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Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi: Garshasp-name
(1066) (History of Garsasp) Tus in Iraq
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Gerschasp-Name Taken from: The Oral Background of Persian Epics: Storytelling and Poetry by Kumiko Yamamoto

                    Le livre de Gerchasp: poeme persan. By Asadi of Tusi, Clément Huart,
                     Asadi, Tusi; Gerschasp-Name., Trans. H. Kanus-Crede, iranistische Mitteilungen, 27

Abu Mansur Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi Tusi was a Persian poet, linguist and author. He was born beginning  11th century in Tus, Iran, and died in the late 1080s in Tabriz. His best-known work is Garshaspnameh, with 9,000 couplets (dedicated to Abu Dolaf, ruler of Nakhjavan), in 1065–1066.

In the night (before the battle) there arrives an immeasurable army, followed by 6000 terrible elephants. Why that many soldiers, says the champion as there is no place on the road neither in the mountains. Oh Hero says the Maharaja (14) what is this army that has arrived? I bring here from the land of the Zendjes millions of brave warriors. Is it really necessary to have that big an army for this campaign? Your empire will be put upside down; there will be no treasure left, no territory, no fruits. When a thing can be settled without problems, why bother and squander your treasure. Bring out the news, that we are victorious over the enemy, and among that many elephants and that big army, useful for parades, chose the brave experienced ones, send again the other troops because I will do everything you want and think; I do not ask help from anybody. The Maharadja does as the general has proposed as he sees reassuring signs. He chooses 50,000 trained horsemen, two generals, 1000 elephants he gives leave to the rest of the army and he sends back the Zendjs that just arrived. 

From the other side Bahou is informed in secret that the world is amazed by that crowed of Africans; he sends immediately to Serendib (6) his brother with his son as fast as possible, to prepare suppliers and everything needed for the war, all the machinery for war, siege weapons, so that if he loses in the field he can seek refuge in the city. ……

The Story of the Zangi and the Hero Gerschasp

A black servant (Zangi) of Bahu offers to assassinate Garsasp. The Zangi’s plan is briefly as follows: he will go and see Garsasp in private, insisting that he has an imported message to deliver, while Garsasp is reading the message he will try to stab him with a dagger. Bahu accepts the offer and sends the Zangi to Garsasp with a letter of surrender. As is planned, the Zangi attempts Garsasp’s live with a dagger when Garsasp is reading the letter. But Garsasp sees the dagger and throws the Zangi to the floor. He tells the Zangi to accompany him to Bahu’s tent, promising a commandership. The Zangi agrees to do so, and helps Garsasp to capture Bahu in his sleep. The Maharaja (14) and Garsasp celebrate their victory before Bahu.

Bahu's son returns to Zengbar

Of every hundred men, fifty were captured

the others were killed or became miserable and dismembered.

Sarandib was full of screaming through this defeat;

in each hut movement arose through the bereavement.

Every member of Bahu's son clan who was there,

he took them and let him move quickly away through the sea.

as the world became dangerous for him everywhere,

he went to the king of Zengbar to seek protection.

The garb of the Zengi (consists) of two veils;

one is around the ears (wrapped), and the other around the hips.

There are no horses in that country;

nobody knows about riding horses.

the armour is the short sword at the time of the war,

fish-bones, arrows and stones.

If (one) is a king or an honourable nobleman,

They put (him) on a high throne.

There are four persons for this throne;

they have pulled their veil over their heads.

They are also new, royal veils;

on both sides they are tied to solid rods.

You know that the residence is cosy and tasteful;

They call this land by the name of Andul.

Whom the king wants to grant his protection,

he must wear a seal and a headband as a sign.

The band should hang down on the face,

(and) nobody sees it, as an honourable prince.

When the king received the message from the son of Bahu,

he sent (to him) the ribbon and the king's seal.

He commanded that one should quickly bring this throne (tahtand)

(and) Sprinkle him with jewels all the way.

When he got close to him, the king rose quickly,

asked him many things and showed him cordiality.

He let him sit down, treated him kindly and gave him a position (gah);

in this way he was with the king.

The general (Gerschasp) and the son-in-law came to him (then);

he was safe (there) and was free of grief.

His army (and) each of the Zangi

got himself (? awurd) a woman and many bonds developed.

As Gerschasp and Mihrag (16) from the battlefield

had approached Sarandib,

all the proud (men) of the nobles who were in the city prepared

gifts and presents.

They came to Mihrag (16) on the way and started to

to apologize. (They said):

when Bahu became an enemy of the king,

None of us, who belonged to the king, was with him.

We have our livelihood because of (his) servants and friends

Who are we (but) now if he is guilty?

put you (your) anger instead to the guilty ones not on innocents

That is not the (right) way!

And if we blamed the king

look, we have (our) heads offered to his sword!

Whether his head is taken off or us to forgives, it is right;

we like it, what he wants!

 King Mihrag wanted (now) to know from Gerschasp:

Do you think this view is correct?

About retribution for a lie and about the right way

do you have to decide in this kingdom today!

The general (Gerschasp) forgave them where you blame had

and forgave them from the heart.

He also let him share in every hope.

From there they led the army into the city.

Mihrag found (there) all sorts of things

Bahu's treasure and his army (found some).

Hidden (things) he brought from the pits (to the light)

(and) gave everything to Gerschasp and the Iranians.

Mihrag (16) moves with Gerschasp to the mountains Dehobar

After that, they lived a month in joy and enjoyment,

so that the cups did not become empty of wine.

When the prince threw the (polo) ball and reached for the baton,

He rode on (his) black horse on the green (play) place.

They saw the moon (?) On the hero's face.

From there they beat glad and gladly and with bright soul

the way to the mountains Dehobar.

What (is that) for a mountain - its height towers over the moon in the sky!

It is said that Adam is at the command of Paradise

fell from paradise to this mighty mountain.

Garshaspnama of Asadi battle at sea in a copy of Tabriz from 1354

The island of Sawahil

There was (there) an island; also this one was (full) colour and scent,

because a lot of amber falls on it from the sea.

nowhere else does Ambra falls on it from the sea,

the island continues to grow from it.

Mihrag (16) roamed everywhere,

(and) the hero (Gerschäsp) did it with all (others) too.

All her herbs contained medical substances;

on the mountains their stones contained ambergris (kahruba).

There were flowers that sprouted fresh from the stones,

(and) all kinds of different colours.

(There were) also (kinds) of fruit, which were produced in autumn,

who (still) nobody from the Iranians had seen.

They saw a wood (with) standing water and reeds,

(and) this water produced intoxication like wine.

Everyone who drank of it fell down

was silent for a while and came to his senses (again).

Everywhere there were many fruits of the tailed pepper (kababa),

who every month bore fruits of pomegranates.

There was (as well) a herb by which a man, when he touched it with his hand

then stretched out, fell asleep on the floor.

If the man (then) raised his hand again,

(he could also) raise his head from below (again).

They showed another white herb;

its blossom was black and the root like a red willow.

On the steppe and in the meadows the day (blue) was like smoke;

the night shone from afar like a lamp.

A cabbage (there was) like a magnetic stone

Iron tightening (and then) pulls gold off the spot.

There was also another stone from afar

that silver attracted, and which (then) was split (split) into two parts.

There was one of the flowers, each one because of (her) scent

Tears one apart (and then) by her scent (had to) laugh.

There was a flower where - when a man inhaled (its) scent,

he became sad and had to cry without grief and pain.

There were some such (flowers) that you cannot count;

those who had wisdom took with them what was needed.

In another place they saw a bunch of piles;

(a bunch) was from Ambra, like a mountain.

(A bunch) was at when loading up - as big as that of an elephant -

in fact a thousand Ratl-weight (heavy) (7).

Mihrag (16) gave Gerschasp (that) and said:

Nobody has seen two pieces of it yet!

I testify that this is a real miracle;

(it also comes) from the splendour of the King of Iran (and) is your share.

Nearby they saw a spring;

(it was) a gap of ten paces (width) in front of a brook.

Constantly came from the surface of this source in a hurry

Water in the air, like an arrow.

It came down from above, like the mist

(and) ran down this narrow gap.

All the (water) that came out dripped incessantly

(and) became on the land like hail, like stones.

Years and months (long) they became white stones,

except in winter, then they were black.

No one saw where this water ran;

everyone who drunk it did not get ever enough to be satisfied.

From there they moved refreshed (and) without grief and trouble

to the island Harang.

Gerschasp’s fight with a Zangi giant and taking of his Castle.

They reached (now) a mountain whose summit towered above the sky;

on this mountain lay a fortress, higher than the highest point of the sun.

Their driveway consisted entirely of curves and bends, like a snake;

the mountain was covered in mist, and in the haze (also) Saturn.

You would have thought that the moon in the sky would easily be a human body;

the mountain would be the head for him, and the fortress the hat.

The whole way (there was) a hundred miles of desert;

Below the castle was (was) a passage in the valley.

In this fortress was a terrible Negro (zangi).

in front of which a goblin took off for fear of him.

In the face (he was) black and of high stature,

a demon in appearance, and with the teeth of a boar.

You would have thought the body and face of this demon would be ugly,

(as if he were) a god of mist and smoke in the realm of hell.

If the black man fended off a war (bar gasti),

He had a stone and an elephant bone in his hand.

His scout had raised his head from the mountain;

on a walk of a hundred miles (the negro) had set up guards.

Whether there were few people or many -

he did not let anyone pass by without a tribute.

Behind the mountain lay a city full of people;

There were many villages around the mountain.

Everyone carried out his orders out of fear,

(and) they brought him (also) food.

He took a girl from each castle in turn, (beautiful) like the moon

and did violence to her (kardi mar u-ratebah).

When Gerschasp came near the castle,

The guard from the mountain pulled on a bell.

The black jumped quickly to the sound of the bell

he was drunk and (had) a bowl of wine in his hand.

He grabbed the stone and the elephant bone

(and) ran (quietly) like the smoke behind the hero (Gerschasp) ago.

He uttered such a shouting

that he made such a shout that the mountain came running

(there) the hero suddenly looked around. He saw (running) a Negro,

like a mountain of bad luck which (even) the devil asked for protection.

He made the radiant world black through (his) face

(and) brought the night out of (its) shadow during the day.

Growth was like a teak tree that reached to the clouds,

(and) with the teeth like two ivory combs.

His two eyes (were) like two pitch-black vaulted cupolas,

(like) two trophies that were set down by the radiant sky.

The tip of his nose (was) like two holes together,

in it two bellows (?dam) were open from hell.

In anger and strife he let the two lips tremble;

through the wounds of his sharp teeth the world burned like fire.

The hair on his head was knotted in knots,

like a tank of pitch that had rust on it.

You would have thought (his) gait and (his) feet came from a demon,

(his) length and colour of one night in the month of Dej.

When he angrily took a thirty man (heavy) rock

wanted to hurl at the hero (Gerschasp) (raha kard).

the hero pulled his head in front of his stone,

avoided him and disappeared in the country.

(The Negro) came again, his cheeks full of wrinkles,

(and) threw the branch to the head, which was a bone like a branch.

He wounded both shoulders and made (his) shield small -

the hero arrived with his club!

He hit him with the power of both hands on the head,

that his eyes sprang from his head with brain and blood.

(Then) he severed his head with the sword

(and) made his way to his scout.

He climbed up the mountain like a hunter

(and) came from behind to hit him with an arrow.

He went (then) until him in the city beyond the mountain

a crowd surrounded and began to ask:

Who was your helper on this journey?

that you escaped the hands of the negro without harm?

(Gerschasp) said the following: Who is ill with me,

he should roll himself in (his) blood like this black man!

He threw the negro's head in front of them -

(there) a loud scream rose from everyone.

Everyone ran (and saw): (lying) on the ground -

 (there) began to rejoice over such power and such a hand.

In later adventures the emperor of China is captured and brought to Persia. To make him forget China the most splendid presents are given to him.

Out of his treasure is given 100 bags of gold, 55 ornamented dresses, 200 Turkish slave boys with their attire, 30 slaves, beauties with pleasant faces, swords, jewels in big amounts,......and the lands of Zendj, Zaboul (8), all of Ghour (9), the continent from Balkh (10) up to Kaboulistan (11) and up to Sind (17)........

(1) Jamshid: is the fourth Shah of the mythological Pishdadian dynasty of Iran according to Shahnameh.

(2) Zahhak: he overthrew the ruler of Iran who was the father of Garshasp.

(3) Zabolestan: Zabulistan, in southern Afghanistan roughly, the modern provinces of Zabul and Ghazni.

(4) Kabolestan: Kabulistan is centered on Kabul Province of Afghanistan.

(5) He is among the authors who mentions the maritime expedition of the king of Zabag towards the coast of East Africa, at the Zang.

The complete list of authors who mention expeditions of the Austronesians against East Africa: Jahiz (d.869) Al-Fakhar al-Sudan p217;  and Buzurg (955): Sailors tale 117; Abu Imran Musa ibn Rabah al-Awsi al-Sirafi: Al-sahih min ahbar al-bihar wa-aga’ibiha (978); Hudud Al-'Alam (The Limits of The World) (982);  and Kitab Ghara'ib al-funun wa-mulah al-'uyun (1050AD); and Ishaq b. al-Hasan b. Abi'l-Husayn al-Zayyat (d1058); and Ali ibn Ahmad Asadi (1066); Khaqani: (d 1190). ALL THE FOLLOWING CHINESE SOURCES SPEAK ABOUT SELLING SLAVES BY THE PEOPLE FROM MADAGASCAR: Ch'en Yuan-Ching (late12 century); Chao Ju-Kua (1226); Chou Chih-Chung (1366); Ning Xian Wang (1430); Wang Khi (1607).

(6) Serendib: in Sumatra.

(7) Ratl-weight: standard ratl of 440 grams in Umayyad Egypt.

(8) Zaboul: Zabul is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the south of the country.

(9) Ghour: Ghor, also spelled Ghowr or Ghur, is a province in central Afghanistan.

(10) Balkh: is one of the provinces in northern Afghanistan.

(11) Kaboulistan: Kabulistan is Kabul Province of Afghanistan.

(12) Sigistan: Sistan known in ancient times as Sakastan is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran

(13) Garshasp was, in Persian mythology, the last Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to the Shahnameh.

In Asadi’s Garshasp-name the hero of the poem, Garsasp (or Karsasp), the son of Etreṭ, and grandson of Sam, is clearly identical with the ancient Iranian hero, Keresaspa, the son of Orita, of the clan Sama but apart from the names and the fact that Asadi’s hero is depicted as a dragon slayer, there does not seem to be any real point of contact between Asadi’s story and what we know of Keresaspa from the Avesta and the Pahlavi sources.

(14) Who is the Indian-Austronesian Maharaja against who the Zanj have to fight and who owns such a big empire?

Taken from: Who is Maha-Raja of Persian Texts by Daryoosh Akbarzadeh (Journal of Indian Ocean Studies 2013 p60-71).

According to Daryoosh Akbarzadeh: Rajaraja the Great, who was a Chola emperor (reigned c. 985–1014). As well as his successor Rajendra Chola I (r. 1014 – 1044) who was also called Rajendra the Great. He annexed Srivijaya (which controlled the straits of Malacca) in 1025.

From the first one we know that he extended his dominions (south and east India etc..) to include the Maldives islands. So the Maharaja was really the neighbour of the Zanj. The Maldives became independent from the Chola under their own king Koimala (r. 1117-1141) who unified the Maldives under his rule.

Note: As Al Masudi (916) and Abu Zaid al Hassan (916) are among the early ones to talk about the powerful Maharaja it must have been the kingdom of Srivijaya which was earlier dominating the straits and whose king styled himself also Maharaja that was the Maharaja in the earlier texts.

For an article that defends the thesis that it earlier was the Maharaja of Srivijaya see: The Empire of the Maharaja, King of the Mountains and Lord of the Isles by C. O. Blagde (Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society No. 81 (MARCH 1920), pp. 23-28)

For more information on the Chola domination of the Maldives: Note on the Early History of the Maldives  by Naseema Mohamed. (Archipel 2005 pp. 7-14).

According to Masudi (916) the Maharaja was:

India ……… borders Zabedj, which is the empire of the Maharaja, king of the Islands (=Islands of Indonesia).

…….. It is on the way to the states of the Maharaja, king of islands of Zabedj (Java), Kalah (Malacca), Serendib (Ceylon), etc.

………… One finds there the empire of Maharaja, king of the islands, which orders with an empire without limits and innumerable troops.

……… In the Maharaja's empire is the island of Serireh, which is situated about four hundred parasangs from the mainland and fully cultivated. This prince also possesses the islands of Zandj and Ramni, and many others which we will not mention; moreover, his dominion extends over the entire Sixth Sea or Sea of Sanf.

These facts are independent from the immigration of Austronesian people to Madagascar (and bits to East Africa). But it is in this period (when the Maldives were part of an empire that stretched to include parts of India and Indonesia) that the Arab authors are mostly detailing the links of East Africa with the Austronesian world (and India).

(15) Feridun has also a role in the Shahnama. He also does overthrow Zahhak. And gets for this the support of the soldiers and population as Zahhak was the one who had serpents growing out of his shoulder which he fed with humans. 

(16) Mihrab has also a role in the Shahnama. He is the ruler of Kabul and a descendant of Zahhak.

(17) Sindh; now in Pakistan.