The homes that are the dwellings of to-day
Will sink ‘neath shower and sunshine to decay,
But storm and rain shall never mar what I
Have built—the palace of my poetry.
—Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi is undoubtedly the king of Persian poets. Through his monumental Shahnameh—begun in 977 CE and completed over nearly three decades—he secured his place among the greatest preservers of language, literature, and cultural memory in world history.
That legacy came alive for me on the warm and humid evening of June 2 as I wandered through the outdoor exhibition Shared Epic Worlds: The Shahnameh, the Mahabharata, and the Indo-Persian Imagination at Sunder Nursery in New Delhi. Presented by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the Noor International Microfilm Centre in Iran, and the Iran Culture House, the exhibition transformed the gardens into a journey through one of the world’s greatest epics.
A series of Shahnameh folios, digitised and enlarged to more than twice their original size, lined the pathways of the historic garden. It felt like the ideal setting in which to encounter them. The visual experience followed an immersive session of the Shahnameh and culminated in a lecture by Syed Akhtar Hussain at the Humayun Auditorium.
Comprising more than 50,000 couplets, the Shahnameh is among the longest epic poems ever written. Ferdowsi composed it during the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni, preserving thousands of years of Persian mythology, folklore, and history in a single narrative. The title itself translates as “The Book of Kings”.
Its importance, however, extends far beyond literature. Following the Arab conquest of Persia in the seventh century, Arabic became the dominant language of administration and scholarship. Ferdowsi consciously chose to write in New Persian, limiting the use of Arabic loanwords and helping preserve the language for future generations. In doing so, he strengthened a sense of cultural continuity and Iranian identity. The Shahnameh remains a cornerstone of Iranian cultural heritage. Its language is still largely intelligible to speakers of modern Farsi, Dari, and Tajik. Before Ferdowsi, pre-Islamic Persian history existed largely as scattered oral traditions and fragmented texts. By weaving together roughly 6,000 years of mythology, legend, and history into a coherent narrative spanning four dynasties, he created a civilisational archive in verse.
Often compared to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the Shahnameh is celebrated for both its poetic artistry and storytelling power. It encompasses the dawn of civilisation, the discovery of fire, royal intrigues, heroic battles, and enduring moral dilemmas. At its heart lies the concept of kherad—wisdom—which guides its reflections on justice, courage, good governance, and the struggle between good and evil.
One of the exhibition’s most compelling moments was the juxtaposition of the tragic story of Rostam and Sohrab with the Mahabharata episode of Arjuna and Babruvahana. In Ferdowsi’s epic, the young Sohrab is unknowingly killed by his father Rostam; in the Indian epic, the father-son conflict ultimately finds resolution rather than ending in tragedy. The pairing revealed striking thematic parallels while highlighting the different moral and narrative trajectories of the two traditions.
Although the enlarged digital reproductions could not fully capture the delicacy of line, colour, and landscape found in the original Persian miniatures, they retained a remarkable sense of drama and narrative energy. Through these images, the Shahnameh opened a window onto Persian ideas of kingship, ethics, heroism, and cultural identity.
The exhibition also highlighted the three broad worlds of the epic: the mythical, the heroic, and the historical. Across these realms move monarchs, warriors, maidens, demons, and witches, each contributing to a richly layered vision of Persian civilisation. The enduring popularity of the Shahnameh inspired many later illustrated editions, most famously the magnificent version produced in the court of Shah Tahmasp I nearly four centuries after Ferdowsi’s death.
Equally fascinating was the exhibition’s exploration of the Razmnama, the Persian translation of the Mahabharata commissioned by Emperor Akbar. Some of the most striking folios depicted Persian and Indian scholars collaborating on the translation project, visualising a remarkable moment of intellectual and cultural exchange. The dialogue between the Shahnameh and the Razmnama revealed how epic traditions travelled across languages, courts, and civilisations, enriching one another in the process.
Ultimately, Shared Epic Worlds was more than an exhibition of beautiful manuscripts. It was a reminder that great epics transcend borders. Through stories of kings and warriors, fathers and sons, virtue and ambition, the Shahnameh and the Mahabharata continue to speak to universal human experiences while illuminating the deep historical connections between Persia and the Indian subcontinent.
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