The Genre of Sawgandnāmah

Sawgandnāmah (the book of oaths) is a special genre in the history of Persian literature. In this genre, of which many examples have been recorded in collections, Tazkarahs and poets’ Divans, the poet, based on certain known principles, tries to exonerate himself of charges by using special structures and panegyric odes, and he swears successively in order that the praised person believes his words. In previous studies about this genre, researchers have considered a poem as an instance of Sawgandnāmah only if it embodies one single oath, whereas using successive oaths in the form of ode is the most important feature of this genre and if it is in other poetic forms like sonnet and Maşnavī, it cannot be considered as Sawgandnāmah precisely. In some collections and Divans, successive oaths in forms other than ode have been called Qasamnāmah or Qasamīyah. In this article, all kinds of Sawgandnāmah that we are aware of have been collected in chronological order and analyzed with regard to their form, subject matter, theme, structure, tone, addressee and intertextual relations.