A Comparative Study of the Epic Characters of the Shahnameh with the Historical Individuals in Name-y-e Bastan by Mirza Agha-khan Kermani

Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Hamidreza Kharazmi

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman

10.22067/jls.v50i4.67283

Abstract

Introduction

Due to the great importance of the national aspect of the Shahnameh that makes it an instrument to introduce the national identities and idealistic history combined with the interesting narration of the storytellers and the conveyors of national epics, the real history is forgotten little by little or is under the influence of the narration. From the very beginning, it was of great importance and interest to the scholars to compare epic and legendary characters with Semitic Non-Iranian individuals. With the formation of new sciences such as archeology, new discoveries, and the rise of printing industry and translation, especially after the establishment of Dar ul Funan and the introduction of kings such as Cyrus the Great, Darius, and Ardashir et al. history writers again began to find capabilities between epic characters and real individuals. One starting point of this issue, was Mirza Agha-Khan-e Kermani who lived in Turkey during the reign of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar. He started composing Nam-e-Bastan after being prisoned by the government of Trabzon. In this book, using the translated Greek documents, the poet believes completely in the epical characters as the real historical characters along with an ambitious viewpoint and the historical understanding.

Methodology

This study is based on the analytical and descriptive methodologies. This research is conducted using library researching and comparative analysis of epic characters of the Shahnameh and the book of Name-Bastan by Mirza Agha-khan Kermani. In this study, the researcher is going to answer the following questions.

What were the viewpoints of the poets about the epic and historical characters?
On what basis did Mirza- Agha khan Kermani searched for the compatibility of epic & historical individuals?
What were the reflections that influenced Mirza Agha- khan to find any compatibility between the historical and epic characters?
Discussion

Analyzing the viewpoints of Iranian and Non-Iranian scholars, three views regarding epopees were encountered. First, those who believe only in the stoical aspect of such characters and know that most of Shahname`s heroes are the same as Persian notions of God, who, by facing epical aspects, become like human beings but they can usually function more than normal humans. Accordingly, the role models upon which the epopees has established, are metamorphic role models in which a folk or nation has believed, based on their ideals and we can only investigate them based on historical aspects that how ideals have been formed rather than finding a real historical reason. Another idea about the epic characters is that half of them are narrative and another half, which refers to Kayanians, are historical ones. Another approach denotes the historic aspects of the epic characters in cover of the fictional elements. Using the new developments and ideas in Iran, which initiated by Fath Ali Shah’s reign and the acquaintance with new civilizations, some people became familiar with translations, manuscripts, and book, which opened a new horizon to them. This group endeavored to invigorate the national history with the existing ideologies in epopees.  Mirza Abdol Hossein known as Mirza Agha-Khan, who was born and educated in the city of Kerman, departed Kerman to Isfahan due to some disputes with Nasser-o-Doleh, the local ruler, and after a while he moved to Tehran, while the next residency of this intellectual and liberal man was Turkey, where in company with other Iranian comrades especially Seyed Jamaledin Asad Abadi, he attended a Ten-member council, looking forward to the Islamic nations unity plan. After Nasser al-Din Shah’s assassination and the exposure of some clues connecting this group to Mirza Reza Kermani and after the compromise between Iran and Ottoman, Agha Khan and two of his closest friends surrendered to Mohammad Ali Shah, who was the crown prince of the time who with the utmost brutality ordered them to be beheaded and skinned their head filling them with straw and sending them to Tehran.
Many publications and compilations have been assigned to him. One of the most precious of which is Name-y-e Bastan that versifies one historical era of ancient Iran in the format and meter of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh following Toos nobleman.
Agha Khan has composed Name-y-e Bastan in eleven dynasties, including the true history of ancient Iran, benefiting from the antiquities and old scripts discovered by the archeologists.

Abadian, 2. Ajamian( or Jamshidian) 3. Babushkin or Zahhakyan or Babylon Nimrodian 4. Abtin and Fereydoun and descendants 5. Pahlevani age such as Sam and Gershasp, Nariman, Rustam 6. Akminian 7. Median or Mede 8. The Persian Empires like Cyrus 9. Salafikian or Selukian 10. Parthians 11. Sassanid.
Before dealing with the main topics from the aforementioned dynasties, it first begins with veneration of God, goddess, and angels, concerning Dark Age, the disappearance of Iran history, mentioning the historian’s mistakes, the motive for versifying the book and the veneration of the nation of Ariana or the Aryans. Then, it goes through the aforementioned dynasties matching the names of people and places of Shahnameh. According to Agha Khan, there is not much information about Coldoman other than a person in the name of Abad, who was the chief whom the Coldoman called Abt and Yapt. In the History of the Prophets and Kings, Yaft is known as Noah’s son.
Ajamian

The poet believed that Ajamians are the same as Ajams or the children of Jam. According to the poet, the history of sultans of this class has completely been disappeared, and what is known in the story of the storytellers cannot be trusted. 
Zahakyan or Chaldanian
Zahak, according to the poet, "this class is believed to be the same among Babylonians and Chaldeans, and they are collectively referred to as the clans of the Umayqis, the Rā'is, who invaded Egypt, Babylonia, Ottoman, and Iran three thousand years before the immigration, and these countries rulled them for many years. It was until the time of the Bolus and Ninus, who drove them from Ahtria, Babylonia and Iran, and the Aturian kingdom was re-formed.” According to the poet, the reason of calling Coldomans the Dragons is because they wore dresses in the form of a snake on their shoulders. He does not know Zohak as the name of a particular person, but it is changed to Azedhak that is Azedhanan who were named as the name of a greed.

Abtin and Fereydun and his Children

Fereydun formed a government that is called the Abtinion. The first of these dynasty is Fereydun ibne Ashkanian, which is the second Zartosht, since in Pars, the crypt of Fereydun and Zartosht position are considered one (Agha Khan 2015, p. 20). The reason to be called a prophet is that according to the ancient works he is the tenth prophet and some have called him Okashrach. The poet goes on to say that he expelled Kadanian from Iran, extinguished the Nemertea of Babel, and made friends with the rulers of Asurieh and the daughter of Asur, first Panipal took the King of Asurieh as a spouse. Assir is the same as Assur.
Age of Pahlevanian
The poet says that Sam is one of the descenders of Manuchehr. From the poet`s point of view, Zal, Za and Zavareh are the same person who is the ruler of Sistan persevering against the indignity of the foreign tribes. After the murder of Fariborz, Siaksar sat down to the throne. According to the poet, Kiarash is compared with Siaxar.
The rulers of the Achaemenids or PARS
Dragons or Astiages, made their daughter marry a person in the name of Akminian, Kambuzia or Kavoos, who was the ruler of Pasargadae. Kambozia is the same person as for Cambyses the first. The two historical persons mentioned by the poet can be Cambyses the first, Father of Cyrus and the son of Cyrus who is Cambyses II. The epic character of Kavoos is more compatible with Cambyses II.  The name of the daughter of the Dragon was Faramiz or Mandana. Faramiz is the same person as Farangis in Shahnameh. Faramiz gave birth to Cyrus. Farangis in Shahname is the name of the mother of Keikhosrow. Cyrus or Kourosh is compared with Keykhosrow.

Conclusion

Despite the diverse dialogues about Shahnameh’s characters and different tribes, there are several theories related to this field. First, is the narrative nature of these characters. Second, their semi-historic and semi-storical nature and, third, their historic characters. Only the third theory was accepted by Agha khan. In expression of Shahnameh’s primary characters, Agha Khan was severely influenced by Desatirian thoughts, but in accordance with other stories, he was helped by archaeological discoveries, Greek and Roman historical works, specially RigVeda and other epics. He presented several hypotheses about Shahnameh’s names.

Using person names instead of the tribes such as Cita tribes that resided next to the Saihoon river which are considered to be referring to Afrasiab son, Shide.
The historic war names in the Shahnameh are supposed as the person names, same as Feroretish the son of Diaeco who was the mad king that Ashoorians killed.
The names of the kings and their sons which are mistakenly introduced in Shahnameh, such as Fariborz who was a king but was introduced in the Shahnameh as the king’s son, supposedly Fariborz is the converted name of Fravart.
If a name was written in two forms, they are considered as two different persons.
Two king with the same name and in the same time are supposed one.
Occasionally, Ferdowsi mentioned king as a king’s son, for example, Toos was a king but has been introduced as the king’s son.
In some instances, names of characters are taken from names of places, for example, Macedonia that is Katayoon and Dariush that is Esfandiar.
Tribes are also occasionally supposed as persons, for example, Lydies whose capital was Sared was referred to as Aolad in Sari during Kavoos’s time in Shahnameh.

Keywords

• : Nameye bastan
• Shah nameh. Ferdowsi
• Mirza Aqa Khan
• Comparison

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