Tuesday, May 9, 2023

2023: Firdausi - Fongoro

 


Firdausi
Firdausi (Abu’l-Qasim Firdausi) (Abdul Qasim Mansur) (Firdawsi or Ferdowsi) (935-1020). One of the greatest Persian poets who is best known as the author the epic, Shahnama -- The Book of Kings. 

Firdausi was not on good terms with the monarch of his time, the Ghaznavid sultan Mahmud ibn Sebuktegin, not only because Firdausi was a Shi‘a, Mahmud being a Sunni, but also because the sultan showed a lack of interest in Firdausi's work and because the poet was dissatisfied with the inadequacy of his compensation.

Shahnama (The Book of Kings), amounting in several manuscripts to some 60,000 verses, speaks of the beneficial activities of the first kings of Persia on behalf of humanity and of their struggle against the demons which infest the world.  The assassination of the son and successor of one of these mythical kings by two brothers started an endless cycle of wars of revenge between the Persians and the nomadic Turanians of Central Asia.  The exploits of the heroes are interwoven with love-stories by which Firdausi became the founder of the romantic narrative poem which was to have such a lasting legacy in Persia.  The last part of the poem is more historical and recounts the reigns of the Sasanian kings.

The tragic life of Firdausi underscores his lyrical brilliance and monumental achievement as author of the Shahnama.  The Shahnama is a mathnavi -- a rhyming couplet in approximately 60,000 distichs (verses having two lines).  The idiomatic Persian of the Shahnama minimizes not only non-Persian themes and people but also non-Persian, specifically Arabic, words.  The Shahnama extols the importance of kingship as the most lofty status to which heroes may aspire.

Firdausi has been called the Homer of Persia.  Born in the village of Bazh near Tus in Khurasan, he belonged to the landed gentry.  It is clear from his own poetry that he received a sound education and was well versed in the legends and traditional history of pre-Islamic Iran.  As a youth, he was a man of adequate means which enabled him to devote thirty years of his life to composing the Shahnama without the support of a royal court.

He was married at the age of 28 and some eight years later began the work for which he is most famous, the great epic poem Shahnama (or Shah nameh).  The work is based on a poem by the tenth century Persian poet Dakiki. Firdausi spent 35 years writing this epic and completed it in 1010, when he was about 70 years old.

Firdausi undertook the composition of his monumental work around the year 980, shortly after the death of Abu Mansur Daqiqi, another poet from Tus, who had been composing a national epic of his own (most probably under the patronage of the Samanid amir Nun ibn Mansur) when his sudden death left the work unfinished.  The Samanids had fostered a keen interest in the history of pre-Islamic Iran, and already more than one prose Shahnama, mainly based on the Pahlavi Kvadai-namag (translated into Arabic in the eighth century), had appeared.  The most important version was the Abu Mansuri Shahnama which was produced in Tus in 957.

Firdausi also versified isolated episodes before he obtained Daqiqi’s work, which he incorporated into his Shahnama.   At the beginning of his career, he had the support of some local dignitaries in Tus, but, living mainly on the income of his family estate, he experienced dire poverty at advanced age.  His main source was the Abu Mansuri Shahnama (now lost except for the introduction), but he also used other materials, including oral traditions.  The first version of Firdausi’s Shahnama was finished in 994 and the revised version in 1010.

Firdausi’s epic would have probably been received with honors at the court of the Samanids, but by the time it was finished Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna was the master of eastern Iran.  Although a Turk by birth, Sultan Mahmud had gathered a large number of Persian poets at his court and was served by the vizier Isfarayini, whose patronage of Persian letters was well known.  It is possible that Firdausi, as an old man badly in need, had been sending portions of his work to the court at Ghazna (probably to Isfarayini) in the hope of securing royal support.  Finally, he decided to present his epic personally.  However, the Shahnama was not received well by the king, who, being attuned to hearing only panegyric poetry and not familiar with the Iranian lore, could not really appreciate the value of the Shahnama.  The fact that Mahmud was a fanatical Sunni and Firdausi a Shi‘ite must have laid the groundwork for the hard feelings to which the poet refers.  Besides, Isfarayini, his main supporter at the court, had fallen from favor.  According to an early source, an unhappy encounter with the king resulted in Firdausi’s writing a satire published only after the poet’s death.  Firdausi spent the rest of his life running from the reach of Mahmud, who had threatened him with death.  Finally, pardoned by the sultan, he came back to his native town, where he died a poor man.

Firdausi’s Shahnama contains 60,000 rhyming couplets, making it more than seven times the length of Homer’s Iliad.  It deals first with the legendary Persian kings: Gayumart, Hoshang, Tahmuras, and the most famous of the group, Jamshid, who reigned for 500 years during the golden age of the earth.  Following this happy period, came the evil rule of the Arab Dahhak, or Zohak, who was tempted by Ahriman, his own ancestor.  As a result, Dahhak fell into sin, becoming more and more evil until Kavah, a smith, rebelled and established his leather apron as the banner of revolt.  Finally, the tyrant was bound and confined beneath Mount Demavend on the shores of the Caspian Sea.  Soon after this point in the poem, an episode of considerable beauty is inserted.  It recounts the loves of Zal, of the royal line of Persia, and Rudabah, the daughter of the king of Kabul.  Their union resulted in the birth of the most romantic of all the heroes of the Shahnama, Rustam, who occupies a position in Iranian legend somewhat analogous to that of Hercules in Greek and Latin literature.  The epic progresses through Persian legend to historic times, tracing the reigns of the Sasanian kings down to the Muslim conquest and the death of Yazdigird III in 641.  Thus, the work constitutes a valuable source for the early history of Persia, which is necessary to supplement the accounts given in the old Persian cuneiform inscriptions and the Avesta.  In addition to his poetic incentive, Firdausi had a distinctly patriotic motive in writing the Shahnama.  He plainly desired to keep alive in the hearts of his people the faith of their ancestors and the glories of their deeds so that the Persians would not become mere puppets under Arab domination.

The epic contains an introductory eulogy of the tenth century Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, to whom the work is dedicated. Firdausi went to Mahmud’s court to present his work as a tribute and was awarded the sum of 20,000 dihrams.  The amount was less than he had been led to expect.  The disappointed poet took his revenge by departing to Herat and there writing a bitter satire on Mahmud, which he sent to the sultan as a substitute for his former eulogy.  Firdausi then fled to Herat, and from there to Tabaristan, where the reigning prince protected him.  He later settled in Baghdad where he composed an epic of 9000 couplets, Yusuf and Zuleikha (Yusuf and Zulaykha).  The work is an Arabic version of the biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, a favorite theme of Asian poets.  In his old age, Firdausi retired to his native town near Tus, where, according to legend, he received Mahmud’s forgiveness just before his death.  The Shahnama is perhaps best known to English readers through Sohrab and Rustum, a poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold, which is based on the Persian epic.

Firdausi has had a profound and lasting influence on Persian literature and, indeed, on the spirit of the people of modern day Iran. His Shahnama was the model and inspiration for most later Muslim epic poetry. 


In the scientific annals, Firdausi's Shahnama was instrumental in depicting  a story about man's first attempts to fly. 

The ancient Egyptians left behind many paintings demonstrating their desire to fly, depicting pharaohs soaring with wings.  The Chinese and the Greeks had mythical stories and legends about flying, as did the Sassanians.  Their most popular story is the one recounted by Firdausi in his Shahnama -- his Book of Kings.  In Firdausi's book, a certain King Kai Kawus was tempted by evil spirits to invade heaven with the help of a flying craft that was a throne, attached to whose corners were four long poles pointing upward.  Pieces of meat were placed at the top of each pole and ravenous eagles were chained to the feet of the throne.  As the eagles attempted to fly up to the meat, they carried the throne up, but, inevitably, they grew tired and the throne came crashing down.

Abu’l-Qasim Firdausi see Firdausi Firdawsi see Firdausi Ferdowsi see Firdausi Abdul Qasim Mansur see Firdausi Mansur, Abdul Qasim see Firdausi Homer of Persia see Firdausi


 

Firdewsi
Firdewsi (Rumi-Uzun) (b.1453).  Turkish poet and polymath.  He is the author of Suleymanname (The Book of Solomon).

Rumi-Uzun see Firdewsi

 

Firishta
Firishta. See Ferishta.


Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah see Firishta.
Shah, Muhammad Qasim Hindu  see Firishta.
Muhammad Qasim Ferishta see Firishta.
Ferishta, Muhammad Qasim see Firishta.

 

Firuz
Firuz (Firuz Shah III Tughluq)  (Firoz Shah Tughluq) (Firoz Shah Tughlaq) (1309-1388). Delhi sultan of the Tughluqid dynasty (r.1351-1388).  He founded the cities of Firuzabad (Delhi) and Jawnpur.  {See also Delhi, Sultans of; Sultan; and Tughluqs.}

Firuz Shah Tughluq was a Muslim ruler of the Tughlaq Dynasty from 1351 to 1388. He was the son of a Hindu Rajput princess of Dipalpur. His father's name was Razzab and he was the younger brother of Gazi Malik. Gazi Malik is another name for Gayasuddin Tughluq.  Firuz succeeded his cousin Muhammad bin Tughluq following the later's death from a fatal illness, but due to widespread unrest Firuz's realm was much smaller than Muhammad's. Firuz was forced by rebellions to concede virtual independence to Bengal and other provinces. He was known as an iconoclast.

The "Tarikh-i-Firuz Shah" is a historical record written during his reign that attests to the systematic persecution of Hindus under his rule. In particular, it records atrocities on Hindu Brahmin priests who refused to convert to Islam.  Under Firuz's rule, Hindus who were forced to pay the mandatory Jizya tax were recorded as infidels, their communities monitored and, if they violated Imperial ordinance and built temples, these were destroyed. In particular, an incident in the village of Gohana in Haryana was recorded in the "Insha-i-Mahry" (another historical record written by Amud Din Abdullah bin Mahru) where Hindus had erected a deity and were arrested, brought to the palace and executed en-masse.

In 1230, the powerful Ganga Vanshi Hindu King of Orissa, Anangabhima III consolidated his rule and proclaimed that an attack on Orissa constituted an attack on the king's god. A sign of Anangabhima's determination to protect Hindu culture is the fact that he named his new capital in Cuttack “Abhinava Varanasi.” His anxieties about further Muslim advances in Orissa proved to be well founded. In 1361, the Indian region of Orissa was conquered by the Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah and he destroyed the Jagannath temple and the stone deity of Krishna, but the indigenous wooden image of the deity was saved.

Firuz tended not to reconquer areas that had broken away. He decided to keep nobles and the Ulema happy so that they would allow him to rule his kingdom peacefully. Indeed, there were hardly any rebellions during his rule.  Firuz allowed a noble's son to succeed to his father's position and jagir after his death. The same was done in the army, where an old soldier could send his son, son-in-law or even his slave in his place. He won over the Ulemas by giving them grants of revenue, which gave him political power. He increased the salary of the nobles. He stopped all kinds of harsh punishments such as cutting off hands. Firuz also lowered the land taxes that Muhammad had raised.

Firuz was the first Muslim ruler to think of the material welfare of his people. Many rest houses, gardens and tombs were built. A number of madrasas (Islamic schools which provided Koranic education) were opened to encourage literacy. He set up hospitals for the free treatment of the poor. He provided money for the marriage of girls belonging to poor families. He commissioned many public buildings in Delhi. He built over 300 villages and dug 5 major canals for irrigation bringing more land under cultivation for growing grain and fruit.

Hindu religious works were translated from Sanskrit to Persian. He had a large personal library of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic and other languages. He brought 2 Ashokan Pillars from Meerut and Topara, carefully wrapped in silk, to Delhi. He re-erected one of them in his palace at Firuz Shah Kotla.

Firuz had about 180,000 slaves, who had been brought from all over the country, trained in various arts and crafts. They, however, turned out to be undependable. Transfer of capital was the highlight of his reign. When the Qutb Minar struck by lightning in 1368, knocking off its top storey, it was replaced by the existing two floors by Firoz.

Firuz Shah's death led to many rebellions. His lenient attitude had weakened the sultan's position. His successor Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II could not control the slaves or the nobles. The army had become weak. Slowly the empire shrank in size. Ten years after his death, Timur's invasion devastated Delhi.


Firoz Shah Tughluq see Firuz Tughluq, Firoz Shah see Firuz Tughluq, Firuz Shah III see Firuz Firuz Shah III Tughluq see Firuz Firoz Shah Tughlaq see Firuz Tughlaq, Firoz Shah see Firuz

 
Firuzabadi
Firuzabadi (al-Firuzabadi) (Abu ʾl-Tāhir Muḥammad ben Yaʿḳūb ben Muḥammad ben Ibrāhīm Majd al-Dīn al-Shāfiʿī al-Shīrāzī al-Fīrūzābādī) (February or April 1326, Kazerun, Iran - January 13, 1414, Zabid, Yemen). Lexicographer who lived in Jerusalem, Mecca and in Yemen.  He compiled an extensive dictionary of Arabic, known as Al-Qamus (The Ocean).  This dictionary served as the basis of later European dictionaries of Arabic.



After teaching in Jerusalem (1349–59), al-Fīrūzābādī traveled through western Asia and Egypt and settled at Mecca (1368), where he remained for 15 years. Travels to India and another 10 years at Mecca preceded his appointment in 1395 as chief judge (qadi) of Yemen.

al-Firuzabadi see Firuzabadi
Abu ʾl-Tāhir Muḥammad ben Yaʿḳūb ben Muḥammad ben Ibrāhīm Majd al-Dīn al-Shāfiʿī al-Shīrāzī al-Fīrūzābādī see Firuzabadi

 

FIS
FIS.  See Front Islamique du Salut.
Front Islamique du Salut see FIS.

 

Fitrat
Fitrat (Fitra) (Abdalrauf Fitrat) (1886-1938).  Bukharan, writer, educator, and social activist.  He was inspirer and theorist of the reform movement in Turkestan of the twentieth century.  In his works, he studied the causes of the spiritual and temporal decay of the Muslim world, as seen in the example of Bukhara.

Abdalrauf Fitrat was born in 1886 in the emirate of Bukhara to a merchant family, and little is known of his early years. As a young student he attended the Mir-I Arab madrasah (Islamic school) until 1909, when he received a scholarship to continue his education in Istanbul. He spent five years there and traveled broadly throughout the Ottoman empire, Iran, and Xinjiang, China. In 1911, he published his well-known and popular Bayanat-I sayyah-I hindi (Tales of an Indian Traveler) in Persian. It was published in Samarqand in Russian in 1914. The novel denounces Bukhara's poverty-ridden conditions and the corrupt practices of many Islamic clerics and teachers. It challenges the emirate's social order, which was a common theme in his professional and social activities. In 1917, Fitrat was elected secretary of the jadidist- (new method) influenced Young Bukharan Party, which seized power in Bukhara during the Russian Civil War. Following the Bolshevik victory, he became the minister for education in the newly established Soviet republic. He is credited with revising the educational system and helping to establish a European-style university in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In 1923, he was removed from office after being accused of bourgeois nationalism. He was arrested in 1938 and executed during the Stalinist party purges.

Fitra see Fitrat
Abdalrauf Fitrat see Fitrat

 

FLN
FLN.  See Front de Liberation Nationale.
Front de Liberation Nationale see FLN.

 

Fongoro
Fongoro.  The Fongoro call themselves Gelege, but no one else does.  The Fur call them Kole, the rest of the world, Fongoro.  They are a disappearing Muslim ethnic group inhabiting a vast hilly territory along the Chadian-Sudanese frontier.  The area commonly known as Dar (home of) Fongoro hosts small colonies of Fongoro/Gelege, Sinyar, Formono, Fur-Dalinga, Daju-Galfige and families of larger ethnic groups such as the Masalit and Kajakse.  The Chadian half of Dar Fongoro is especially inhospitable as a result of the tsetse fly, the lack of water and an almost complete absence of services (medical, police, health, trade).  The area is wooded and very rich in small and large game.  As a result of its topography and its surfeit of wildlife, agriculture is limited to fermentation in pits of the fruits of the doleib-palm (Borassus flabellifer) and the cultivation of early maturing sorghum.  Animal husbandry not being feasible, the inhabitants rely to a large extent on hunting and gathering.  The main products of the area are honey, dried fish and meat, a little elephant ivory and the leaves of the palm, which are used for weaving mats. 
 
Fur infiltration is held to have begun in the eighteenth century, resulting in the indigenous pagan populations being pushed to the less fertile western part of Dar Fongoro.  In the nineteenth century, pastoral nomadic Arabs made incursions into the region from the southeast.  The Fur sultans countered these, dismissed the still functioning Fongoro chief and parcelled part of Dar Fongoro estates, to be administered by their agents.  Five of these estates were the domain of the sultans, and they supplied the court with game, fish and honey.  In the late nineteenth century Dar Fongoro and Dar Sinyar were given as a present to the Daju Sultan of Dar Sila.  Throughout the reign of the Daju the inhabitants of Dar Fongoro suffered greatly from raids by various neighboring groups.  The area was divided into French and Anglo-Egyptian parts during the 1923 settlement of the international frontier between the two powers.  The leader of the French delegation, Lieutenant Colonel Grossard, later commented in his book that the Fongoro had withstood the onslaughts of their neighbors less well than the Sinyar. 





Gelege see Fongoro.
Kole see Fongoro.

 

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