Afrasiab (myth)

Afrasiab ( Persian افراسياب, DMG Afrāsiyāb ; Avestan : Fraŋrasyan ; Middle Persian : Frāsiyāv , Frāsiyāk and Freangrāsyāk ) is the name of a king from Iranian legend and mythology. In the Iranian national epic Schahname he is the greatest enemy of the Iranians or the Kayanids .

Afrasiab in the Avesta

Afrasiab as a name is mentioned several times in the Avesta . Together with the Turanians he is considered a dark Iranians , that is, as an Iranian who is not the good religion of Zoroaster obeyed described.

Afrasiab in Schahname

Afrasiab, the king of Turan , is the son of Pashang (پَشَنْگ), Brother of Garsiwaz and father of Shideh (also Šīde or Shydu). Afrasiab goes to war against Iran several times and is u. a. responsible for the death of Shah Nowzar and the Iranian hero Siyawasch , Afrasiab's son-in-law and son of Shah Kai Kawus . Finally, the Iranian King Kai Chosrau Afrasiab opposes, and Afrasiab, the "fire-breathing dragon", who even killed his own brother, is defeated after a long battle by Rostam , whose father Zāl also fought against Afrasiab, and killed by Kai Chosrau.

“He is dragged out of the hangman's hand
In a heavy bond and a bad
stance, And put him in front of Chosro
, he cries blood on blood cheeks.
The Shah of Iran opened his mouth,
spoke of the bowl, the dagger and the wound '
And cut the general in two in two.
The crowd uttered a cry of terror. "

Afrasiab in the Diwān lughāt at-turk

The Karakhanids of Turkic origin equated Afrasiab with the legendary Turkish folk hero Alp Er Tunga , to whom they traced their family tree. This is reported, among other things, by the Turkish historian Mahmud al-Kāschgharī ( 11th century ) in his Diwān lughāt at-turk ("Encyclopedia of the Turkish Language"). This assumption was probably based on a mix-up, because in Firdausi's " Shāhnāme " a certain Qarakhan is actually given as the son of Afrasiab. However, it has been shown to be a fictitious character.

The historic Afrasiab

Historically, Ferdosis Afrasiab probably corresponds to one or more rulers of the Hephthalites , who were at war with the Sassanid Persians and their allies (including the Gök Turks ) for more than 150 years in the 5th and 6th centuries before they were at war with Chosrau I , the historical model for Ferdosis Kai Chosrau , were finally defeated and driven out.

literature

Jürgen Ehlers (ed. And translator): Abū'l-Qāsem Ferdausi: Rostam - The legends from the Šāhnāme . Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart, 2002, pp. 100–213 and 361 and 372 ( Šīdu )
Uta von Witzleben : Firdausi: Stories from the Schahnameh. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf and Cologne 1960, pp. 131-259, passim.

Web link

Afrasiab (myth) . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)

Individual evidence

↑ Friedrich Rückert: Firdosi's King Book (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890. Reprint: epubli GmbH, Berlin, 2010, pp. 240–275.
↑ Werner Heiduczek: The most beautiful sagas from Firdausi's book of kings retold (based on Görres, Rückert and Schack). Der Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-7684-5525-4 , new print (Werner Daustein) Hanau undated, pp. 53-59
↑ Friedrich Rückert: Firdosi's King's Book (Schahname) Sage XX-XXVI. Edited from the estate by EA Bayer. Reprint of the first edition. epubli Berlin, 2010, p. 223

[1] Friedrich Rückert: Firdosi's King Book (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890. Reprint: epubli GmbH, Berlin, 2010, pp. 240–275.

[2] Werner Heiduczek: The most beautiful sagas from Firdausi's book of kings retold (based on Görres, Rückert and Schack). Der Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-7684-5525-4 , new print (Werner Daustein) Hanau undated, pp. 53-59

[3] Friedrich Rückert: Firdosi's King's Book (Schahname) Sage XX-XXVI. Edited from the estate by EA Bayer. Reprint of the first edition. epubli Berlin, 2010, p. 223