Šāh-nāma. Barzīn, a wealthy dehqān who lived at the time of Bahrām Gōr; he had three daughters (Māhāfarīd, Farānak, and Šanbalīd) skilled respectively in singing poetry, playing the harp, and dancing for Bahrām Gōr when he was their father’s guest. Ultimately, all three were married to the king ( Šāh-nāma [Moscow] VII, pp. 340-46). Barzīn Garšāsp, Iranian hero descended from J…

the son of Vīsa, one of the Turanian heroes mentioned in the Šāh-nāma as a member of the army that Afrāsīāb led into Iran during the reign of Nowḏar. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 8, pp. 809 BĀRMĀN, the son of Vīsa, one of the Turanian heroes mentioned in the Šāh-nāma as a member of the army that Afrāsīāb led into Iran during the reign of Nowḏar. In hand to hand combat, Bārmān killed the aged Qobād, the son of Kāva. Some time later Bārmān himself died at the hands of Qāran, Qobād’s brother. During the reigns of K…

(born ca. 673/1274-75 in Marāḡa and died there in 738/1338), a poet who flourished in the reign of Abū Saʿīd Bahādor Khan (r. 716/1316-736/1335). A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 2, pp. 119 AWḤADĪ MARĀḠAʾĪ, SHAIKH AWḤAD-AL-DĪN (or ROKN-AL-DĪN) B. ḤOSAYN (born ca. 673/1274-75 in Marāḡa and died there in 738/1338), a poet who flourished in the reign of Abū Saʿīd Bahādor Khan (r. 716/1316-736/1335), the ninth Mongol Il-khan of Iran. He is usually surnamed Marāḡaʾī, but also mentioned as Awḥadī Eṣfahānī…

a Persian epic recounting the adventures of the hero Farāmarz. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 240-241 FARĀMARZ-NĀMA, a Persian epic recounting the adventures of the hero Farāmarz. According to the Tārīḵ-e Sīstān (p. 7) there was an account of Farāmarz ( aḵbār-e Farāmarz) in twelve volumes, but this work, presumably in prose, has been lost. Instead, two Farāmarz-nāmas, both poems composed in the motaqāreb meter (ᴗ--), are extant. One of them, which appears to be older, is by an anonymous poet who introduces himself as a vil…

“audience.” The royal audience was one of the most important and enduring of the court ceremonies practiced in Iran. i. From the Achaemenid through the Safavid period. ii. The Qajar and Pahlavi periods. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 730-737 i. From the Achaemenid Through the Safavid Period Reliefs on stone from the Achaemenid period, particularly the relief found at the treasury site at Persepolis in the excavations by the American archeological mission in 1936, depict an audience given by Darius (521-485…

(windfall), the name of one of the seven treasures of Ḵosrow Parvēz in the Šāh-nāma. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 4, pp. 365-366 BĀDĀVARD (windfall), the name of one of the seven treasures of Ḵosrow Parvēz in the Šāh-nāma (Moscow ed., IX, p. 236 vv. 3790f.). The treasures of Ḵosrow Parvēz, including the bādāvard, are also mentioned by Ṯaʿālebī ( Ḡorar, pp. 700f.), Gardīzī (ed. Ḥabībī, p. 36), and the Mojmal (p. 81). As for the origin of the bādāvard, according to Ṯaʿālebī when Ḵosrow Parvēz learned that the East Romans had rebelled against …

expressed in Persian by the neologism "adabīyāt-e erotīk"; not a clearly defined genre, since the concept of what is “erotic” varies considerably from time to time and place to place. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 5, pp. 558-560 EROTIC LITERATURE, expressed in Persian by the neologism adabīyāt-e erotīk, is not a clearly defined genre since the concept of what is “erotic” varies considerably from time to time and place to place. In general, it may be regarded as encompassing a variety of works in prose and poetry dealing with human love relationships, ʿe…

(940-1019 or 1025), one of the greatest epic poets and author of the Šāh-nāma, the national epic of Persia. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 5, pp. 514-531 FERDOWSI, ABU'L-QĀSEM i. Life Life. Apart from his patronymic ( konya), Abu’l-Qāsem, and his pen name ( taḵalloṣ), Ferdowsī, nothing is known with any certainty about his names or the identity of his family. In various sources, and in the introduction to some manuscripts of the Šāh-nāma, his name is given as Manṣūr, Ḥasan, or Aḥmad, his father’s as Ḥasan, Aḥmad, or ʿAlī, and his grandfa…

eldest daughter of Afrāsīāb and wife of Sīāvaḵš. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 3, pp. 242-243 FARANGĪS, eldest daughter of Afrāsīāb and wife of Sīāvaḵš. In the Bundahišn (TD2, 35.21) her name is Vīspān-fryā. In Ṭabarī (I, p. 604) it appears as Vasfāfarīd and Vasfafarah. In Ṯaʿālebī’s Ḡorar (p. 205), however, it is recorded as Kasīfarī. On that basis, one might speculate that the no longer extant Šāh-nāma-ye Abū Manṣūrī (See ABŪ MANṢŪR Moḥammad b. ʿABD-AL-RAZZĀQ and ABŪ MANṢŪR MAʿMARĪ) also used this form or possibly Gīsfarī. It was …

a Zoroastrian priest ( mōbed) of the town of Šāpūr in Fārs, mentioned in several Arabic and Persian sources as a translator of the Xwadāy-nāmag from Pahlavi into Arabic. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 5, pp. 523 BAHRĀM B. MARDĀNŠĀH, a Zoroastrian priest ( mōbed) of the town of Šāpūr in Fārs, mentioned in several Arabic and Persian sources as a translator of the Xwadāy-nāmag from Pahlavi into Arabic (Ḥamza, pp. 9, 23-24; Bīrūnī, Āṯāral-bāqīa, p. 99; Fehrest, p. 245; “Moqaddama-ye qadīm-e Šāh-nāma,” in M. Qazvīnī, Bīst maqāla II, Tehran, 1332 Š./1953, …

(also transcribed Burzōē), a physician of the time of Ḵosrow I (r. 531-79) and responsible for a translation of the Pañcatantra from Sanskrit to Pahlavi, the Persian translation of which is known as the Kalīla wa Demna. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 4, pp. 381-382 BORZŪYA (also transcribed Burzōē), a physician of the time of Ḵosrow I (r. 531-79) and responsible for a translation of the Pañcatantra from Sanskrit to Pahlavi, the Persian translation of which is known as the Kalīla wa Demna. Eṣ…

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a poet of the era of Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah Qāǰār (1212-50/1797-1834). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 730-731 AḴTAR, AḤMAD BEG GORJĪ, a poet of the era of Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah Qāǰār (1212-50/1797-1834). Hedāyat ( …

in the traditional history, the name of the black horse belonging successively to Sīāvoš, Kay Ḵosrow, and Goštāsb. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 2, pp. 113-114 BEHZĀD, the name of the black horse belonging successively to Sīāvoš, Kay Ḵosrow, and Goštāsb. Like Raḵš, Rostam’s horse, Behzād understood human language and feelings. As he was dying, Sīāvoš whispered in Behzād’s ear that he should let no one mount him other than Sīāvoš’s son Kay Ḵosrow ( …

son of GŌDARZ, in the Šāh-nāma a hero in the reigns of Kay Kāōs and Kay Ḵosrow, renowned for his valiant service in all the wars. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 5, pp. 522-523 BAHRĀM SON OF GŌDARZ, a hero in the reigns of Kay Kāōs and Kay Ḵosrow, renowned for his valiant service in all the wars ( Šāh-nāma, Moscow, II-IV). During Sīāvoš’s war with Afrāsīāb (q.v.), Bahrām and Zanga-ye Šavarān become Sīāvoš’s counselors after Rostam is sent back from the battlefield. After Sīāvoš’s flight to Tūrān, Bahrām is put in command of the Iranian army until the arrival of Ṭōs. The most memorable episode involving Bahrām is in the story of Ferōd. Halfway along the route of the march against Tūrān, Ṭōs orders Bahrām to go and capture a mounted warrior, whose presence on a hill overlooking the Iranian army has…

b. Aḥmad, one of the famous poets of the last years of the Samanid (819-1005) dynasty. A version of this article is available in print Volume VI, Fascicle 6, pp. 661-662 DAQĪQĪ, ABŪ MANṢŪR AḤMAD b. Aḥmad, one of the famous poets of the last years of the Samanid (204-395/819-1005) dynasty. The exact dates of his birth and death are not known, but, because he began to compose the Šāh-nāma at the command of Nūḥ b. Manṣūr (r. 365-87/975-97) and Abu’l-Qāsem Ferdowsī took up the work in about 365/977, Daqīqī’s death must have taken place in approximately 366/976; furthermore, as Ferdowsī reported ( Šāh-nāma, ed. Khaleghi, I, p. 13, vv. 128-34) that Daqīqī had been killed at a young age, the date of his birth can probably be placed after 320/932. Variou…

Two bearers of this name are known. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 2, pp. 178 ĀZĀDSARV. Two bearers of this name are known. 1. A mōbad in the reign of Ḵosrow I Anōšīravān and one of the emissaries whom Ḵosrow sent to all corners of the kingdom in search of a dream interpreter ( Šāh-nāma [Moscow] VIII, p. 111 vv. 990f.). Āzādsarv went to Marv, found in a school in the town, the youthf…

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