ANDARWĀYWĀZĪG, Middle Persian term for “acrobat, tumbler” (lit. “one who plays in the air”). It occurs in the Pahlavi andarz text Xusraw ī Kawādān ud rēdag-ē, sec. 62 (Pahl. Texts I, p. 32); also mentioned are jugglers and performers with all kinds of props, ranging from weapons to table vessels. These providers of entertainment at the banquets of the Sasanian nobility are classed together with musicians (cf. Jāḥeẓ¡’s remarks on the Sasanian ranking of entertainers, discussed in Christensen, Iran Sass., pp. 402-03). Although the Arabic version of the dialogue between Ḵosrow and his page pays careful attention to music (Ṯaʿālebī, Ḡorar, tr. pp. 709-l0), it does not refer to acrobatic entertainments.
(C. J. Brunner)
Originally Published: December 15, 1985
Last Updated: August 3, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. II, Fasc. 1, p. 11
C. J. Brunner, “ANDARWAYWAZĪG,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/1, p. 11, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/andarwaywazig-midd1e-pertsian-term-for-acrtobat-tumbler-1it (accessed on 30 December 2012).
