Bakhtiarnama abridgement

The Bakhtiarnama, of unknown provenance and authorship, is in some senses a mirror to the Sindbadnama tradition. Here, ten scheming viziers seek to persuade the Padishah to kill his son and rightful heir, using a variety of learned stories while the prince seeks to counter their machinations. One of the tales they seek to use is an abridged form of the Sindbadnama (compare with Nakhshabi's Tutinama). It is likely that the original composition was of Middle/early New Persian origin, but the earliest version we have of the text is an Arabic manuscript from c.1000, whilst the earliest Persian version, commonly misattributed to Abu Mansur Daqayeqi, is from the 12th century. However, neither of these versions include a Sindbadnama abridgement - the two only start appearing together in the 15th century, and by this point the Sindbadnama narrative had become a recognisable archetype across the Islamic world. However, even after this the inclusion of the Sindbadnama within Bakhtiarnama manuscripts was far from universal.

Unlike the Sindbadnama and other comparable 'migrating texts' such as the Kalila wa Dimna, the Bakhtiarnama did not have much success travelling westwards beyond the Ottoman Empire (sustained European interest only really took off in the 19th century). However, it had considerably more success in its eastern diffusion than its counterparts, becoming popular in the Chagatai Turkish world, particularly in Xinjiang, and even became a popular text at Malay courts.

Identification & General Information

Title

Author

Disputed

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition

Book of Sindbad

Adapted from (version)

Persian Sindbadnama

Recorded Secondary Versions

Persian Sindbadnama

Language & Composition

Translated into (languages)

Chagatai Turkish (Uighur), Ottoman Turkish, Malay

Place of composition

Unknown

Date of Composition

Unknown (first Arabic version c.1000, first Persian version 12th century, but neither contain an embedded Sindbadnama narrative).

Modern Scholarship & Editions

Modern research literature

A. J. Arberry, Classical Persian Literature, London, 1958, pp. 170-79 (discusses various translations of Baḵtīār-nāma and gives a lengthy selection in English), W. Ouseley, The Bakhtyār Nama, ed. W. A. Clouston, London, 1883 (an English translation, with introduction and notes)., Goriaeva, L.V. Povest’ o Bakhtiare. Moscow: Nauka, 1989., Osmanov, M.-N.O. Uslada dush, ili Bakhtiiar-name. Moscow: Nauka, 1977, Safa, Zabih Allah, Rahat al-arwah fi surur al-mifrah (Bakhtiyarnamah), 2 vols. Tehran: University of Tehran, 1966-69., Eden, J., “The Global Journey of the Bakhtiyārnāmah: New Evidence from the Lund University Archives.” Acta Orientalia 75 (2014), 31-45.

Modern Editions

Muḥammad Jaʿfar Maḥjūb (Ed.), *Bakhtiyārnāma* (Tehran: Bungāh-i Tarjuma wa Nashr-i Kitāb, 1960), Safa, Zabih Allah, Rahat al-arwah fi surur al-mifrah (Bakhtiyarnamah), 2 vols. Tehran: University of Tehran, 1966-69.

Notes & Commentary

Note

Key Bakhtiarnama manuscripts with a Sindbadnama narrative included:

Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Supplément persan 913 (richly illustrated Safavid manuscript, the earliest with the Sindbadnama abridgement).

Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS Ouseley 394 (17th-century Indian copy of the long recension).

Ketābkhāneh-e Majlis-e Shūrā, Tehran, MS 799. ( A Persian copy containing the elaborated text, c. 17th century).

John Rylands Library, Manchester, Pers. MS 45.