Editing Shahnameh (section)

== Cultural influence ==
[[File:Rustam Kills the Turanian Hero Alkus with his Lance.jpg|thumb|Rostam Kills the [[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]] Hero Alkus with his Lance, Folio from the [[Jainesque Shahnama]]. Western India, c. 1425–1450. [[The David Collection]]]]
The [[Shirvanshah]] dynasty adopted many of their names from the ''Shahnameh''. The relationship between Shirvanshah and his son, Manuchihr, is mentioned in chapter eight of [[Nizami Ganjavi|Nizami's]] ''[[Layla and Majnun]]''. Nizami advises the king's son to read the ''Shahnameh'' and to remember the meaningful sayings of the wise.<ref>{{cite book|last=Seyed-Gohrab|first=Ali Ashgar|title=Laylī and Majnūn: Love, Madness and Mystic Longing in Niẓāmī's Epic Romance|year=2003|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9004129421|page=276}}</ref>

According to the Turkish historian [[Mehmet Fuat Köprülü]]:

{{Blockquote|Indeed, despite all claims to the contrary, there is no question that Persian influence was paramount among the [[Seljuks]] of [[Anatolia]]. This is clearly revealed by the fact that the sultans who ascended the throne after [[Kaykhusraw I|Ghiyath al-Din Kai-Khusraw I]] assumed titles taken from ancient [[Persian mythology]], like [[Kai Khosrow]], [[Kay Kāvus]], and [[Kai Kobad]]; and that [[Kayqubad I|Ala' al-Din Kai-Qubad I]] had some passages from the Shahname inscribed on the walls of [[Konya]] and [[Sivas]]. When we take into consideration domestic life in the Konya courts and the sincerity of the favor and attachment of the rulers to Persian poets and Persian literature, then this fact [i.e., the importance of Persian influence] is undeniable.<ref>Köprülü, Mehmed Fuad (2006). ''Early Mystics in Turkish Literature''. Translated by Gary Leiser and [[Robert Dankoff]]. London: Routledge. p. 149. {{ISBN|0415366860}}.</ref>}}

Shah [[Ismail I]] (d.1524), the founder of the [[Safavid dynasty]] of Iran, was also deeply influenced by the [[Persian literature|Persian literary tradition]], particularly by the ''Shahnameh'', which probably explains the fact that he named all of his sons after ''Shahnameh'' characters. Dickson and Welch suggest that Ismail's ''Shāhnāma-i Shāhī'' was intended as a present to the young [[Tahmasp I|Tahmasp]].<ref>Dickson, M.B.; and Welch, S.C. (1981). ''The Houghton Shahnameh''. ''Volume I''. Cambridge, MA and London. p. 34.</ref> After defeating [[Muhammad Shaybani|Muhammad Shaybani's]] [[Uzbeks]], Ismail asked [[Hatefi]], a famous poet from [[Ghor Province|Jam (Khorasan)]], to write a ''Shahnameh''-like epic about his victories and his newly established dynasty. Although the epic was left unfinished, it was an example of ''[[mathnawi]]s'' in the heroic style of the ''Shahnameh'' written later on for the Safavid kings.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Savory|first=R. M|title=Safavids|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]|edition=2nd }}</ref>

The ''Shahnameh''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s influence has extended beyond the Persian sphere. Professor Victoria Arakelova of Yerevan University states:

{{Blockquote|During the ten centuries passed after Firdausi composed his monumental work, heroic legends and stories of Shahnameh have remained the main source of the storytelling for the peoples of this region: Persians, Kurds, Gurans, Talishis, Armenians, Georgians, North Caucasian peoples, etc.<ref name="farhangiran1">{{cite web|last=Arakelova|first=Victoria|title=Shahnameh in the Kurdish and Armenian Oral Tradition (abridged)|url=http://www.azargoshnasp.net/famous/ferdowsi/shahkurdarmen.pdf|access-date=28 May 2012}}</ref>}}

=== On Georgian identity ===
[[File:IRAN Miniatur by UNESCO 1957 (8).jpg|thumb|A battle between [[Kai Khosrow]] and [[Afrasiab]], Folio from [[Baysonghor Shahnameh|Baysonghori Shahnameh]], which is part of the [[UNESCO]]'s [[Memory of the World Programme|Memory of the World Register]]. [[Herat]], 1426–1430. [[Golestan Palace]] Library]]
[[Jamshid Giunashvili]] remarks on the connection of [[Culture of Georgia (country)|Georgian culture]] with that of ''Shahnameh'':

{{Blockquote|The names of many ''Šāh-nāma'' heroes, such as [[Rostam|Rostom-i]], Thehmine, [[Sām|Sam-i]], or [[Zal|Zaal-i]], are found in 11th- and 12th-century Georgian literature. They are indirect evidence for an Old Georgian translation of the ''Šāh-nāma'' that is no longer extant. ...}}

{{Blockquote|The ''Šāh-nāma'' was translated, not only to satisfy the literary and aesthetic needs of readers and listeners, but also to inspire the young with the spirit of heroism and Georgian patriotism. Georgian ideology, customs, and worldview often informed these translations because they were oriented toward Georgian poetic culture. Conversely, Georgians consider these translations works of their native literature. Georgian versions of the ''Šāh-nāma'' are quite popular, and the stories of [[Rostam and Sohrab|Rostam and Sohrāb]], or [[Bijan and Manijeh|Bījan and Maniža]] became part of Georgian folklore.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Giunshvili|first=Jamshid Sh.|title=Šāh-nāma Translations ii. Into Georgian|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sah-nama-translations-ii-into-georgian|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|access-date=28 May 2012|date=15 June 2005|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922140039/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/sah-nama-translations-ii-into-georgian|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Farmanfarmaian in the ''[[Journal of Persianate Studies]]'':

{{Blockquote|Distinguished scholars of Persian such as Gvakharia and Todua are well aware that the inspiration derived from the Persian classics of the ninth to the twelfth centuries produced a 'cultural synthesis' which saw, in the earliest stages of written secular literature in Georgia, the resumption of literary contacts with Iran, "much stronger than before" (Gvakharia, 2001, p. 481). Ferdowsi's ''Shahnama'' was a never-ending source of inspiration, not only for high literature, but for folklore as well. "Almost every page of Georgian literary works and chronicles [...] contains names of Iranian heroes borrowed from the ''Shahnama''" (ibid). Ferdowsi, together with [[Nizami Ganjavi|Nezāmi]], may have left the most enduring imprint on Georgian literature (...){{sfn|Farmanfarmaian|2009|page=24}}}}

=== On Turkic identity ===
Despite a belief held by some, the [[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]] of ''Shahnameh'' (whose sources are based on [[Avesta]] and [[Pahlavi scripts|Pahlavi]] texts) have no relationship with [[Turkic peoples|Turks]].<ref name="Bosworth" /> The Turanians of the ''Shahnameh'' are an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian people]] representing Iranian nomads of the [[Eurasian Steppe]]s and have no relationship to the culture of the Turks.<ref name="Bosworth">Bosworth, C.E. "[http://www.medievalists.net/2009/01/04/barbarian-incursions-the-coming-of-the-turks-into-the-islamic-world/ Barbarian Incursions: The Coming of the Turks into the Islamic World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928162748/http://www.medievalists.net/2009/01/04/barbarian-incursions-the-coming-of-the-turks-into-the-islamic-world/ |date=2013-09-28 }}". In ''Islamic Civilization'', ed. D.S. Richards. Oxford, 1973. p. 2. "Firdawsi's Turan are, of course, really Indo-European nomads of Eurasian Steppes... Hence as Kowalski has pointed out, a Turkologist seeking for information in the Shahnama on the primitive culture of the Turks would definitely be disappointed. "</ref> Turan, which is the Persian name for the areas of Central Asia beyond the Oxus up to the 7th century (where the story of the ''Shahnameh'' ends), was generally an Iranian-speaking land.<ref>Bosworth, C.E. "The Appearance of the Arabs in Central Asia under the Umayyads and the Establishment of Islam". In ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting'', ed. M.S. Asimov and C.E. Bosworth. Multiple History Series. Paris: Motilal Banarsidass Publ./UNESCO Publishing, 1999. p. 23. "Central Asia in the early seventh century, was ethnically, still largely an Iranian land whose people used various Middle Iranian languages."</ref>

According to [[Richard Frye]], "The extent of influence of the Iranian epic is shown by the Turks who accepted it as their own ancient history as well as that of [[Iran]]...  The Turks were so much influenced by this cycle of stories that in the eleventh century AD we find the [[Qarakhanid]] dynasty in Central Asia calling itself the 'family of Afrasiyab' and so it is known in the Islamic history."<ref>{{cite book|last=Frye|first=Richard N.|title=The Heritage of Persia: The Pre-Islamic History of One of the World's Great Civilizations|year=1963|publisher=World Publishing Company|location=New York|pages=40–41}}</ref>

Turks, as an ethno-linguistic group, have been influenced by the ''Shahnameh'' since the advent of [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuks]].<ref name="IranicaT">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Özgüdenli|first=Osman G.|title=Šāh-nāma Translations i. Into Turkish|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sah-nama-translations-i-into-turkish|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|date=15 November 2006|access-date=14 October 2011|archive-date=5 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005153245/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sah-nama-translations-i-into-turkish|url-status=live}}</ref> The Seljuk sultan [[Toghrul III of Seljuq|Toghrul III]] is said to have recited the ''Shahnameh'' while swinging his mace in battle.<ref name="IranicaT" /> According to [[Ibn Bibi]], 1221{{clarify|date=May 2012}} the Seljuk sultan of [[Sultanate of Rum|Rum]] [[Kayqubad I|Ala' al-Din Kay-kubad]] decorated the walls of [[Konya]] and [[Sivas]] with verses from the ''Shahnameh''.<ref name="Blair">{{cite book|last=Blair|first=Sheila S.|title=The Monumental Inscriptions from Early Islamic Iran and Transoxiana|year=1992|publisher=E. J. Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9004093672|page=11|quote=According to Ibn Bibi, in 618/1221 the Saljuq of Rum Ala' al-Din Kay-kubad decorated the walls of Konya and Sivas with verses from the Shah-nama}}</ref> The Turks themselves connected their origin not with Turkish tribal history but with the Turanians of ''Shahnameh''.<ref name="Schimmel">Schimmel, Annemarie. "Turk and Hindu: A Poetical Image and Its Application to Historical Fact". In ''Islam and Cultural Change in the Middle Ages'', ed. Speros Vryonis, Jr. Undena Publications, 1975. pp. 107–26. "In fact as much as early rulers felt themselves to be Turks, they connected their Turkish origin not with Turkish tribal history but rather with the Turan of Shahnameh: in the second generation their children bear the name of Firdosi’s heroes, and their Turkish lineage is invariably traced back to Afrasiyab—whether we read Barani in the fourteenth century or the Urdu master poet Ghalib in the nineteenth century. The poets, and through them probably most of the educated class, felt themselves to be the last outpost tied to the civilized world by the thread of Iranianism. The imagery of poetry remained exclusively Persian. "</ref> Specifically in India, through the ''Shahnameh'', they felt themselves to be the last outpost tied to the civilized world by the thread of [[Iranianism]].<ref name="Schimmel" />