Mythic Persia

Persia stretches from the Tigris River in the west to the Oxus River in the north and east. It is ethnically and culturally diverse; a consequence of both its vast size and its central position. However, over seven-tenths of its land area is desert and waste. Much of the country is high plateau, four to five thousand feet above sea level. Exceptions include the lands around the Persian Gulf south of the Zagros mountains, which are just above sea level, and the narrow coastal strip to the south of the Caspian Sea, which is just below sea level. The plateau is bounded by the Alborz mountains to the north and the Zagros mountains to the south and west. The plateau lacks major rivers since they find no outlet; many rivers on the plateau are simply lost in sands and swamps, rather than reaching the sea.

Persians are linguistically and ethnically different from the Arabs to the west. The majority of the population is found outside the great cities. Most are tenants, sharing their crops with their landlords, who tend to live in the towns. The low rainfall for most of the region results in a reliance on irrigation, through the use of underground water channels called qanats, which require constant and skilled maintenance. A significant minority of the population is nomadic or semi-nomadic; principally the Lurs of the Zagros mountains and the Ghuzz of Khurasan. Most of the provinces are ruled by a dynasty of Seljuk Turks who have sworn loyalty to the current shah; these rulers are either atabegs or mamluks. The atabegs were originally provincial governors who were tutors of Seljuk princes, but by the 13th century are semi-autonomous princes in their own right. The mamluks are raised as slave-soldiers to be utterly loyal to their masters, and placed in territories as direct subordinates of the sultan.

The "Epic of Kings" is the national saga of the Persian people, composed by Ferdowsi in the tenth century. It is a record of the pre-Muslim history and legends of Persia. It begins with the creation of the world and of man, and then the introduction of fire, metal-working, agriculture, and other technologies. The early kings and their accomplishments are followed by the deeds of the great heroes: Saum, his son Zal, and grandson Rostam. The age of heroes ends with the conquest of Alexander the Great; Ferdowsi then gives the history of the Sasanids, and ends with the conquest by the Arabs (whom he calls "the Army of Darkness").

The Cradle & The Crescent

The Shahnameh is written in Parsi, and copies are often beautifully illustrated and decorated with gold leaf, and run to seven volumes in length. A good quality copy such as this is a summa on Persian Lore, Level 4, Quality 12. It can also be studied as a series of tractatus on Magic Lore, Faerie Lore, Divine Lore, and Infernal Lore, each Quality 10.

The language of Persia is Parsi, or Persian, a tongue unrelated to other Middle Eastern languages. Arabic is the language of Islam, and retains its pre-eminence when discussing religion; it used also to be the language of all scholarship, but in the 13th century most Persian secular books are written in Parsi. Turkish became well-established during the period of Seljuk dominance, and various dialects are found among the Ghuzz and the Lurs.

Recent History

The Seljuk Turks ruled Persia for nearly two centuries. It was always an empire made of two halves, with a sultan appointed in Khurasan to rule the east, while the Seljuk overlord ruled from the west. The sultanate of Khurasan came to an abrupt end in 1149 when the Shansabani family destroyed Seljuk rule there using infernal powers. To add to the troubles in Persia, the Ghuzz — who had been invited to settle in Persia and join the armies — rebelled in Khurasan in 1151, and invaded the neighboring provinces. Despite holding Sultan Ahmed Sanjar captive for over three years, the Ghuzz rebellion was short-lived, but the Seljuks never reclaimed Khurasan from the Shansabanis.

Ala ad-Din Tekish, the Mamluk ruler of Khwarazm, expanded his territory following the gradual collapse of the Seljuk empire after the death of Sultan Ahmed Sanjar, and eventually defeated his successor Togril III in 1194. Tekish's son Ala ad-Din Mohammed continued his father's work to conquer the remaining parts of the Seljuk empire, and proclaimed himself its shah in 1205, although the Caliph has yet to recognize this title. Since then he has crushed the Shansabanis in Khurasan, and extended his reign to Transoxiana, and is now the ruler of a vast empire that stretches from the River Jaxartes to the Persian Gulf. Two years ago the shah met with emissaries from Genghis Khan in Samarkand. The shah had them killed and shaved — a grave insult — and sent back to the Khan. It remains to be seen what the Great Khan's response will be.