Adoption rules based on the Middle Persian text of Mādayān ī Hazār Dādestān

Mādayān ī Hazār dādestān is a juridical book of Middle Persian. This text which has been written in Sasanian era is the only book in that era that investigates legal issues. Issues such as slavery, guardianship, warranty, partnership, marriage, divorce, adoption, etc. are discussed in this text. This article studies the juridical laws related to "adoption" and is divided into three parts; in the first part, the concept of adoption and its related terminology are defined; in the second part, the stages of adoption are examined, which included the give of child, acceptance and agreement of the parties, types of give; in the third part, the extracted laws from the text which is related to property, inheritance, duties, guardianship and to provide a successor for adopted is expressed. This research is answering these questions: "how was adoption in Sasanian era" and "what were the laws related to adoption"? The result of this study clarifies that "the father had the right, to give his child to adopter", "the adoptive father had the right to accept the child" and "it also clarifies the agreement between the two". Also different opinions regarding issues such as providing a successor, guardianship and inheritance for adopted are expressed.