Shams al-Din Muhammad Assar Tabrizi: Mihr-u Mushtari (The Sun and Jupiter) (d1382)
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Taken from: http://ignca.bestbookbuddies.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?idx=&q=zangi
Mihr and Mushtari by Vügar Sultanzade
This manuscript is an illustrated copy of the well-known poem recounting the platonic love story between Mihr (the Sun), the son of Shahpur, and his vizier's son Mushtari (Jupiter). The story has 90 chapters.
Bahram, the son of the chamberlain in the palace, calumniates the friends. The king Shapur orders the executioner to kill them, but he changes his mind after the intercession of his nephew Behzad. In order to escape the king’s anger, Mushtari has to leave his native land. Behzad gives to Mushtari and his companion Badr money, dresses and horses, advising them to go to Iraq. Sometime later, faithful Mihr flies in search of his friend.
When the king hears of his son’s flight, his anger gives way to deep grief. Bahram goes to Shapur and offers to travel the world over in search for Mihr. The king accepts his offer and supplies him with a rich caravan. Meanwhile, after various adventures experienced in a castle near Isfahan (1), in a desert and in Ray (2), Mushtari arrives in Azerbaijan (3). By bad luck, Bahram overtakes here Mushtari and orders his slaves to seize him. After a barbarous treatment, Mushtari and his companions are left to die in the stormy Caspian Sea. In the meantime, Mihr takes the road to India, accompanied by three companions. He does not find his friend there. Due to some circumstances, Mihr comes from India to Khwarezm (4). Here, he establishes a friendship with the king Keivan and also falls in love with the beautiful princess Nahid. When a messenger of Karakhan, the king of Samarkand(5), arrives demanding that Nahid marry the king, Keivan refuses to give his daughter to him. In revenge, Karakhan gathers his troops and marches directly upon Khwarezm (4). However, Khwarezmians rout these troops mainly with the help of Mihr. They go through many adventures on the sea, where Mihr and his forces fight among others against the Zangi (there is even a miniature painting of this at the Raza Library). They also have to fight the dog-headed people (6) and many others. After more adventure in Derbend (7) and at the Alburz mountain (8), Mushtari also arrives in Khwarezm (4). Here, he and Badr fall again into the hands of Bahram, however, they escape with the aid of Mihr. The two friends join together and after the marriage of Mihr with Nahid, they return to the homeland. The aged father of Mihr entrusts the government to him. At the end of the poem, the friends die and Mihr’s son takes over the throne.
(1) Isfahan: is a city in central Iran.
(2) Ray: in Iran.
(3) Azerbaijan: It is a part of the South Caucasus region.
(4) Khwarezm; Khwarizm: a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia.
(5) Samarkand: Samarqand, is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan.
(6) the dog-headed people: In an article: Islamic Archaeology in the Comoros The Swahili and the Rock Crystal Trade with the Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphates by Stephane Pradines; it is stated that at Dembeni on one of the Comore islands (Mayotte) small rock crystal pieces are found scattered around coming from Madagascar and being transhipped to the Muslim world on the island. This trade in Dembeni had stopped already long-time when this book was written. But just like in some copies of Qazwini there is a crystal palace here. Pradines argues that the dog-headed creatures are the lemurs from Madagascar.
(7) Derbend: is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea.
(8) the Alburz mountain; mountain of Kuh-i Alburz: Koh e Alburz; Kuh i Elburz; Kohe Alborz; Kuh i Alborz is a mountain of the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan.