Knowra Great Mongol Shahnameh Great Mongol Shahnameh The Great Mongol Shahnameh is an early 14th-century illustrated Persian manuscript of Ferdowsi’s epic, produced under Ilkhanid rule. Its dispersed, surviving paintings combine Persian traditions with visual features associated with Mongol-era art.
Shahnameh : A Persian epic poem by Ferdowsi, completed around 1010, recounting the legendary and historical kings of Iran. The manuscript illustrates this epic, whose stories determine its scenes and characters.
Manuscript illumination : The decoration of handwritten books with painted images, ornament, and sometimes gold. Its painted scenes and ornament were integrated into a handwritten volume.
Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire : The Mongol campaigns that destroyed the Khwarazmian Empire across Central Asia and Iran in the early 13th century. These conquests preceded the Ilkhanid political order in which the manuscript was made.
Rustam : The greatest warrior-hero in the Shahnameh, known for legendary strength and service to Iran’s kings. His adventures offered dramatic subjects for the manuscript’s illustrations.
Ilkhanate : A Mongol khanate that ruled much of Iran and neighboring regions from the mid-13th to the mid-14th century. The manuscript was created within the Ilkhanid courtly world.
Persian calligraphy : The art of writing Persian letters in controlled, aesthetically refined scripts. Calligraphic text carried Ferdowsi’s verses alongside the painted scenes.
Hülegü : A Mongol ruler who founded the Ilkhanate after leading campaigns into western Asia. His dynasty established the ruling house that sponsored an Iranian court culture.
Sohrab : A warrior in the Shahnameh who unknowingly fights his father, Rustam, in a tragic duel. The father-and-son tragedy is among the epic’s most powerful visual narratives.
Ferdowsi : A Persian poet who composed the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran. His poem supplied the manuscript’s narrative and cultural authority.
Pigment : A colored material that absorbs and reflects light, used to make paints and inks. Pigments gave the manuscript’s surviving paintings their color.
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