Iskandarnameh

The Iskandarnameh (or Iskandarnamah, Iskandarnama ; "Book of Alexander"), not to be confused with the Iskandarnameh of Nizami,[1][2] is the oldest Persian recension of the Alexander Romance tradition, anonymous and dated to some time between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, although recently its compilation has been placed in the eleventh century by Evangelos Venetis, during the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni in the court of the Ghaznavid Empire. This may have been followed by two stages of recompilation which helped to propagate the mode of rulership of Mahmud. Alexander is described as a Muslim king and prophet and is identified with the conqueror named Dhu al-Qarnayn in the Quran. This identification is also witnessed in the Arabic recensions of the Alexander romance, such as the Qissat al-Iskandar and the Qissat Dhulqarnayn. As such, he is double-horned and builds the famous Gates of Alexander against Gog and Magog.[3]

The composition of the Iskandarnameh was influenced by earlier Persian compositions, such as the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi.[4]

  1. ^ Wiesehöfer, Joseph (2011). "The 'Accursed' and the 'Adventurer': Alexander the Great in Iranian Tradition". In Zuwiyya, David (ed.). A companion to Alexander literature in the Middle Ages. Brill's companions to the Christian tradition. Leiden Boston: Brill. p. 130. ISBN 978-90-04-18345-2.
  2. ^ Casari, Mario (2023). "The Alexander Legend in Persian Literature". In Ashtiany, Mohsen (ed.). Persian narrative poetry in the classical era, 800-1500: romantic and didactic genres. A history of Persian literature / founding editor - Ehsan Yarshater. London New York Oxford New Delhi Sydney: I.B. Tauris. pp. 521–526. ISBN 978-1-78673-664-2.
  3. ^ Niẓāmī Ganǧawī, Ilyās Ibn-Yūsuf; Venetis, Evangelos (2018). The Persian Alexander: the first complete English translation of the Iskandarnāma. ILIS. London New York: I.B. Tauris. pp. 1–9. ISBN 978-1-78453-879-8.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).