Manuchehr

Old Persian painting, depicting Manuchehr sitting on the royal throne

Manūchehr (in Persian: منوچهر‎, older Persian Manōčihr, Avestan Manuščiθra), is a character in the Shahnameh. He is the first of the legendary Shāhs who ruled Iran after the breakup of the world empire of Manūchehr's great-grandfather, Fereydūn.

Manūchehr was the grandson of Īrāj, who was the son of Fereydūn, and he avenged the death of Īrāj at the hands of Fereydūn's other two sons, Salm and Tūr. From the death of Tūr in Manūchehr's war of vengeance sprang a war between the peoples of Īrān and Tūrān that would last for centuries, until the reign of Kai Khosrow.

Manūchehr died after a reign of 120 years, and was succeeded by his son Nowzar.

Family Tree

Sources and references

• Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Dick Davis trans. (2006), Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings ISBN 0-670-03485-1, modern English translation (abridged), current standard
• Warner, Arthur and Edmond Warner, (translators) The Shahnama of Firdausi, 9 vols. (London: Keegan Paul, 1905–1925) (complete English verse translation)
• Shirzad Aghaee, Nam-e kasan va ja'i-ha dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi (Personalities and Places in the Shahnama of Ferdousi, Nyköping, Sweden, 1993. ( ISBN 91-630-1959-0)
• Jalal Khāleghi Motlagh, Editor, The Shahnameh, to be published in 8 volumes (c. 500 pages each), consisting of six volumes of text and two volumes of explanatory notes. See: Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University.

External links

• 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 Manuchehr