A Stylistic Study on the Story “Jahangir’s Birth and the War Narrative of Iran and Turan”

Shahnameh is the general title for epic narratives that have been told and retold by narrators (bards and storytellers) in different parts of Iran. Sometimes, some of these stories have been recorded by poets. There are two distinguishable groups of these epic narratives or legends which, despite similarities in their deep structure, display different surface structures. These two groups have come to be known as Khorasani and Zagrosi narratives respectively. Both of these narratives are rooted in a primary narrative with mythological roots. Khorasani narrative is the better known due to its polish and perfection and the prestige of Iran’s great poet Ferdowsi who composed it. In contrast, Zagrrosi narrative is relatively discordant and its epic stories have circulated as independent texts. Collecting, correcting and studying these distinct parts can offer a profound understanding of Iranian collective worldview. The present study seeks to introduce and analyze a single story from the Zagros group titled “Jahangir’s Birth and the War Story of Iran and Turan” which has not yet appeared in print. The results of the study show that this story, despite its many similarities with Shahnameh, is an independent text and it has probably influenced the subsequent narrators of different verse narratives known as Jahangirnameh.