Today was a big day in Persian history. To say that Persia has not fought wars in the last few centuries, or, relatively, over the last millennia and a half, may be in large part due to the fact it didnt exist, either being subject to the Caliphate, or divided among Turkish robber barons. It was not until the Shia Safavids united Persia around a sectarian identity in 1501 that the modern nation emerged. But on this day in 1722 the Safavid Empire was defeated by an army from Afghanistan at The Battle of Gulnabad, pushing Iran into a period of anarchy that did not end with the establishment of the fratricidal Afsharid dynasty in 1736, which was too busy dismembering Iran to contemplate foreign adventures. The anarchy only ended in 1796 with the establishment of the last Persian Dynasty but one. On a far brighter note, long before, on this bright day in 1010 by the Julian calendar, at the height of what was arguably the greatest civilization the earth has seen, Ferdowsi completed his epic poem Shāhnāmeh. The Shahnameh or The Book of Kings) is a long epic poem and is the national epic of Iran (Persia) and the Persian-speaking world, and, in relation to the Caliphate, represented the other tradition as the Hellenic heritage does in our Judeo-Roman or Greco-Christian culture, and assured Persian would be to Arabic as Greek was too Latin in the Hellenistic Age until the 20th century.. The Shahnameh tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian empire from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century. Today Iran, Persian speakers of the neighboring nations such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and the greater region influenced by the Persian culture still celebrate this national epic. The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Sassanid ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest and an end to the Zoroastrian influence in Iran. The Shahnameh gives an account of the creation of the world and of man as believed by the Sassanians. This introduction is followed by the story of the first man, Keyumars, who also became the first king after a period of mountain dwelling. His grandson Hushang, son of Sīyāmak, accidentally discovered fire and established the Sadeh Feast in its honor. I love that myth. Gotta find a quicker way to find images. Hours, and all I found was nice music. youtube/watch?v=2S7xfiSaGoQ
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 13:17:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015