The concepts of kingship in the earliest period of Islamic history were drawn from the Qurʾanic stories. Joseph speaks of the king of Egypt as al-malek (12:43-76). Similarly, king Saul (Ṭālut in Arabic sources) is referred to as al-malek (2:247). God is referred to as the “True King” (al-malek al-ḥaqq; 20:114; 23:116) and the “King of Humankind” (malek al-nās; 114:2).

Concepts of Persian kingship during the period derived principally from accounts of Sasanian rulers, as well as from the stories of legendary kings such as Gayōmart and Jamšid (qq.v.). Anecdotes illustrating the wisdom of Persian kings were preserved and transmitted in Persian and Arabic historical narratives as well as works of political advice in the genres of adab, naṣiḥa, pand, and andarz (see ADAB; ANDARZ), and in Persian poetry of the maṯnawi form. Accounts of the Persian heritage of kingship were studied by Muslim scholars following the Arab-Muslim conquests of Persia in the 7th century (Yarshater, pp. 359-66). In Arabic sources, these were initially referred to as the histories of “Persian kings” (moluk al-ʿajam; moluk al-fārs) (Hoyland). The moral example of these kings served as a model for different Muslim rulers and intellectuals from the 8th century on.

The sources of Persian kingship.  Much of the knowledge of Persian kings was derived from various Middle Persian sources written during the Sasanian period (224 CE–650 CE).  One such work is the late-Sasanian history of Persian kings, composed near the end of the 6th century, known as the Xwadāy-nāmag (Book of Lords; see ḴODĀ-NĀMA; Hämeen-Antilla, p. 2). Abu Moḥammad ʿAbd-Allāh Rozbeh Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ (q.v.; ca. 721-57) played a seminal role in preserving and transmitting this knowledge through his modified Arabic translation of Xwadāy-nāmag, usually called Ketāb siar moluk al-fors, although this work no longer survives. Ḥamza Eṣfahāni (ca. 893-961), writing in the first half of the 10th century, listed eight texts he consulted in writing his account of the “kings of Persia” (moluk al-fors) titled Ketāb taʾriḵ seni moluk al-arż wa’l-anbiāʾ. The first of the sources he referenced was Ketāb siar moluk al-fors (Ḥamza Eṣfahāni, p. 8). He divided the history of Persian kings into four periods, a schema generally agreed upon by medieval Muslim historians. These consisted of al-Fešdādiya (Pēšdādiān), al-Keyāniya (Kayānians, q.v.), al-Ašḡāniya (see ARSACIDS; also known as Aškāniān and Parthians), and al-Sāsāniya (Sasanian). The first two of these dynasties are legendary. Another Middle Persian work, Ḵusraw ī Kawādān ud rēdak-ēw (q.v.), describes an aspiring court page displaying his extensive knowledge and skills before the Sasanian king Ḵosrow I (q.v.; r. 531-79), or possibly Ḵosrow II (q.v.; r. 590-628). Abu Manṣur ʿAbd-al-Malek Ṯaʿālebi (961–1038) included parts of this text in his Ḡorar aḵbār moluk al-fors (First [as in best] reports on the kings of Persia) (Ṯaʿālebi, pp. 705-11; Monchi-Zadeh, pp. 47-91). Abu ʿAli Aḥmad Meskawayh (q.v.; d. 1030), in his Tajāreb al-omam (Experiences of nations), recounted the purported “testament” of the founder of Sasanian dynasty Ardašir I (q.v.; r. 226-241 CE), known as ʿAhd Ardašir (Meskawayh, I, pp. 97-107). The historian Abu Jaʿfar Moḥammad b. Jarir Ṭabari (q.v.; 839–923) covered the history of Persian kings in Taʾriḵ al-rosul wa’l-moluk (The history of prophets and kings). He mentioned that Gayōmart is the father of the Persian people (Abu al-fāres) and that “he and his children continued to rule until their royal authority came to an end when the Muslims entered Madāʾen [q.v.] kesra” (Ṭabari, I, p. 13; tr. I, p. 186). As referenced by Ṭabari and others, early Muslim scholars debated whether Gayōmart was the Prophet Adam or a descendant of Adam.

Historians conceptualized human history as being divided into the history of prophets, who were of Arab descent, and the history of kings, who were of Persian descent. Ferdowsi (q.v.; 940-1019 or 1025) was the greatest compiler of stories of pre-Islamic Persian kings, preserved in oral and textual traditions, which he memorialized and gave new life to in verse form in the Šāh-nāma. Other works of Persian poetry also transmitted concepts of Persian kingship. The Šāh-nāma and the broader legacy of pre-Islamic Persian kings inspired a Persian literary genre of epics that served as a repository of concepts of Persian kingship (Askari, pp. 30-40). For example, ʿAli b. Aḥmad Asadi Ṭūsi (q.v.; ca. 999/1000-1072/73) composed the Garšāsp-nāma (q.v.), relating tales of Garšāsp (see KARSĀSP), the last of the legendary Pēšdādiān kings.

The civilizing mission of Persian kings. Arabic and Persian sources that treat the stories of Persian kings frequently revolve around the ruler’s duty to civilize the world (Auer, 2017). Persian kings were depicted as being engaged in a battle with savage and demonic forces. For instance, Ḥamza Eṣfahāni noted that Hōšang (q.v.), known by the epithet pēš-dād, “he who first set the law of sovereignty,” was responsible for the mining of iron and the fabrication of weapons. He was also said to have developed hunting (Ḥamza Eṣfahāni, p. 29). According to Ṭabari, Hōšang defeated the devil (Eblis) and his army and banned the devil from human society (Ṭabari, I, p. 171; tr. I, p. 342). Mythical Persian kings were also credited with the construction of first cities. Tahmuraṯ, a Pēšdādiān king and descendent of Hōšang, was credited with the construction of Babylon (q.v.), the fortress of Marv, and one of the seven cities of Madāʾen (Ḥamza Eṣfahāni, p. 29). Another Pēšdādiān ruler, Jamšid, was credited with advancing civilization through inventions and new technologies. According to Ṭabari, for example, Jamšid invented the horse saddle, produced textiles from silk, developed medicine, and forged iron tools for crafts and weaponry. Jamšid is also said to have tamed the “satans and jinn,” employing them in construction projects (Ṭabari, I, p. 180; tr. I, p. 349). Ferdowsi, too, narrated Jamšid’s control over “the demon (div), bird, and fairy” (Ferdowsi, I, l. 6, p. 41; tr. I, p. 131).

Mythical and historical Persian kings were depicted as great warriors and skilled huntsmen (Hanaway). Accounts of the Sasanian ruler Bahrām V Gōr  (q.v.; r. 420-38) describe his legendary defeat of dragons, elephants, and lions, as well as his extraordinary ability to hunt other wild animals. He is said to have traveled to the Indian subcontinent to rid the kingdom of Kanauj of a dragon that was terrorizing the people (Ferdowsi, VI, p. 571-76; tr. VII, pp. 124-26). He received the epithet of Gōr, “Onager,” due his great skill in archery as narrated in the story of Bahrām and the lyre-player Āzāda (q.v.).

Among the imputed civilizing mission of Persian kings was the preservation of orderly and peaceful governance and social welfare. Social order was maintained in accordance with class hierarchy, said to have been established by Jamšid. Ferdowsi noted that Jamšid organized society into classes of priests, warriors, farmers, and artisans (Ferdowsi, I, pp. 42-43; tr. I, pp. 132-133). Ṭabari rendered these classes as the four “categories” (ṭabaqāt) of soldiers (moqātela), religious scholars (foqahāʾ), scribes (kottāb), and artisans (ṣonnāʾ) and cultivators (ḥarrāṯin) (Ṭabari, I, p. 180; tr. I, p. 349). Abu Rayḥān Biruni (q.v.; ca. 973-1048) mentioned the restoration of the four social classes under Sasanian ruler Ardašir I (Biruni, 1958, p. 76; tr. I, p. 100). Individuals born into each class were to remain in it, in order to prevent rebellion and maintain social stability.

The signs of Persian kings. The concept of farr ‘glory (good) fortune, kingly majesty’ (see FARR[AH]), has an ancient pedigree going as far back as the time of the Old Iranian languages (Av. xᵛarənah; Mid.Pers. xwarrah). This concept was introduced to Islamicate political theories by Abu’l-Ḥasam b. ʿAli Neẓām-al-Molk (q.v., 1018-1092), vizier to two Great Saljuq sultans, who said kings may possess the farr-e elāhi (“divine blessing”) (Neẓām-al-Molk, p. 69; tr. p. 61). In a direct translation from the Persian to the Arabic, Ṯaʿālebi defined farr as “the light of divine blessing” (shoʿāʿ al-saʿādat al-elāhiya) (Ṯaʿālebi, p. 7), preserving the meaning of the term in Old Iranian languages that denotes the sun and fire. Farr-e izadi (also meaning “divine blessing”) is a recurrent topic in Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma.

Authors described farr-e izadi as a divinely conferred blessing upon a ruler manifested in the ruler’s actions and person. Similarly, visual representations of farr-e izadi (see FARR[AH] ii. ICONOGRAPHY OF FARR[AH]/XᵛARƎNAH) sybmolized the legitimacy of a ruler. According to Ṯaʿālebi, the reign of the Kayānian king Dārā I (see DĀRĀ[B] [1]) was validated by the appearance of the farr (Ṯaʿālebi, p. 397). In the Naṣiḥat al-moluk (“Counsel for kings”) of Abu Ḥāmed Moḥammad Ḡazāli (q.v.), Aristotle responds to a query about kingly qualities by enumerating knowledge, generosity, and clemency among such qualities and noting that these are derived from “divine blessing” (farr-e izadi) (Ḡazāli, pp. 65-66; tr. pp. 73-75). In this work, it is also stated that those with farr-e izadi are to be obeyed, since their authority is bestowed by God (Ḡazāli, pp. 39-40; tr. p. 45). Even as late as the early modern period, Abu’l-Fażl ʿAllāmi (q.v., 1551-1602), the noted vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605), maintained that farr-e izadi is a “the divine light” received directly from God. ʿAllāmi, who was expounding the ideal principles of kingship, wrote, “Kingship is a light from the incomparable giver of justice, and a ray from the sun, the illuminator of the universe, the argument of the book of perfection, the receptacle of all virtues. Modern language calls this the divine light/fire (farr-e izadi), and the tongue of antiquity called it the light/fire of kings (kayān ḵwarra). It appears in sacred form without the intermediate assistance of anyone, and men, in the presence of it, bend the forehead of praise toward the ground of submission” (Abu’l-Fażl ʿAllāmi, I, p. 2; tr. p. iii).

Particular symbolisms were associated with the mythical and historical Persian kings. For instance, the poet Neẓāmi Ganjavi (1141-1209) wrote in his versified account of the life of Alexander, Eskandar-nāma (see ESKANDAR-NĀMA OF NEẒĀMI), that “Through time six mementos remain of six kings: the crown (kollāh) of Gayōmart ‘the Throne Seizer’; the sword (tiḡ) of Jamšid; the throne (sarir) of Faridun; the fortune-telling cup (jam) of Kay Ḵosrow), in which is found the decrees of the stars; the resplendent pearly mirror (āʾina) of the paragon of the time, Alexander; and the ruby-studded ring (ḵātam) with the glowing insignia of Solomon” (Neẓāmi, pp. 43-44; tr. p. 102). Menhāj-e Serāj Jowzjāni (see MENHĀJ-E SERĀJ; b. 1193), a historian in the court of the Delhi sultans, wrote of “the glory (farr) of Faridun, the custom (nahād) of Qobād, the law (nāmus) of Kāwus, the dominion (dawlat) of Alexander, and the ferocity (ṣawlat) of Bahrām” (Jowzjāni, I, p. 440; tr. I, p. 598).

The moral characteristics of Persian kings. Over time the qualities of kingship attributed to the great legendary and historical Persian rulers crystalized into traits considered essential for kingship, and stories of Persian kings permeated Arabic and Persian advice literature, serving as examples for Muslim rulers. The history of Persian kings and their exploits were a principal theme in moralizing political literature. The primary traits of good rule were said to be the exercise of justice, compassion, clemency, generosity, and wisdom. Persian kings were said to possess many of these character traits. Not all accounts of the ancient Persian kings were positive and many anecdotes also criticized some of the kings. Examples of this appear in Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma, which relates both the moral strengths as well as weaknesses of kings (Davis). Both types of anecdotes can also be found in Neẓām-al-Molk’s treatment of such kings as Kay Qobād, Kay Ḵosrow, Ardašir, Bahrām Gōr, and Ḵosrow I.

The Sasanian Ḵosrow I (r. 531-79) was portrayed, particularly in the medieval period, as the king par excellence. He was said to have been an exceptionally wise and just ruler and was frequently referred to as Anuširwān, from the Middle Persian Anōšag-ruwān (“immortal soul”), as well as ʿĀdel, “The Just” (Ar. al-ʿadl) (Marcotte, pp. 77-80). The wisdom of Ḵosrow I was also amply attested in Persian and Arabic advice literature. One of the archetypal examples of his wisdom was his search for the famed Pañcatantra, the Indian treatise of political advice in Sanskrit, which resulted in a Middle Persian translation that ultimately led to its Arabic translation by Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ, called Kalila wa Demna (q.v.). To find the Pañcatantra, Ḵosrow I reportedly commissioned the skilled physician Borzuya (q.v.) to travel to the Indian subcontinent (de Blois, pp. 40-43). Persian kings were also said to have greatly rewarded their courtiers for their sagacity, repartee, and knowledge. In this regard, Neẓām-al-Molk wrote: “It was the custom of the kings of the Sasanian line that whenever anyone in their presence said any word or demonstrated any skill which pleased them, they would utter the word ‘Bravo!’ Immediately on hearing this the treasurer would give that person 1,000 dinars. The Persian kings (moluk-e akāsera) surpassed all other kings in justice, humanity and magnanimity. This was particularly true of Anuširwān the Just” (Neẓām-al-Molk, p. 154; tr. p. 127).

In the early 12th century, the author known as Ebn al-Balḵi (q.v.) quoted the following proverb, reportedly translated into Arabic from the Middle Persian: “There is no kingship without the army, no army without wealth, no wealth without productivity, and no productivity without justice” (Ebn al-Balḵi, p. 5). An earlier version of this proverb was recorded in the 9th century by Abu Moḥammad ʿAbd-Allāh Ebn Qotayba (q.v.), but without a clear attribution of its Persian origins (Ebn Qotayba, I, p. 9). The principle embodied in this proverb came to be known as the “circle of justice” and attained wide currency in Persian and Arabic advice literature (Darling). Another much quoted proverb, appearing in different renderings and frequently attributed to Ardašir, stated: “Religion (al-din) and kingship (al-molk) are brothers, one is not possible without the other” (Ebn Qotayba, I, p. 13; Ṯaʿālebi, p. 481; Neẓām-al-Molk, p. 69; tr., p. 60; Ḡazāli, p. 51; tr. p. 59; Auer, 2012, pp. 138-39).

The Ādāb al-ḥarb wa’l-šajāʿa (q.v.; The etiquette of war and valor) by Faḵr-e Modabber (q.v.; ca. 1157–1236) is one of the greatest medieval compilations of purported sayings and deeds of Persian kings. In 1229, Faḵr-e Modabber presented this work to the ruler of the Delhi sultanate (q.v.) Šams-al-Din Ēltotmeš (q.v.; r. 1211–36) in the latter’s capital Delhi. In this work, the anecdotes and stories about Persian kings and Muslim rulers are organized according to principal traits of kingship: kindness (karam), clemency (ḥelm), forgiveness (ʿafw), good intension (niat), justice (ʿadl), compassion (šafaqat), and mercy (raḥmat). Around the same time Moḥammad Sadid-al-Din ʿAwfi (see ʿAWFĪ, SADĪD-AL-DĪN, fl. 1221) composed his extensive anthology of anecdotes, Jawāmeʿ al-ḥekāyāt wa lawāmeʿ al-rewāyāt (q.v.), dedicating it to Ēltotmeš’s minister Qewām-al-Din Moḥammad b. Abi Saʿd Jonaydi. This work contains a section dedicated to the history of Persian kings, with copious anecdotes about Persian kings interspersed throughout the text (Niẓámu’d-Dín, pp. 146-49, 153-61, and passim). Żiāʾ-al-Din Barani (q.v.; ca. 1285-1357) was another leading authority on Persian concepts of kingship during the reign of the Delhi sultans, as evident from his work of political advice titled Fatāwā-ye jahāndāri. He provided a number of axioms emblematic of Persian concepts of kingship, such as “Kingship is established on two pillars, governance (jahāndāri) and conquest (jahāngir); both pillars are supported by the army” (Barani, Fatāwā, p. 96; tr. p. 22). To a large degree, the knowledge of Persian kingship that was transmitted over the centuries also went through a process of Islamization. Persian concepts of kingship were so assimilated to Islamic political ideals that Muslim authors did not always distinguish between the two (Tor).

Symbolic representations of Persian kingship and the Persian pedigree of kings as a form of political legitimacy. Many Muslim rulers sought to legitimize their reign and boost their prestige in the eyes of their subjects by evoking the heritage and aura of pre-Islamic Persian kings and engaging in symbolic display of Persian kingship. Some Muslim rulers also claimed historical ties to those Persian kings, including ethnic affinity or direct descent, as a means of validating their own rule and enhancing their dynastic charisma. These Muslim rulers cultivated a public image of reigning in the manner of great Persian kings, such as Jamšid, Faridun (see FERĒDŪN), Bahrām Gōr, and Ḵosrow I. The Muslim rulers appropriated the titles of legendary and historical Persian kings, and they were praised by their courtiers for displaying attributes of kingship associated with the Persian monarchs. The Taherids (q.v.; 821-873), who governed Khorasan for the ʿAbbasid caliphate (q.v.), claimed to be descendants of Rostam-e Dastān, the legendary Persian hero (Bosworth, 1969, p. 49). However, they also claimed ties to the Arab tribes of Ḵozāʿa and Qorayš, and it is unclear whether they drew on concepts of Persian kingship as well. Yet, their identity as local rulers with an alleged royal Persian pedigree played a role in the Šoʿubiya debates of the time (see IRANIAN IDENTITY iii. MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC PERIOD), contributing to the revival of Persian cultural heritage (Bosworth, 1969, p. 49-51).

Following the 7th century Muslim conquests of Sasanian territory, what scholars now refer to as Persian dynasties of the Islamic period did not appear until after the 9th century (Bosworth, 1973; Kennedy). These were principally the Samanids (r. 819-1005; see IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (2) Islamic period) in Transoxiana and later on also Khorasan; the Saffarids (r. 861-1003) in eastern regions of the former Sasanian territory, including Khorasan; and the Buyids (q.v.; r. 932-1062) in western regions of the former Sasanian territory, including Iraq. These dynasties claimed a particular range of connections with the ancient Persian dynasties. The Samanid kings were pioneering patrons of Early New Persian (see PERSIAN LANGUAGE i. EARLY NEW PERSIAN) and literature composed in that language, as evident from the literary achievements of the poets Abū Manṣūr Aḥmad Daqiqi (q.v.; ca. 932-76) and Rudaki (d. 940; see IRAN viii. PERSIAN LITERATURE (2) Classical). Daqiqi was extremely influential in the revival of the Persian concept of kingship by embarking on his composition of a Šāh-nāma, which was later vastly expanded by Ferdowsi. Daqiqi began the Šāh-nāma at the behest of the Samanid ruler Nuḥ b. Manṣur (see NUḤ [II] B. MANṢUR [I]; r. 976-97). What survives of this work only details the reign of the legendary king Goštāsp (q.v.), the text of it being preserved in Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma, begun about 977. Rudaki composed poetry in qaṣida form in praise of Abu Jaʿfar Aḥmad b. Moḥammad b. Ḵalaf (see AḤMAD B. MOḤAMMAD; r. 923-63), the Saffarid amir of Sistan. Rudaki addressed the amir as ḵosrow, the king of the rulers of the world (šāh-e moluk-e jahān), the sun of Sasanian essence (āftāb-e gowhar-e Sāsān), and Rostam-e Dastān (Ross, pp. 219, 220, 222 and tr. 232, 233, 235).

The anonymous authors of the Tāriḵ-e Sistān (q.v.) recorded a detailed genealogy of the founder of the Saffarid dynasty, Yaʿqub b. Layṯ b. Moʿddal (q.v.; r. 861-79), tracing Yaʿqub’s lineage back to Ardašir III, Anuširwān, Bahrām Gōr, Kay Ḵosrow, Jamšid and Gayōmart (pp. 200-202). Abu Bakr Moḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-Naršaḵi, the 10th-century historian and author of Taʾriḵ al-Boḵārā, composed a genealogy of Samanid rulers, tracing their ancestry back to the Sasanian ruler Bahrām VI Čobin (q.v.; r. 590-91) (Naršaḵi, p. 59; cf. Biruni, 1876, p. 39; tr. p. 48). Naršaḵi characterization of Bahrām Čobin’s noble disposition, erudition and wisdom, competence and discipline as a military commander, wit, and exemplary sense of justice was reproduced in many subsequent medieval Persian histories.

The earliest coins during the Islamic period that display a Persian concept of kingship were minted in Buyid realms (Richter-Bernburg). Rokn-al-Dawla Ḥasan b. Buya (r. 947-77), the Buyid ruler, minted coins bearing his image in Sasanian inspired dress and with the Middle Persian eulogy xwarrah abzud šāhānšāh ‘may the king of kings’ glory be increased’ appearing on the reverse side (Miles, p. 285). The Persian titles of šāh (OPers. xšāyaθiya ‘king’) and šāhanšāh (OPers. xšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām ‘king of kings’) can be traced back to Achaemenid kings as early as Darius I the Great (see DARIUS iii. DARIUS I THE GREAT, 521-486 BCE).  Abu Šojāʾ Fannā Ḵosrow ʿAżod-al-Dawla (see ʿAŻOD-AL-DAWLA, ABŪ ŠOJĀʾ FANNĀ ḴOSROW; r.  936-83), Rokn-al-Dawla Ḥasan b. Būya’s son, retained this title and further claimed descent from the Sasanian monarch Bahrām Gōr (Madelung, p. 106; Khan, p. 38). In Ṭabarestān, the local dynasty of Ziyarids (q.v.) strove to preserve and transmit Persian concepts of kingship. The Ziyarid ruler Kaykāvus b. Eskandar b. Qābus (q.v., r. 1049- ca. 1087) claimed decent from Kāwus (d. ca. 537), the son the Sasanian king Kawād I (q.v.; r. 488–96 and 498–531) and brother to Ḵosrow I (Kaykāvus, p. 3; tr. pp. 2-3). Such professed royal lineages were intended to bolster the legitimacy of the ruler and indicate that concepts of Persian kingship were preserved and refashioned in different regions over centuries.

Persian concepts of kingship spread far and wide beyond the traditional Persian heartlands and, in addition to some Arab dynasties, were also adopted by rulers of Turkish and Mongol ethnicity. Poets in the court of the Ghaznavid (q.v.) ruler Sultan Maḥmud (see MAḤMUD B. SEBÜKTEGIN; r. 998-1030) in the city of Ghazna (see ḠAZNĪ) lauded the sultan as šāhanšāh (Mottahedeh, p. 131). Ferdowsi, who dedicated the Šāh-nāma to Sultan Maḥmud, wrote of the sultan’s farr that “made the world like a spring garden” (Ferdowsi, I, p. 17, l. 191; tr. I, p. 113). Three sultans of the Saljuq dynasty of Anatolia (see SALJUQS iii. SALJUQS OF RUM) adopted titles symbolically connecting their rule to the otherwise mythical Kayānian kings. These were Kay Ḵosrow (r. 1192-97 and 1205-11) and his two sons ʿEzz-al-Din Kay Kāvus (r. 1211-20) and ʿAlaʾ-al-Din Kay Qobād (r. 1220-37). The later ruler is said to have commissioned a Šāh-nāma-style history of the Saljuqs by the poet Ḵᵛāja Dahhāni which is now lost (Şikârî, fols. 5a–b; Peacock, pp. 81-82). During the Mongol reign of the Il-khanids (q.v.) over the former Persian territories, from roughly the middle of the 13th century to the middle of the 14th century, there was similar utilization of Persian concepts of kingship. The “Great Mongol” Šāh-nāma (see DEMOTTE ŠĀH-NĀMA), commissioned by a member of the Il-khanid court, also deployed visual imagery of Persian kingship in which Il-khan rulers were cast in settings associated with Persian kings of ancient times and vice versa. This was intended to “legitimize the new conquest dynasty and to assist the acculturation of the Mongols to Iranian traditions” (Melville, p. 344). Šāh-nāma inscriptions were used to decorate the summer palace of the Il-khanid ruler Abaqa (q.v.; r. 1265-82), located in northwestern Persia (Melikian-Chirvani, pp. 82-103). Persian-speaking intellectuals employed in the Il-khanid court propagated the conceptual constructs of Persian kingship. The educational regimen of the court further perpetuated this process through the teaching of  subjects in political thought and history, as well as poetry, composed in the Persian language, which served as the principal medium for transmitting ideas about Persian kingship. Examples of historical works composed during the period that recounted ideals of Persian kingship include Neẓām al-tawāriḵ (“The ordering of histories”) by Nāṣer-al-Din Bayżāwi (q.v.) and Jāmeʿ al-tawārīḵ (q.v., “Compendium of chronicles”) by Rašid-al-Din (ca. 1247-1318), a minister in the court of Ḡāzān Khan (q.v.; r. 1295-1304) (Melville, pp. 351-54).

In the Indian subcontinent, Persian concepts of kingship were first introduced by the Ghurid (q.v.) rulers, with the succeeding sultans of Delhi continuing the practice. Faḵr-e Modabber’s Šajara-ye ansāb, also known as Baḥr al-ansāb, contained genealogies of  pre-Islamic Persian kings, both mythical and historical, along with genealogies of the Ghurid sultans (Binbaş, pp. 470-82). According to the testament of the sultan of Delhi Ḡiāṯ-al-Din Balban (see DELHI SULTANATE, r. 1266-87), preserved by the historian Żiāʾ-al-Din Barani, this king claimed descent from Afrāsiāb (q.v.), the otherwise legendary Kayānian ruler (Barani, p. 37; cf. Amir Ḵosrow, p. 42). ʿAlāʾ-al-Din Bahmanšāh (r. 1347-58), the founder of the Bahmanid dynasty (q.v.) in the Deccan (q.v.), claimed royal descent from another Kayānian king, Bahman (see BAHMAN [2] SON OF ESFANDĪĀR; ʿEṣāmi, I, p. 9, tr. I, p. 14).