Our heritage hijacked?

Those who have read the report "National Museum’s Shahnameh finds place in Doha expo” in The Indian Express dated February 13, 2008 must have got the shock of their lives. The report states: "The Shahnameh, also known as the Book of Kings, is an enormous poetic epic written by the Persian poet Firdausi and is largely acclaimed as the national epic of the Persian speaking world…” So far, so good. Now read further: "‘It tells the tale of Persian kings and is an extremely important Islamic heritage,’ says Dr Raghu Raj Singh Chauhan, director, exhibition and public relations, National Museum.”

It is shocking that Chauhan should opine that the Shahnameh is part of the "Islamic heritage.” Zoroastrians are a hopeless minority and persons who should be knowledgeable lack knowledge about our priceless heritage. Even our names are confused with Islamic ones and are not deemed to be those of Parsi and Irani Zoroastrian origin.

On going through the Shahnameh written in Gujarati by Rusi Faramroz Besania of Surat, and its preface and foreword written by Dastur Meherji Meherji Rana, High Priest of Navsari, one can glean the correct facts which enable us to understand the true concepts of the original work of Firdausi, the greatest of the great Persian poets who spent 35 years of his life in writing about Zoroastrian history, culture, courage and heritage. Had there been no Shahnameh, much of the knowledge about the Zoroastrian heritage would have been lost and consigned to oblivion.

In his brilliant foreword Meherji Rana writes: "There was a time when Parsi students were learning Persian as a second language in schools and colleges. By the passage of time this trend came to an end, resulting into ignorance about our priceless heritage and culture. If the Shahnameh is read once again in Parsi homes, as was the custom in the past, we will revive our forgotten heritage, culture, customs and rituals.” Besides narrating the stories of kings, the Shah­nameh has highlighted and laid stress on the Zoroastrian religion, its culture and lost gyan (knowledge), thus bringing glory to the Parsi heritage, notes the author in his preface.

Firdausi confirms one paramount truth, that if we Parsis do not follow the path laid down by Zarathushtra, we would not know what paradise looks like. The Shahnameh contains several stories of kings and their bravery, including those of Rustom and Sohrab and more importantly the story of Shah Faredoon, who saved our religion from the clutches of the evil Zohak who was scheming to destroy our religion. This is why we find the picture of Shah Faredoon in practically all agiaries and atash behrams in Bombay and elsewhere. So, how can the Shahnameh become an "extremely important Islamic heritage?”

It has been planned to display the Shahnameh at the forthcoming Islamic Art Museum in Qatar, Doha in November this year. It is the duty of all Zoroastrians to shun complacency and take steps to protect our precious heritage rather than waste our time fighting over trivial issues. Will our community leaders wake up?

R. J. DAMANWALA