Shahnameh
Also known as: Shahname, Book of Kings, Shah-Nameh, Shāhnāmeh, The Persian Book of Kings
Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh narrates Iran’s mythic, heroic, and historical past from the world’s creation to the fall of the Sasanian dynasty, fusing ancient lore with courtly epic. It shapes Iranian identity through kings, heroes, and moral trials across ages of wonder and war.
Description
The Shahnameh (“Book of Kings”) is a monumental Persian epic recounting the succession of Iran’s rulers and champions from primordial times through the Sasanian era. Drawing on earlier royal chronicles and oral cycles, Ferdowsi unifies cosmogony, legend, and history into a continuous saga in elevated New Persian verse. The poem’s three great movements—mythic beginnings, the heroic age of champions like Rostam, and the late historical reigns—trace the fortunes of Iran against Turan and other foes while probing justice, kingship, fate, and moral responsibility. Episodes such as Jamshid’s hubris, Zahhak’s tyranny, Kaveh’s uprising, the Simurgh’s aid to Zal, the tragedy of Rostam and Sohrab, Siyavash’s innocence, Kay Khosrow’s just rule, and the romance and campaigns surrounding Iskandar (Alexander) culminate in the Sasanian decline. The work became a touchstone for Persianate literature and art, inspiring richly illustrated manuscripts and shaping the cultural memory of Greater Iran.
Historiography
Preserved in numerous manuscript traditions from the 13th century onward, the Shahnameh reflects earlier lost prose sources (notably the Khwaday-Namag) and oral epic material. Major illustrated codices—such as the Great Mongol Shahnameh and the Baysunghur Shahnameh—testify to sustained courtly patronage and textual transmission. Modern critical editions synthesize variant readings; translations (notably by Dick Davis) popularized the poem globally. The epic’s reception spans Iran and the Persianate world, informing historiography, ethics of kingship, and visual arts.
Date Notes
Composed in New Persian over ~30 years; draws on earlier Pahlavi/Arabic Khwaday-Namag traditions and oral epic cycles.
Themes
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Rostam
- Sohrab
- Zāl
- Rudabeh
- Kay Kavus
- Kay Khosrow
- Afrasiyab
- Siavash
- Esfandiyar
- Tahmineh
Myths
- Jamshid’s Rise and Fall
- Zahhak the Serpent-Shouldered
- The Seven Trials of Rostam
- Rostam and Sohrab
- Kay Khosrow’s Ascension
- The Alexander Romance (Iskandar)
Facts
- Standard estimates place the poem at roughly fifty thousand couplets in New Persian.
- The narrative spans mythic, heroic, and historical sections ending with the Arab conquest of Iran.
- Ferdowsi based much material on earlier Pahlavi prose chronicles and oral traditions.
- Key heroic cycle centers on Rostam of Zabulistan and his lineage.
- The work is a cornerstone of Persian language and identity across Greater Iran.
- Iconic illustrated manuscripts include the Great Mongol Shahnameh and the Baysunghur Shahnameh.
- Iskandar (Alexander) appears within a Persianized universal kingship frame.
- The epic articulates ideals of just rule (farr), counsel, and restraint against hubris.
- Siyavash’s innocence and martyrdom become a paradigm of unjust persecution.
- The Simurgh functions as a protective, wisdom-bearing figure in pivotal episodes.