TheSasanian dynasty (224–654 CE) were natives of that south-western region, and through their political and cultural influence, Middle Persian became aprestige dialect and thus also came to be used by non-Persian Iranians. Following theArab conquest of the Sasanian Empire in the 7th century, shortly after which Middle Persian began to evolve into New Persian, Middle Persian continued to be used by theZoroastrian priesthood for religious and secular compositions. These compositions, in theAramaic-derivedBook Pahlavi script, are traditionally known as "Pahlavi literature". The earliest texts in Zoroastrian Middle Persian were probably written down in the late Sasanian era (6th–7th centuries), although they represent the codification of earlier oral tradition.[1] However, most texts, including theZend commentaries and translations of theZoroastrian canon, date from the 9th to the 11th century, when Middle Persian had long ceased to be a spoken language, so they reflect the state of affairs in living Middle Persian only indirectly. The surviving manuscripts are usually 14th-century copies.[2]
Other, less abundantly attested varieties of Middle Persian literature include the 'Manichaean Middle Persian' corpus, used for a sizable amount ofManichaean religious writings, including many theological texts,homilies and hymns (3rd–9th, possibly 13th century). Even less-well attested are the Middle Persian compositions ofNestorian Christians likeMar Maʿna, evidenced in thePahlavi Psalter (7th century); these were used until the beginning of the second millennium in many places in Central Asia, includingTurfan (in present-day China) and even localities in Southern India.[3]
"Pahlavi literature traditionally defines the writings of the Zoroastrians in the Middle Persian language and Book Pahlavi script which were compiled in the 9th and the 10th centuries CE."[4]
The literary corpus in Middle Persian inBook Pahlavi consists of:
translations and commentaries (zand) of theAvesta.
other exegetical compositions on religious subjects.
compositions on non-religious subjects.
These divisions are not mutually exclusive. Several different literary genres are represented in Pahlavi literature.
Zand texts
Thezand corpus include exegetical glosses, paraphrases, commentaries and translations of theAvesta's texts. Although such exegetical commentaries also exist in other languages (including Avestan itself), the Middle Persianzand is the only to survive fully, and is for this reason regarded as 'the'zand.[5]
With the notable exception of theYashts, almost all surviving Avestan texts have their Middle Persianzand, which in some manuscripts appear alongside (or interleaved with) the text being glossed. These glosses and commentaries were not intended for use as theological texts by themselves but for religious instruction of the (by then) non-Avestan-speaking public. In contrast, the Avestan language texts remained sacrosanct and continued to be recited in the Avestan language, which was considered asacred language.
Other exegetical works
The corpus of medieval texts of Zoroastrian tradition include around 75 works, of which only a few are well known:
theDenkard, "Acts of Religion", is an encyclopedic compendium of Sasanian era beliefs and customs.
theBundahishn, "Original Creation", is an important source of information on Zoroastriancosmogony.
theVichitakiha i Zatsparam, the "Treatises of Zatsparam", by Manushchihr's brother Zatsparam.
theArda-Viraf Namag relates the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian (the 'Viraf' of the story) through the next world.
theDaedestan i Menog-i Khrad, "Judgments of the Spirit of Wisdom", is anandarz text (a class of Iranianwisdom literature) in which a figure named Danag (lit: "wise, knowing") participates in a question-and-answer dialog with Menog-i Khrad, the Spirit of Wisdom.
theJamasp Namag, "Book of Jamaspi", also known as theAyadgar i Jamaspig "(In) Memoriam of Jamasp", is a compendium of essential doctrine, together with basic myth, legend, history, and some pseudo-prophetic matters cast as a series of revelations byJamasp through the model of a question-and-answer dialog withVishtasp.
theZand-i Wahman yasn is another pseudo-prophetic text, in this case cast as a question-and-answer dialog between Zoroaster andAhura Mazda, in which the latter gives his prophet the ability to see into the future.
theShikand-gumanic Vichar, a partly apologetic and partly polemic review of other religions.
theShayast ne-shayast, "(on what is) Proper and Improper", a compilation of miscellaneous laws and customs regarding sin and impurity, with other memoranda about ceremonies and religious subjects in general.
theWizidagiha-i Zadspram, a text on the creation of the world, life of Zoroaster, and the eschatological end
Secular compositions
A manuscript known as the "miscellaneous codex" orMK (after Mihraban Kaykhusrow, the Indian Zoroastrian (Parsi) copyist who created it), dated to 1322 but containing older material, is the only surviving source of several secular Middle Persian works from the Sassanian period. Among the texts included in the uniqueMK are:
theAyadgar-i Zariran, the "Memorial or Zarer", is the only surviving specimen of Iranian epic poetry composed in Middle Persian.
theShahrestaniha i Eranshahr, is a catalogue of the four regions of the Sassanid empire with mythical and/or historical stories related to their founding.
severalandarz texts, the Iranian type ofwisdom literature containing advice and injunctions for proper behavior.
theWizarishn i Chatrang, "Explanation of Chess", also known as theChatrang Namag, is a humorous story of how an Indian king sent a game ofchess to the Sassanid court to test Iranian wits, in response to which a priest inventedbackgammon to challenge the Indian king.
theDrakht-i Asurig, "the Assyrian tree", is an originallyParthian poem recast into Book Pahlavi but retaining many Parthian phrases and idioms.
theAbdih ud Sahigih i Sagistan is a description of the "Wonders and Remarkable Features of Sistan".
theKhusraw va Redag, "Khusraw and the Page", is an account of a conversation between the king and a young boy who would like to be a page. This work is a source of information on the sensual delights of the Sassanian court.
theMah farvardin Ruz khordad is a book that described all the events which historically or mythically occurred on the 6th day of the Persian month ofFarvardin.
Especially important to cultural and law historians is theMadayan i Hazar Dadestan, "Book of a Thousand Judgements", a 7th-century compilation of actual and hypothetical case histories collected from Sassanian court records and transcripts. Only a single manuscript of this unique text survives.
Scribes also created several glossaries for translating foreign languages. Of these, two have survived:
Several other works, now lost, are known of from references to them in other languages. Works of this group include:
in about the 5th century, priests attached to the Sassanid court began to compile an immense chronicle, theKhwaday Namag ("Book of Kings"), a legendary genealogy of the Sassanid kings in which the Sassanians were dynastically linked toVishtaspa,[5] i.e. Zoroaster's patron and the legendary founder of the mythologicalKayanian dynasty. The original Middle Persian version of the chronicle has been lost, and the contents survive only through Arabic translations and in a versified New Persian version, theShahnameh byFirdausi, finished around 1000 CE.[5]
theKalile va Demne, a Middle Persian translation of the IndianPanchatantra. The Middle Persian work survives only as a translation intoSyriac and two centuries later into Arabic byIbn al-Muqaffa.
theLetter of Tansar, a rationale forArdashir's seizure of the throne. The letter was translated intoArabic in the 9th century byIbn al-Muqaffa, and from Arabic intoNew Persian in the 13th centuryHistory of Tabaristan by Ibn Isfandiar.
theAyyatkar-i Anushirvan, which has survived as an Arabic translation in a section ofEbn Meskavayh'sTajarib al-Umam.
A Large Online Pahlavi Library, contains pdfs of many Pahlavi manuscripts in its original script, many with transcriptions and translations.
Kassock Pahlavi Reproductions, a small company that provides many reprints of Pahlavi books and manuscripts. Kassock also writes guides for students learning Pahlavi for select books.
Contemporary Persian and Classical Persian are the same language, but writers since 1900 are classified as contemporary. At one time, Persian was a common cultural language of much of the non-Arabic Islamic world. Today it is the official language ofIran,Tajikistan and one of the two official languages ofAfghanistan.
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