Kashvad (Keshvad): The Captives’ Rescue and the Family of Gudarz
A close reading of Kashvad’s rescue mission, the cooperation of the Turanian prince Aghrirath, and the genealogy that connects him to Gudarz and Giv.
Read article →Kurdish History Journal
Kurdish Art and Culture
Articles filed under Kurdish Art and Culture.
Ashkbus: Rostam on Foot, the Fallen Horse and the Arrow Duel
Ashkbus defeats Rohham before facing Rostam in the Shahnameh’s Kamus cycle. Following the poem’s exchange of taunts and arrows explains whose horse is struck and why the duel alarmed the watching commanders.
Read article →Kamus in the Shahnameh: Capture by Rostam and Death
Kamus is a champion allied with Turan in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. His campaign includes fighting Giv and Tus, killing Alva and being captured alive by Rostam. The poem distinguishes his fate from the preceding duel with Ashkabus.
Read article →Viseh in the Shahnameh: Command, Defeat and the Family’s Later Wars
Viseh is a Turanian commander in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and the namesake of a prominent epic family. His encounter with Qaren in the Nowzar story gives him a specific role beyond the later fame of Piran and Homan.
Read article →Shideh in the Shahnameh: Afrasiab's Son and Kay Khosrow's Uncle
Shideh's duel with Kay Khosrow, their correctly explained family relationship, and a fourteenth-century manuscript painting of the episode.
Read article →Pashang in the Shahnameh: From War Council to Peace with Kay Qobad
Pashang is Afrasiab’s father and a ruler of Turan in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. His story includes the decision to invade Iran, Aghrirath’s warning, defeat and a later proposal for peace.
Read article →Salm in the Shahnameh: Inheritance, Fratricide and Defeat
Salm, Faridun’s eldest son in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, receives the western realm of Rum. His resentment of Iraj’s inheritance draws Tur into a family conflict that ends in murder, vengeance and the surrender of Salm’s army.
Read article →Tur in the Shahnameh: Inheritance, Iraj’s Murder and the Cycle of Revenge
Tur is a legendary son of Faridun in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. His part in Iraj’s murder connects a disputed inheritance to a family feud; translations, literary scholarship and manuscript paintings offer different evidence for reading the episode.
Read article →Jarireh (Jarira): Counsel, Forud and Tragedy in the Shahnameh
Piran’s daughter and Forud’s mother has an active role in the epic: advice, recognition, failed reconciliation and the destruction of her household.
Read article →Barzu: Rostam’s Grandson in Manuscripts and Oral Storytelling
Barzu, usually Sohrab’s son and Rostam’s grandson, belongs to an epic tradition preserved in different manuscripts and recorded Tajik storytelling.
Read article →Banu Goshasp: The Warrior Daughter of Rostam
Banu Goshasp in Persian epic: the warrior-woman daughter of Rostam, heroine of her own epic the Banu Goshasp-nama, who bested her suitors, wed Giv, and bore Bizhan.
Read article →Aghrirat: The Righteous Turanian Prince
Aghrirat in the Shahnameh: the kind and righteous brother of Afrasiab, who spared the Iranian captives out of mercy and was murdered by his own brother for it.
Read article →Houman: The Chivalrous Turanian Hero
Houman in the Shahnameh: the famous Turanian commander, brother of Piran, whose bravery, loyalty, and chivalry won the admiration even of his Iranian enemies.
Read article →Gorgin: The Envious Companion of Bizhan
Gorgin in the Shahnameh: the Iranian hero whose envy of Bizhan lured him into Turan and into the dungeon of Afrasiab, setting in motion the great love story of Bizhan and Manizheh.
Read article →Hojir in the Shahnameh: The White Fortress and Sohrab’s Search
Hojir’s capture and refusal to identify Rostam form a crucial part of Ferdowsi’s tragic story of a father and son who fail to recognize each other.
Read article →Forud in the Shahnameh: Recognition, Command and a Fatal Escalation
Ferdowsi’s Forud is a son of Siyavash killed by the army sent to avenge his father. The verses trace failed recognition, wounded prestige and responsibility more precisely than a simple story of mistaken identity.
Read article →Zavareh in the Shahnameh: Kinship, Conflict and Mourning
Zavareh, also written Zavara, is Rostam’s brother in the Shahnameh. His part in the epic includes fighting that intensifies Rostam’s conflict with Esfandiyar, death in Shaghad’s trap, and a carefully narrated return of the brothers’ bodies to Zabulistan.
Read article →Shaghad in the Shahnameh: Tribute, Betrayal and Rostam’s Last Arrow
Shaghad is Rostam’s half-brother in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. His alliance with the ruler of Kabul turns a dispute over tribute into a staged family quarrel, a fatal hunting expedition and a final exchange of violence between brothers.
Read article →Rohham: Hero of the House of Gudarz
Rohham in the Shahnameh: the loyal paladin of the House of Gudarz, son of Gudarz and brother of Giv, victor at the Battle of the Twelve Rooks in the wars for Siyavash.
Read article →Klash Shoes: Materials, Makers and a Living Kurdish Craft
Klash are associated with Hawraman, Halabja and Marivan. Workshop reporting, a footwear study and makers’ accounts explain their construction, changing tools and place in Kurdish dress.
Read article →Kurdish Kilims and Carpets: Techniques, Senneh and Bijar, and Weavers’ Stories
Museum textiles and a named maker’s account explain flatweave and pile, regional attribution, floral designs and the labour behind Kurdish weaving.
Read article →Kurdish Traditional Dress: Garments, Regional Styles and Craft
Kurdish dress is an ensemble of garments whose cuts, names and combinations vary by region and occasion. Textile collections, a Sorani clothing guide and tailors’ accounts document layered dresses, jacket-and-trouser outfits, headwear and the work of making and wearing them.
Read article →Govend: Kurdish Group Dance, Local Repertoires and Changing Settings
Govend describes Kurdish communal dance practices rather than one fixed sequence. Regional names, linked formations, music and the setting of a gathering all matter. Research and practitioners’ accounts show how these traditions continue through weddings, local celebrations and organised teaching.
Read article →Deq: The Traditional Tattoos of Kurdish Women
Deq, the traditional Kurdish tattoo: the ancient hand-poked markings worn by Kurdish women for protection, fertility, beauty, and tribal identity, now being revived.
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