Hitherto we have spoken chiefly of the real history of Ancient Persia, as derived from the oldest and most credible sources—inscriptions, coins, and the writers of antiquity. It is now necessary that we should briefly examine the ideas that the Persians themselves entertain as to the dynasties and kings who ruled over them in days of old—in other words, the National Legend, which only begins to run parallel with actual history at the beginning of the Sásánian period. This National Legend finds its ultimate development in the celebrated epic of the Sháhnáma, or “Book of Kings,” an immense poem, generally computed at about 60,000 couplets, composed by Firdawsí for Sulṭán Maḥmúd of Ghazna, and completed, after some forty years of labour, in the year A.D. 1010. As a literary work this great epic will be more properly discussed in a later chapter, but, since it remains till the present day the chief source whence the Persians derive their ideas as to the ancient history of their nation, it will be proper to discuss briefly in this chapter both the nature and antiquity of its contents. This matter has been treated in a most exhaustive and scholarly manner by Professor Nöldeke of Strassburg in his article entitled Das Iranische Nationalepos, contributed to vol. ii of Geiger and Kuhn's Grundriss, and also published in separate form (Trübner, Strassburg, 1896). Of this excellent work, which probably represents the limit of knowledge attainable in this direction, the freest use is made in the brief account here given of the history of this National Legend or Saga.
The Sháhnáma recognises four dynasties of pre-Muhammadan
Persian kings—the Píshdádí, the Kayání, the Ashkání
Contents of the
Sháhnáma.
(or Parthian, also called in Arabic Mulúku't-
The first king of the legendary Píshdádí dynasty, called Gayúmarth, is the first man of the Avesta, Gayô Mareta, the Píshdádí dynasty. Zoroastrian Adam. He dwells in the mountains, dresses himself and his people in leopard-skins, brings the beasts of the field into subjugation, wages a war on the demons, in which his son Siyámak is killed, and, after a reign of thirty years, dies, and is succeeded by his grandson Húshang (Arabic Úshhanj. Húshang reigns forty years, accidentally discovers how to produce fire by flint and steel, and establishes the Festival of Sadah to commemorate this great discovery. He is succeeded by his son Tahmúrath, called Dív-band, “the Binder of Demons,” since he brought these beings into subjection, but spared their lives on condition that they should teach him the art of writing “not one but nearly 30 languages.”* After reigning thirty years he is succeeded by his son Jamshíd, a much more important figure in the Persian Legend than any of his predecessors.
The early Arab (i.e., Arabic-writing) historians, who for the most part endeavour to combine the Íránian with Semitic and Jamshíd. Biblical legends, commonly identify Jamshíd with Solomon. Practically speaking nearly all the Achæmenian monuments about Persepolis are referred by the Persians to these kings, and apparently for no better reason than the following: “These gigantic buildings,” they say, “are evidently beyond the power of the unaided humanity of that age; therefore whoever built them was helped by the demons. But it is a well-known fact that only two kings had command over the demons, namely Solomon and Jamshíd; therefore Solomon and Jamshíd built these monuments.” Accordingly they call Persepolis Takht-i-Jamshíd, “the Throne of Jamshíd”; the Tomb of Cyrus, Masjid-i-Mádari-Sulaymán , “the Mosque of Solomon's Mother”; and another platform-like structure on a hill adjacent to the monuments in the Murgháb plain Takht-i-Sulaymán “the Throne of Solomon.” Such identifications were favoured by the Zoroastrians in Muhammadan times as tending to improve their position with their conquerors, and secure for them the privileges accorded by victorious Islám to “the people of the Book”—that is, peoples like the Jews and Christians who, though not believers in the Qur'án, possessed Scriptures recognised by Muḥammad. The most notable of these false identifications is that of Zoroaster with Abraham, and of the Avesta with the Ṣuḥuf (“Leaflets” or “Tracts”) supposed by the Muhammadans to have been revealed to him, and recognised by them as one of the five revelations made to the five great Prophets, the other four being the Pentateuch (Tawrát) of Moses, the Psalms (Zubúr or Mazámír) of David, the Gospel (Injíl) of Jesus Christ, and the Qur'án of Muḥammad. But of course well-informed writers like Ibnu'l-Muqaffa' knew that these identifications were wrong, just as well as we now know that Sir William Jones's identifications of Kay-Khusraw and Shírúyé with Cyrus and Xerxes are wrong. Thus Ibnu'l-Muqaffa' (quoted by Dínawarí, ed. Guirgass, p. 9) says: “Ignorant Persians, and such as have no science, suppose that King Jam was Solomon the son of David, but this is an error, for between Solomon and Jam was an interval of more than 3,000 years.” It is now well known that Jam (the termination—shíd, frequently dropped, is a mere epithet or title, as it is in Khurshíd, “the Sun,” representing the Avestic Khshaêta, “chief, sovereign, brilliant”) is identical with the Yama of the Hindú and the Yima of the Avestic mythology, though this hero of the Indo-Íránian legend appears under rather different aspects in the three cases. With the Hindús, he is the first great mortal to pass over into the After-world, and hence appears as a kind of Pluto, or King of Hades. In the Avesta he is “the fair Yima of goodly flocks,” the son of Vívaṅhâo (a name which, though absent from the Sháhnáma, occurs in early Muhammadan historians like Dínawarí and Ṭabarí as Vívanjhán, described as son of Írán or Arfakhshad, son of Sám or Shem, son of Noah), who is invited, but declines, to be the bearer of Ahura Mazda's message to mankind, and who is commissioned to build “the four-cornered Varena” for the protection of his people from the plague of cold created by Aṅra Mainyush (Ahriman), the Evil Spirit. In the Sháhnáma he appears as a great king, who reigns for 700 years, not only over men, but over demons, birds, and fairies; invents weapons of war and the textile art; teaches men the use of animals; institutes the priestly, military, agricultural, and artisan classes; compels the demons to practise architecture; introduces the use of precious stones and metals, perfumes, and medicines; builds ships; causes himself to be transported (like Solomon in the Muhammadan legend) on an aërial throne whithersoever he will; and establishes the great national festival of the Nawrúz, or New Year's Day, at the vernal equinox, when the Sun enters the sign of Aries. Thereupon his luck turns, for he becomes so inflated with pride as to claim divine honours, whereon he is overthrown and ultimately slain by the usurper Dahák.
This Dahák represents the snake Azhi Daháka (later
Azhdahák, Azhdahá, “a dragon”) of the Avesta; and, with
Azhidahák or
Dahák.
the two snakes growing from his shoulders which
require a daily meal of human brains, stands for
the three-headed dragon of other Aryan mythologies.
By Firdawsí (in whose time the memory of the Arab
Conquest was still alive, and race hatred still ran high) he is
metamorphosed into an Arab, and his name is consequently
given an Arab form, Ḍaḥḥák (with the hard Arabic ḍ and ḥ);
he appears as a parricide, tyrant, and chosen instrument of the
Devil, who beguiles him from the primitive and innocent
vegetarianism supposed to have hitherto prevailed into the
eating of animal food and ultimate cannibalism. His demand
for fresh victims to feed his snakes ultimately, after he has
reigned nearly a thousand years, drives his wretched subjects
into revolt, to which they are chiefly incited by the blacksmith
Káwa, whose leathern apron, by a patriotic apotheosis, becomes
the standard of national liberty. The young Ferídún (Avestic
Ferídún.
Thraêtaôna, Indian Thrâitana), son of Ábtín, a
descendant of Tahmúrath and “of the seed of
the Kayán,” is brought forth from his hiding-place and hailed
as king. He defeats Dahák, and chains him alive, Prometheus-