Persian Sindbadnama

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The earliest Persian version that has survived is Ẓahīrī of Samarqand’s Sindbādnāma [Book of Sindbad] dated to around 1160CE. There is also a shortened version embedded into Nakhshabī’s Ṭūṭīnāma [Tales of a Parrot] (c.1330CE) and a versified version by ‘Aḍud Yazdī from c. 1375CE (on these texts, see the individual version entries).

Most scholars now assume that the Seven Sages of Rome/Book of Sindbad story-matter was first written down in Persian long before the extant versions. Several early Arabic and Persian historians evidence the existence of a Persian book about Sindbad, now lost, which Krönung 2016 dates to the sixth to seventh centuries but which may also have been written earlier or later. The Persian historian Hamza of Isfahan, for example, states in his Annals of Persian history (961CE) that a book with this title was written after the death of Alexander the Great and before the arrival of the Sasanians, under the Arsacid kings of Armenia (Perry 1960). Michael Andreopoulos in his Greek Syntipas (c. 1090–1100CE) mentions a previous story of Sindbad by someone called “Mousos the Persian”. Most academics agree that Mousos/Musa was an Arabic writer who translated an existing story in Pahlavi (Middle Persian) into Arabic (Nöldeke 1879, Krönung 2016, Belcher 1987). Ẓahīrī in his Sindbādnāma says that the text was translated from Pahlavi (Middle Persian) into Dari (Persian) in 950–951CE. The current scholarly consensus, following Perry 1960, is that a Pahlavi (Middle Persian) text was translated into Arabic and from there into Syriac and then Greek (Krönung 2016), as well as continuing to be transmitted in Persian.

Some Arabic historians writing in the ninth and tenth centuries also mention that the story may have had Indian precursors. While much older scholarship presumed that there was an Indian version predating the Persian text, most academics since Perry (1960) think that this is unlikely, as no written traces of such an Indian version have been found, though its existence is still considered a possibility by Krönung 2016.

Entered by Bettina Bildhauer

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition

Book of Sindbad

Adapted into (version)

Nakhshabi Tutinama, Zahiri al Samarqandi, Sindbadnama, Azod Yazdi versification

Recorded Secondary Versions

• Persian Sindbadnama
  • Azod Yazdi versification
  • Nakhshabi Tutinama
  • Zahiri al Samarqandi, Sindbadnama

Connected Manuscripts

	Has Language	Has Location	Has Date Range Of Production
Amasya Bayezid İl Halk Kütüphanesi, MS 750.	Persian	Amasya Bayezid İl Halk Kütüphanesi	1601 - 1800
Istanbul Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi Süleymaniye 861		Istanbul, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi	1383 - 1384
London British Library IO Islamic 3214	Persian	London, British Library	1575 - 1585
London British Library Or. 225	Persian	London, British Library	1622
Royal Asiatic Society (MS P.337)	Persian	Library of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland	1785
Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, AE Farsça 1062	Persian	Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Istanbul	1675 - 1676
Teheran Daneshgah 132-d	Persian	Teheran, Daneshgah	1622 - 1623
Teheran Daneshgah 272-f	Persian	Teheran, Daneshgah	1217 - 1218
Teheran Daneshgah 46-ayn	Persian	Teheran, Daneshgah	1383 - 1384
Topkapı Sarayı, Istanbul (Ahmet III 2990)	Persian	Istanbul, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi	1208 - 1209
Topkapı Sarayı, Istanbul (Fātiḥ 3682)	Persian	Istanbul, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Kütüphanesi	1483 - 1488

Language & Composition

Language of version

Persian

Date of Composition

200 - 800

Source for date of composition

Krönung (2016), Perry (1960)

Modern Scholarship & Editions

Modern research literature

Perry (1960), Zakeri (2023), Dabir Siyaqi (1955), Krönung (2016), Nöldeke (1879), Belcher (1987)

Notes & Commentary

Note

Note: story order (below) is based on the Zahiri al-Samarqandi narrative.

Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version

Has Short Title	Has Sequence Number	Has Narrator	Has Name Variation
Vulpes et simia – The Fox and the Ape	1	Sindbad
Camelus – The Wise Camel	2	Sindbad
Elephantus	3	Sindbad
Rex simiarum – The Monkey King	4	First Master
Avis – The Bird	5	First Master
Gladius – The Drawn Sword	6	First Master
Lavator	7	Empress
Turtures	8	Second Master
Zuchara	9	Second Master
Striga – The Prince and the Ogress	10	Empress
Canis – The Faithful Dog	11	Third Master
Canicula 3	12	Third Master
Aper – The Boar and the Fruit	13	Empress
Balneator	14	Fourth Master
Canicula – The Weeping Dog	15	Fourth Master
Mel	16	Empress
Panes	17	Fifth Master
Annuli – The Anklet, or, The Woman who Outwitted her Father-in-Law	18	Fifth Master
Simia	19	Empress
Nomina	20	Sixth Master
Pallium	21	Sixth Master

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