The Marzbān-nāma (Persian: مرزباننامه, lit. 'Book of Marzban') is an early 13th-century Persian prose work. It consists of "various didactic stories and fables used as illustrations of morality and right conduct", and belongs to the "mirror for princes" literary genre.[1][2] It was written in 1210–1225 by Sa'ad al-Din Varavini, under the patronage of Abu'l-Qasem Harun, the vizier of the Eldiguzid ruler (atabeg) Muzaffar al-Din Uzbek (r. 1210–1225).[1]
The Marzbān-nāma was translated fully or as an abridgement into Turkish, Arabic, French and English.[1] K. Crewe Williams notes that the Marzbān-nāma is said to have been based upon a non-extant precursor, which was written in the vernacular of Tabaristan (a historic region in northern Iran) around the 10th century, by the Bavandid ruler Al-Marzuban (r. 979–986).[1]
As opposed to normal practise, the three illustrations found at the beginning of the earliest extant manuscript (dated 1299) were drawn before the text was written.[2] The illustrations depict the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the author of the work and the patron.[2]
Manuscripts
Older extant manuscripts of the Marzbān-nāma include (per the Encyclopedia Iranica and the Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture):[1][2]
Ms. 216 (Library of the Archaeological Museum, Istanbul), the only known manuscript with illustrations, dated 698/1299. It is the earliest known extant copy.
OR 6476 (British Library, London, used in the collation of Qazvini), dated 8th/14th century, displays evidence of more than one copier.
Ancien Fonds Persan 384 (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; also used in Qazvini’s collation), dated 9th/15th century.
Komaroff and Carboni, The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2002, fig. 200.
Williams, K. Crewe (2014). "MARZBĀN-NĀMA". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
