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{{short description|Mythical king and hero of Turan}}

'''Afrasiab''', near [[Samarkand]], [[Uzbekistan]] is both a historical city and its legendary founder.

[[File:Afrasiyab Executes Nauzar Wellcome L0068903.jpg|thumb|Scene from the Shahnameh. Afrasiyab (standing figure) executes [[Nowzar|Nauzar]] (lying down). [[Wellcome Library]].]]

{{About|an Iranian mythical hero|the village in Iran|Afrasiab, Iran|the ancient site of northern Samarkand|Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|other uses|Afrasiyab (disambiguation){{!}}Afrasiyab}}'''Afrasiyab''' ({{langx|fa|{{nastaliq|افراسياب|fa}}}} ''afrāsiyāb''; {{langx|ae|Fraŋrasyan}}; [[Middle-Persian]]: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of [[Turan]]. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic ''[[Shahnameh]]'', written by [[Ferdowsi]].

==Name and origin==

The person Afrasiab, is said to be king of all [[Turan]] is mentioned in [[Iran|Persia]]'s classic epic, [[Ferdowsi|Ferdowsi]]'s ''[[The Shahnameh|Shahnameh]]'' ('Book of Kings'), where the legendary hero-king battles a legendary [[Iran]]ian [[Shah]], [[Kai Khosro]]. Al [[Biruni]] tells us that the [[Khwarezmia]]n calendar starts with the arrival of Sijavus around 1300 BC, and it is thought that the two may be the same person. One view is that Khwar-Ezem is derived from Afr-Asiab.

''Afrā'' is the poetic form of the Persian word ''Farā'' (itself a poetic word), which means "beyond, further", while Sīāb comes from ''sīāh'' meaning "black" and ''Āb'' meaning "water", "river", "sea" (depending on the context). Scholars see it as a distortion of the [[Tajik language|Tajik]] ''Parsīāb'' (from [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] ''Paršvāb''), meaning "above the black river" a reference to the Sīāhāb or Sīāb.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFRĀSĪĀB i. The Archeological Site |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afrasiab-the-ruined-site/ |access-date=2025-05-01 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US}}</ref>[[File:Afrasiyab (The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp).png|200px|thumbnail|right|Painting of Afrasiab in the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp]]According to the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' (''Book of Kings''), by the Persian epic poet [[Ferdowsi]], Afrasiab was the king and hero of Turan and an archenemy of Iran. In Iranian mythology, Afrasiab is considered by far the most prominent of all [[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]] kings; he is a formidable warrior, a skilful general, and an agent of [[Ahriman]], who is endowed with magical powers of deception to destroy Iranian civilization.<ref name="ei">Yarshater, E., "Afrasiab", ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' - digital library; accessed January 18, 2007.</ref> He is brother to [[Garsivaz]], and the son of [[Pashang]]. He was an enemy of [[Rostam]] and [[Kay Khosrow]], and was defeated by them.

According to Islamic sources, Afrasiab was a descendant of [[Tur (son of Fereydun)|Tūr]] (Avestan: ''Tūriya-''), one of the three sons of the Iranian mythical King [[Fereydun]] (the other two sons being [[Salm (son of Fereydun)|Salm]] and [[Īrāj|Iraj]]). In ''[[Bundahishn]]'', he is named as the seventh grandson of Tūr. In [[Avesta|Avestan traditions]], his common epithet ''mairya-'' (deceitful, villainous<ref>Nyberg H. S., ''Die Religionen des Alten Iran'', Berlin (1938), p. 257</ref>) can be interpreted as meaning 'an [[evil]] man'. He lived in a subterranean fortress made of metal, called Hanakana.

According to Ferdowsi, Afrasiab is the ancestor of the [[Hephthalite]]s (''q.v.''), and the name apparently has also appeared as an [[Uighur]] dynasty as well as being claimed as ancestor by the Kara-Khanids.

According to Avestan sources, Afrasiab was killed by [[Haoma]] near the ''Čīčhast'' (possibly either referring to [[Lake Hamun]] in [[Sistan and Baluchestan Province|Sistan]] or some unknown lake in today's Central Asia), and according to Shahnameh he met his death in a cave known as the Hang-e Afrasiab, or the dying place of Afrasiab, on a mountaintop in [[Azerbaijan]]. The fugitive Afrasiab, having been repeatedly defeated by the armies of his adversary, the mythical King of Iran [[Kai Khosrow|Kay Khosrow]] (who happened to be his own grandson, through his daughter [[Farangis]]), wandered wretchedly and fearfully around, and eventually took refuge in this cave and died.

Traditionally founded in the 8th-7th century BC, the '''city of Afrasiab''' has archeologically confirmed sites from c. 500 BC to the [[13th century]] AD. The archeology of the site is interpreted in the '''Afrasiab Museum''' on the site. The museum contains the oldest surviving [[chess]]men. The mural paintings of Afrasiab are famous. Afrasiab lay on the [[Silk Road]], on the borders of [[Achaemenid]] Persia.

After [[Göktürks|Turks]] replaced the [[Saka|Sakas]] in Central Asia and migrated to farther south, some groups such as the [[Karluks]] and [[Oghuz Turks]] adopted Afrasiab as [[Alp Er Tunga]], a legendary king of [[Scythia]].<ref>Emel Esin, ''Antecedents and Development of Buddhist and Manichean Turkish Art in Eastern Turkestan and Kansu'', The Handbook of Turkish Culture, supplement to volume II, section of the history of art, Milli Eğitim Basimevi, 1967, p. 11.</ref><ref>M. Öcal Oğuz, ''Turkey's Intangible Cultural Heritage'', Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey Publications, 2008, {{ISBN|975-17-3369-3}}, p. 23.</ref> He is mentioned in [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]]'s ''[[Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk]]'', [[Yusuf Balasaguni]]'s ''[[Kutadgu Bilig]]'' and in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] manuscript of [[Book of Dede Korkut|Oghuznama]] by an unknown writer.<ref name="osman">{{cite book |author=Osman Aziz Basan |title=The Great Seljuqs: A History |year=2010 |page=177}}</ref>

== Hypotheses ==

<table width = 75% border = 2 align="center"><tr><td width = 35% align="center">

[[Ernst Herzfeld|Ernst Hertzfeld]] believed that the name [[Parsondes]] is etymologically identical to the name Afrasiab.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kramers |first=Johannes Hendrik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qg4_AQAAIAAJ |title=Analecta Orientalia: Posthumous Writings and Selected Minor Works |date=1954 |publisher=E.J. Brill |pages=247 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Herzfeld |first=Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kB38twAACAAJ |title=Zoroaster and His World by Ernst Herzfeld |date=1947 |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=707–708 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dulęba |first=Władysław |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WpIaAQAAIAAJ |title=The Cyrus Legend in the Šāhnāme |date=1995 |publisher=Enigma Press |isbn=978-83-86110-19-3 |pages=63, 80 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Herzfeld |first=Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJltAAAAMAAJ |title=Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran |date=1982 |publisher=Dietrich Reimer |pages=179 |language=de}}</ref> [[Al-Tabari|Tabari]] in his works mentions the derivative Afrasiab / Aspandiat under the name of the [[Hephthalites|Hephtalite]] king [[Akhshunwar|Akhshunvar]] or Akhshunvaz.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tabakov |first=Dimitŭr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PWgAAAAMAAJ |title=The horizon of knowledge: Bulgarians through the centuries |date=1999 |publisher=Propeller 92 |isbn=978-954-9669-39-8 |pages=165 |language=bg}}</ref>

Preceded by:<br>'''[[Poshang]]'''</td>

<td width = 30% align="center">[[List of Turanian monarchs]]</td>

<td width = 35% align="center">

Succeeded by:<br>'''[[]]'''</td></tr></table>

== See also ==

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Uzbekistan]]

* [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)]]

[[Category:Shahnameh Characters]]

* [[Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand]]

[[Category:Cities in Uzbekistan]]

* [[Alp Er Tunga]]

==References==

[[de:Afrasiab]]

{{reflist}}

[[ru:Афрасиаб]]

==External links==

* [[Ehsan Yarshater]], {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071217105445/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v1f6/v1f6a008.html "Afrāsiāb"]}}, ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]''

* [http://www.theshahnameh.com Afrasiab featured in Rostam Comic Book]

* [http://www.barabass.ru/eng/7.php The battle of Rustam and Afrasiab] on Asian miniature

{{Shahnameh}}

[[Category:Shahnameh Characterscharacters]]