Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی
Author
Assistant Professor. Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran
Abstract
Jamšid nāmeh is an unprecedented prose epic in Persian literature that its original report was limited to the life of jamšid pishdadi and from this point of view, it can be considered as an independent narration such as: Garšāsp-nāma and Kush nameh which is related to the ups and downs of life of one of the mythological characters of Iran. The narrator of Jamšid nāmeh has tried to focus on the dark and obscure moments of Jamšid's life which all literary and historical sources have been suspended in relation to its reporting. What is mentioned about Jamšid in šāhnāmeh and other sources is more limited to the era of the monarchy, the decline and murder of Jam by the order of Zahhāk, but unlike other sources, Jamšid nāmeh specifically refers only to the events before Jamšid's encounter with Zahhāk and describes The narrator of Jamšid's wonderful life covers the period from childhood to his reign on earth. For the first time, the present study has been inductive in order to introduce the epic of Jamšid nāmeh, to examine the characteristics of Persian, Turkish, Urdu manuscripts and the other same name & unknown manuscripts.
Highlights
Codicology of Unknown Epic of Jamšid-Nâme[1]
Abstract
Jamšid-nâme is an unprecedented prose epic in Persian literature that its original report was limited to the life of Jamšid pišhdâdi and from this point of view, it can be considered as an independent narration such as: Garšâsp-nâme and Kuš-nâme which are related to the ups and downs of life of one of the mythological characters of Iran. The narrator of Jamšid-nâme has tried to focus on the dark and obscure moments of Jamšid’s life which all literary and historical sources have been suspended in relation to its reporting. What is mentioned about Jamšid in Šâhnâme and other sources is more limited to the era of the monarchy, the decline and murder of Jam by the order of Zahhâk, but unlike other sources, Jamšid-nâme specifically refers only to the events before Jamšid’s encounter with Zahhâk and describes Jamšid’s wonderful life from childhood to his reign on earth. For the first time, the present study through an inductive method introduces the epic of Jamšid-nâme, to examine the characteristics of Persian, Turkish, Urdu manuscripts and the other homonymous & unknown manuscripts.
Keywords
Jamšid-nâme, Persian, Turkish & Urdu Manuscripts, Homonymous Manuscripts.
Introduction
The epic is one of the ancient and epoch-maker genres in Persian literature, but despite the extensive and numerous researches that have been done, this literary genre has not been able to achieve an original, comprehensive and independent identity from a theoretical point of view. It seems that the knowledge development of textual criticism in Iran can lead to a comprehensive and better definition of the epic genre, in a way that explains the general characteristics of Persian epics, not based on the characteristics of an eminent and important epic which reduces the importance of other Persian epics and throw them into obscurity, only with this justification that the elements and characteristics of them is not similar to the eminent text. The story of Jamšid-nâme is one of the unknown epics of Persian literature, which the present research has tried to introduce it for the first time.
Jamšid-nâme is the first story of Persian literature, which, by focusing on the circumstances and reports of Jamšid Pišdâdi’s battles, not only succeeded in presenting an independent story of him, unlike his predecessors, i.e. Kayumars, Siâmak, Hušang & Tahmures, but also by presenting a completely new story plot, has composed an unprecedented prose epic and has been much better able to recreate Jamšid as a mythological character in a story space in such a way that its various aspects are not clearly ambiguous at least in one specific moment.
The unknown narrator of Jamšid-nâme has been familiar with Persian literature and had a good knowledge in epic literature, so in his work he did not look for repeated themes like other storytellers and did not imitate the results and achievements of other epic writers, but sought to compensate for a forgotten period in the history of Iranian mythology. By his good talent, he gave a relatively successful story to respond to the curious audience of his age who were sensitive to Jamšid Pišdâdi and the basic details of his life.
In Iran, no research has been done on the introducing or editing of Jamšid-nâme, and in the few articles that the authors of Persian books about Jamšid have presented, except for the repetition, translation and compilation of previous researches, no significant achievement can be seen and there is no indication to prose or verse manuscripts of Jamšid-nâme generally.
Persian manuscripts
The exact characteristics of the four Persian manuscripts of Jamšid-nâme and its four Turkish translations are:
1- Manuscript of the National Library of Tajikistan [abbr.: T1]
In the collection of manuscripts of the National Library of Tajikistan, a manuscript is stored in a volume in Persian with dimensions (15 x 25.5 cm) numbered (3202). Several narratives have been published in this edition, and the text of the fourth part of it, entitled "Jang-nâmeye Jamšid", was written in Nastʾaliq in 62 folios (122 pages) with 17 lines. This manuscript is written around the middle of the 13th AH century. Although the beginning of the manuscript [Vol. 1] is clear, it has a considerable gap at the end, and the text of the manuscript [T 2] begins exactly from the end of the version [T 1] and completes its final gap.
2- Manuscript of the library of the Tajikistan Academy of Sciences [abbr.: T2]
In the manuscripts catalogue of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, the specifications of the Persian manuscript have been recorded in one volume and numbered (2951) in dimensions (14.5 x 25.5 cm), which included several narratives and the first part of which “The Story of Jamšid and Bahrâm Khatâyi” is organized under seventeen headings. The text of the narration was written in Nastaʾliq in 1296 AH. This manuscript has 139 folios (278 pages). In aspects of the quality, completeness of the text and accuracy, T1 is better than T2.
3- Manuscript of the library of the National University of Tajikistan [abbr.: T3]
In the manuscript collection of “Jâmi Library” in the National University of Tajikistan, there is a manuscript that entitled by “Jamšid-nāme” which is registered by an expert as number (236) in the recent review. It is prepared in one volume and divided into three parts and has more than 500 folios (1000 pages). Each page has between 15 and 17 lines. Except for ten folios, it was not possible to access all the images of the folios of this manuscript after three years of follow-up. The first part of this version, introduced under the title Jamšid-nâme, has a completely similar account of the narration.
4- Manuscript of Tehran University Central Library [abbr.: DA]
In the manuscripts catalogue of the Central Library of Tehran University, the characteristics of a story with the title ‘The Story of Jamšid” have been recorded in the middle of the pages of a one volume collection that consists several fragments and is numbered by (5785). This volume has 204 folios (408 pages) in dimensions (14 x 25 cm) and includes two narratives and a romantic text. The first narration titled “The Story of Jamšid Jam” under 25 headings was written in Indian Nastaʾliq in paper dimensions of (10 x 17 cm) on 136 folios (272 pages) with 17 lines in the year 1304 AH. Although the manuscript [Da] does not have any gaps in the beginning, middle and end parts, the report of its text is not favorable in aspects of accuracy in narrating and the syntax of phrases, so the two manuscripts of [T1] & [T2] are preferable than it.
Turkish manuscripts
The characteristics of the four manuscripts of the Turkish translation of Jamšid-nâme are:
- The manuscript of national library of Paris, by the catalogue number (988).
- The manuscript of university of Lund, by the catalogue number (Jarrimg Prov. 204).
- The Manuscript of the library of the Russian Academy of Sciences, by the catalogue number (N2 201).
- The Manuscript of the Oriental Library of Abu Reyhân al-Biruni in Uzbekistan, by the catalogue number (11510/5).
References
Akimushkin, O. F. & others. (1375). Fehreste nosxe-hâye xattiye fârsiye moʾasseseye xâvar-šenâsiye farhangestâne olume Rusiyye. tr. Âref Ramazân. Tehran: Madâreke farhangiye Enghelab Eslâmi.
Акимушкин О. Ф., И другие. (1964). Персидские и таджикские рукописи Института народов Азии АН СССР (Краткий алфавитный каталог). Часть I / Под редакцией Н.Д.Миклухо-Маклая. М.: Наука, ГРВЛ.
Âmuzgâr, Žâle, (1386). “Jam”. Dâneš-nâmeye zabân va adabe fârsi, under supervision of E. Saʾâdat. Tehran: The academy of Persian language & literature. pp. 544-548.
Bâbâ Safari, A. A., (1392). Farhange dâstân-hâye âšeqâne dar adabiyyâte fârsi. 1st pub., Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
Bahrâmi, A. (1394). “Jamšid”, The Great Islamic Encyclopedia. under supervision of K. Musavi Bojnurdi, vol. 22, 1st pub., Tehran: The Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia. pp. 445-452.
Blochet, E., (1905). Catalogue des manuscrits persans de la Bibliotheque nationale. Tome I, Nos 1-720. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale.
[1] Milâd Jaʾfarpur: Assistant Professor of Hakim Sabzevâri University, Sabzevâr, Iran.
Keywords
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