Bijan and Manijeh is a love story in Ferdowsi

Ferdowsi

Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...

's Shahnameh

Shahnameh

The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...

 (Shāh-Nāmeh, The Epic of Kings). Bijan was the son of Giv, a great warrior of Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 during the reign of Kai Khosrow

Kai Khosrow

Kai Khosrow is a legendary king of the Kayanian dynasty and a character in the Persian epic book, Shahnameh. He was the son of the Iranian prince Siavash who married princess Farangis of Turan while in exile. Before Kai Khosrow was born, his father was murdered in Turan by his maternal grandfather...

 and Banu Goshasp

Banu Goshasp

Banu Goshasp or Goshasp Banu is an important heroine in Iranian mythology. She is the daughter of Rustam and the wife of the hero Giv. She is mentioned in several Persian epics including the Banu Goshasp Nama.-Banu Goshasp Nama:...

, the heroine daughter of Rostam

Rostam

Rostam is the national hero of Greater Iran from Zabulistan in Persian mythology and son of Zal and Rudaba. In some ways, the position of Rostam in the historical tradition is parallel to that of Surena, the hero of the Carrhae. His figure was endowed with many features of the historical...

. Bijan fell in love with Manijeh, the daughter of Afrasiab

Afrasiab

Afrasiab is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan.-The Mythical King and Hero:According to the Shahnameh , by the Persian epic poet Ferdowsi, Afrasiab was the king and hero of Turan and an archenemy of Iran...

, the king of Turan

Turan

Tūrān is the Persian name for Central Asia, literally meaning "the land of the Tur". As described below, the original Turanians are an Iranian tribe of the Avestan age. As a people the "Turanian" are one of the two Iranian peoples both descending from the Persian Fereydun but with different...

 and greatest enemy of Iran, and greatly suffered as a result.

Plot

When people from Arman complained to Kai Khosrow that wild boars were invading their fields, Bijan volunteered to go and combat the boars. Bijan pursued the wild boars, returning them to their lairs, without any of the boars escaping. The day following this event, Girgin told Bijan about the garden of Afrasiab on the other side of the border with Turan. Thus was the young Bijan tempted hid him, and no one except her maids were aware of this secret. When Afrasiab learned that his daughter was hiding a man in her house, he sent guards to seize Bijan. Bijan was captured and imprisoned in a pit in the desert and the pit was blocked with a heavy stone. Manijeh was also punished by her father. She was expelled from the palace and sent to the desert where Bijan was prisoned. Manijeh made a tunnel to Bijan's prison, and through that tunnel spoke to him and fed him. Every day she would go to the city and beg for food and bring the food to Bijan. Eventually, Kai Khosrow sent Rostam

Rostam

Rostam is the national hero of Greater Iran from Zabulistan in Persian mythology and son of Zal and Rudaba. In some ways, the position of Rostam in the historical tradition is parallel to that of Surena, the hero of the Carrhae. His figure was endowed with many features of the historical...

to rescue Bijan. Rostam went to Turan as a merchant, and met Manijeh in the city, from where she took him to the pit where Bijan was imprisoned.

External links

• Shahnameh, by Hakim Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi Tusi, the complete work (64 Epics), in Persian (ParsTech). This work can be freely downloaded (File size, compiled in the form of an HTML Help File: 1.4 MB).