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Perso-Aryan Studies
  • Āstānag
On these pages you will find the rough works of
   Raham Asha رهام اشه  
concerning the Perso-Aryan world. The material on this site is constantly corrected and, hopefully, improved. If you want to cite anything here, please check with the author first.
dēn
abestāg/ Avesta, zand, ayārdag
Scriptures and Scripiture Knowledge
The tradition of the Magi about the Avesta
mēnōg xrad
The sacred, religious and cultural tradition of the Aryans
jāyēdān xrad
Wisdom Literature
pand, handarz, āzend, …

Apologetics 
gumānvizārīh

Ancient Perso-Aryan kingship
The State in Persian Tradition
išxan, šāh, xvadāy, vispuhr
šāhīh ped ērānšahr
Education of the ancients 
hamōzišn ud frahang
dibīrīh
The scribe class
The scripts  of the Persians 
Calendars, Dates and Chronologies, ...
sālnāmag, māhrōz, ud sālmar, ud cē
Astronomy, Astrology, Cosmology, Cosmogony, ...
starušmārīh, axtarmārīh, gētīgdānišnīh, bundahišnīh, ud cē
Hemerology, Menology, Ophiomancy, Astral omens, and Lapidary of Sacred Stones  (their Magical and Medicinal Powers), Bird Oracles, etc.
rōznāmag, māhnāmag, mārnāmag, axtarnāmag, nišān ī muhragīhā, murvnīšīh, ud cē
Medicine
bizeškīh/ bišehkīh, drustbedīh
The Book of Lands
zamyād nāmag

vazurgmihr ī bōxtagān 

Vazurgmihr, the wise counsellor of Husrō (531-579)
Suhravardī and Āδar Kēvān 

The “Parsi” School of Āδar Keyvān
Zamān ‘Time’ in the last texts of the Magi

زمان ِ بيکران اندر نوشته های پارسی ِ مغان

A Cosmographical treatise in Gujarati
​

There exists a compilation of different fragments, written in Gujarati with interlinear Persian versions, on cosmography. The text of the treatise is found in the end of one manuscript of the Xvardag Abestāg.
The story of the priest Dēnyār
and the daughter to whom Muḥammad was born
دستور دينيار و پيامبر ِ دمدار
​The Aryan and the Jew
How the Magi look upon the three « Judaisms »
 

On a number of occasions Jews (jehūd) and Judaism (jehūdīh) appear in the writings of the Magi. In these texts, Judaism constitutes the very antithesis of Magianism, the doctrine of the Jews (kēš ī jehūd) as opposed to the good religion (dēn māzdesn), the evil rule (dušxvadāyīh) versus the good rule (huxvadāyīh). Both good and evil rules have been put to the test three times –the Aryan rule is presented as the legacy of Yima and the Jewish rule as that of Dahāka. 
The question of conversion
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From the Discourse of Meliton of Sardis
 
A Syriac text of the apologist Melito of Sardis exists in the manuscript Add. 14658 (London BL), f. 176-f. 181. It professes to be an apology for Christianity addressed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (161-180) about A.D. 170.  It bears the title of   
« The Discourse of Meliton the Philosopher »,
which was in the presence of Antoninus Cæsar
Here is the text and (Persian and English) translation of a fragment of this work concerning the origin of Polytheism and idolatry – «I will write and show how and for what reasons images were made to kings and tyrants, and they came to be regarded as gods. »

The coming of the King Vahrām Varzāvand

The present short text expresses the hope of the advent of Vahrām, the Aryan hero who will come in a future period and will restore the Aryan kingdom –in the Jāmāspīg he is the king of Pedišxvārgar.  J. C. Tavadia established that it is a poem with rhyme (according to Bahar it is a verse-text with a series of twelve-syllable verses ), and called it “a rhymed ballad”.

There exists another text concerning the coming of King Vahrām. In fact, his compiler has interpolated some glosses in the original (above) text. Edgar Blochet found it in a manuscript which once before was at his disposal.  Another copy is found in the manuscript R 591 (K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai), 49v-50 v.
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Haptōiriṇga

The 7 stars of the constellation Ursa Major

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The manuscript LXI contains four texts belonging to the Pārsī divinatory literature.

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The Bilingual Inscription of Vologeses son of Mithridates

The Lady with the mirror
The witch Xnąθaitī and the hero Kǝrǝsāspa
شميران
سميرَميس و نينوس، شميرَم و ارا، شيرين و فرهاد

 (گزارش ِ هلنی (کتسياس
( گزارش ِ ارمنی (خورناتسی 
( گزارش ِ پارسی (نظامی
A Banquet Speech
āfrīn ī sūr

This is a benediction pronounced in the sūr  “where excellent food was served and where cooks and table boys, singers and musicians, and gate-keepers were engaged.”  The text is also an example of after-meal speech at banquets and at anniversary ceremonies (different from death anniversary), the rōzgār. The text as reached us dates back to the Sasanian era; and a list of Persian dignitaries in it shows that it belongs to the sixth century, or as Tavadia states: “We have found only the upper limit, namely the reign of Xusrav I.”  
guzastag abdallāh (GA)

The accursed ʿAbdallāh 
​
The Pārsīg treatise, guzastag abdallāh (GA), gives an account of a theological debate which  took place between the Manichaean ʿAbdallāh and the high priest Ādarfarrōbay in the presence of the Arab Caliph al-Ma'mūn (813-833 A.D.). ​
mādayān ī jōšt ī fryān

The Book of Yōišta of the Fryāna (MJF)
The treatise Xusrō son of Kavād and a Page

The treatise husrav ī kavādān ud rēdak-ē (HKR) relates the story of a princely orphan from the district of Ēranvinārdkavād. The main part of it consists of questions and answers between king Husrō I (531-579 A.D.) and the Page.
The Yašt of the Excellent Order
Urdēvahišt Yašt
(Yt 3)

A Sogdian fragment containing the parable of pearl-borer and the division of the day into three parts
​pearl_v.pdf

Marriage Contracts
Pārsīg (“Pahlavi”), Sogdian and Bactrian documents
Picture
The aim here is to provide a collection of documents relating to marriage in ancient times as preserved to us in Aryan languages ˗Bactrian, Sogdian and Pārsīg (“Pahlavi”). As it is compiled with the needs of the students of the Faculty of Philology in Samarkand and those involved with linguistics at the Academy of Sciences in Dushanbe, it provides abundant etymological and explanatory notes, adapted to the needs and knowledge of the student who has already had his first training in Aryan languages. 

The last intercalation
Some remarks on the Persian calendar

The main source mentioning the last intercalation in the Sasanian times is Bērōnī’s accounts in his early work on the chronology of ancient nations, the Vestiges of the Past Centuries, and also in his later masterpiece consisting of an encyclopedia of astronomical sciences, the Canon Masudicus. However under the pretext that there is a contradiction in Bērōnī’s accounts as he has given two different “dates” for the same alleged intercalation, i.e. in the reign of Yazdegird I and in that of Pērōz, the historical existence of the intercalary cycle in the Persian calendric system has been thoroughly discredited. It is surprising to see the non-attentive reading of Bērōnī’s accounts of the intercalation of the Persian calendar in its history; and, moreover, if we review most of the modern authors on the subject, their lack of familiarity with both the Perso-Aryan vision and the elements of Persian calendars is astounding.
The Cupola of the Earth
The central point on the dividing line between east and west of the inhabitable world, drawn from the North Pole to the South Pole, was called, by the Persian astronomers, gumbad ī zamīg ‘Cupola of the Earth’ (rendered by Arabic قبّة الأرض) , and the Persian royal observatory was placed on that line. The Persian astronomical tables also gave a longitude of 90° E to the Castle of Kaŋha (Pers. Kangdiz) listed as the easternmost point; and, at the same time, some astronomers reckoned longitude west from the eastern prime meridian. Abū-Maʿšar of Balx (Bactria) measured longitudes west from Kangdiz, and some early astronomical tables in Arabic imply a base meridian in the Persian Cupola. But the later tables in Arabic placed the base meridian in the west, the Fortunate Isles, or Ujjayinī. Ujjayinī was considered as the Cupola (and it was even called قبة ارين) and the point 90° west of Uajjayinī was equated with Ptolemy’s prime meridian of the Fortunate Isles. Then the issue of the Persian Cupola of the Earth became obscure, and endeavors to clarify it vain. For example, Bērōnī, in spite of having some acquaintance with the Royal (Persian) astronomical tables, states that: “I do not know whether this (concept of the cupola of the earth) is an expression or opinion of the Persians, or others; since the Greek books do not mention it.” 
Where was situated the Cupola of the Persians?
See
R. Asha, “The Cupola of the Earth”, Journal of the Cama Oriental Institute, No. 75, 2018, 99-109.
The K R Cama Oriental Institute
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Mumbai - 400 001
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Quelques rencontres de thèmes légendaires qui s’observent entre Germains et Perses
La mort de Baldr et la mort de Syāvaršan et Spəṇtōδāta

La mort de Baldr, dans la religion des Germains, révèle, non pas l’avènement sans retour de la mort inévitable de l’homme dans le monde matériel –le thème qu’on trouve dans le texte avestique Aogәmadaēcā –, mais la mort inattendue, comme on voit dans une série de légendes perso-aryennes qui mettent en scène la mort inattendue du héros qui dérègle ainsi l’harmonie cosmique, et propage la guerre, la famine et le mensonge. Alors la légende prend la forme de la « réparation ».

1. La mort de Baldr et la mort de Spәṇtōδāta
1.1.      L’invulnérabilité du héros
1.2.      L’énigme de la mort du héros
2. La vengeance de Baldr et la vengeance de Syāvaršan
2.1. Lamentation de Frigg et lamentation des Mages
2.2. La cachette de Loki et la cachette de Fraŋrasyan
2.3. Le saumon Loki et le poisson Fraŋrasyan
2.4. Kvasir et Haoma
مرگی ِ بيزمان به بينش ِ ايرانی و گرمنی

  مرگ ِ بلدر و مرگ ِ اسپنديياد
  تهمتنی
    فرشن ِ مرگ ِ يل
 مرگ ِ بلدر و مرگ ِ اسپندياد
گريستن ِ فريگ و گريستن ِ مغان
    خانة لوکی و هنگ ِ فراسياب
     لوکی و فراسياب به کرب ِ ماهی
 کوسير و هوم
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The Wèi-shū and the Persian calendar

The Wèi-shū, or the Annals of the Wèi (dynasty), was written by Wèi shōu (506-572 A.D.), a high-ranking civil servant of the dynasty of the northern Qi (北齊). The account of Persia in the sixth century is found in chapter 102 of this book.  It is almost identical with another Chinese account, the Běi shǐ (北史), or the book of the History of the dynasties of the North, completed by Lǐ yánshòu (李延寿) in 659 A.D., chapter 97.

PhotoKing Akbar and Abuʾl-Faẓl
The Indo-Persian Divine Calendar
The so-called Tārīkh i Ilāhī

The Divine Era (تاريخ الهی / yazdīg māhrōz) was established by the order of the Indian king Akbar in the 29th year of his reign, A.H. 992/ A.D. 1584.
The architect of the sacred calendar was a Persian scholar, Šāh Fatḥullāh Šīrāzī.
The epoch of the sacred calendar, according to the Framān, was the date of the vernal equinox just after the accession of the great king Akbar, that is, 1 D. Y. (divine year) began on Tuesday
1556 A. D., March 10 = 28 Rabīʿ II, A.H. 963

The Colophons of Mihrābān Kayxusrō
About some corresponding dates of Pārsī and Hindū eras

Mihrābān Kayxusrō, a Pārsī teaching priest, at the instance of a Pārsī notable of Cambay (Guj. ખંભાત), Čāhil Sangan, came to India (probably in A. Y. 690/ A. D. 1321), and wrote several Avesta and Pārsīg manuscripts at Cambay, Thana (Mar. ठाणे), and Navsari (Guj. નવસારી).  He also copied there the manuscripts copied by his great grand uncle Rustam Mihrābān. His literary activities are recorded up to the Pārsī year 720 (+ 20?) of Yazdegird.
The medicine for contentment
dārūg ī hunsandīh

The dārūg ī hunsandīh is a prescription for preparing the medicine of contentment. 
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Avesta
 
A Grammatical Précis
​

​First published 2018 by
Sade Publication
Tele: (+9821) 66862143, (+98) 9122472838

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Pārsīg Language
(The so-called Pahlavi)
Parts of Speech, Word Formation, and Phonology

2017
Sade Publication
Tele: (+9821) 66862143, (+98) 9122472838
ISBN: 978-600-8055-99-0
The present book is, in the first place, a descriptive grammar of the Pārsīg language as far as we have it. It includes morphology and phonology; but it gives no syntax. Whereas the first two parts of the book concern morphology, the last deals with phonology. The book intends to be accessible to those who wish to study the Pārsīg texts as well as those specializing in the study of Perso-Aryan languages –they can start reading from the third part. 
This book has evolved in the course of many years; however, it is not a new and improved edition of my previous book on the Pārsīg language , but a renewed attempt in its own right. A forthcoming compendious dictionary will complete this work.

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Jāmāspīg

A revised edition of the Pārsīg version of
The Memorial of Jāmāspa

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šak-ud-gumānīh-vizār

The Doubt-removing book of Mardānfarrox

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Avesta Glossary

A glossary of Avesta words and their Pārsīg equivalents,

based on the Zand,

the so-called Frahang ī ōīm: ēk

Text and Grammatical Notes


Raham Asha


The K. R. Cama Oriental Institute
Mumbai, 2009
ISBN 978-81-905943-1-8


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vīrāzagān
 
The visionary journey of Vīrāza to heaven and hell
 
 




​Shourafarin
Publication
www.shourafarin.com
Telephone: (+9821) 88430499,
​(+98) 9125579145

 
ISBN: 978-600-8055-97-6
 
 2017



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Paul the Persian
 
Aristotle’s Logic
​

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The Codex TD 26

In March 2011 I had an opportunity of visiting Mumbai, and seeing and reading some of the manuscripts of the library of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute. Mrs. Dr. Nawaz Mody, Mr. Muncherji N. M. Cama and the librarians very kindly made all special arrangements required for an access of the manuscripts which were not yet listed. Out of twenty-four manuscripts I could page through I found two manuscripts of a special interest. I wrote by hand some fragments of them. Here is a brief survey of the contents of the codex TD 26, along with the transcription and translation of two texts of it. 
Journal of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute,
N° 72, 2012, 9-21.

raham.asha@gmail.com