The Sistani cycle of epics and Iran's national history : : on the margins of historiography / / by Saghi Gazerani.

• Superior document: Studies in Persian Cultural History, Volume 7
• VerfasserIn: Gazerani, Saghi,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2016.; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Persian cultural history ; Volume 7.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (250 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

This work examines the entire corpus of the Sistani Cycle of Epics , both parts included in Ferdowsi’s Shāhnāmeh and those appearing in separate manuscripts. It argues that the so-called “epic literature” of Iran constitutes a kind of historiography, encapsulating reflections of watershed events of Iran’s antiquity. By examining the symbiotic relationship of the texts’ content and form, the underpinning discourse of the various stories is revealed to have been shaped by polemics of political legitimacy and religious conflict. This discourse, however, is not abstract. The stories narrate, within their generic constraint, some of the affairs of the Sistani kingdom and its relationship to the Parthian throne, mainly from the first century BCE to the end of the second century CE.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- 1 The Historical Context -- 2 The Appropriation of an Avestan Hero and the Birth of the House of Rostam -- 3 The Zenith of Suren Power -- 4 The Downtrodden Sistani Heroes -- 5 The Polemics of Making Heroes and Anti-Heroes -- Epilogue -- Appendix A -- Appendix B -- Figures -- Bibliography -- Index.