Readers' Forum
“Stories from Shahnameh”
Thank you for publishing Stories from the Shahnameh in Parsiana, starting with the issue of March 21, 2007. I have long believed that every Zoroastrian should be exposed to the romantic odyssey of our past, and so it is with much enthusiasm that I look forward to each new chapter as it is published in your magazine. I aim to compile it so that my grandchildren can read it as they grow up. (The Iranian epic… Shahnameh …in serialized stories by Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia is available at the Parsiana Book Club — Editors.)
Please thank the sponsors for helping with this publication.
Now for two little points that trouble me. The first is that there was no Iran before 1935. Pejman Akbarzadeh of Tehran, an authority on the subject, in the article "Iran or Persia? Farsi or Persian?” has written: "Until a few decades ago, in English language and in international circles, our country Iran was called Persia. Unfortunately, however, in 1935 the then government of Persia requested all countries in the world to call Persia by its native name Iran, without heeding the delicate point that as an ancient land, possessing a civilization thousands of years old, our country was known as Persia, not Iran.
"Although it may be said that perhaps for us Persians, the name Persia (Pars or Fars) only connotes a province of Persia, for others in the world, who for 26 centuries (and perhaps even to this day), have used the name Persia, this name is associated with the whole of our land, and when speaking in foreign languages, we are obliged to take advantage of this name.”
Since your publication is in English and is meant for modern day readers, the word Iran detracts from the story.
Secondly, I’ve been wondering why and how Zal was raised by a roc (as I was led to believe in my childhood).
NINA MYERS
California, USA
Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia clarifies:
Iran is the first and ancient name of the country of Iran right since prehistoric times. In Avesta it was known as Airyana and in Pahlavi as Eran or Iran. Since the last of the Pahlavi books were written/compiled in the 9th century AC one can say that the name Iran is atleast one millennium old. In course of time the name was changed from Iran to Persia, but in 1934 Shah Reza Khan Pahlavi, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, reinstated the ancient name Iran.
Zal was raised by a saintly man in the Alburz mountains. In ancient times these people had the power to metamorphose themselves and others into animals and birds [vide Kardeh XVI of Aban Yasht where Thraetona (Faridun) metamorphosed the boatman Vifra Navaza into a bird]. According to the Shahnameh, the bird Simurgh (referred to by Myers as a roc) was in actuality a saintly man living in the mountains, who later trained Zal and then handed him over to his father at the appropriate time.
The full story of Zal will be featured in the third (yet unpublished) book on the paladins in the Serialised Shahnameh Stories.
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