ḴĀVARĀN-NĀMA i. The Epic Poem

 

ḴĀVARĀN-NĀMA

i. The Epic Poem

Moḥammad b. Ḥosām-al-Din b. Ḥasan b. Šams-al-Din Moḥammad, known as Ebn Ḥosām Ḵᵛāfi or Ḵusfi (b. 783/1381, d. 875/1470), a native of Qohestān, completed the Ḵāvarān-nāma in 830/1426-27. The epic is written in the motaqāreb meter and comprises about 22,500 verses. There is no complete edition of the text as yet: Ḥamid-Allāh Morādi’s edition is in the form of excerpts; it incorporates 5,001 selected verses of the original, the rest of the epic being summarized in prose passages; Ḥaydar ʿAli Ḵoškenār edited the first part of the epic (2007; [non vidi]). Notwithstanding the fact that Ebn Ḥosām himself refers to his work as the Ḵāvarān-nāma (ed. Morādi, p. 315, v. 4905), it is also mentioned in some sources as Ḵāvar-nāma (Mirkᵛānd, VII, p. 263; Ḵᵛāndamir, IV, p. 336; Rāzi, II, p. 869) or Ḵāvarzamin-nāma (see below). In Moḥammad Jaʿfar Maḥjub’s opinion (Maḥjub, p. 637, n. 1) Ḵāvar-nāma refers to Ebn Ḥosām’s poem, whereas Ḵāvarān-nāma indicates an anonymous prose narrative on the feats of ʿAli b. Abi Ṭāleb, much smaller in size than the epic. However, his suggestion is not corroborated by existing evidence. In fact, the variation in titles renders futile any attempt to categorize the naming of the work according to its composition in verse or prose. Throughout the present entry the title Ḵāvarān-nāma is used. As for references to the text, in addition to the page numbers in Morādi’s abridged edition, wherever necessary reference is also made to the folio numbers of the British Library MS Add. 19,766, copied on 9 Ramadan 1097/30 July 1686 in India (Rieu, II, pp. 642-43).

Contents: The epic relates the heroic deeds of ʿAli b. Abi Ṭāleb and his companions. The narrative starts conventionally with chapters praising God and His creation, as well as Moḥammad and the ahl-e bayt, including the description of Moḥammad’s meʿrāj. The story proper commences with the Prophet departing for a pilgrimage (ziārat) to the graves of the righteous ones and leaving his companions (referred to as yārān or yāvarān throughout the epic) behind in the mosque at Yaṯreb. An intense controversy flares up among them around the question of who can be called the champion-warrior (mard). ʿOmar (the historical ʿOmar b. al-Ḵaṭṭāb; see Levi-Della Vida[-M. Bonner], pp. 818-21) supports the candidature of ʿAmr b. Maʿdikareb (see Pellat, p. 453), while Saʿd-e Waqqāṣ (the historical Saʿd b. Abi Waqqāṣ; see Hawting, pp. 696-97) promotes the superiority of Mālek-e Aždar (the historical Mālek al-Aštar; see Veccia Vaglieri, p. 704); at the same time, Saʿd-e Waqqāṣ also boasts of his own martial prowess. ʿOmar, infuriated by the debate, waves his whip in anger, but is restrained by Abu’l-Meḥjan (the historical ʿAbd Allāh Abu Meḥjan; see Rhodokanakis[-Pellat], p. 140), who sides with Saʿd-e Waqqāṣ. ʿOmar finally loses his temper and lashes his whip on Abu’l-Meḥjan’s head. To put an end to the quarrel, Mālek-e Aždar pushes ʿOmar out of the mosque. The conflict that will propel the narrative forward is thus established. At nightfall, Abu’l-Meḥjan and Saʿd-e Waqqāṣ, humiliated and outraged, leave Yaṯreb, each on his own initiative. They chance upon each other and after much mutual lamentation they decide not to return until, through exploits of manliness and valor, they can clear their names of the dishonor they experienced at ʿOmar’s hands. From here on the plot becomes elaborate and branches into numerous tangents: ʿAli (referred to mostly as Ḥaydar throughout the epic) with his devoted retainer Qanbar discovers the sudden disappearance of Abu’l-Meḥjan and Saʿd and goes in search of them; in turn, Mālek-e Aždar, prompted by the Prophet, departs to look for ʿAli; while ʿAmr-e Omayya, the arch-trickster and the ʿayyār (see ʿAYYĀR) of the epic, starts off on his own journey to rescue them all. From here on a heroic-adventurous tale full of imagination unfolds. Besides the mention of the historical city of Yaṯreb at the very beginning and the end of the epic, the narrative takes place in the imaginary space of Ḵāvar-zamin (“lands of the East”; on the ambiguity of the term as possibly indicating both East and West, see Calasso, 1973-74, p. 155, n. 2) and Maḡreb-zamin (“lands of the West”), in which specific fortresses (ḥesn), each ruled by an infidel king, are situated: thus, in Ḥesn-e Żamān, Abu’l-Meḥjan and Saʿd-e Waqqāṣ fight Nawāder-šāh and his anthropophagite brother Qaṭṭār (ed. Morādi, pp. 71-77, 83-87); ʿAli, aided by Qanbar, converts Čipāl (or Čeypāl), the ruler of Ḥesn-e Ẓafar, to Islam (p. 81); similarly, Abu’l-Meḥjan brings the inhabitants of Ḥesn-e Pulād to the Muslim path (pp. 88-91); the heroes under the guidance of ʿAli, disguised as a merchant, act against the perfidious Ḵāvarān-šāh (pp. 92-111); they are further involved in a lengthy and tangled conflict with the ruler of the Ḵāvar-zamin Jamšid-šāh (pp. 119-74), in the course of which ʿAmr-e Omayya practices his tricks in the enemy’s camp in the best spirit of ʿayyāri (pp. 119-20; 130-39). Other heroic feats include Saʿd-e Waqqāṣ’s subjugation of Ḥesn-e Jamād, governed by Qorra the Jew (pp. 154-62; the episode is discussed by Rubanovich, 2018); ʿAli’s expedition to Kuh-e Bolur (ed. Morādi, pp. 176-95); the Muslim heroes’ adventures during their struggle against the infidel Tahmās in the Sāḥel-zamin (pp. 208-74), and finally an extended series of labors in the Land of Qām, the throne of which has been usurped by the treacherous Ṣalṣāl from his just brother Dāl: aided by the war-like heroine Šamāma (the narrative role of this character is discussed in detail by Calasso, 1973-74, pp. 162-64; 1979, pp. 477-80), ʿAli liberates the City of Gold (šahr-e zarrin) from the usurper (ed. Morādi, pp. 280-312). After all these exploits, the infidel East enters the realm of the True Religion and the companions return to Yaṯreb, greeted by Moḥammad, Fāṭema, Ḥosayn, Ḥasan, and all the devout Muslim community (pp. 312-13). The contents of the epic are also summarized in Calasso, 1979, pp. 493-99 (according to the rubrics as they appear in the India Office Library MS [I.O. 2557; described in Ethé, no. 896]). In addition to the main narrative line, the epic is amply interspersed with sub-episodes, in which the heroes prevail over demonic and fantastic creatures, such as single-horned wolves (ed. Morādi, p. 116), pil-gušān (pp. 121-22), gigantic ants (p. 128), and the like; solve magic devices and talismans (ṭelesm), as well as winning the hearts of war-like ladies. In addition, authorial asides of personal and didactic nature are frequent (pp. 153-54; 195-98; 275-77; these are concisely discussed by Aḥmadi Birjandi, 1990-91, pp. 419-29).

Structural, thematic and stylistic characteristics. Although particular movements of the narration are linear, i.e., from one point in space to another, its general spatial structural framework is circular, i.e., the narrative’s point of departure coincides with its ending (i.e., Ḥejāz). The circular structure finds its expression on the thematic level as well: the initial narrative situation is that of the unity inside the Muslim community (omma), which is disrupted by ʿOmar’s outbreak (fetna); the heroes’ labors on the path of Islam which follow, strengthen and unify them, and they return and restore the unity of the omma (Calasso, 1973-74, p. 158 and n. 2; p. 164). Notwithstanding the topoic nature of the narrative which emphasizes the heroic traits of all the Muslim protagonists, the characters act each in its own way, creating role-pairs: Abu’l-Meḥjan pairs with Saʿd-e Waqqāṣ, the former acting as a liberator, the latter as liberated, while ʿAmr-e Omayya pairs with Mālek-e Aždar, the former representing a consummate beguiler and trickster, while the latter – a personage being constantly hoodwinked, not in the least by women (cf. Calasso, 1973-74, pp. 161-62; a detailed discussion in Calasso, 1979, pp. 437-55). Out of the four, the narrator is prominently partial towards the character of Abu’l-Meḥjan, whom he describes as a virtuous, extraordinarily handsome youth, and ʿAli’s protégé, from whom he acquired all his skills (folios 19v-20r; cf. ed. Morādi, p. 69, v. 386-93). The supreme champion of the epic, however, is ʿAli himself, who combines a number of roles: he is an invincible warrior who fearlessly fights all sorts of infidels, converting whole armies to Islam; he is an infallible savior of his companions and a pacifier of the Muslim community, as well as a restorer of worldly justice (for details, see Calasso, 1979, pp. 425-37). In addition to the features of the perfect Muslim warrior (ḡāzi), ʿAli’s character epitomizes the values of fotowwa, or javānmardi (cf. Calasso, 1979, p. 391).

Stylistically and in part thematically, the Ḵāvarān-nāma is manifestly patterned upon the Šāh-nāma of Ferdowsi, both in meter, in epic topoi and in language (for a sample analysis of the epic’s vocabulary, see Šahbāzi and Malek Ṯābet, pp. 97-100, 103-5). Among numerous epic motifs in the Ḵāvarān-nāma, traceable to the influence of the Šāh-nāma, as well as to post-Ferdowsian epics, first and foremost to Garšāsp-nāma (see Calasso 1979, pp. 392-93), but also to others as well (see also Bahman-nāma, Borzu-nāma, and Farāmarz-nāma) are the motif of preparing for a battle, including a detailed description of the heroes’ equipment; a single combat between enemy champions preceded by traditional boasting (rajaz-ḵᵛāni); the hero in disguise (most often as a merchant) penetrates the enemies’ strongholds; the miraculous healing; the hero marrying a woman who comes from a foreign, usually hostile, ethnic environment, etc. (more examples, including direct borrowing of verses and references to the Šāh-nāma’s heroes, are found in Behnāmfar and Ḵosravi; Calasso, 1979, pp. 400, 433-35). Lexical and stylistic peculiarities of the Ḵāvarān-nāma have not yet been comprehensively studied; some observations are found in Morādi, introd., pp. 19-21; Šahbāzi and Malek Ṯābet; and ʿAṭā-Šeybāni.

As a religious epic. The Ḵāvarān-nāma is the earliest extant religious Shiʿi epic after Rabiʿ’s ʿAli-nāma (composed 482/1089-90; ed. R. Bayāt and A. Ḡolāmi, Tehran, 2010). Its religious nature is obvious in the choice of the subject-matter that revolves around the jehād (see ISLAM IN IRAN xi. JIHAD IN ISLAM) against the non-Muslims, and in which three principal states characterize the multitude of the characters in the epic: a pious and combative Muslim, a converted infidel, an infidel who refuses to accept Islam and is therefore extinguished (Calasso, 1979, p. 449). Epic motifs are clothed in religious garb and attributed religious significance: in times of difficulty the Muslim army is aided by the miraculous intervention of the Prophet or of Gabriel (Jabraʾil), who communicate with them from afar, mostly through dreams (for discussion, see Mašhur), while the idolaters seek – usually in vain - the help of Lāt and Manāt; the heroes engage in prayer (namāz) according to the Muslim practice (be-āʾin-e eslām) and their wounds are wondrously healed by the Prophet appearing in dreams. Most of the infidels bear Iranian names, which may allude to the author’s wish to exemplify the Islamization of Iranians during the early Islamic conquests (Shani, p. 243; cf. Āyadenlu, p. 194). The pro-ʿAlid character of the epic manifests itself in the choice of ʿAli as the protagonist, who is described by the Prophet as “the one who grants fragrance to the Garden of Islam” (bāḡ-e eslām-rā rang-o buy; ed. Morādi, p. 133, v. 1509). Notably, ʿOmar plays an unsavory role in the initial conflict. ʿAli is bestowed supernatural physical powers, with his mule/stallion Doldol and the sword Ḏu’l-Faqār acting as indispensable props; Doldol is granted a nearly human nature (e.g., folios 38r-39v; 40r, 42r, 48v). Throughout the poem are scattered rather simplified expositions of the principal tenets of Islam (uttered both by characters, e.g., folios 50r, 86v; and the narrator, e.g., folio 20r, cf. ed. Morādi, pp. 76-77, 153-54). Most of the introduction is devoted to praising the Prophet and ahl-e bayt in the madḥat-sarāʾi style (e.g., folios 15r-16v, cf. ed. Morādi, pp. 61-63), which tallies well with Ebn Ḥosām’s repute as the composer of religious panegyric poetry (manqabat-guyi; Dawlatšāh, p. 438, also p. 226), authoring a Divān (ed. A. Aḥmadi Birjandi and M.-T. Sālek, 1987-88), mainly comprised of odes in honor of the Prophet and the Twelve Imams. There is also a strong mystical touch to the author’s religio-didactic world-vision. Most singularly this is reflected in an inserted chapter relating the author’s encounter with Ferdowsi in his dream (ed. Morādi, pp. 199-200; PLATE I). Ebn Ḥosām dreams of Ferdowsi, dressed in Sufi cloak,walking in a garden reminiscent of Paradise. He praises Ferdowsi’s poetry, grasps him to his bosom and spends some time with his head resting on the great poet’s shoulders. The act of physical contact is akin to partaking the baraka from a Sufi saint, Ferdowsi thus being perceived as a moršed, to whom Ebn Ḥosām performs a visitation. As a religious epic, the Ḵāvarān-nāma represents the growing confluence of popular Shiʿism with “the pervasive currents of muscular or ‘engagé’ mysticism” on the eve of the Safavid period (Melville, p. 223). In addition, it serves as an example of the “naturalization” of Islamic and Shiʿi discourse on Iranian soil (ibid.; for a different view considering the Ḵāvarān-nāma as part of the process of Islamizing the Persian epic, see Calasso, 1979, pp. 385-89; cf. Ṣafā, 1954, pp. 154-59; Rypka, p. 164).

Probable sources. The precise sources of the epic are unknown. According to Ebn Ḥosām’s own statement, the Ḵāvarān-nāma is based on a “book of the Arabs” (nāma-ye tāziān) which he versified in Persian; throughout the narrative there are occasional references to “the Arabic-singing wise man” (dānā-ye tāzi-sarāy) or “the masterful wise man of the Arab race” (honarmand dānā-ye tāzi-nežād) which seem to represent a conventional stylized storytelling formula which came into vogue in epic literature after Ferdowsi (cf. Ṣafā, 1993, p. 317; Melville, p. 225). Except for the initial episode of the conflict among the Prophet’s companions, which may vaguely echo in part the history of the early Muslim community (such as tensions between ʿOmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb and Saʿd b. Abi Waqqāṣ; see Hawting, p. 696; and inimical relationships between ʿOmar and ʿAbd Allāh Abu Meḥjan, whom the former banished several times on account of his predilection for heavy drinking; see Rhodokanakis[-Pellat]), the narrative is entirely devoid of historical realia. The scarcity of Arabic vocabulary (see Šahbāzi and Malek Ṯābet, p. 98) suggests indirectly that Ebn Ḥosām had not relied on an Arabic source in an unmediated way. The imaginative and metaphoric world of the Ḵāvarān-nāma is purely Iranian, Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma serving as the principal frame of reference. In the introductory and concluding parts of his poem Ebn Ḥosām refers to the inspiration that he received from Ferdowsi’s work; similarly to Ferdowsi, he considers his epic as a means for immortalizing his name (ed. Morādi, pp. 64-65, v. 325-40; p. 314, v. 4895-4903). Being aware, however, that the Šāh-nāma exhausted the deeds of Iranian heroes, first and foremost, of Rostam, in the fullest and finest manner (p. 315, v. 4916-17; p. 65, v. 341-48), Ebn Ḥosām opts for a lesser-known subject, composing his epic “in ʿAli’s name” (be-nām-e ʿAli; p. 315, v. 4918). As far as the mirabilia elements are concerned, the Ḵāvarān-nāma appears to have been influenced by the so-called “secondary” epics (see EPICS; de Blois, pp. 562-76; Molé; van Zutphen, pp. 62-132), first and foremost by Garšāsp-nāma of Asadi Ṭusi (cf. Calasso, 1979, pp. 392-93, 415-17, 466-67), Farāmarz-nāma (ed. M. Sarmadi, Tehran, 2004) and Borzu-nāma (ed. M. Dabirsiāqi, Tehran, 2003; cf. Āyadenlu, p. 197). For its considerable miraculous and ʿayyāri constituents, the epic may similarly be indebted to folk dāstāns (see DĀSTĀN-SARĀʾI) in prose, like the Samak-e ʿayyār, the Firuzšāh-nāma, which is also dated to the 15th century, or the Ḥamza-nāma. The latter is of special significance: in the Ḵāvarān-nāma there are frequent references to Ḥamza and his heroic deeds (folios 46v, 92v, 128r, 129r; ed. Morādi, p. 211, v. 2916-18; p. 238, v. 3449-51); both works epitomize the same theme of combating infidels in fabulous lands; they share common characters (in the Ḥamza-nāma these are Mālek al-Aštar, ʿAmr b. Maʿdikareb, and notably ʿOmar [sic]-e Omayya as a trickster; on the latter, cf. Calasso, 1979, pp. 442-48 and n. 136), as well as common topography (the City of Gold; Ḵāvar; on the affinity between the two works, see also Āyadenlu, pp. 197-98). Another possible strand of impact is early Arabic legendary maḡāzi literature, which could reach Ebn Ḥosām through oral channels, hence his reference to an Arabic book as his source (Calasso, 1979, pp. 421-24, 468, n. 49; detailed thematic comparison in Shani, 2015, pp. 245-47, 250-56). In its turn, the Ḵāvarān-nāma appears to exercise thematic influence on later religious epics, specifically, on the one by Fāreḡ-e Gilāni (composed 1000/1591-92; see Calasso, 1979, pp. 389-93).

Dissemination - prose versions and translations. The Ḵāvarān-nāma seems to have enjoyed an almost instant popularity: its earliest surviving manuscript, lavishly illustrated, dates from 854/1450 (Anvari; Ḏokāʿ), i.e., just over twenty years after the epic’s completion and within the author’s lifetime. The epic was widely copied with more than twenty manuscripts recorded in various catalogues (see Melville, pp. 228-32; Aḥmadi Birjandi, 1973). Several prose renditions of the Ḵāvarān-nāma are known. Executed in the storytelling circles of qiṣṣa-ḵᵛāns and naqqāls and mostly extant as lithographs, they are variously titled as Ḵāvar-nāma (e.g., the one kept in the Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Jāmeʿa-ye Oṯmānia, 1309/1892, in the handwriting of Mirzā Moḥammad Mālek, 88 pages, 25 lines on each page, 12 illustrations) or Ḵāvar-zamin-nāma (e.g., Ḵāvar-zamin-nāma al-maʿruf fārsi jang-nāma-ye Ḥażrat-e ʿAli al-Mortażā, 1338/1919, prepared in Kabul on the order of Ḥāji Faqir Moḥammad of the Storytellers’ Bazaar [bāzār-e qeṣṣa-ḵᵛāni] in Peshawar; 136 pages, 23 lines on each page, 3 illustrations; private collection, full copy). A synoptic non-critical edition of prose versions based on the lithographs of 1329/1911 and 1330/1912 was published by Našr-e Ṯāleṯ by an unspecified editor (see Ebn Ḥosām, 2013). The prose versions summarize the main narrative line of Ebn Ḥosām’s epic, albeit with copious alterations of details as well as lacunae. Although differing little from one another, the prose renditions bear a clear impression of storytelling tradition: they reveal an abundant use of discourse markers that facilitate the segmentation of the narrative, signs of “storyteller-audience” interaction, chronological inconsistencies, and so forth (see Rubanovich, 2012, pp. 666-69, 671-74). Furthermore, their provenance, as well as their succinctness and compressed style, often at the expense of the narrative logic, can further indicate that they were used by professional storytellers as ṭumārs. For additional lithographs and printed books of the folk prose Ḵāvar-nāma, see Marzolph, 1994, pp. 47-48, XVII; idem, 2001, pp. 247-48, 168 (attribution is ascertained); Fehrest‑e Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Āstān-e Qods-e Rażawi, 1305/1926, III, no. 126/79.

There exists a number of translations of both the versified Ḵāvarān-nāma and its prose storytelling rendition. A verse translation into Dakhni was made by a certain Rostami for Ḵadija Solṭān Šahrbānu, sister of Solṭān ʿAbd-Allāh Qoṭbšāh of Golconda (r. 1625-72; see Ethé, I.O. 834). An Azari Turkish translation (in prose?) was lithographed in Tabriz in 1329/1911 (Melville, p. 219, n. 2). Turkish prose translations were printed at least twice by Ketāb-foruši-ye Ferdowsi in Tabriz under the title Kolliyāt-e dāstān-e Ḵāvar-nāma dar šarḥ-e ḡazawāt-o janghā-ye Ḥażrat-e ʿAli ʿalayhe’l-salām (176 pages, n.d.; holdings of Robarts Library, University of Toronto). Without further study, it is impossible to determine whether there exists any connection among Persian prose versions of the Ḵāvarān-nāma and the Arabic Šarḥ aḥwāl Mālek Aštar (unknown authorship; see Fehrest-e Ketāb-ḵāna-ye Āstān-e Qods-e Rażawi, n.p., 1926, III, no. 95/67), or the Turkish Jang Ḥażrat ʿAli (unknown authorship; n.d., see K.V. Zetterstéen, Die arabischen, persischen und türkischen Handschriften der Universitätsbibliothek zu Uppsala, 1930, I, p. 380, no. 559).

Bibliography:

Editions.  Ebn Ḥosām Ḵusfi, Tāziān-nāma-ye pārsi. Ḵolāṣa-ye “Ḵāvarān-nāma”, ed. Ḥ.-A. Morādi, Tehran, 1382/2003-4 (partial ed. with passages summarized in prose); ed Ḥ-ʿA. Ḵoškenār as Ḵāvarān-nāma (nima-ye avval-e matn), Ardabil, 1386/2007; ed. Muza-ye honarhā-ye tazyini as Ḵāvarān-nāma: šāhkār-i az adabiyāt va honar-e naqqāšī-ye Irān, preface by S. Anvari, Tehran, 1381/2002 (illustrations with parts of texts); Ḵāvar-nāma, Tehran, 1392/2013 (synoptic edition of two prose versions).

Secondary Literature. A. Aḥmadi Birjandi, “Ḵāvarān-nāma-ye Ebn Ḥosām-e Ḵusfi,” Nāma-ye Āstān-e Qods 7, 1346/1967, pp. 42-72.

Idem, “Ebn Ḥosām-e Ḵusfi va barḵ-i az āṯār-e u,” Majalla-ye dāneškada-ye adabiyāt va ʿolum-e ensāni-ye Mašhad 9, 1352/1973, pp. 350-86.

Idem, “Didgāh-hā-ye aḵlāqi va ejtemāʿi-ye Moḥammad b. Ḥosām-e Ḵusfi dar manẓuma-ye Ḵāvarān-nāma,” Jostārhā-ye adabi 90-91, 1369/1990-91, pp. 416-31.

S. Anvari, “Introduction,” in Muza-ye honarhā-ye tazyini, Ḵāvarān-nāma: šāhkār-i az adabiyāt va honar-e naqqāši-ye Irān. Tehran, 1381/2002.

F. ʿAṭā-Sheybāni, “Taṣvir-āfarini-ye balāḡi dar Ḵāvarān-nāma-ye Ebn Ḥosām-e Ḵusfi,” Faṣl-nāma-ye taḵaṣṣoṣi-ye sabk-shenāsi-ye naẓm-o naṯr-e fārsi (bahār-e adab) 6/2, 1392/2013, pp. 285-302.

S. Āyadenlu, “Mar in nāma-rā Ḵāvarān-nāma nām ...,” Nāma-ye pārsi 3, 1383/2004, pp. 189-203.

M. Behnāmfar and M. Ḵosravi, “Taʾṯir-e Šāh-nāma bar Ḵāvarān-nāma,” Moṭāleʿāt-e farhangi-ye ejtemāʿi-ye Ḵorāsān 26, 1391/2013, pp. 7-35.

F. de Blois, Persian Literature. A Bio-bibliographical Survey, vol. V in 2 parts, London, 1994.

G. Calasso, “Il Xāvar-nāmè di Ibn Ḥosām: note introduttive,” Rivista degli Studi Orientali 48, 1973-74, pp. 153-73.

Idem, “Una ‘epopea musulmana’ di epoca timuride: il Xāvar-nāmè di Ebn Ḥosām,” Atti della Accademia nazionale dei Lincei. Classe di Scienze morali, storiche e filologiche, Ser. VIII, vol. 23, fasc. 5, Rome, 1979, pp. 381-499.

Idem, “Una testimonianza letteraria della ‘provincia’ timuride: il Khāvar-Nāmè di Ebn Ḥosām,” Problemi dell’età timuride. Atti del III Convegno Internazionale sull’Arte e sulla Civilità Islamica, Venice, 1980, pp. 133-48.

J. Cejpek, “Iranian Folk-Literature,” in Jan Rypka et al., History of Iranian Literature, ed. K. Jahn, Dordrecht, 1968, pp. 679-80.

Dawlatšāh Samarqandi, Taḏkerat al-šoʿarāʾ, ed. E. G. Browne, London, 1901.

Y. Ḏokā, “Ḵāvarān-nāma: nosḵa-ye ḵaṭṭi va moṣavvar-e muza-ye honar-hā-ye tazyini,” Honar o mardom 30, 1964, pp. 17-29. 

H. Ethé, Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, 2 vols., Oxford, 1903-37.

G. R. Hawting, “Saʿd b. Abī Waḳḳāṣ,” EI2, VIII, 1995, pp. 696-97.

Ḡiāṯ-al-Din Moḥammad Ḵᵛāndamir, Ḥabib al-siar, ed. Jalāl-al-Din Homāʾi, 4 vols, Tehran, 1954.

G. Levi-Della Vida[-M. Bonner], “ʿUmar (I) b. al-Khaṭṭāb,” EI2, X, 2000, pp. 818-21.

M.-J. Maḥjub, “Bustān-e ḵiyāl,” in idem, Adabiyāt-e ʿāmmiyāna-ye Irān: Majmuʿa-ye maqālāt dar-bāra-ye afsāna-hā va ādāb o rosūm-e mardom-e Irān I, ed. Ḥasan Ḏuʾl-Feqāri, Tehran, 1382/2003, pp. 617-76.

U. Marzolph, Dāstānhā-ye širin: fünfzig persische Volksbüchlein aus der zweiten Hälfte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart, 1994.

Idem, Narrative Illustration in Persian Lithographed Books, Leiden, 2001.

P. Mašhur, “Roʾā-ye ṣādeq va bāztāb-e ān dar Ḵāvarān-nāma,” Nāma-ye pārsi 4, 1378/2000, pp. 94-103.

Mirḵᵛānd, Rawżat al-ṣafā, 10 vols, Qom, 1338-51/1960-72.

Ch. Melville, “Ibn Ḥusām’s Ḫāvarān-nāma and the Šāh-nāma of Firdawsī,” Eurasian Studies 5, 2006, pp. 219-34.

M. Molé, “L’épopée iranienne après Firdōsī,” La Nouvelle Clio 5, 1953, pp. 377-93.

Ch. Pellat, “ʿAmr b. Maʿdīkarib,” EI2 , I , 1960, p. 453.

Amin Aḥmad Rāzi, Ḥaft eqlim, ed. S. M-R. Ṭāheri (Ḥasrat), 3 vols., Tehran, 1378/1999.

Ch. Rieu, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 3 vols. and supplement, London, 1876-95.

N. Rhodokanakis[-Ch. Pellat], “Abū Miḥdjan,” EI2, I, 1960, p. 140.

J. Rubanovich, “Orality in Medieval Persian Literature,” in K. Reichl, ed., Medieval Oral Literature, Berlin and Boston, 2012, pp. 653-79.

Idem, “On Representations of Jews in Medieval Persan Epic Poetry,” Irano-Judaica VII, ed. G. Herman, J. Rubanovich and Sh. Shaked, Jerusalem, forthcoming.

J. Rypka, “History of Persian Literature up to the Beginning of the 20th Century,” in Jan Rypka et al., History of Iranian Literature, ed. K. Jahn, Dordrecht, 1968, p. 164.

Ḏ.-A. Ṣafā, Ḥamāsa-sarāʾi dar Irān az qadimtarin ʿahd-e tāriḵi tā qarn-e čahārdahom-e hejri, Tehran, 1954, pp. 377-79.

Idem, Tāriḵ-e adabiyāt-e Irān va dar qalamraw-e zabān-e pārsi, Tehran, 1992-93, vol. 4, pp. 315-22.

A. Šahbāzi and M. Malek Ṯābet, “Naqd-e zabān-e ḥamāsi dar Ḵāvarān-nāma-ye Ebn Ḥosām-e Ḵusfi,” Jostārhā-ye adabi 185, 1393/2014, pp. 89-117.

R. Shani, “Some Comments on the Probable Sources of Ibn Ḥusām’s Khāvarān-nāma and the Oral Transmission of Epic Materials,” in J. Rubanovich, ed., Orality and Textuality in the Iranian World: Patterns of Interaction across the Centuries, Leiden, 2015, pp. 241-70.

L. Veccia Vaglieri, “al-Ashtar,” EI2, I, 1960, p. 704.

M. van Zutphen, Farāmarz, the Sistāni Hero: Texts and Traditions of the “Farāmarznāme” and the Persian Epic Cycle, Leiden and Boston, 2014.

(Julia Rubanovich)

Originally Published: August 8, 2017

Last Updated: August 8, 2017

Cite this entry:

Julia Rubanovich, “ḴĀVARĀN-NĀMA i. The Epic Poem,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2017, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khavaran-nama-1 (accessed on 08 August 2017).