Kaveh the Blacksmith

Kaveh the Blacksmith(Persian:کاوه آهنگر,romanized:Kāve Āhangarlisten^ⓘ)^[1]^[2]is a figure inIranian mythologywho leads an uprising against a ruthless foreign ruler,Zahāk.His story is narrated in theShahnameh,the national epic ofIran(Persia), by the 10th-century Persian poetFerdowsi.

According to ancient legends, Kāveh was a blacksmith who launched a national uprising against the evil foreign tyrant Zahāk, after losing two of his children to serpents of Zahāk. Kāveh expelled the foreigners and re-established the rule of Iranians.^[3]Kāveh and the people went to theAlborz MountainsinDamāvand,whereFereydun,son of Ābtin and Faranak was living. Then a young man, Fereydun agreed to lead the people against Zahāk. Zahāk had already left his capital, which fell to Fereydun's troops with little resistance. Fereydun released all of Zahāk's prisoners.

Kāveh is a Persian mythological character known for his resistance against Zahāk in Iran. In modern times, Kaveh is sometimes invoked for political aims. As a symbol of resistance, he raised his leather apron on a spear. This flag, known asDerafsh Kaviani,was later decorated with precious jewels and became the symbol of Persian sovereignty for hundreds of years, until captured and destroyed by the Arabs, following the defeat of theSassanidsat the 636Battle of al-Qadisiyyah.Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar,who rebelled against theAbbasid Caliphate,claimed the inheritance of the kings of Persia and sought "to revive their glory," in 867 he sent a poem written by himself to the Abbasid caliphAl-Mu'tazz,stating: "With me is theDerafsh Kaviani,through which I hope to rule the nations. "^[4]In later times, Kaveh the Blacksmith was invoked byIranian nationalistsstarting from the generation ofMirza Fatali Akhundov.^[5]His name was used as the title of a nationalist newspaper in 1916,^[5]and in 1920, adorned the canton of the flag of thePersian Socialist Soviet Republic(known as the Soviet Republic of Gilan).^[6]

Mehreganis the celebration for Fereydun's victory over Zahāk.

The dynasty ofKaren Pahlav(also known as theHouse of Karen) claimed to be Kāveh's descendants.

Kurdish mythology

Called Kawe-y asinger inKurdish mythology,some Kurds believe that the ancestors of the Kurds fled to the mountains to escape the oppression of an Assyrian king named Zahhak, who is later killed and overthrown at the hands of Kawe.Hewa S. Khalidthe Kurdish scholar fromIndiana Universityclaimed that Kurd means blacksmith in the old Iranian languages, and he supported his claim by taking the word fromOssetian language,which there Kurd means blacksmith.^[7]It is also believed that these people, like Kawe the Blacksmith who took refuge in the mountains over the course of history, later they were called by the profession of their ancestor and created a Kurdish ethnicity. Kaveh is a geographical and symbolic figure in Kurdish nationalism. In common with other mythologies, Kurdish mythology sometimes is also used for political aims.^[8]^[9]^[10]When Turkey and its radical mercenaries invadedAfrin,Syrian Kurdistanin 2017, they first destroyed the statue of Kawe the blacksmith.^[11]

References

^E. W. West (30 June 2004).Sad Dar.Kessinger Publishing. p. 50.ISBN 978-1-4191-4578-0.Retrieved8 September2012.
^Sir John Malcolm (1829).The History of Persia: From the Most Early Period to the Present Time.Murray. p.13.Retrieved8 September2012.
^Afshin Marashi (1 March 2008).Nationalizing Iran: Culture, Power, and the State, 1870-1940.University of Washington Press. p. 78.ISBN 978-0-295-98820-7.Retrieved8 September2012.
^FLAGS i. Of Persia,A. Shapur Shahbazi,Encyclopædia Iranica
^^a ^bFiroozeh Kashani-Sabet (2000).Frontier Fictions: Shaping the Iranian Nation, 1804-1946.I.B.Tauris. p. 148.ISBN 978-1-85043-270-8.Retrieved8 September2012.
^"Persia (Iran): Short-lived states".Flags Of The World.Retrieved2012-09-08.
^Khalid, Hewa Salam. “Newroz from Kurdish and Persian Perspectives – A Comparative Study.”Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies,vol. 7, no. 1, 2020, pp. 116–30.JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/48710250. Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.
^Harvey Morris, John Bulloch (1993).No Friends but the Mountains: The Tragic History of the Kurds.penguins. pp. Page = 50.ISBN 0195080750.
^Dönmez, Rasim Özgür (November 2012)."Constructing kurdish nationalist identity through lyrical narratives in popular music"(PDF).Alternative Politics.4:Page = 318–341.
^M.T., O'shea (1994)."Between the map and the reality: some fundamental myths of kurdish nationalism".Peuples Mediterraneens:Page = 165–183.
^"Turkish forces celebrate capture of Afrin by tearing down statue of Kurdish hero".The Independent.2018-03-19.Retrieved2024-02-11.

External links

First Iranian Legendary Heroes and Heroines:A Research Note by Manouchehr Saadat Noury
A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp,an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Kāveh
Omidsalar, Mahmud."KĀVA".ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA.Retrieved5 March2016.

^[1]

^John Bulloch, Harvey Morris (1993),No Friends but the Mountains: The Tragic History of the Kurds,p. 50

[West2004-1] E. W. West (30 June 2004).Sad Dar.Kessinger Publishing. p. 50.ISBN 978-1-4191-4578-0.Retrieved8 September2012.

[Malcolm1829-2] Sir John Malcolm (1829).The History of Persia: From the Most Early Period to the Present Time.Murray. p.13.Retrieved8 September2012.

[Marashi2008-3] Afshin Marashi (1 March 2008).Nationalizing Iran: Culture, Power, and the State, 1870-1940.University of Washington Press. p. 78.ISBN 978-0-295-98820-7.Retrieved8 September2012.

[iranicaonline.org-4] FLAGS i. Of Persia,A. Shapur Shahbazi,Encyclopædia Iranica

[Kashani-Sabet2000-5] Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet (2000).Frontier Fictions: Shaping the Iranian Nation, 1804-1946.I.B.Tauris. p. 148.ISBN 978-1-85043-270-8.Retrieved8 September2012.

[6] "Persia (Iran): Short-lived states".Flags Of The World.Retrieved2012-09-08.

[7] Khalid, Hewa Salam. “Newroz from Kurdish and Persian Perspectives – A Comparative Study.”Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies,vol. 7, no. 1, 2020, pp. 116–30.JSTOR,https://www.jstor.org/stable/48710250. Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.

[8] Harvey Morris, John Bulloch (1993).No Friends but the Mountains: The Tragic History of the Kurds.penguins. pp. Page = 50.ISBN 0195080750.

[9] Dönmez, Rasim Özgür (November 2012)."Constructing kurdish nationalist identity through lyrical narratives in popular music"(PDF).Alternative Politics.4:Page = 318–341.

[10] M.T., O'shea (1994)."Between the map and the reality: some fundamental myths of kurdish nationalism".Peuples Mediterraneens:Page = 165–183.

[11] "Turkish forces celebrate capture of Afrin by tearing down statue of Kurdish hero".The Independent.2018-03-19.Retrieved2024-02-11.

[12] John Bulloch, Harvey Morris (1993),No Friends but the Mountains: The Tragic History of the Kurds,p. 50

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Kurdish mythology

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References

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