Afrasiab: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{short description|Mythical king and hero of Turan}}

[[File:Afrasiyab Executes Nauzar Wellcome L0068903.jpg|thumb|Scene from the Shahnameh. Afrasiyab (standing figure) executes [[Nowzar|Nauzar]] (lying down). [[Wellcome Library]].]]

{{About|an PersianIranian mythical hero|the village in great persia Iran|Afrasiab, Iran|the ancient site of northern Samarkand|Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|other uses|Afrasiyab (disambiguation){{!}}Afrasiyab}}

'''Afrasiab''' ({{lang-fa|{{nastaliq|افراسياب|fa}}}} ''afrāsiyāb''; {{lang-ae|Fraŋrasyan}}; [[Middle-Persian]]: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk,'' and ''Freangrāsyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of [[Turan]]. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic [[Shahnameh]], written by [[Ferdowsi]].

==The mythical king and hero==

[[File:Afrasiyab (The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp).png|200px|thumbnail|right|Painting of Afrasiab in the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp]]

According to the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' (''Book of Kings''), by the Persian epic poet [[Ferdowsi]], Afrasiab was the king and hero of Turan and an archenemy of Iran. In Iranian mythology, Afrasiab is considered by far the most prominent of all [[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]] kings; he is a formidable warrior, a skilful general, and an agent of [[Ahriman]], who is endowed with magical powers of deception to destroy Iranian civilization.<ref name="ei">Yarshater, E., "Afrasiab", ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' - digital library; accessed January 18, 2007.</ref> He is brother to [[Garsivaz]], and the son of [[Pashang]]. He was an enemy of [[Rostam]] and [[Kay Khosrow]], and was defeated by them.

According to Islamic sources, Afrasiab was a descendant of [[Tur (son of Fereydun)|Tūr]] (Avestan: ''Tūriya-''), one of the three sons of the Iranian mythical King [[Fereydun]] (the other two sons being [[Salm (son of Fereydun)|Salm]] and [[Īrāj|Iraj]]). In ''[[Bundahishn]]'', he is named as the seventh grandson of Tūr. In [[Avesta|Avestan traditions]], his common epithet ''mairya-'' (deceitful, villainous<ref>Nyberg H. S., ''Die Religionen des Alten Iran'', Berlin (1938), p. 257</ref>) can be interpreted as meaning 'an [[evil]] man'. He lived in a subterranean fortress made of metal, called Hanakana.

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According to Avestan sources, Afrasiab was killed by [[Haoma]] near the ''Čīčhast'' (possibly either referring to [[Lake Hamun]] in [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province|Sistan]] or some unknown lake in today's Central Asia), and according to Shahnameh he met his death in a cave known as the Hang-e Afrasiab, or the dying place of Afrasiab, on a mountaintop in [[Azerbaijan]]. The fugitive Afrasiab, having been repeatedly defeated by the armies of his adversary, the mythical King of Iran [[Kai Khosrow|Kay Khosrow]] (who happened to be his own grandson, through his daughter [[Farangis]]), wandered wretchedly and fearfully around, and eventually took refuge in this cave and died.

==See alsoHypotheses ==

[[Ernst Herzfeld|Ernst Hertzfeld]] believed that the name [[Parsondes]] is etymologically identical to the name Afrasiab.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kramers |first=Johannes Hendrik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qg4_AQAAIAAJ |title=Analecta Orientalia: Posthumous Writings and Selected Minor Works |date=1954 |publisher=E.J. Brill |pages=247 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Herzfeld |first=Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kB38twAACAAJ |title=Zoroaster and His World by Ernst Herzfeld |date=1947 |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=707–708 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dulęba |first=Władysław |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WpIaAQAAIAAJ |title=The Cyrus Legend in the Šāhnāme |date=1995 |publisher=Enigma Press |isbn=978-83-86110-19-3 |pages=63, 80 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Herzfeld |first=Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJltAAAAMAAJ |title=Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran |date=1982 |publisher=Dietrich Reimer |pages=179 |language=de}}</ref> [[Al-Tabari|Tabari]] in his works mentions the derivative Afrasiab / Aspandiat under the name of the [[Hephthalites|Hephtalite]] king [[Akhshunwar|Akhshunvar]] or Akhshunvaz.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tabakov |first=Dimitŭr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PWgAAAAMAAJ |title=The horizon of knowledge: Bulgarians through the centuries |date=1999 |publisher=Propeller 92 |isbn=978-954-9669-39-8 |pages=165 |language=bg}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)]]

* [[Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand]]

* [[Alp Er Tunga]]

==References==