Tur in Iran’s Pahlavani (heroic) texts: Introducing “The Story of Tur b. Jahangir”

Tur, son of Jahangir, known as Tabardar, is one of the heroes in the folkloric Persian pahlavani texts. Since the stories of Jahangir, father of Tur, are not very old, the accounts about his sons are naturally of recent time, concocted by storytellers and raconteurs of the recent centuries. Although the life-story of Tur b. Jahangir has been extensively recounted in versified heroic texts, his stories in narrative scrolls are scant, often mentioned in the Haft Lashkr’s wars. Nonetheless, accounts of Tur continue in certain texts up to the time of the battles revenging Bahman and Azarbarzin. Of the beginning of Tur b. Jahangir up until his heroic deeds there has remained a separate versified text overlooked so far by scholars.In this article we will first address the accounts of Tur b. Jahangir in Iran’s heroic texts. We will then introduce “The Story of Tur b. Jahangir” and examine some of its features.