Shahnameh is about Aryans and their culture that began in ancient Bactria or modern

Afghanistan by the Amu River(Oxus).

The epic is about the rise of Avestan culture and its transmigration throughout two
millenniums from the time Zarathustra (1700 BCE0 to the end of Ghanznawid dynasty
in Central Afghanistan and Central Asia and its effect on the Parsa people
(Persians) during the Sassanian dynasty.

It covers the rise of Zoroaster’s preaching in Balkh and the rise of Post-
Achamenides and Sassanians, the development of heroic culture in Central
Afghanistan in Kabul valley, Hindukush range, and Samangan and Balkh.

The first author of Shahnameh was Daqiqi who was from Balkh, Afghanistan, and a
poet at the Samanid royal court. He was converted to Islam from Zoroastrianism. He
was murdered and Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznawi of Afghanistan called on the Persian
poet, Ferdowsi from Tus, to complete the epic.

Shahnameh is a book history. It is an eloquent epic that deals with the history of
Zoroastrianism portrayed as myths and epic stories that go back to the era between
2500 BCE and delves into the pre-Islamic world in what is now Afghanistan,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, Indian subcontinent and China.

It describes in poetry the rise of Avestan People in Central Asia and ancient
Bactria that have ushered into post-Islamic dynasties in modern central Asia,
Afghanistan, and Iran following the end of Sasasians in Iran. In the 2/3 of the
epic, Ferdowsi follows the Avestan geography that divided Ariana into the following
regions and ethnicities.

Airyanem Vaejah
.Bakhdhi (Bactria)
.Haroiva (Herat)
.Harakhvaiti (Arachosia-south of Kabul river to Paktia-Swat region)
Haetumant (Helmand)
Ragha( Badakhshan and Pamir region)

He also alludes to five places known as Farvardin Yasht :

1. Airyas

2. Tuiryas

3. Sairimas

4. Sainis

5. Dahis

The first half of the epic deals with the tribal warfare, with the river Oxus (Amu)
defining the approximate territorial boundary between warring factions depicting
loyalty and military valor. The basic conflicts are that between the Avestan people
and the Turanians (Iraj vs. Tur) or rather the war between Khorasan and Transoxiana
[Note 3, p. xxi].

Shahnameh describes eloquently the mythical kayumars who is the in Shahnameh the
first man to be king and establishes ceremonies associated with the crown and
throne. The epic deals with the story of Zarer and Spandedate or Isfandiyar and
tells us the story of Zal and his son Rustam and Zahhak and Jamshid.
The epic is divided into Pre-Islamic and Post-Islamic history of the Avestan
people, Achaemenids, the Sassanians, the Samanides and Ghaznavids. In the pre-
Islamic period, we find the mythical description of figures and landscapes
including Amu river, Helmand river, Kabul river, Hindu Kush and Safid Kuh
mountains, Balkh, Samangan, Kabul, Zabul and Sistan in western Afghanistan.
Ferdowsi describes Awgaan (Afghans) in Shahnameh (1–110 and 1–116).

The Achaemenids such as Darius and Cyrus, Xerxes and their successors are not
mentioned in the first 2/3 of the epic until the appearance of Alexander the Great
and the Greek invasion of Fars.

The post-Islamic era is confined to Samanids and their rise to power in Central
Asia, founded by Saman Khuda of Balkh and the Ghaznavid dynasty in Ghazna,
Afghanistan.

Abu Mansur Daqiqi **(935/942-976/980) began writing the first 1000 couplets of the
book in Balkh, where he was murdered by his favorite slave. Daqiqi used Zoroastrian
Avesta to contemplate his couplets.

*Daqiqi* (also Dakiki,), was born in Balkh in Afghanistan. After his death, Sultan
Mahmud of Ghazni in Afghanistan called on the Iranian poet Ferdowsi to finish the
Shahnameh. A large number of couplets by him were included in the epic Shahnameh
(Book of Kings) by the poet Ferdowsi. Central to the epic is Rustam, Sohrab, Zal
and the city of Samangan in central Afghanistan. Ferdowsi finished Shahnameh in
Ghazni and left for Tus in Iran.

Daqiqi wrote a narrative history of Zoroaster which begins with the history of
Zarathushtra and Gashtasb. Questions have been raised as to whether Daqiqi harbored
some Zoroastrian beliefs, or was promoting Sassanian cultural trends in the wake of
Samanid domination(819 AD- 999 AD). Zoroaster was from Balkh where he spoke the
Avestan language. Daqiqi is viewed to have been a Zoroastrian convert to Islam.
Shahnameh does not deal extensively with Achamenides until its fall and the
invasion of Fars by Alexander [note 3, Dick Davis]. Dick Davis can speak and read
Farsi.

The famous German Orientalist, Theodor Noeldeke had written a detailed analysis of
Shahnameh in 1920 in Karlsruhe, Germany. He was a philologist. In his book on
Shahnameh, “Das Iranische Nationalepos,” he describes “Western Iran” and Eastern
Iran. By Western Iran, he means the Achaemenids and their cultural and military
exchanges with Greeks. Eastern Iran is where the ancient Bactria and the Avestan
People of Zoroaster settled in what is now Afghanistan [Note 1 p.5]. He also claims
that the Iranians incorporated the norms of Sassanians into their version of Islam
in the form of Shia faith. He is the author of the following relevant books:

Geschichte des Qorans (1836-1930

)
The Qur'an: An Introductory Essay

A year before the publication of his analysis on Shahnameh in 1920, Afghanistan

defeated England in its third Anglo-Afghan war in 1919. Hence, the lack of
reference to what is now Afghanistan.

Noeldeck did not translate the Shahnameh into German. Unlike Dick Davis, Noeldecke
did not speak fluent Farsi or Dari (Persian). His book is full of superfluous
references and historic analysis of names he uses in an attempts to relate Greek
mythology to the epic stories in Shahnameh.
He does not actually deal with poetry in the Shahnameh. Dick Davis has translated
the most relevant parts of the epic in English. Noeldeck deals with minute
linguistic details mentioned in the epic and delves into some grammar analysis of
words.

In his book on Shahnameh, Noeldecke mentions the presence of a book on a hero

called Zarer. The book, written in Pahlavi describes the legend of the hero. He
hints that Ferdowsi knew about Zarer and he used him as a typical hero like Rustam
in Shahnameh. Noeldeck also describes Arachosia region (Kabul, Kapisa, Logar) in
ancient Ariana (modern Afghanistan) as part of regions in Avesta. He makes numerous
references to Rigveda and correlates the first Avestan king, Gayo Mareta or
Kayumars to Avestan Yima who is the Yama Rigvedic king.

Noeldeck critiques Ferdowsi’s poetic description of history. He praised Ferdowsi’s

poems on the heroic period and finds his description of the Sassanian period dull
[Note 1, p.70]. He also refers to Ariana and Balkh and the history of Avesta and
Zoroastrianism albeit in a superficial way. In his book, he describes modern
Afghanistan as “Eastern Iran” and alludes to the development of the Bactrian or
Avestan language and Zoroastrian faith in Balkh.

The most striking feature of Shahnameh is not that Ferdowsi followed Daqiqi but the
paintings of the epics in Shahnameh that began in 1300 AD. According to Sheila R.
Canby, Sodghdian wall paintings from Panjikent in Tajikistan are the first
imageries of Shahnameh.

Ilkhanid, the Mongol rulers of Iran built the city of Tabriz and completed the
first “Great Mongol Shahnameh” in 1335 AD. Abu Sa’id(r.1317–35) ordered copies of
the manuscript in 1330.

Timurids conquered Iran in 1395 and Shiraz, Herat and Isfahan revived during their
dynasty.

Timurid princess, Ibrahim Sultan, Baisunghur, and Muhammad Juki commissioned deluxe
illustrated Shahnama manuscripts.

In the 1490s, Timurid reach of power diminished and two Turkmen dynasties emerged:
Qara Quyunlu and the Aq Quyunlu that ruled over Afghanistan and Iran. A new style
of paintings of Shahnameh began to develop in Shiraz that is a simplified version
of the Timurid version from Herat(Western Afghanistan).

The Safavid dynasty unified the Timurid and Turkmen and a new age of Shahnameh
painting began. Shah Isma’il’s son was, Tamasp (1514–1576) and the governor of the
former Timurid capital Herat. He ordered an illustration of Herat-Style paintings
representing Bihazad who was a master from Herat.

In Shahnameh, we read about Balkh, Samangan, Zabul and Kabul and Helmand. Zal
married Rudabeh in Kabul. Their son, Rustam, was born in Zabul and he married
Tahminah in Samangan. All these cities and landmark are located in Afghanistan. The
poetic epic also describes and praises the post-Islamic Pashtuns as Afghans.

In short, Shahnameh is a product of non-Iranians. Daqiqi was from Afghanistan and

the Shahnameh paintings began with non-Iranians and Zoroaster was from Balkh who
spoke Avestan that led to the rise of the so-called “Persian” or Farsi language.

Shahnameh: The Persian Book of King by Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Dick Davis, et al.
Mar 8, 2016
Das iranische Nationalepos by Theodor Noeldeke(( Translated into English by
L.T. Bogdaov).
 A Literary History of Persia: Volume One: From the Earliest Times Until
Firdawsi (To 1000 A.D.) by Edward G. Browne | May 31, 1997
Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Penguin Classics) by Abolqasem Ferdowsi,
Dick Davis, et al. | Mar 7, 2016
A History of Zoroastrianism: Volume 1, The Early Period (Handbook of Oriental
Studies/Handbuch Der Orientalistik) Jan 1, 1996, by Mary Boyce
Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices by Mary Boyce
The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp: The Persian Book of kings

"The houses that are the dwelling of today will sink beneath shower and sunshine to
decay but storm and rain shall never mar the palace that I have built with my
poetry." Ferdowsi

The Shahname, literally meaning 'Book of Kings,' is structured according to the

mythical and historical reign of 50 Persian Kings. The epic can be roughly divided
into three parts: the first part tells of the mythical creation of Persia and its
earliest mythical past; the second part tells of the legendary Kings and the heroes
Rostam and Sohrab; the third part blends historical fact with legend, telling of
the semi-mythical adventures of actual historical Kings.
Brief overview:

Part one:

Opens with a cosmography and the creation of the world out of nothing.

The reign of Jamshid for 700 hundred years.

The rule of Zahhak the evil Serpent King who is finally killed by the
blacksmith.
The rule of Faridun and his sons.

Part two:

The birth and reign of Zal.

The birth of his son Rostam.
The reign of Rostam for 300 years, during which he overcomes seven heroic
trials and many demons, marries Tahmina.
The birth of Sohrab.
The death of Sohrab by his own father, Rostam.

Part three:

The reigns and adventures of, among others: Key Khosrow; Siyavush; Goshtasp;
Esfandiyar; Darius; Alexander, and Bahram Gur.

The story of Zal, Rostam and Sohrab

Sam married an unnamed palace courtier

Their son Zal married Princess Rudabeh , daughter of the King of Karbol.

Their son Rostam married Princess Tahmina .

Sohrab is their son.

This is the story of four generations, of fathers and sons, courage and skill, love
and honour, war and grief, and of fathers making mistakes – sometimes putting their
mistakes right, sometimes forgetting. This theme of fathers and sons reoccurs
throughout the epic.
The story of Zal

Birth and childhood of Zal:

A son, Zal, is born to King Sam but the baby has hair as white as snow. Sam thinks
his son is either an old man or a demon and orders the baby to be taken to the
foothills of the Alborz mountains and left there.

The Alborz are mountains made of jewels.

Zal is found by the magical Simorgh, the phoenix like bird with red and gold
feathers who has her nest on the summit of the mountain. She carries the baby to
her next and brings him up as her own.
Sam finding Zal in the Simourgh's nest

EnlargeEnlarge

Some years later King Sam is reminded in a haunting dream how badly he has behaved
towards his son. Sam feels remorse and sets out to the Alborz mountains to see if
his son might still be alive.

He finds his son a grown handsome young man, well brought up by the bird. Zal
doesn't want to leave the Simorgh, but she gives him one of her feathers and tells
him if he is ever in trouble he must burn the feather and she will come to his aid.

Zal and Rudabeh:

Zal hears a description of Rudabeh, daughter of Mehrab, who has "lashes like
raven's wings...the moon...her face". Zal falls in love with the description.
Rudabeh hears equal praise of Zal and his "mammoth strength." They meet, but
Rudabeh friends tease her about falling for a man with white hair brought up in a
bird's nest. And Zal is equally worried, for Rudabeh is an ancestor of the evil
serpent King Zahhak. (Zahhak grows a serpent on each of his shoulders which must be
fed with human brains.)
Despite these obstacles they vow to meet, Rudabeh offering to let her hair down
Rapunzal like from her tower so that Zal can climb up and see her. Zal doesn't wish
to hurt her and so they use a rope instead.(The subject of many many paintings.)
They promise each other their hearts and can love no other. All the families agree
to their marriage, which overcomes the negative influence of the past. Their
wedding lasts 30 days.
The story of Rostam

Rostam's Birth
Scene showing Rudabeh giving birth to Rostam

Enlarge imageEnlarge

The birth and childhood of Rostam:

Rudabeh is pregnant, in great pain and unable to give birth. Zal remembers the
Simorgh's feather. He burns it and the Simorgh appears. The bird orders and
arranges the first caesarean birth, giving Rudabeh healing herbs and stroking her
with her feathers. Rudabeh gives birth to a huge son, "a lion cub", Rostam.

Rostam is a miracle baby and has grown into a boy within 5 days and to the height
and strength of a young man within weeks. As a child he is the only on able to kill
a white elephant that is rampaging unstoppable through the palace.
The White Mountain:

Rostam is sent to the White Mountain to get rid of rebels. He disguises himself as
a merchant carrying salt, knowing that they need salt and will want to buy. He
overcomes the rebel fortress single-handedly and is hailed a champion.

Rostam's horse Rakhsh:

Rostam catching Rakhsh

Rostam capturing Rakhsh

Enlarge imageEnlarge

Rostam needs a horse and so all the horses in the kingdom are paraded in front of
him. He places his hand on each horse's back and each horse buckles under his
strength and their bellies touch the ground. Then he sees a young foal, "brave as a
lion, as tall as a camel, as strong as an elephant." No one knows who the foal
belongs to and no one can catch him. Rostam is the only one who can catch and
saddle the foal. He says that the foal will be his war horse and calls the foal,
Rakhsh, Lightning.

Rostam's seven heroic trials:

Rostam sets off to fee King Kay Kavus from demons. On the way he undergoes seven
tests, a bit like Hercules. These are known as the seven heroic trials and are the
subjects of many paintings.

Rakhsh fighting the Lion

Rakhsh killing the lion

Enlarge imageEnlarge

1. The lion: Rakhsh gallops two days travel in one day. They rest and a lion
appears. Rakhsh kills the lion while Rostam sleeps.

2. The desert: Rakhsh and Rostam get lost in a dry desert and nearly die of thirst.
Their prayers bring a sheep who leads them to a stream.

Defeating the Dragon

Rostam kills Dragon

Enlarge imageEnlarge

3. The dragon: While Rostam sleeps a dragon appears. Rakhsh strikes his hoof on the
ground, the dragon vanishes and Rostam wakes. Rostam is cross with Rakhsh for
waking him up. This happens twice more. each time Rostam is saved by his horse but
each time Rostam reprimands him. Finally Rostam sees the dragon. They fight, Rakhsh
bites the dragon and Rostam cuts off its head.

4. The witch: They find a banquet of food spread out under some trees and sit down
to eat. A beautiful woman appears welcoming them. Rostam praises her beauty and God
for creating her. But she changes shape into a hideous terrifying hag. Rostam
catches her and kills her.

Rostam capturing Ulad

Rostam capturing Ulad

Enlarge imageEnlarge
5. Battle with Ulad: While Rostam sleeps (all great heroes have to sleep!) Rakhsh
wanders into a field and starts eating the crops. The farmer is furious. Rostam
fights the farmer and pulls off his ears. The farmer gets the hero Ulad to
represent him. Ulad arrives with a whole army. Rostam destroys the whole army
single-handedly. He then asks Ulad if he knows where King Kavus is being held. Ulad
is so impressed with Rostam he offers to be his guide and protector.

Rostam fighting Arzhang

Rostam fighting Arzhang

Enlarge imageEnlarge

6. Demon King Arzhang: They come upon a demon encampment. Rostam and Rakhsh kill
the demon king Arzhang and the other demons run away. They continue on the long
journey to King Kavus.

Rostam killing the White Demon

Rostam kills the White Demon

Enlarge imageEnlarge

7. The White Demon: King Kavus's castle is besieged by demons. Rostam waits until
dawn comes and the demons fall asleep. He kills them. They capture the White Demon
and cut out his liver. Kavus is set free. They have a great party.

Tahmina:

Rakhsh is caught by Turkish horsemen while Rostam is asleep. Rostam goes to the
King of Samangan for help. Tahmina, the King's daughter has heard about Rostam and
fallen in love with his description. She comes into his room while he sleeps and he
wakes to see her beauty, "as elegant as a cypress tree...". They fall in love and
marry. Tahmina helps get Rakhsh back. Rostam doesn't stay long and leaves to go on
more campaigns. Before he leaves Rostam gives Tahmina a bracelet of gems, and if
they have a child she is to give it to the baby. If it is a girl the girl can wear
it in her hair, if it is a boy he should wear it on his arm. Rostam leaves and
Tahmina never sees him again.

Sohrab:

Tahmina gives birth to a boy, Sohrab. At ten years old Sohrab asks who his father
is. Tahmina tells him it is the champion Rostam, and gives Sohrab the bracelet. She
tells Sohrab to keep it secret that he is the son of Rostam, because she is afraid
that he will be called to war like his father, and she will never see him again.
Sohrab is given a wonderful horse (the son of Rakhsh). His strength becomes widely
known and the King sends him to war, (unbeknownst to Sohrab, the war is against
Rostam).

Sohrab and Rostam fight:

The Death of Sohrab

Rostam recognizing Sohrab

Enlarge imageEnlarge

Sohrab and Rostam meet on the battle field and don't know each other. Rostam is
amazed by Sohrab's strength. Sohrab senses that this might be his father, and tells
Rostam not to fight. Rostam thinks Sohrab is trying to trick him. So Sohrab is
about to kill Rostam. Rostam tells him that a true hero never kills at the first
strike and Sohrab lets him go.
Sohrab is killed by Rostam:

They fight again, but Sohrab is nervous and uncertain. He doesn't want to fight and
Rostam immediately mortally wounds Sohrab. As Sohrab dies he describes how he has
been looking for his father and shows Rostam the bracelet. Rostam realises this is
his own son. Sohrab dies and Rostam is overwhelmed with grief "turn my shining days
to darkest night".

Rostam holds a royal funeral for his son.

"As this famous book comes to an end the country will be full of talk about me
whoever has intelligence, judgement and religion will pour blessings on me after I
die. But I will not die after this, I will remain alive, as I have scattered the
seeds of speech."Ferdowsi

Important characters:

Sam
Zal
Simorgh
Rakhsh
Rudabeh
King Kay Kavus
King of Samangan
Tahmina
Sohrab