DOCSLIB.ORG

The Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks THE GHAZNAVID AND SELJUK TURKS This new view on aspects of the Ghaznavid and the Seljuq dynasties con- centrates on the relationship of the panegyric poets Farrukh-ı S-ısta-n-ı (c. 995– 1032) and Mu‘izz-ı (c. 1045–1127) to the Ghaznavid and Seljuk rulers and dignitaries for whom they wrote. Dr Tetley investigates the reliability of the historical sources. A solid and impressive work of learning, of interest to scholars in Oriental Studies, Medieval Literature, and History, The Ghaznavid and Seljuq Turks is the first extended English study of Mu‘zz-ı, it presents much new material concerning both this little-studied poet and also the better-known Farrukh-ı. Additionally, there is a valuable exploration of the relationship between Persians and Turks, a highly significant factor during the rule of the two dynasties. G. E. Tetley, a graduate of the University of Oxford, worked as a linguist at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham, UK, before embarking on her doctorate. ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF IRAN AND TURKEY Edited by Carole Hillenbrand University of Edinburgh This series publishes important studies dealing with the history of Iran and Turkey in the period 1000–1700 AD. This period is significant because it heralds the advent of large numbers of nomadic Turks from Central Asia into the Islamic world. Their influence was felt particularly strongly in Iran and Turkey, territories which they permanently transformed. The series presents translations of medieval Arabic and Persian texts which chronicle the history of the medieval Turks and Persians, and also publishes scholarly monographs which handle themes of medieval Turkish and Iranian history such as historiography, nomadisation and folk Islam. HISTORY OF THE SELJUQ TURKS The Saljuq-nama of Zahir al-Din Nishpuri Translated by Kenneth Allin Luther Edited by Edmund Bosworth THE ANNALS OF THE SALJUQ TURKS Selections from al-Kamil fi’l-Ta’rikh of Ibn al-Athir D. S. Richards EARLY MONGOL RULE IN THIRTEENTH CENTURY IRAN A Persian Renaissance George Lane THE GHAZNAVID AND SELJUQ TURKS Poetry as a Source for Iranian History G. E. Tetley THE GHAZNAVID AND SELJUQ TURKS Poetry as a Source for Iranian History G. E. Tetley First published 2009 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2009 G.E. Tetley All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Tetley, Gillies, 1930- The Ghaznavid and Seljuq Turks : poetry as a source for Iranian history / G.E. Tetley. p. cm. – (Routledge studies in the history of Iran and Turkey) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Iran – History–640–1256. 2. Ghaznavids. 3. Seljuqs – Iran – History 4. Literature and history. 5. Farrukhi, ‘Ali ibn Julugh, d. 1037 or 8. 6. Mu’izzi, Amir ‘Abd Allah Muh. ammad, b. 1048 or 9. 7. Poets, Persian – Biography. 8. Persian poetry–747-1500–History and criticism. I. Title. DS288.7.T48 2008 955’.024 – dc22 2008002320 ISBN 0-203-89409-X Master e-book ISBN ISBN 10: 0-415-43119-0 (hbk) ISBN 10: 0-203-89409-X (ebk) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-43119-4 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-203-89409-5 (ebk) CONTENTS Preface vi List of abbreviations vii Introduction 1 1 The social and political history of the period: the Turkish element 17 2 Farrukh-ı S-ısta-n-ı: his biography, background and patrons to 420/1029 43 3 Farrukh-ı S-ısta-n-ı: his biography and patrons from 420/1029 to the end of his career 68 4Mu‘izz-ı: biography to 485/1092, background, personality 91 5Mu‘izz-ı: biography, career and patrons, from 485/1092 to the end of Berkya-ru-q’s reign (498/1105) 123 6Mu‘izz-ı: life under Sanjar as Malik, 498/1105 to 510/1117 157 7Mu‘izz-ı: the final phase. Life under Sanjar as Sultan, 510/1117 to c.518/1124–27 179 Bibliography 196 Index 202 v PREFACE The present work is a slightly revised version of my doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Oxford in 2002; the bibliography has not been up-dated. The transcription of Arabic and Persian words and names is as recom- mended by the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Quotations - - - - - from ‘Uns.urı’s Dıvan are from the edition of Yah.ya Qarıb unless otherwise stated. In all quotations from Mu‘izz-ı’s Dı-va-n the textual references are to - - - both printed editions, first Iqbal, then H. ayyerı,asH. ayyerı’s edition, though unsatisfactory in several respects, was published in 1983 and is more likely to be available. In the case of the Selju-k-na-ma- both printed editions have also been quoted, first Afsha-r’s, then the superior but less generally known version in Jami’ al-tawa-rı-kh (see Bibliography). I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the following: to Julie Meisami, my supervisor, who first introduced me to the delights of medieval Persian poetry and to the poetry of Farrukh-ı and Mu‘izz-ı in particular; to Christine Kennedy, who undertook the exacting and time-consuming task of producing a machine-readable version of my text, and gave valuable advice and support at all times; and to Luke Treadwell, Chase Robinson and Celia Kerslake for their sympathetic interest and occasional very useful suggestions. I have enjoyed much help and kindness from Vicky Sayward and the staff of the Oriental Reading Room of the Bodleian Library, from Eira Spinetti at the Oriental Institute, and from many others. To all of them, and to my family, my heartfelt thanks. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS i) Journals and works of reference BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies CHIR The Cambridge History of Iran Dehkhuda Dehkhuda-, ‘Al-ı Akba Lughatna-ma 14 vols. Tehran 1325/ 1946, 1372/1993–4 EI2 Encyclopedia of Islam, new edition EIr Encyclopedia Iranica IC Islamic Culture IJMES International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies IRAN Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ii) Persian and Arabic texts - - - - - CM Niz.ami ‘Arud. ı Chahar Maqala IA Ibn al-Ath-ır al-Ka-mil QN Kay Ka-’u-s b.Iskandar Qa-bu-s-na-ma - - - - SN Niz.am al-Mulk Siyasat-nama/Siyar al-muluk - - - TB T. arıkh-i Bayhaqı - - - - TS T. arıkh-i Sıstan - - - - - - - - ZD Z. ahır al-DınNıshapurı Seljuk-nama vii INTRODUCTION The King’s Musicians are not only the most Skilful, either as to Singing and touching of Instruments, but are commonly the Ablest, and most ingenious Poets in the Kingdom; they sing their own Works, as it is related of Homer, and other Greek poets, who liv’d in his time; they are for the most Part in Praise of the King, and on several Actions of his Life, which they are ingenious enough in Flattery to extol, let them be never so worthy of Blame, and Oblivion. (Chardin, p. 10) This elegantly phrased but cynical view of panegyric poetry, the comment of a Persian-speaking European in Iran during the declining years of the Safavid empire (1084–8/1673–7), though it contains an element of truth, is not how practitioners of the art of court poetry saw their own achievements. Two examples, separated by more than a thousand years but surprisingly similar in phraseology, will suffice. The Roman poet Horace, who addressed panegyrics to the Emperor Augustus and his minister Maecenas in the second half of the first century BC, claimed that with his poetry he had built a monument more lasting than bronze and grander than the Pyramids; it would outlast the ravages of weather and time and preserve his fame throughout the known world (Odes III, 30). Firdaus-ı, not strictly a court - poet, made a comparable claim in a passage of panegyric to Mah. mudof Ghazna (vol. V, p. 238, ll. 64–65): Noble buildings are ruined by rain and by the heat of the sun. I have laid the foundations of a high palace of poetry which will not be damaged by wind and rain. Bayhaq-ı, no admirer of the Sha-hna-ma, used the same metaphor. His pur- pose, he said, was to build ‘a foundation for history [ta-rı-kh-paya] on which to erect a great building which will last until the end of time’ (TB p. 96). These three very different writers, a court poet, an epic poet who regarded himself as a historian, and a secretary turned historian, all spoke of their work in material terms, as buildings which would last forever, and, in the - - - - words of Niz.amı ‘Arud. ı, would ‘give immortality to their patrons and the characters in their history’ (CM p. 29). Panegyric poetry as practised by 1 INTRODUCTION Farrukh-ı and Mu‘izz-ı was not history in Firdaus-ı’s sense, but it has a note- worthy historical component.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fear and Freedom. a New Interpretation of Pliny's
    FEAR AND FREEDOM. A NEW INTERPRETATION OF PLIny’s PANEGYRICUS JOY CONNOLLY I. What meaning does the word “subversion” carry under the principate, a regime that itself may be seen as constituted in and through subversion, that arose from what Theodor Mommsen called an “empire in permanent revo- lution” and what Carl Schmitt described as a “state of emergency,” that rests its claim to legitimacy on the radical deformation of republican institutions like the tribunate and the consulship?1 I will approach this question from the perspective provided by the younger Pliny in his Panegyricus, a speech in praise of the emperor Trajan originally delivered in the autumn of 100 CE on the occasion of Pliny’s taking up the suffect consulship, and later circulated by Pliny in written form (epist. III 13; 18). The Panegyricus belongs in a tradition of poetic and prosaic praise stretch- ing back to pre-classical Greece, with Pindar’s victory odes and ejpitavfioi lovgoi, of which the most famous are Pericles’ oration over the Athenian dead in Thucydides and the alternative version of that speech provided by Plato’s Menexenos. Isocrates’ Evagoras of 365 BCE, honoring the king of Sa- lamis in Cyprus, may have been the first panegyric preserved for circulation, for political and pedagogical reasons; dating slightly later is Xenophon’s Age- silaus, the first prose text to describe itself not as a qrh'no", a death song, but an ejgkwvmion (10,3). That the objects of praise in these speeches are dead men is an important point of commonality that endures in the Roman context through the republic where, according to Cicero, the most common form of epideictic or demonstrative speech is the laudatio funebris.
    [Show full text]
  • Joseph Grzywaczewski Sidonius Apollinaris' Pagan
    Studia Theologica Varsaviensia UKSW 1/2014 JOSEPH GRZYWACZEWSKI SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS’ PAGAN VISION OF ANCIENt ROMA BELLATRIX IN CHRISTIAN ROME Sidonius Apollinaris was born in Lyons c. 430. His father was prefec- tus pretorii in Gaul. He received a good classical education, especially in grammar, literature and rhetoric, in Lyons and in Arles1. He published several poems and wanted to be considered as a poet2. He married Papia- nilla a daughter of Senator Eparchius Avitus. His father-in-law had good relationships with two kings of Visigoths, Theodoric I (418-451) and his successor Theodoric II (453-466). The Visigoths kept peace with Rome as allies (federati) of the Empire. On July 9th 455, Avitus was proclaimed Emperor of the West in Arles. In such circumstances, young Sidonius started his career in public activity. 1. ROMA BELLATRIX IN THE panegyric IN HONOUR OF AVITUS Sidonius received a proposal to pronounce a panegyric in honour of the new Emperor at the ceremony of his enthronisation in Rome on Ja- nuary 1st 456. He accepted such an honourable proposal and according 1 Sidonius Apollinaris in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Ox- ford 1997, p. 1498. 2 See Sidoine Apollinaire, Poèmes, ed. André Loyen, Paris 2003, vol. I. There is the Latin text and a French translation with commentary. For the bibliography con- cerning Sidonius, see W.J. H a r r i e s, Sidonius Apollinaris and Fall of Rome AD 407- -485, Oxford 1994. 180 JOSEPH GRZYWACZEWSKI [2] to the tradition of that time pronounced his panegyric (Carmen VII)3.
    [Show full text]
  • TRADITIONAL POETRY and the ANNALES of QUINTUS ENNIUS John Francis Fisher A
    REINVENTING EPIC: TRADITIONAL POETRY AND THE ANNALES OF QUINTUS ENNIUS John Francis Fisher A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY RECOMMENDED FOR ACCEPTANCE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS SEPTEMBER 2006 UMI Number: 3223832 UMI Microform 3223832 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 © Copyright by John Francis Fisher, 2006. All rights reserved. ii Reinventing Epic: Traditional Poetry and the Annales of Quintus Ennius John Francis Fisher Abstract The present scholarship views the Annales of Quintus Ennius as a hybrid of the Latin Saturnian and Greek hexameter traditions. This configuration overlooks the influence of a larger and older tradition of Italic verbal art which manifests itself in documents such as the prayers preserved in Cato’s De agricultura in Latin, the Iguvine Tables in Umbrian, and documents in other Italic languages including Oscan and South Picene. These documents are marked by three salient features: alliterative doubling figures, figurae etymologicae, and a pool of traditional phraseology which may be traced back to Proto-Italic, the reconstructed ancestor of the Italic languages. A close examination of the fragments of the Annales reveals that all three of these markers of Italic verbal art are integral parts of the diction the poem. Ennius famously remarked that he possessed three hearts, one Latin, one Greek and one Oscan, which the second century writer Aulus Gellius understands as ability to speak three languages.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poet and His Patrons: Two Ghaznavid Panegyrists
    PERSICA XVII, 2001 THE POET AND HIS PATRONS: TWO GHAZNAVID PANEGYRISTS Julie Scott Meisami University of Oxford Among Professor Hans de Bruijn's many contributions to the study of Persian poetry, his discussion of the influence of patronage on the poetic production of Sanaˆi of Ghazna (d. 525/1131) stands out as the first major effort at addressing this important issue.1 De Bruijn disputed the traditional image of Sanaˆi as a court poet who, after a mystical “con- version”, dedicated himself to composing religious poetry, and showed us instead a poet who, failing to secure satisfactory patronage at the court of the Ghaznavid Mas¨ud III (492-508/1099-1115), turned to religious patrons, for whom he composed panegyrics, homiletic poetry, and poems to be used in preaching. Sanaˆi also produced song-texts (gazals) for professional minstrels; and when he returned to the Ghaznavid court in the reign of Bahramsah (511-52?/1117-57?), he dedicated to that ruler both his homiletic ma†nawi the Îadiqat al-Ìaqiqa and numerous panegyrics in the qaÒida and gazal forms. The diversity of Sanaˆi's patrons, and of his poetic output, raises broader questions about the nature of literary patronage; and Professor de Bruijn's study illustrates the need for a more extensive exploration of this issue. In his doctoral thesis on Sanaˆi Franklin Lewis addressed this issue further;2 but it remains to be seen whether Sanaˆi's case is excep- tional, or whether it reflects changing patterns of patronage at the courts of the later Ghaznavids.3 That from its very beginnings Persian poetry was intimately connected with courts is well known.
    [Show full text]
  • 2013.03.09 ROGER REES, Latin Panegyric
    CJ -Online, 2013.03.09 BOOK REVIEW Latin Panegyric . Edited by ROGER REES . Oxford Readings in Classical Studies. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. xvi + 430. Hardcover, £76.00/$150.00. ISBN 978-0-19-957671-5. Paper, £29.50/$55.00. ISBN 978-0- 19-957672-2. dited by Roger Rees, this volume contains sixteen previously published essays spanning a century of international scholarship on the “Twelve E Panegyrics”: Pliny’s gratiarum actio to Trajan and eleven Panegyrici for emperors from Maximinian to Theodosius. Rees provides a valuable resource for newcomers and veterans alike by threading together essential readings on imperial praise. The volume consists of “Introductions” (three chapters, 3–74), “Pliny’s Panegyricus ” (six chapters, 77–220), and “Gallic Panegyrici ” (eight chapters, 223– 386). These are followed by a bibliography (387–423) and a brief index (427– 30). Words and phrases in the ancient and modern languages are translated, while numbers in brackets throughout indicate the original pagination of the essays. The rich editorial introduction traces panegyric from Pindar and Thu- cydides to Mamertinus and Venatius Fortunatus, and surveys ancient and modern responses to praise-giving in various contexts (epinician, funerary, forensic, philosophical, etc). From the discovery of the XII Panegyrici Latini manuscript in 1433 to the present, recurrent research themes include the Classical, Hellenistic, and Republican models of the speeches, their intended audiences, the divergences between their original delivery and their written version, the relationship between panegyrist and emperor, and the panegyrist’s professed “sincerity.” Rees discerns a dominant, moralizing approach to panegyric and maps it onto shifting political landscapes and social sensibilities.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstracts MAIA 2 2019
    MAIA (ISSN 0025-0538) ANNO LXXI - N. 2 - MAGGIO-AGOSTO 2019 Il Panegirico a Traiano di Plinio. “Costrizione alla libertà” e retorica dell’encomio 1. In lode dell’Imperatore Bruce Gibson (University of Liverpool) Trajan the Panegyrist Pliny, paneg. 69-75 (pagine 249-265) Abstract: This contribution looks at Pliny’s treatment of Trajan’s role in the senatorial processes for choosing candidates for office in chapters 69-75 of the Panegyricus. Although Pliny does not emphasise Trajan as an orator in his evocation of Trajan’s excellent qualities at the beginning of the speech, the account of senatorial business does give a sense of Trajan’s role in promoting and furthering the careers of those seeking office in Rome. Though he is in broad terms the object of Pliny’s praise across the whole speech, Pliny in this section of the speech presents Trajan himself as a giver of praise. Trajan’s good judgement in terms of whom he praises is matched by his affirmation of Pliny as consul at the end of the speech, and indeed by Pliny’s own role as a giver of judicious and appropriate praise to Trajan. Keywords: Pliny, Trajan, Panegyricus , Panegyric, Praise, Self-praise, Elections, Candidates, Senate, Emperor. Francesco Busti (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa) «AB IOVE PRINCEPS» Traiano figlio di Giove (pagine 266-279) Abstract: When Pliny wrote his Panegyric , Trajan had already become son of a god following Nerva’s deification right after his death. This paper examines Pliny’s subtle strategy to have his reader think of another divine father of Trajan, ultimate origin of his power as an emperor and primary guarantor of his virtuous behaviour, Jupiter himself.
    [Show full text]
  • The Extension of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian and the Tetrarchy, 285-305Ce
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2012 The Extension Of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian And The Tetrarchy, 285-305ce Joshua Petitt University of Central Florida Part of the History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Petitt, Joshua, "The Extension Of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian And The Tetrarchy, 285-305ce" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2412. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2412 THE EXTENSION OF IMPERIAL AUTHORITY UNDER DIOCLETIAN AND THE TETRARCHY, 285-305CE. by JOSHUA EDWARD PETITT B.A. History, University of Central Florida 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2012 © 2012 Joshua Petitt ii ABSTRACT Despite a vast amount of research on Late Antiquity, little attention has been paid to certain figures that prove to be influential during this time. The focus of historians on Constantine I, the first Roman Emperor to allegedly convert to Christianity, has often come at the cost of ignoring Constantine's predecessor, Diocletian, sometimes known as the "Second Father of the Roman Empire". The success of Constantine's empire has often been attributed to the work and reforms of Diocletian, but there have been very few studies of the man beyond simple biography.
    [Show full text]
  • Reading Death in Ancient Rome
    Reading Death in Ancient Rome Reading Death in Ancient Rome Mario Erasmo The Ohio State University Press • Columbus Copyright © 2008 by The Ohio State University. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Erasmo, Mario. Reading death in ancient Rome / Mario Erasmo. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8142-1092-5 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8142-1092-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Death in literature. 2. Funeral rites and ceremonies—Rome. 3. Mourning cus- toms—Rome. 4. Latin literature—History and criticism. I. Title. PA6029.D43E73 2008 870.9'3548—dc22 2008002873 This book is available in the following editions: Cloth (ISBN 978-0-8142-1092-5) CD-ROM (978-0-8142-9172-6) Cover design by DesignSmith Type set in Adobe Garamond Pro by Juliet Williams Printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI 39.48-1992. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Figures vii Preface and Acknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION Reading Death CHAPTER 1 Playing Dead CHAPTER 2 Staging Death CHAPTER 3 Disposing the Dead 5 CHAPTER 4 Disposing the Dead? CHAPTER 5 Animating the Dead 5 CONCLUSION 205 Notes 29 Works Cited 24 Index 25 List of Figures 1. Funerary altar of Cornelia Glyce. Vatican Museums. Rome. 2. Sarcophagus of Scipio Barbatus. Vatican Museums. Rome. 7 3. Sarcophagus of Scipio Barbatus (background). Vatican Museums. Rome. 68 4. Epitaph of Rufus.
    [Show full text]
  • Firdawsi's Shahnama in Its Ghaznavid Context A.C.S. Peacock1 Abstract
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository Firdawsi’s Shahnama in its Ghaznavid context A.C.S. Peacock1 Abstract Firdawsi’s Shahnama, the completion of which is traditionally to around 400/1010, is generally thought to have been a failure at first. It is said by both traditional accounts and much modern scholarship to have been rejected by its dedicatee Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, and its contents of ancient Iranian legends, transmitted from earlier sources, are widely considered to have been out of step with the literary tastes of the Ghaznavid period. This article reassesses the reception of the Shahnama in the Ghaznavid period, arguing that evidence suggests neither its style nor contents were outdated, and that its tales of ancient Iranian heores had a great contemporary relevance in the context of the Ghaznavid court’s identification of the dynasty as the heir to ancient Iran. The extent to which Firdawsi can be shown to have relied on pre-Islamic sources is also reevaluated Key words Firdawsi – Shahnama – Ghaznavids – pre-Islamic Iran – Persian poetry The reception history of few books can be as well-known as the Shahnama: the allegedly cool reaction of sultan Mahmud of Ghazna (d. 421/1030) when presented with the work around the year 400/1010, and the biting satire on the ruler Firdawsi is claimed to have penned in response, together form part of the Shahnama legend.2 Firdawsi’s hostile reception by the rival poets of Ghazna, for instance, became a topic of miniature painting in manuscripts of the poem,3 and lines such as the satire were interpolated to underline the point.4 Today, the poem’s initial flop is usually taken for granted, and has been attributed to both its form and its contents, which are assumed to be purely antiquarian,5 bereft of any contemporary relevance.
    [Show full text]
  • Damnatio Memoriae
    This is a repository copy of Memoria and Damnatio Memoriae. Preserving and erasing identities in Roman funerary commemoration. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/138680/ Version: Published Version Book Section: Carroll, P.M. (2011) Memoria and Damnatio Memoriae. Preserving and erasing identities in Roman funerary commemoration. In: Carroll, P.M. and Rempel, J., (eds.) Living through the Dead: Burial and commemoration in the Classical world. Studies in Funerary Archaeology, 5 . Oxbow , Oxford , pp. 65-90. ISBN 9781842173763 © 2011 Oxbow Books. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ his pdf of your paper in Living hrough the Dead belongs to the publishers Oxbow Books and it is their copyright. As author you are licenced to make up to 50 ofprints from it, but beyond that you may not publish it on the World Wide Web until three years from publication (March 2014), unless the site is a limited access intranet (password protected).
    [Show full text]
  • Speaking of Kings and Battle: Virgil As Prose Panegyrist in Late Antiquity
    Speaking of Kings and Battle: Virgil as Prose Panegyrist in Late Antiquity Revised from a paper given to the Virgil Society on 9 March 2013* Ware Virgil’s influence on late antique encomiastic poetry is well known: less so is the nature of his influence on prose encomia. Focusing on the 4th-century corpus of thePanegyrici Latini,1 this article will explore the role assigned to Virgil in imperial prose panegyric of late antiquity. The orators of late antiquity acknowledge Virgil asmagnus poeta and cite him directly, particularly to evoke battle scenes, while also drawing on his work generally for poetic language and epic phrasing. As poeta Romanus, Virgil was the greatest authority on all matters relating to imperium, and as the writer of the canonic Roman epic, Virgil was viewed as a master-panegyrist. Certain passages were particularly relevant to praise of the emperors’ numinous power, so that lines from the prophecy of Anchises, or the description of Jupiter’s lofty abode, were revisited and reworked by successive panegyrists. The encomiastic impact of such passages is further reinforced by supplementary references to Virgil, as well as intratextual allusion within the corpus, and citations from encomiastic passages by other authors. As a result, a type of Virgilian “micro-allusion” may be observed, in which a short phrase or even a word or two is enough, within the encomiastic context, to suggest a Virgilian reference. This paper will summarise the relationship between epic and panegyric as it was understood in late antiquity, and examine the use of Virgilian allusion in the Panegyrici Latini, showing in particular how the panegyrists’ approach to Virgil is consistent with that of contemporary scholars and literary critics.
    [Show full text]
  • Persian Poetry at the Indian Frontier
    Permanent Black Monographs: The ‘Opus 1’ Series Published by PERMANENT BLACK D-28 Oxford Apartments, 11, I.P. Extension, Persian Poetry Delhi 110092 Distributed by at the Indian Frontier ORIENT LONGMAN LTD Bangalore Bhubaneshwar Calcutta Chennai Ernakulam Guwahati Hyderabad Lucknow Mas‘ûd Sa‘d Salmân Mumbai New Delhi Patna of Lahore © PERMANENT BLACK 2000 ISBN 81 7824 009 2 First published 2000 SUNIL SHARMA Typeset in Adobe Garamond by Guru Typograph Technology, New Delhi 110045 Printed by Pauls Press, New Delhi 110020 Contents Acknowledgements ix Transliteration and Abbreviations xi INTRODUCTION 1 1. POETRY AT THE FRONTIER OF EMPIRE 6 A. At the Frontiers of Islam: The Poetics of Ghazâ 7 B. Lahore: The Second Ghaznavid City 14 C. The Life of Mas‘ûd Sa‘d 18 D. Mas‘ûd Sa‘d and Ghaznavid Poetry 26 2. POETS IN EXILE FROM PRIVILEGED SPACES 33 A. The Perils of Being a Court Poet 33 B. The Poetic Memory of Ghazna and Sultan Mahmûd 39 C. Manipulation of History in a Qasida by Mas‘ûd Sa‘d 43 D. Poets Complaining of Ghurbat 47 E. Mas‘ûd Sa‘d between Ghazna and Lahore 56 3. PRACTICING POETRY IN PRISON 68 A. The Genre of Prison Poetry (Habsîyât)68 B. Varieties of Habsîyât 73 viii / Contents C. The Physical State of Being Imprisoned 81 D. The Prisoner’s Lament 86 E. Mas‘ûd Sa‘d’s Use of His Name 102 4. ‘NEW’ GENRES AND POETIC FORMS 107 A. Shahrâshûb: A Catalogue of Youths 107 B. Bârahmâsâs in Persian? 116 C. Mustazâd: A Choral Poem 123 D.
    [Show full text]