Khosrow and Shirin, Part 2

Yesterday we started the romance of Khosrow and Shirin, in which the two lovers separate when Khosrow goes to Constantinopole to get help from Roman Emperor Maurice. Khosrow had been dethroned by Bahram Chobin, and Maurice would lend him soldiers if Khosrow agreed to marry Maurice's daughter Mariam. He also had to promise to marry no one else whilst Mariam lived, which would put a wrinkle in his plans to be married to Shirin.

Khosrow and Mariam are wed. She will give birth to a son, Shiroyeh. Time passes.

While Khosrow was in Constantinople, a sculptor named Farhad was falling for Shirin. Shirin was returning the interest. (The illustration is of Shirin visiting Farhad.) Back in power, Khosrow sends Farhad away with the task of carving steps into Behistun Mountain. While Farhad is attempting this task, Khosrow sends him word that Shirin has died. Farhad's grief is so great that he throws himself from the mountain and dies.

Khosrow sends a message to Shirin, informing her that Farhad is dead and expressing regret. Eventually, Mariam dies. A 10th-century Persian poet who wrote the Shahnameh, Ferdowsi, says Shirin poisoned her, after which Shirin sends Khosrow a letter expressing regret sarcastically, in revenge for the death of Farhad.

The two lovers are now free to marry, but Khosrow has a dalliance with another woman named Shekar; this delays the union of the two. Then, a drunk Khosrow goes to Shirin's castle to see her, but she won't let him in because of his affair with Shekar, and he returns to his own castle.

Several more incidents occur before Shirin agrees to marry Khosrow, but yet another wrinkle appears: Shiroyeh has fallen in love with Shirin. Shiroyeh kills Khosrow and writes to Shirin, saying that he will marry her in one week. She kills herself instead, and she and Khosrow are buried together.

Didn't happen.

What did happen is worth telling, but first we have to talk about Farhad, the likely fictitious sculptor given an impossible task. At Behistun there is a carving with his name attached to it, and it's worth looking at. See you tomorrow. 

A Day Late, A Dollar Short

Abu ʾl-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi (940 - 1020) was a Persian poet, creator of the longest single-author epic poem in the world. The poem in question, the Shahnameh [Persian: "Book of Kings"] is the national epic of Iran.

Tomb of Ferdowsi [link]

The reason for its length might not have been only because of the grandeur of the subject matter. The legend of Ferdowsi is that he was offered one gold piece per couplet by the Sultan. This sounds like a set-up to a story, but it is not as ludicrous as you might think. The Sultan, Mahmud of Ghazni (971 - 1030), was known for numerous plundering expeditions into India, whence he gained the wealth to promote culture back home. He built a library, a museum, and a university.

Ferdowsi asked that the payment come as a lump sum when the work was finished and in the hands of the Sultan. Shahnameh was completed on 8 March 1010. When the Sultan would have paid, the courtier assigned to deliver the 60,000 gold pieces decided to deliver silver pieces instead. The poet was enjoying a bath house when the money was delivered, and was so insulted by what he thought was the Sultan's reneging on their deal that he gave the money away to the bath house staff. The courtier told the Sultan that Ferdowsi had insulted him by giving away his payment, so Mahmud threatened execution. The poet fled into exile and wrote a satirical poem about Mahmud.

Eventually, Sultan Mahmud learned of the deception perpetrated by his courtier on the poet, and banished the courtier (or maybe executed him; we are not sure). Many years later, Ferdowsi wished to return to his home, the city of Tus. Sultan Mahmud assembled 60,000 gold pieces and sent them to Tus. As the servants bearing the long-awaited payment entered the gates of Tus, the funeral procession of Ferdowsi was departing. He had died of heart failure the day before.