The Sistani Cycle of Epics and Iran’s National History Studies in Persian Cultural History Editors Charles Melville (Cambridge University) Gabrielle van den Berg (Leiden University) Sunil Sharma (Boston University) VOLUME 7 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/spch The Sistani Cycle of Epics and Iran’s National History On the Margins of Historiography By Saghi Gazerani LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Indo-Parthian Tetradrachm circa 20 CE; obverse: Gondophares on horseback, reverse: Siva standing holding trident. Copyright A. Gazerani Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gazerani, Saghi. The Sistani cycle of epics and Iran’s national history : on the margins of historiography / by Saghi Gazerani. pages cm. — (Studies in Persian cultural history ; 7) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-28199-8 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-28296-4 (e-book) 1. Iran—History— To 640—Historiography. 2. Rustam (Legendary character) 3. Firdawsi. Shahnamah. I. Title. DS271.5.G39 2015 935’.70072—dc23 2015027598 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 2210-3554 isbn 978-90-04-28199-8 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-28296-4 (e-book) Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. 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For my parents ∵ Contents Acknowledgments ix Notes on Transliteration xi List of Figures xii Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1 The Historical Context 11 1.1 The Scythio-Parthian Kingdom of Sistan 12 1.2 The Ruling Family in Sistan in Ancient Times 28 1.3 The Family of Suren, the Family of Rostam 34 1.4 The Other Parthian Family 38 1.5 Reflections of Parthian History in the SCE 42 2 The Appropriation of an Avestan Hero and the Birth of the House of Rostam 45 2.1 Garshāsp’s Genealogy 48 2.2 Garshāsp and the Founding of Sistan 50 2.3 The Repertoire of Heroic Motifs 54 2.4 Another Version of the Story/History 61 2.5 Footprints of a Religious Conflict 66 3 The Zenith of Suren Power 70 3.1 Rostam’s Early Heroic Career 72 3.1.1 Babr-e Bayān 72 3.1.2 Kok-e Kuhzād 76 3.1.3 The Haft-Khān 79 3.2 Historical Reflections 82 3.2.1 A Time of Alliance 82 3.2.2 The Special Status of the House of Rostam 88 3.2.3 The Beginning of the End: The Advent of Lohrāsp 100 viii contents 4 The Downtrodden Sistani Heroes 116 4.1 Borzu 120 4.2 Jahāngir 133 4.3 Shahriyār 135 5 The Polemics of Making Heroes and Anti-Heroes 145 5.1 Farāmarz in Qannuj 146 5.2 Transformation of Heroic Imagery 151 5.3 Farāmarz and Bahman: The Final Showdown 164 5.4 Bahman the Anti-Hero Par Excellence 185 Epilogue 194 Appendix A The Sistani Cycle of Epics: Stories and their Manuscripts 197 Rostam Stories Not Included in the Shāhnāmeh 197 Garshāspnāmeh 198 Bahmannāmeh 199 Farāmarznāmeh 200 Bānu-Goshaspnāmeh 203 Borzunāmeh 205 Shahriyārnāmeh 206 Jahāngirnāmeh 208 Appendix B Narrations of Bahman’s Reign 209 1 Ḥamza al-Iṣfahāni 209 2 Al-Thaʿālibi 209 3 Al-Ṭabari 211 4 Al-Dinawari 212 5 Gardizi 212 6 Balʿami 213 7 Ibn Balkhi 213 8 Masʿudi 214 9 Mujmal al-Tawārikh wa’l Qiṣṣaṣ 214 Figures 216 Bibliography 223 Index 232 Acknowledgments From the beginning of my graduate studies, I was fortunate to work with great teachers and mentors whose perspectives on literary texts transcended disci- plinary delineation. As a result, in the first two years we worked together, I was exposed to the historical perspectives and relevance of various medieval Persian genres through the instructions of Professor Parvaneh Pourshariati. She generously discussed the results of her then unpublished research with me. What I learned in this formative period of my training has proved to be instrumental for this project, and I owe much of that to Professor Pourshariati. Around the same time, I had the fortune to gain insight into the oral back- ground of literature by working with Professor Margaret Mills. This became very significant as it defined to a large extent my approach to the question of authenticity of texts, still dominating the field of Iranian Studies. I am grateful to Professor Mills for this and for her continuous support of my projects. The initial research and writing phase of the current work was done under the supervision of my dissertation advisors, Professor Stephen Dale and Professor Dick Davis. Professor Dale’s unwavering support of his students is well-known by all, and words fail in expressing my gratitude to him. While I was working on my dissertation with Professor Dale and at the Department of History, I continued to benefit from the valuable insights of Professor Dick Davis, who had graciously agreed to serve as my dissertation co-advisor. Though a prominent scholar of the epic literature, Professor Davis always lis- tened to my ideas attentively, regardless of whether or not they agreed with his. During my travels to India to collect manuscripts or while I was reading them and writing drafts, both Professor Dale and Professor Davis offered me their support and encouragement, without which I would not have been able to complete the project. I am also grateful to other teachers who helped shape my perspective on various aspects of literature and history. I am particularly indebted to Professor Jane Hathaway and the late Professor Michael Zwettler. I am also grateful to my friend Professor Ranin Kazemi for his friendship and encouragement. In the last phase of this project, I had the fortune of making the acquain- tance of Professor Guity Nashat Becker while in Chicago. Especially given the absence of institutional support, her loving assistance, and her generosity have been instrumental in bringing this project to fruition. I am forever thankful to her. I would also like to express my thanks to Adrian and Anca Guiu, whose help was essential. x acknowledgments My friends and family have been supportive as well as patient: I am truly indebted above all to my friend Sedigheh Rahimi, who has spent countless hours on the manuscript. I am grateful to my brother, Ali, who has offered his assistance without hesitation. Same is true of my dear friends Ramyar Vala and Golnar Adili who continued to support this project throughout the years. I am grateful to Rambod Vala and Golriz Farshi for offering me assistance with vari- ous aspects of the book. Notes on Transliteration Consonants Persian Arabic Persian Arabic b b ṣ ṣ � �� z ḍ س ب ب�� — p س � ṭ ṭ � پ t t � ط ت� ẓ ẓ ب � �ط th th ث � ʿ ʿ j j ع � gh gh ب ب — ch ج ع � f f ب پج ḥ ḥ �� � q q �ت ج � kh kh ب � k k ک d d ج g g گ د ک dh dh l l � ب �ل د r r m m � ر م z z n n ب ب � ر zh — v w ث �و ر s s h h �م ��س sh sh hamza ʾ ʾ ث ��س Vowels Long Persian Arabic Long Persian Arabic ā ā a a َ ا i, y (if ī, y e i � َ (diphthong) (if diphthong ی o u ُ u, w (if ū, w � (diphthong) (if diphthong و List of Figures 1 Arsacids 216 2 Garshāsp’s genealogy 218 3 Genealogy of Sistani heroes 219 4 Genealogy of Gudarziān 220 5 Genealogy of Lohrāsp’s house 221 6 Map of the ancient provinces 222 Abbreviations Irānshāh ebn Abi’l-Khayr, Bahmannāmeh, ed. R. ʿAfifi, Tehran: Tus, 1991. Anonymous, Bānu-Goshaspnāmeh, ed. R. Karachi, Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 2003. ʿAtā ʾi Razi, Khwājeh ʿAmid, Borzunāmeh va Kok-e Kuhzād, ed. M. Dabirsiyaqi, Tehran: Anjoman-e Athār va Mafākher-e Farhangi, 2003. ʾAsadi Ṭusi, Abu Naṣr ʿAli, Garshāspnāmeh, ed. Ḥ .Yaghmāiy, Tehran: Ṭahuri Publications, 1975. Anonymous, Farāmarznāmeh (a), ed. M. Sarmadi, Tehran: Society for the Appreciation of Cultural Works and Dignitaries, 2004. Anonymous, Farāmarznāmeh (b), ed. Rostam-e Bahrām, Bombay Lithograph, 1864. Bighami, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad, Dārābnāmeh/Firuzshāhnāmeh vols. 1 & 2, ed. Z. Safa Z. Tehran: Enteshārāte ʿElmi-Farhangi, 1960. ———. Firuzshāhnāmeh vol 3, ed. M. Afshari and I. Afshar, Tehran: Nashre Cheshmeh, 1388. Anonymous, Haft Lashkar: Ṭumār-e Jāmeʿe Naqālān az Kayumarth ta Bahman, ed. M. Afshari and M. Madaʾeni, Tehran: Pazhuehshgāh-e ʿUlum-e Ensāni, 1377. Anonymous, Jahāngirnāmeh, ed. Mādḥ Qāsem and S.Z. Sajjadi, Tehran: Moʾasese-ye Motaleʿāt-e Eslāmi, 1380. Anonymous, Joghrāfiyā-ye Nimruz, ed. Dhulfaqār Kermāni and ʿA. ʿOtaredi, Tehran: Mirāth-e Maktub, 1374. Ferdowsi. Shāhnāmeh, ed. Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh and Mahmoud Omidsalar, Persian Text Series, New Series no. 1, New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 1987. ———. Shāhnāmeh: The Persian Book of Kings, trans. Dick Davis*, New York: Viking, 2006.