Introduction, Critique, and Analysis of Seven Army written in Gorani

Abstract

Most of the epic poetic texts in the west of Iran have been written in the literary language of Gorani. Some of these texts correspond to the Shahnameh's report, some according to the narrative texts and some independent epic narrations. The oldest remained hand-written manuscripts of these works were written in the eighth century AH, but the narrations of these texts often have very ancient epic elements. Seven Army, written by Mustafa bin Mahmoud Gorani, is one of the valuable surviving texts in this language, which has often been considered to be composed by Almas-khan Kondolei. Numerous manuscripts of this text are kept in the libraries of Iran and around the world, some of which date back to 150 years. The narration of Seven Army of Gorani is to some extent similar to Naqali, and in some other aspects similar to the prose version of Seven Army. It also has prominent elements such as The Seven Khan of Jahanbakhsh, and includes stories such as "Yaghut-push and Laal-push", "Bahram Javaher-push", and the independent narration of "Rostam and Xenon". The aim of this research, which borrows a descriptive-analytic method for analyzing the ancient manuscripts as well as other library sources, is to introduce, critique, and analyze this system, express its values and novelties, discover its similarities and differences with Persian texts, introduce the hand-written manuscripts, and note the necessity of its correction.

Research background

Mohammad Rashid Amini rewrote this poem from Namdar Zamani's version in 2277 verses and published a book on the Kurdish Shahnameh (Horami) as well (Kondolei, 2011, pp. 465 – 594). This edition contains less than half of the verses of the poem. Iraj Bahrami has published a copy of the "Javaher-push Book" without mentioning the name of Seven Army. The editor has admitted to manipulate many verses of the single version of her reference (Mustafa bin Mahmoud, 2010, pp. 38-39). Also, Abbariki introduced 10 copies of Seven Army in his study.

Aims, questions, and assumptions

Seven Army is one of the poetic and epic texts in Gorani language. As there are several commonalities between Gorani's Seven Army and other Persian narrated texts in terms of content and structure, it has become imperative to have a more precise investigation of this subject matter. Combining the Gorani's text with the narrated texts as well as the other independent narrations such as "Rostam and Xenon" and "Rostam and Salsal Div" is one of the novelties of the Gorani's text.

This study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What type of text is Gorani's Seven Army in terms of content and language structure?

2. Who is the composer of the Gorani's Seven Army?

3. Is the narration of Gorani's Seven Army similar to the Persian prose and other Persian narrated texts of Seven Army?

4. What is the source of the added and recent narrations of Gorani's Seven Army?

Results and discussion

Gorani's Seven Army is one of the epic texts in west of Iran. This narration is similar to Persian narration texts. In Persian texts, contrary to the Gorani's text, Teimur is aware of his lineage. In the narration of Gorani, Kaykhosrow is a captive of the Turan army; but there are three Iranian prisoners in the Persian narration texts (Banogshsab, Bijan, and Pas). The similar battle of Yaghut-push and Laal-push in the Persian texts is done by Teimur. The similar battles of Bahram Shah Javaher-push in the Persian narrative texts is the responsibility of Koohkash (Faramarz).

In the text of Gorani, killing Marjaneh Jadou by Jahanbakhsh is one of the steps of his Seven Khan. But the Persian book of Seven Army is not part of the Seven Khan, and Marjaneh is killed by Bano Goshsab (Haft-lashkar, 1998, p. 449). In the Narration Version of Shahnameh, she is killed by Teimur (Narration Version of Shahnameh, 2012, p. 767). The struggle of Jahanbakhsh and Xenon in the sixth Khan is taken from an independent Gorani narration called "Rostam and Xenon" which is included in Seven Army. Also, the report of the fifth Khan in this text, entitled "Killing Salsal Div", is an independent and separate narration in the Persian version of Seven Army (Seven Army, 1998, pp. 235-237).

The names of the characters in the Gorani text are divided into three categories: names corresponding to the famous names of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, names corresponding to the Persian narrated texts, and names dedicated to the Gorani text.

The dual confrontation of good and evil, which is the main feature of the Iranian mythology in different levels and areas, is evident in Gorani's Seven Army. One of the important confrontations in this text is the confrontation of light and darkness. This opposition has ancient roots in Manichaeism, which is based on the opposition of light and darkness. This idea has a clear effect on Gnostic beliefs. Incidentally, in the Yarsanha Bible, called "Kalam-e Kazaneh", there is a mixture of Zoroastrian, Zarwani, and Manichaean cosmological ideas as well (Letter of the End or Treasure Word, 1996, p. 391).

Conclusion

Epic texts in the west of Iran have very old narrations and elements. While sharing similarities with the ancient Iranian epic texts, there are some differences and novelties between them as well. Probably the origin of these narrations goes back to the epics of western Iran, including the lost prose Shahnameh such as Piroozan Moallem Shahnameh and Rostam Larjani. According to the ancient Persian texts, these texts are sometimes similar to the Safavid narrative texts and sometimes have independent stories. So far, the composer of Seven Army has been considered to be Almas-khan Kondolei, while according to reliable manuscripts, the poet’s name is Mustafa bin Mahmud. In addition to the similarity between the story of Rostam and Sohrab and Seven Khan of Rostam and Esfandiar in Shahnameh, it is similar in some aspects to the report of the Persian narrative texts. In addition, it has other differences and novelties that add to its value. The arrival of armies from Khotan to the Yaghut-push and Javaher-push army is a unique part of this text. One of its brilliant parts is Seven Khan of Jahanbakhsh, in which the heroic pupils are more than the reports of Seven Khan in Shahnameh. The sixth Khan also includes the narration of "Rostam and Xenon", which is an independent story in Gorani language. The dominant view and the cosmological beliefs of the text are based on the opposition of good and evil, and light and darkness. This is rooted in Zoroastrian, Manichaean, and Yarsan beliefs. The language of this work is occasionally influenced by the linguistic and expressive elements of the Persian narrative texts.

References

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Mustafa bin Mahmoud. (2010). Javaher-push boo (edited by Iraj Bahrami). Anna.

Safizadeh, S. (1996). Letter of the End; Kalam-e Khazaneh. Tehran: Hirmand.