The Kār-Nāmag ī Ardašīr ī Pāpakān ("''Book of the Deeds of Ardeshir, Son of

Papak Pabag ( pal, 𐭯𐭠𐭯𐭪𐭩, ''Pāpak/Pābag''; New Persian: ''Bābak''), was an Iranian prince who ruled Istakhr, the capital of Pars, from 205 or 206 until his death sometime between 207–210. He was the father, stepfather, grandfather ...

''") (New fa, کارنامهٔ اردشیر بابکان), is a short

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

prose tale written in the

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

period (226-651).C. G. CERETI, "KĀR-NĀMAG Ī ARDAŠĪR Ī PĀBAGĀN" in Encyclopædia Iranica
/ref> The story narrates the story of

Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new ...

, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty. His own life story—his rise to the throne, battle against the Parthian king Ardawān (or Artabanus), and conquest of the empire by the scion of the House of Sāsān, as well as episodes concerning his heir Šābuhr and the latter’s son, Ohrmazd. After Ardashir was born, son of Pabag's daughter and Sāsān, he spent his childhood in the court of

Artabanus IV of Parthia Artabanus IV, also known as Ardavan IV ( Parthian: 𐭍𐭐𐭕𐭓), incorrectly known in older scholarship as Artabanus V, was the last ruler of the Parthian Empire from c. 213 to 224. He was the younger son of Vologases V, who died in 208. N ...

and then ran away with a maidservant of the King. After several wars with Artabanus,

defeated and killed the king, and thus could found the new empire. The Karnamag is permeated with

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

doctrine.

Manuscripts

The sole independent manuscript of this text to have been identified so far is

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

MK, which was copied in 1322 in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

by Mihrābān ī Kay-Husraw, a gifted copyist belonging to a well known family of scribes. The book narrates the epic adventures of Ardashir I, the founder of the

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

. The story relates how Ardashir's father

, dreamed that his father Sassan would be reborn as Ardashir. According to the story,

was the natural son of Sassan. A rescension of the same story is found in the Shahnama. However, the contents of the text draw from more ancient

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian lore, since some traits of Ardashir’s life as narrated in this work reflect themes known from the legend of

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

Mary Boyce Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce (2 August 1920 – 4 April 2006) was a British scholar of Iranian languages, and an authority on Zoroastrianism. She was Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the ...

, a British scholar of

Iranian languages The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are groupe ...

, commented that " is is a short prose work, simple in style, probably written in Pars towards the end of the Sasanian period. It too was evidently the work of priests, and a comparison of it with Firdausi's rendering shows how effectively Zoroastrian elements were obliterated in the Muslim redaction. The Kârnâmag contains some historical details; but its generally romantic character has been explained as due to contamination with legends of

, still current then in Pars."Boyce, Mary "Middle Persian Literature" (in ''Handbuch Der Orientalistik'' --I. Abt., IV. Band 2.), p. 6

/ref>

Plot

The story starts with the birth of Ardashir to

's daughter and Sasan, Sāsān, a descendant of the Kayanian royal house. He leaves his home to be educated by Ardavan, but after an argument with Ardavan's son he is demoted to overseer of the stables. After some time, a favorite maid of the Parthian king Ardavan fell in love with Ardashir and informed him of a prophecy that had been announced to the sovereign by the chief astrologer about Ardashir's future greatness. The maid escaped Ardavan's domain and together with Ardashir, they escape on two horses stolen from his stables along with a sizeable quantity of treasure, weapons, and armor. Ardavan and his troops follow on the trail of the maiden and Ardashir. During this pursuit, Ardavan questions passers-by, who tell them that had seen the couple on the run followed by a large

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

. The king interrogates his

Dastur A dastūr, sometimes spelt dustoor, is a term for a Zoroastrian high priest who has authority in religious matters and ranks higher than a mobad or herbad. In this specific sense, the term is used mostly among the Parsis of India. The term has also ...

about the meaning of this scene, and the sage answers that the ram represents the royal xwarrah, which had not yet joined with Ardashir. In the

Persian mythology Persian mythology or Iranian mythology ( Persian:اساطیرشناسی ایرانی) is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples, and a genre of Ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the ori ...

, once a king possesses the divine xwarrah, he is invincible. During the second day of pursuit, Ardavan is told that the ram sat on the back of

’s horse. He is then advised by the Dastur to stop his pursuit since

now possesses the divine xwarrah. The story follows with the description of Ardashir's triumph over Ardavan in the battle of Hormuzagān. Then follows his campaign against a group of nomads and then his victory against Haftobād (a giant worm) through a stratagem suggested by the pious brothers Burzag and Burz-Ādur. He defeats Haftobād by pouring molten copper down the creature's throat. The last part of the story relates to the son of Ardashir,

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

, and the life of the son of the latter, Ohrmazd. Ardashir’s wife, the daughter of Ardawān, instigated by her brothers, makes an attempt on the king’s life. The plot fails and Ardashīr sentences her to death, notwithstanding her but the wise and compassionate Zoroastrian priest, without the knowledge of Ardashir, spares her life so that she may give birth to Shapur. Shapur is raised in the house of the Mowbed. Ardashir had no knowledge of the priest sparing the life of his son. According to the Shahnama, the holy man castrates himself in order to be beyond all suspicion. Years later the Mowbed tells Ardashir that he saved Shapur I and consequently is rewarded by

. An Indian astrologer foretells that Iran will only be strong if Ardashir's family is united with that of his mortal enemy Mihrag. Ardashir, however had fought the family of Mihrag and exterminated them. However, a girl from the family of Mihrag survives and marries Shapur. Thus the son of Shapur, Ohrmazd, is born and he unites the entire Eranshahr under his command and receives tribute and homage from the other kings of the time.

Translations

The story has been translated to numerous languages. The oldest English translation was translated by Darab Dastur Peshotan Sanjana, B.A., 189

Middle Persian and modern Persian comparison

Middle Persian transliteration in Latin script:

pad kārnāmag ī ardaxšīr ī pābagān ēdōn nibišt ēstād kū pas az marg ī alaksandar ī hrōmāyīg ērānšahr 240 kadag-xwadāy būd. spahān ud pārs ud kustīhā ī awiš nazdīktar pad dast ī ardawān sālār būd. pābag marzobān ud šahryār ī pārs būd ud az gumārdagān ī ardawān būd. ud pad staxr nišast. ud pābag rāy ēč frazand ī nām-burdār nē būd. ud sāsān šubān ī pābag būd ud hamwār abāg gōspandān būd ud az tōhmag ī dārā ī dārāyān būd ud andar dušxwadāyīh ī alaksandar ō wirēg ud nihān-rawišnīh ēstād ud abāg kurdān šubānān raft.

Modern Persian translation:

در کارنامهٔ اردشیر بابکان ایدون نوشته شده‌است که پس از مرگ اسکندر رومی، ایرانشهر را ۲۴۰ کدخدای بود. اسپهان و پارس و سامان‌های نزدیک به آن‌ها در دست سالار اردوان بود. بابک شهریار و مرزبان پارس و از گماردگان اردوان بود و در (شهرِ) استخر نشیمن داشت. بابک را هیچ فرزند نا‌م‌برداری نبود. و ساسان، (که) شبانِ بابک بود، همواره همراه با گوسفندان بود و از تخمهٔ دارایِ دارایان بود. و اندر دژخدایی (= حکومتِ بد) اسکندر به گریز و نهان‌روش شده بود و با کُردهای شبان می‌رفت.

Notes

External links

The Middle Persian text (transcription into the Latin alphabet)
*Editions in the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

containing the text in the original Pahlavi script
1. Nosherwan, 18962. Sanjana, 1896
(note: the Latin transcriptions in these works are outdated)

* ttp://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karnamag-i-ardasir C. G. CERETI, "KĀR-NĀMAG Ī ARDAŠĪR Ī PĀBAGĀN" in Encyclopædia Iranica