Shirin a Queen in Khuzestan or a Princess in Armenia?

Document Type : Research article

Author

• Ghodrat Ghasemipour

Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Highlights

Širin , a queen in Khuzestan and Mesopotamia or a Princess in Armenia?

(Looking at Iranian, Syriac, Armenian and Roman historiographies) [1]

 

 

Introduction

 Past narratives and stories are the results of collective storytellers’ fictions, and they were not made by the mind of a sole storyteller. As stories and narratives move from place to place, their plots and subject matter may change; that is, storytellers both intervene in events and occasionally change the origin and lineage of some characters for reasons that are appropriate to their own temporal and spatial situation. Širin ’s character in the stories is different from her character in the real history. In Iranian historical sources, she is mostly introduced as the beloved or maid of  Xosrow Parviz, which this demotion may have been made by the magi and nobles of the Sassanid people, because he was a member of the Christians and their supporters. In Roman, Syriac, and Armenian chronicles, Širin has the status of a queen; and it may be said that these histories and chronicles, as they are written with an ecclesiastical perspective, have given her this status. But these non-Iranian sources, without directly benefiting from each other, have unanimously considered her Xosrow’s wife. Sebeos, Armenian historian, considered Širin  as a native of  Khuzestan. In the chronicles of Theophylact Simocatta and Evagrius, and in the Anonymous Chronicle, Širin  has been considered as a resident of the areas near to Madain and south of Mesopotamia and near Khuzestan; Of course, her lineage or race is considered Aramaic, only Theophylact considers her as Roman. If Širin  was one of the Armenians living in the south of Iran, the Iranian name “Širin” was chosen for her. But in the Nezami’s story, Širin has become an Armenian descent, and this is due to the replacement of the “Beth Aramaie” with “Armenia” and to the transition of the story from the south of Iran to the northwest of Iran. However, storytellers and the eventually Nezami have thought to make her a symbol of a wise and pious lover or beloved. In reality or history, she was a queen from Khuzestan or from the areas near Madain, but in the narratives of the people of Barda, Arran and in Nezami’s epic, she is represented as an Armenian princess.

 

Goal

What we are dealing with in this article is a matter of historical critique for evaluating the historical origins of Širin in the Nezami’s narrative poem. In this article, according to chronicles and historiographies, we seek to see where Širin’s origin is in history, and how and why Širin has been represented in the Nezami poetry as an Armenian princess.

 

Method

In this article, based on the approach of historical criticism and based on ancient sources, we have dealt with the historical status and homeland of Širin, the wife or beloved of  Xosrow Parviz, the Sassanid king, to see why she was separated from the southern regions of Iran or Khuzestan. in this article, we first discuss her place and homeland in ancient Persian, Syriac, Roman and Armenian sources; In some sources such as Târix-e Bal’ami and Shahnameh, Širin  is the servant and beloved of Xosrow and her homeland and originality is not mentioned at all. But, in  some other sources such as chronicles of Theophylact Simocatta and Evagrius, Anonymous Chronicle, the history of Sebeos, she is known as the resident of south of Khuzestan or Mesopotamia.

 

Conclusion

The reason that Širin  has become an Armenian in the narrations of the Arran region has been arisen by several backgrounds and historical reasons, as follows: 1) Xosrow Parviz spent some time in Barda and Azerbaijan and her memory remains in that area; 2) Širin  herself was a Christian: 3) There is a possibility of confusion between a place called “Beth Aramaie” and “Armenia”.

Keywords: Širin , Khosrow, Nezâmi Ganjavi, Khuzestân, Armenia

 

 

Refrences

Bala’mi, A. M. (1353), Târix-e Bala’mi, Tashih-e M.T. Bahâr va M. P.Gonâbâdi, Tehran: Zavvâr.

Basâri, T. (1350), Čehreye Širin , Ahvaz: Entešârât-e Dânešgah-e Jondišâpur.

Dâdvar, N. (1390), “Širin , Vâqeiyyati Târixi yâ Osture’i”, Pažohesh-hâye Adabi, Bahâr va Tâbestân, 31, 32, 81-96.   

Daryâ’i, T. (1392), Šâhanšâhiye Irâni, Piruzi-ye Arab-hâ va Farjâmšenâsiye Zartošti, traj. Š. Jaliliyân, , Tehran: Tus.

Ebne Balxi, (1385), Fârsnâme, Tashih va Tahšiye Le Strange, Nicholson, Tehran: Entešârât-e Asâtir.

Evagrius Scholasticus (2000) The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus, translated with an introduction by Michael Whit, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

 

[1] Qodrat Qâsemipur, Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University; gh.ghasemipour@yahoo.com

 

 

Keywords

• Shirin
• Hkousro
• Nizami
• Khuzestan
• Armenia

Main Subjects

• Lyrical and Didactic Literature