Abstract
Shahnameh in Georgia
Georgian-İran relation history goes back to B.C. years. Reflection of these relations in the Georgian culture, literature and history took place in different period of time and manner. The Shahnameh of Iranian poet Firdevsi (940-1040) is one of the works that have the most lasting effect on Georgian folk and written literature. Some mythological and historical stories (including the Pahlavi version) mentioned in Shahnameh were narrating among the Georgian people before Shahnameh was translated into Georgian language. According to N. Y. Marr, who is one of the founders of Iranology in Georgia, the first translation of Shahnameh into Georgian language took place in the 12th century. Since the first translation of Shahnameh is not available today in Georgian archive, we do not have an idea of whether the first translation represents the entire Shahnameh or some parts of it. Georgian archives contain copies of Shahnameh, which were translated into Georgian in the following centuries of the 12th century. The manuscripts of these translations and the reviews written by the Georgian critics on them reveal that Shahnameh started to be translated into Georgian both in verse and prose since the 15th century. The purpose of this article was to determine who made the translations of the Shahnameh and which versions of Persian Shahnameh have been translated into Georgian language during the centuries. The findings of this article revealed that translations of the Shahnameh into Georgian, were not only made from authentic text, but also the additions to Persian Shahnameh in the following centuries were translated into Georgian language.
Keywords
Georgian Shahnamehs, Shahnameh translations in verse and prose, Georgian-İranian cultural and litera
