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Lesson Objective: Students will examine the Hamzanama, written in Persian during the Mughals, to learn excerpts from the cross-cultural exchanges between Persia and India during the Mughal-Safavids                                                                                         

Homira Pashai 8-9-2020

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Studies on Persianate Manuscripts, Arts, and Literature

Illustration: Courtesy of MAK, Museum of Applied Arts, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Source: Van Leeuwen, Richard. Narratives of Kingship in Eurasian Empires, 1300-1800. Brill, 2017.

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                                                                                       Hamzanama

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        Hamzanama نامه حمزه is a manuscript based on the adventure of Amir Hamza حمزه امیر , who is known by the scholars to be the uncle of Prophet Muhammad, or Hamza ibn Abdullah عبدااله ابن حمزه, a ninth-century Persian warrior. While the Mughal Hamzanama is written in Persian, the official language at the Mughal court, but the travels of Amir Hamza and his fantastic adventures were propagated by oral tradition in the popular lore of India, Afghanistan, Arabia, and Persia long before Emperor Akbar اکبر commissioned the Mughal Hamzanama.

Some scholars trace the origin of the Hamzanama stories to the court of the Persian Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavid غزنوی محمود(971-1030).

       In 1526 C.E., Baburبابر , defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi ابراهیم سلطان لودی, and established the Mughal empire, which lasted until 1761 (with a brief period 1540-1553 when Sher Shah defeated Humayun همایون ). The British East Indian Company, after the battle of Plassey in 1757, conquered the Mughal Bengal and little by little started to rule the Indian subcontinent. Finally, the Mughal rule was dissolved by the British Raj or the crown rule in India (1858-1947), which was the rule by the British Crown.

Babur’s son, Humayun, during the revolt of Sher Khan (Sher Shah)سوری شاه شیر خان فرید in 1540, was forced to refuge in Persia. He stayed in Tabriz as a guest of Shah Tahmasp of

       Safavid صفوی طهماسب شاه. During his stay, he met artists like Mir Mussavarمصور میر, Mir Sayyid Ali Tabrizi تیریزی علی سید میر , and Abdul Samad Shirazi شیرازی الصمد عبد . Later they joined the workshop of the court of Humayun. Mir Sayyid Ali was engaged in the creation of

Mughal Hamzanama. The manuscript project, which genuinely started during the reign of Humayun, was completed in the time of his successor Akbar (1556-1605). The project of Dastan-i Amir Hamza (Persian Romance of Amir Hamza) حمزه امیر داستانmanuscript consisted of twelve large volumes with fourteen hundred illustrations and three hundred tales.

       The story begins during the reign of Anushirvan’s انوشیروان father, Qubad Kamran قباد کامران, who rules the world from Ctesiphon تیسفون . He has forty viziers who are well versed in all the branches of science. When Anushirvan becomes the king, he asks his grand vizier, Buzurjmehr بزرگمهر , to interpret his dream. Buzurjmehr then explains to him that a hero will save the kingdom of Anushirvan from the enemies. According to the prophecy interpreted by Buzurjmehr, the hero is called Hamza. Hamza also has two trustworthy and loyal friends, Amarعمار, and Muqhbil مقبلwho accompany him during his adventurous life. When Hamza grows, he encounters the archangel Gabriel who hands him the horse of Prophet Ishaq, Siyah Qitas قیطاس سیاه , and gave him the news that “no warrior will ever overcome you.”

       Hamza’s adventure varies from helping to restore Anushirvan on the throne to defeating rebellious Indian King Landhour لندهور and imprisoning him, fighting with the great king of the Jinns, Shahpal ibn Shahrukh شاهرخ ابن شهپال who usurped Sulayman’s سلیمان throne and governed the realm of the perisها پری , the divs دیوهاand other demons, defeating fearsome monsters, neutralizing talismans and prophecies. During these ordeals, he also received a code of conduct in his dream. The code of conduct included the rules “never start a fight himself, never kill a noble soul, never pursue a fleeing enemy, always offer a reprieve to one who asks for it, never turn a mendicant from his door.”

        His voyage to imprison Landhour takes place due to his plea to the King for the hand of king’s daughter, Mehrnigar مهرنگار . Finally, as he succeeds in all his ordeals and returns, he hears from Buzurjmehr about the prophet. Thus, he travels to Mecca and offers his service as a warrior to the prophet. Thus, the role of Hamza as an instrument of God becomes visible in the story.

        The use of mythical creatures, magical landscapes, miraculous fights and rescues, dreams, and prophecies, as motifs of the story, shows the incorporation of the traditional legend that signifies the old order to the new faith and religion that justifies the new order. As for kingship, the story comes to an end when Anushirvan finally converts, but the hero warrior, Hamza, is at the core of the story rather than the king Anushirvan. The king may embody the ancient and legitimized part of history, but the hero, Hamza, represents force, vitality, faith and future vision.

Imagine an adventure of your own, make a presentation, using prezi or powerpoint, about your adventure with the use of map, pictures, etc.

 

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/hamzanama/

 

https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-hamzanama/rwKSxX7YjiTZJg

 

 

Terms:

 

Popular lore                                                                British Raj

 

Prophecies                                                                  British East Indian Company

 

Ordeal                                                                         Talisman