Qazvini, ‘Aja’eb al-Makhluqat, anonymous Persian translation
Turkman Commercial style: Shiraz, c.1475
Scribe: Mohammad b. Mohammad known as baqqal (grocer)
Artist: al-mowla (mullah) ‘Abd al-Karim
Opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper
London, Royal Asiatic Society, Persian MS 178, fol. 283r
Compiled in the later thirteenth century, the ‘Aja’eb al-Makhluqat, or ‘Wonders of Creation’, resembles an encyclopaedia of cosmology and the natural world. Heroes of the Shahnameh are included in some copies, such as this late fifteenth-century example, where Rostam is mentioned eighth in a list beginning with Faridun. There is no mention in the text of any particular feat, but Rostam’s habitual ability to unseat an opponent with his spear is emphasized and illustrated here.
