Tracing the custom of parental interference and their role in the marriage of their children in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh

The discussion regarding the custom of parental interference and their role in their children’s marriage in the light of the latest statistics of the civil Registration Organization in 1398 based on the fact that more than 30% of marriage end in divorce is one of the chief discussions in sociology of family, therefore any research in this field that could in any way help the officials or researchers in this domain to find the underlying causes and factors in order to prevent divorce or reduce its rate would be enlightening.  Considering the importance of the subject the present article selected Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, the oldest Persian source as a statistical community that incorporates different models of marriage.  The role of parental interference in the marriage of the children was further investigated by using qualitative research method and data analysis to reveal the frequency in which this problem led to divorce in history.  The results obtained showed that in all 21 marriages fathers played crucial role in the marriages of their children while mothers were only responsible for three cases.  It was also determined that more than 60% of marriages were arranged and in all of them the father played the dominant role.  93% of arranged or imposed marriages belonged to daughters and more than 80% of the arranged marriages reported in Shahnameh were unsuccessful.