Translations and Imitations of the Shahnameh in Turkish Lands

Abstract

Reading and reciting the Shahnameh in Persian was popular not only in Persianate lands, like some parts of the Caucasus and Central Asia, but in Ottoman empire as well. Furthermore, some of the stories of the Shahnameh were known through oral tradition. Copying and making illuminated manuscripts of the Shahnameh was another method of spreading the fame of Ferdowsi. Ferdowsi, like many other poets of Iran, had considerable influence on the Ottoman literature. The present article examines translations and imitations of the Shahnameh in Turkish Lands.

Keywords

• the shahnameh
• ferdowsi
• translation
• turkish lands