A Reflection on the Concepts of "Khvarenah" in Tarikh-e Beyhaghi

Abstract

"Khvarenah" is an outstanding mythological concept that has survived in the post-Islamic Iran among the public and written works. Passing through a transformation process, from ancient times onwards, various changes have occurred to the quality and function of this concept and has made it an interesting and useful area of research with historical, sociological, psychological and even great rhetorical values. The present study, therefore, is to investigate the most important conscious and unconscious aspects of belief in "Khvarenah" by going through one of the most prominent Persian prose works of both historical and literary nature, i.e. Tarikh-e Beyhaghi. The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the details of belief in "Khvarenah" (Farreh) as manifested in both form and meaning of the mentioned work so as to clarify the largely half-hidden contribution of this ancient belief to the interpretation of events and the understanding of events and characters, and to indicate the evolution of its function up to the Qaznavid era. The findings showed that belief in "Khvarenah" is mostly manifest in the great events related to the kings, as well as, in some of their characteristics and behaviors. Rituals such as Mehregan also contribute highly to this manifestation. Deterministic approaches to Tarikh-e Beyhaghi in issues such as enthronement of the kings are reflections of this belief as well. Various manifestations of this concept in the form and content of this work reflect deviation in the function of "Khvarenah" from a mythological to a courtly and political function, and reveals the differences between some of its details and its ancient and genuine form.

Keywords

• mythological thought
• khvarenah
• qaznavi reign
• tarikh-e beyhaghi