The Čihrdād nask or Kitradād nask is one of the lost ''nask''s (volumes) of the

Sasanian Avesta The Sasanian Avesta or Great Avesta refers to the anthology of Zoroastrian literature produced during the Sasanian period. Most of this work is now lost, but its content and structure can be reconstructed from references found in a number of t ...

and survives only as summaries preserved in later Zoroastrian writings. The text is said to have been a history of mankind from the beginning down to the revelation of

Zarathustra Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. Variously descr ...

, and it was an important source for later works like the Šāhnāmeh of

Ferdowsi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

Sources

The Čihrdād nask itself is lost but its structure and content can be reconstructed from references found in later Zoroastrian writings. The most important source is the

Denkard The ''Dēnkard'' or ''Dēnkart'' (Middle Persian: 𐭣𐭩𐭭𐭪𐭠𐭫𐭲 "Acts of Religion") is a 10th-century compendium of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs during the time. The ''Denkard'' has been called an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" an ...

, a 9th-10th century encyclopedia of Zoroastrianism. The 12th chapter of its 8th book provides a long description of its content. In addition, the Rivayats, a series of letters from the 15th - 17th century, disucss its content briefly.

Structure

The Čihrdād nask was part of the

, the Sasanian period collection of

Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...

literature. This collection consisted of 21 ''nasks'', which were grouped into 3 divisions; Gathic, ritual, and legal nasks. Within this scheme, the Čihrdād nask belonged to the legal nasks although its content was not concerned with the law.

Edward William West Edward William West (1824-1905), usually styled E. W. West, was a scholarly English engineer, orientalist, and translator of Zoroastrian texts. He was educated at King's College London. He prepared five volumes of Pahlavi texts (the ''Marvels of ...

estimates, that it consisted of ca. 2,600 words of

text accompanied by ca. 23,400 words of translation and commentary in Pahlavi, which would make it the shortest legal nask and the second shortest overall. Its grouping with the other legal nasks may have been due to a misinterpretation of the second element of its name as ''dād'' (law), whereas a derivation from ''*čiθrō.dāti'' (the establishment of the origins) is considered more likely.

Content

The Čihrdād Nask is said to have contained a comprehensive account of the legendary history according to

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

. It began with the first man

Gayomard Keyumars or Kiomars () was the name of the first king (shah) of the Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to the ''Shahnameh''. The name appears in Avestan in the form of , or in medieval Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian texts as ''Gayōmard'' or ...

all the way to the revelation of Zarathustra. It is considered to have been an important source for the mythical history of Iran as perceived by the

Sasanians The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

. For example, the list of the Pishdadian and Kayanian rulers agrees with the order known from later Islamic writers. In addition, the nask may have contained interpretations that used the mythical history to explain and justify the social order of the

Sasanian empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Summary of the Čihrdād nask according to Book 8 of the Denkard
by

Summary of the Čihrdād nask in the Rivayats
by Ervad Bamanji Nusserwanji Dhabhar {{Zoroastrian literature Zoroastrian texts Lost documents