A Deluge of Tears The Conflux of Persian Shiʿi Literature, Ritual, and Identity in Martyrdom Narratives

Description

This dissertation presents the first English in-depth study of one of the most important
maqtals (martyrdom narratives) ever written in Persian, the Rowz̤at ol-Shohadā’ (Meadow of the
Martyrs) by Ḥoseyn b. ʿAlī Beyhaqī Kāshefī (d. 910 A.H./1504 C.E.). Through the broader lens
of the literary apotheosis of a historical figure, Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī (d. 61 A.H./680 C.E.) into an epic
hero, I argue three points. Firstly, that Kāshefī’s text largely changed the landscape of Iranian
Twelver Shiʿism by recasting Ḥusayn’s story, resulting in the rise of Persian martyrdom
literature. Secondly, that Kāshefī’s decision to compose the book in Persian, rather than Arabic
like most previous maqtals, as well as his incorporation of references from Iranian legend,
especially from the Shāhnāmeh (Book of Kings) of Abū ’l-Qāsem Ferdowsī (d. 410-415
A.H./1020-1025 C.E.) resulted in a maqtal which was particularly appealing to a Persianspeaking audience. Thirdly, that after Kāshefī’s death, the Twelver Shiʿi Safavid dynasty
encouraged the creation of a mourning cult with the Rowz̤at as its centerpiece. With this, the
Safavids laid out their vision for the conversion of Iran to a Persianized Twelver Shiʿism.
Central to my analysis of the Rowz̤at and its relationship to the pre-Islamic Persian
literary history is my original theoretical paradigm of memory relics, which through a threelayered framework of form, function, and meaning, provides a fresh basis for understanding
phenomena typically labelled syncretic. Memory relics are intended as a methodological tool in
analyzing the genealogy of religious, linguistic, and socio-cultural interactions without relying
on Orientalist constructs of religion.