Medieval Reception of the Shāhnāma as a Mirror for Princes

Nasrin Askari completed her PhD at the University of Toronto. In addition to the present work, which received Iran's World Award for Book of the Year in 2017, she has critically edited and published the Mūnis-nāma (Afshar, 2022) and co-edited Arabic, Persian, and Turkic Poetics: Towards a Post-Eurocentric Literary Theory (Oxford University Press, 2024). Her articles have appeared in Iranian Studies, Narrative Culture, Persianate Studies, Iran-namag, and the Journal of Islamic Art and Architecture.

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

• Table of ContentsNote on Transliteration, Translation, and StyleList of AppendicesAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1The Medieval Reception of Firdausī’s ShāhnāmaThe Reception of the Shāhnāma on the Part of Sultan MaḥmūdThe Shāhnāma and the ‘Abd al-Razzāqiyān FamilyThe Reception of the Shāhnāma on the Part of Medieval WritersChapter 2The Portrayal of Ardashīr in the ShāhnāmaPart I – Ardashīr’s Eligibility for KingshipPart II – Ardashīr’s Successful KingshipChapter 3The Wisdom of Ardashīr and His Advices in the ShāhnāmaArdashīr’s Customs and Practices (āyīn)Ardashīr’s Throne Speech (andarz)Ardashīr’s Testament (‘ahd)Chapter 4The Ardashīr Cycle and Medieval Persian Mirrors for PrincesThe Pandnāma of SebükteginThe Ādāb-i salṭanat va vizāratThe Qābūs-nāmaThe Siyar al-mulūk of Niẓām al-MulkThe Naṣīḥat al-mulūk of GhazālīThe Aghrāż al-siyāsa fī a‘rāż al-riyāsaTwo Chapters of the Jāmi‘ al-‘ulūm (Sittīnī)The Marzbān-nāmaThe Ᾱdāb al-ḥarb va al-shujā‘aConclusionBibliography