Investigating the Bahram-Gur's images in illustrations of the Grand Ilkhani`s Shahnameh

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student of Research of Art,, Islamic Azad University of Isfahan branch (Khorasgan),, Isfahan, Iran

2 Professor of Art Research, Islamic Azad University, Yazd Branch, Iran.

3 Associate Professor of sociology, Islamic Azad University, Mobarake Branch, Isfahan, Iran.

4 Assistant Professor of Art and Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan Branch, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

The Grand Ilkhani`s Shahnameh reflects the political and social effects of the Ilkhans' kingdom well. By portraying themselves as a group of kings and mythical heroes of ancient Iran, the Mongols provided a new narrative of acceptability and legitimacy for the Ilkhans, the chiefs of the court, and ministers. By supporting and placing the Mongol kings as mythical Iranian kings, the Iranian Mustafians decided to make the usurper and tyrannical rulers look like Yazidi. Mustafians gave them divine power and made obedience to them obligatory to make their domination look legitimate in Iranian civilization.  In this five-page Shahnameh, Bahram-Gur is discussed in various situations. Given that Bahram-Gur owned the same name as Bahram, the god of war in ancient Iran, it seems that this name was chosen for a specific political purpose. This research aims to discuss the reason for the presence of the Mongols in Bahram's delegation in the paintings of Ilkhani's Shahnameh Bozur. Based on the research conducted on the subjects of these paintings, we conclude that by imagining themselves in Bahram's delegation, the Mongols intended to build an identity for themselves in Iranians' minds. They wanted to gain acceptance, popularity, and legitimacy by using the face of the kings like Bahram. This descriptive-analytical research has been done using the library method.

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