Shah Namah of Firdausi

Shah Namah (Book of Kings) of Firdausi, giving the history of the Persian people from mythic times until the conquest by the Arabs. This handsome copy was made in AD 1605. Written in nasta 'liq, Persian with many illustrations.

Firdausi (c.941-1020), Persian poet and author of the Persian epic Shah Namah (The Book of Kings). He was born in Tus in Khorasan, now part of Iran, into a land-owning family, which gave him financial independence. He travelled extensively throughout Khorasan, learning the history of the Persians, studying ancient chronicles now lost, and learning from the old land-owning class, the diqhans, who preserved the oral traditions of their pre-Muslim past. His original name seems to have been Abu-'l Kasim Mansur; the name 'Firdausi' was given to him by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, who said his work turned the court into an assembly of paradise (firdaws). He lived at this court for many years with other scholars and antiquarians; he composed his epic history for Mahmud, according to legend taking 35 years to compose the 60,000 verses. He was then disappointed by the size of the Sultan's reward for all his efforts, wrote a savage satire about him, and fled the court.

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Catalogued by DM Dunlop.

Call number used to be msPK6455.A1

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Description compiled by Maia Sheridan, Archives Hub project archivist, based on material from the Manuscripts Database

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