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Nasrin Askari explores the medieval reception of Firdausī’s Shāhnāma, or Book of Kings (completed in 1010 CE) as a mirror for princes. Through her examination of a wide range of medieval sources, Askari demonstrates that Firdausī’s oeuvre was primarily understood as a book of wisdom and advice for kings and courtly elites. In order to illustrate the ways in which the Shāhnāma functions as a mirror for princes, Askari analyses the account about Ardashīr, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty, as an ideal king in the Shāhnāma. Within this context, she explains why the idea of the union of kingship and religion, a major topic in almost all medieval Persian mirrors for princes, has often been attributed to Ardashīr.
Price: $238.00
Pages: 398
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Publication Date:
25 August 2016
ISBN: 9789004307902
Format: Hardcover
Winner of the 2018 World Award for Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the field of Islamic/ Iranian Studies.
“Askari has produced a highly valuable contribution to studies not only of the Shāhnāma but also of the long tradition of Persian moralia. [...] In this fine study, Askari furthers our awareness of the broad dissemination in the Persian mirror literature of Sasanian political wisdom, and the spectrum of uses to which it was put.” - Louise Marlow, Wellesley College, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 138/4 (2018)
"The author deserves the highest praise for achieving a precise and most creative work of research. She has admirably enhanced the study of Persian literature." - Olga Davidson, Boston University, in: Bulletin.Critique Annales Islamologiques 32 (2018)
“…Askari’s book is a very valuable contribution to the scholarly literature on the Persianate political ethic.” Saïd Amir Arjomand, in, Journal of Persianate Studies 12
“Askari has produced a highly valuable contribution to studies not only of the Shāhnāma but also of the long tradition of Persian moralia. [...] In this fine study, Askari furthers our awareness of the broad dissemination in the Persian mirror literature of Sasanian political wisdom, and the spectrum of uses to which it was put.” - Louise Marlow, Wellesley College, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 138/4 (2018)
"The author deserves the highest praise for achieving a precise and most creative work of research. She has admirably enhanced the study of Persian literature." - Olga Davidson, Boston University, in: Bulletin.Critique Annales Islamologiques 32 (2018)
“…Askari’s book is a very valuable contribution to the scholarly literature on the Persianate political ethic.” Saïd Amir Arjomand, in, Journal of Persianate Studies 12
Nasrin Askari, PhD, (2012), University of Toronto, has completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia, and is currently a Bahari Visiting Scholar in the Persian Arts of the Book at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.