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Ḥamza versus Rustam: Comparing the Ḥamzanāma with the Shāhnāma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2023

Kumiko Yamamoto
Kumiko Yamamoto*
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

This paper compares the Ḥamzanāma (Book of Ḥamza) with the Shāhnāma (Book of Kings), the two most popular works performed by the storytellers of Safavid Iran (1501–1736), focusing on their heroes, Ḥamza and Rustam, respectively. Following an overview of the Ḥamzanāma that helps to identify its main intertexts, themes, and narrative elements: the Shāhnāma; the Islamic Alexander tradition; and ʿayyārī (trickery); the paper re-examines how Ḥamza is modelled after Rustam by looking at his epithets and narrative functions. It then turns to their differences, which are most discernible in Rustam's epithet used as the name of Ḥamza's enemy, the split between the ideals of jawānmardī (generosity) and ʿayyārī, and Ḥamza's unheroic weaknesses. This latter serves to emphasize God's compassion at his martyrdom while giving storytellers an impetus to continue their performances.

Keywords

NaqqāliḤamzanāmaShāhnāmaPersian popular romancesEpic traditionḤamza b. ʿAbd al-MuṭṭalibRustamOral storytelling
Type
Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 85 , Issue 3 , October 2022 , pp. 355 - 375
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

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References

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