Old Persian painting, depicting Manuchehr sitting on the royal throne
Manūchehr [mænuː'tʃer] (Persian: منوچهر, older Persian Manōčihr, Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬱𐬗𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 Manuščiθra), is the eighth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to Shahnameh. He is the first of the legendary Iranian Shahs who ruled Iran after the breakup of the world empire of Manūchehr's great-grandfather, Fereydūn.
Manūchehr was the grandson of Iraj, who was the son of Fereydūn, and he avenged the death of Īrāj at the hands of Fereydūn's other two sons, Salm and Tur. From the death of Tūr in Manūchehr's war of vengeance sprang a war between the Iranians and Turanians that would last for centuries, until the reign of Kai Khosrow.
Manūchehr died after a reign of 120 years, and was succeeded by his son Nowzar.
Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Dick Davis trans. (2006), Shahnameh: The Persian Book of KingsISBN0-670-03485-1, modern English translation (abridged), current standard
Warner, Arthur and Edmond Warner, (translators) The Shahnama of Firdausi, 9vols. (London: Keegan Paul, 1905–1925) (complete English verse translation)
Shirzad Aghaee, Nam-e kasan va ja'i-ha dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi (Personalities and Places in the Shahnama of Ferdousi, Nyköping, Sweden, 1993. ( ISBN91-630-1959-0)
Jalal Khāleghi Motlagh, Editor, The Shahnameh, to be published in 8volumes (c.500 pages each), consisting of six volumes of text and two volumes of explanatory notes. See: Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University.
Turan is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of the Avestan age.
Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi was a Persian poet and the author of Shahnameh, which is one of the world's longest epic poems created by a single poet, and the greatest epic of Persian-speaking countries. Ferdowsi is celebrated as one of the most influential figures of Persian literature and one of the greatest in the history of literature.
The Shahnameh, also transliterated Shahnama, is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couplets, the Shahnameh is one of the world's longest epic poems, and the longest epic poem created by a single author. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Muslim conquest in the seventh century. Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the greater region influenced by Persian culture such as Armenia, Dagestan, Georgia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan celebrate this national epic.
Gordāfarīd is one of the heroines in the Shāhnāmeh "The Book of Kings" or "The Epic of Kings", an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Hakīm Abū l-Qāsim Ferdowsī Tūsī around 1000 AD. She was a champion who fought against Sohrab and delayed the Turanian troops who were marching on Persia. She is a symbol of courage and wisdom for Persian women.
But one of those within the fortress was a woman, daughter of the warrior Gazhdaham, named Gordafarid. When she learned that their leader had allowed himself to be taken, she found his behaviour so shameful that her rosy cheeks became as black as pitch with rage. With not a moment's delay she dressed herself in a knight's armour, gathered her hair beneath a Rumi helmet, and rode out from the fortress, a lion eager for battle. She roared at the enemy ranks, "Where are your heroes, your warriors, your tried and tested chieftains?"
Tahmina or Tahmineh is a female character in the story Rostam and Sohrab, part of the 10th-century Persian epic of Shahnameh. Her name is mentioned as the wife of Rostam and as the daughter of Samanganshah, the sovereign of Samangan.
Fereydun is an Iranian mythical king and hero from the Pishdadian dynasty. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity in Persian literature.
Keyumars or Kiomars was the name of the first king (shah) of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to the Shahnameh.
Siyâvash, also spelled Siyâvoš or Siavash (سياووش), is a major figure in the Shahnameh. He is introduced by Ferdowsi as the son of Kay Kāvus, who reigns as Shah in the earliest days of Greater Iran for over a century. His name means "the one with black stallions" after his horse Shabrang Behzād, who accompanies him during a trial of righteousness.
Sām, also (Sam) transliterated Saam, is a mythical hero of ancient Persia, and an important character in the Shahnameh epic. He was the son of Nariman, grandson of Garshasp and father to Zāl. Disheartened by his son Zāl being born with white hair, he ordered that Zāl be left at the Alborz mountains which were home to the Simurgh. The Simurgh cared for the young Zāl until Sām was influenced by a dream to reunite with his son. Sām was Iran's champion during the rule of Fereydun, Manuchehr and Nowzar. He was appointed by Manuchehr to rule Zabulistan (Sistan), and then Mazandaran. After Manuchehr, because of Nowzar's corrupted and failed rulership, Iranian champions asked Sām to rule Iran. Sām didn't accept, he supported Nowzar and advised him to follow Fereydun and Manuchehr. Sām returned to Mazandaran, and died soon after that. Afrasiab then attacked Zabulistan.
Nowzar, Nouzar, Nowzer, Novzar or Nōzar ; Persian pronunciation:[ˈnoːˈzæɾ]; is the ninth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to Shahnameh. He is the son of Manuchehr and becomes the Shah of Iran after his father's death. His reign of seven years comes to an end when he is killed by Afrasiab during a battle.
Salm or Sarm is a character in the Persian epic Shahnameh. He is the oldest son of legendary hero and king Fereydun. It is believed that his name was given to him by his father, after Salm chooses to seek safety and run instead of fighting the dragon that had attacked him and his brothers.
Tur is a character in the Persian epic Shahnameh. He is the second son of the legendary Iranian king Fereydun and brother of both Salm and Iraj. His name, meaning "brave", was given to him by his father when the young prince bravely fights the dragon that had attacked him and his brothers. When Fereydun divides his empire among his sons, he gives Turkistan and China to his second son Tur. This is the beginning of the Turanians, the neighbor and rival of the Iranians. Some of the most important characters of Shahnameh, such as Afrasiab, are his descendants. He was killed by Manuchehr.
Farangis or Frigis is a female character in the Persian epic Shahnameh. She is the eldest daughter of Afrasiab, king of Turan. She is also the second and favourite wife of Siyâvash, the saintlike prince of Iran and mother of a legendary hero and later Shah of Iran, Kai Khosrow. Although a Turanian by birth, Farangis shows loyalty to her husband's kingdom and dynasty. She accompanies her son when he leaves Turan in the hopes of gathering an Iranian army to avenge Siyâvash.
Kay Kawad is a mythological figure of Iranian folklore and oral tradition. The 'Kay' stock epithet identifies Kawad as a Kayanian, a mythological dynasty that in tradition Kay Kawad was also the founder of. In the Shahnameh, the 'Kay' epithet is not always indicative of a king being of Kayanian origin. For instance, Kavad I, who was a Sassanid King, is frequently referred to as 'Kay Qobād' in the Story of Mazdak and Qubad.
The Seven Labors of Rustam were a series of acts carried out by the greatest of the Iranian heroes, Rostam, The story was retold by Ferdowsi in his epic poem, Shahnameh. The Seven Labours were seven difficult tasks undertaken by Rostam, accompanied, in most instances, only by his faithful and sagacious steed Rakhsh, although in two labours he was accompanied also by the champion, Olad.
The Pishdadian dynasty is a mythical line of primordial kings featured in Zoroastrian belief and Persian mythology. They are presented in legend as originally rulers of the world but whose realm was eventually limited to Ērānshahr or Greater Iran. Although there are scattered references to them in the Zoroastrian scriptures—the Avesta—and later Pahlavi literature, it is through the 11th-century Iranian national epic, the Shahnameh, that the canonical form of their legends is known. From the 9th century, Muslim writers, notably Tabari, re-told many of the Pishdadian legends in prose histories and other works. The Pishdadian kings and the stories relating to them have no basis in historical fact, however.
Kush-Nama, is a Persian epic poem and part of a mythical history of Iran written by Ḥakim Iranshān ibn Abu l-Khayr between the years 501-04/1108-11.
Iraj is the seventh Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty, depicted in the Shahnameh. Based on Iranian mythology, he is the youngest son of Fereydun. In the Avestan legends, Pahlavi literature, Sasanian-based Persian sources, some Persian sources, and particularly in Shahnameh, he is considered the name-giver of the Iranian nation, the ancestor of their royal houses, and a paragon of those slain in defense of just causes.
Arnavāz is one of the two daughters of Jamshid, the mythological king of Parsia. Arnavāz and her sister, Shahrnāz first married Zahhāk, but later married Fereydun, after he had defeated Zahhāk and imprisoned him in mount Damāvand. In some versions of Shahname, including the Moscow version and that of Ṯaʿālebī, Arnavaz and Shahrnāz are the daughters of Jamshid, but in others, they are his sisters.
Iran is mentioned in the Shahnameh in the middle of Fereydoun Kingdom as a country or nation. Before the reign of Fereydoun, during the reigns of Zahhak, Jamshid, Tahmuras, and Keyumars the first Iran king, There is no word about Iran. The first of the term Iran is during the marriage of three sons of Fereydoun. In this sense, the name of Iran is from the period of Fereydoun reign.
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