My Nahavand

samsam if im shirazi...half

samsam if im shirazi...half qashqai descent half bakhtiary descent...what does that make me? confusedd??? :(

Jamshid !

Thanks, dear friend for the info .

There are very few people such as yourself who see the dilema of dual identity facing Iranians . . We are minority strangers among our own nation. That,s truly sad .

Keep well !

Replies to Samsam and Zion

Samsam,

I don't have any links, but I'll give you the name of the work where you can find the original (and uncensored) version. You may want to google it:

A Rhymed Ballad in Pahlavi, by J.C. Tavadia.

Incidently, Tavadia was a scholar who knew more about ancient Persian history than most of us Iranians! It is pathetic that so many ancient poems are translated from Pahlavi to English, but we don't have a Farsi translation, or more Pahlavi language experts for that matter.

Any Iranian government that claims an Iranian heritage, should take, without exception, ALL of these work and tranlate them to Farsi.

Zion,

I haven't heard about the ten lost tribes legend, but if it is similar to our story, I can say that I know their feelings too, a mixture of pain, sadness and envy.

I agree with you regarding the possibility of rekindling our past identity. Heck, it is already rekindled... Aren't the likes of Samsam proof enough?!

Good reads...

//www.ichodoc.ir/p-a/CHANGED/84/html/84-26.htm

//www.farvardyn.com/pahlavi4.php#73

//www.sacred-texts.com/zor/sbe24/sbe24002.htm

//www.avesta.org/avesta.html

Dear Anonymous

I found the piece under an anonymous name in a Persian site. 

The author did not want or did not dare presenting himself. This time, I just resumed a bit his long poem.

This poem is the one we can read to all of us who feel like the unfair losers of Persian heritage. The words are washing over us in waves and let us feel our old cicatrices. the layering of what we can figuratively  understand with love, appreciation, admiration, and sorriness. Each verse of this poem is touching a different part of our history-- from the beginning of free fall of Gadessieh tragedy until now. It raises such a passion which is in us even over an anonymous poem; therefore, I am exhilarated every time I read it. 

Jamshid

The poem really touched me. You can't imagine how similar, how reminiscent it was of the Jewish experience. It was like looking at yourself in a different mirror.
You know of the legends of the ten lost tribes? That they will come from somewhere in the East and save their long lost brothers from hardship? They of course never came either, but Jews survived and their unique identity survived too. Persians did survive too, and the root of their identity was never lost. So it is always possible to rekindle it. There is always hope.

Dear readers !!

Moraad khan; Couldn,t agree more .thanks pal!!

Anonymous & zion; Yes there is much more to old Iran than the stereotype & ommatist hype . Old Iran was as complex & cosmopolitan , if not more in comparison to Roman counter part.

Jamshid jan ; Indeed, there is a voluntary amnesia when it comes to those 2 centuries post-Sassanids..very few historians have dared to venture into that painfull period, intimidated by getting tagged kafar. Thanks a  bunch for the uncensored version , it was eye opening..Do You have a link for original Pahlavi link too? let me know..Cheers pal..

Dear JR ; Yes indeed, As your sharp logic pointed to it, it was the icing on the khallifate cake digging our psychee deeper into an abyss of dual identity . Thank you for a very deep & meaningfull poetry piece . regards & cheers!!

 Abarmard Dastan; I take you on Your word & not only pics but a video of the remains of the fort would be nice too . at the end of the day , (most) of us love our true heritage but have our own way to feel for it (for some of us, how ever misguided at times lol :)) thanks for the kind comment & best wishes .

JR: Who is the author of

JR: Who is the author of this beautiful poem?

Beautiful

Thanks. Hopefully in my next trip to Iran I'll be able to visit and take some pictures for you.

Nahavand Song

The tragedy of Nahavand in 642 was ironically replaced by the Karbala "tragedy" of 682! After the Nahavand trgedy, Muslims not only enslaved our women and children, but worse, they enslaved our spirit. In fact, without the Nahvand tragedy this mental paradigme could not be imposed on our ancestors. Let's imagine an ancestor,s reminiscence:

...
عمر جهان بر من گذشته است

نزديک ترين خاطره ام خاطره ی قرن هاست.

بارها به خونمان کشيدند

به ياد آر

و تنها دست آورد کشتار

نان پاره ی بی قاتق سفره ی بی برکت ما بود.

اعراب فريب ام دادند

برج موريانه را به دستان پرپينه ی خويش بر ايشان در گشودم

مرا و همه گان را بر نطع سياه نشاندند و

گردن زدند.

نماز گزاردم و قتل عام شدم

که رافضی ام دانستند

نماز گزاردم و قتل عام شدم

که قرمطی ام دانستند.

آن گاه قرار نهادند که ما و برادرانمان يکديگر را بکشيم و

اين

کوتاهترين طريق وصول به بهشت بود!

به ياد آر

که تنها دست آورد کشتار

جل پاره ی بی قدر عورت ما بود.

خوش بينی ی برادرت ترکان را آواز داد

تو را و مرا گردن زدند

سفاهت من چنگيزيان را آواز داد

تو را و همه گان را گردن زدند

يوغ ورزاو بر گردنمان نهادند

گاوآهن بر ما بستند

بر گرده مان نشستند

و گورستانی چندان بی مرز شيار کردند

که باز مانده گان را

هنوز از چشم

خونابه روان است.

کوچ غريب را به ياد آر

از غربتی به غربت ديگر

تا جست و جوی ايمان

تنها فضيلت ما باشد.

به ياد آر

تاريخ ما بی قراری بود

نه باوری

نه وطنی.

...

Dear Samsam

I enjoyed reading your blog.

The poem in your blog (Kay bashad keh payki ayad az hedoostan...) is a modified version of an old Zoroastrian text written in the old Pahlavi language. The modified version you posted here is inspired from that original text.

Knowing you, I am certain you would like to read the original Zoroastrian/Pahlavi text. Here is a translation from Pahlavi to English which is found in the work of the scholar J.C. Tavadia. Not surprsingly, the last few verses of the original Pahlavi version do not appear in the Farsi poem version.

(The words in parenthesis are my additions):

When may it be that a courier comes from India, and says that:

"The Shah Vahram (Bahram Varjavand) from the family of the Kays has come,

That there are a thousand elephants and upon their heads are elephant keepers,

That he holds the raised standard in the manner of the Husravs (Khosrows),

That the advance-guard is led by the army chiefs!"

An intelligent man should be made our clever interpreter,
Who may go and speak to the Indians thusly:

"What have we seen from the hand of the Arabs...

For the unique people they ruined the Religion and killed the kings,

We are from the Aryan stock, they are like the Divs,

And they hold the Religion as nothing, eat the bread like dogs,

They have taken away the sovereignty from the Husravs,
not by skill, nor by manliness,

They have taken it away and made mockery and scorn,

They have taken away by force from men their wives and wealth, sweet places, parks and gardens.

Capitation-tax they have imposed, they have bestowed it upon their own chieftains,

They have demanded a heavy tribute.

Consider how much evil that Druz (Arab) has cast upon this world, so that nothing worse than that!

(The censored part): 

O' world!

From us shall come that Shah Vahram,
The Glorious, from the family of the Kays.

We will bring vengeance on the Arabs,
As Rotastahm brought vengeance on the whole world.

Their mosques will we cast down, we will set up fires,

Their idol-temples we will dig down and blot them out from the world,

So that "nihil" shall become the miscreations of the Druz from this world."

The city was founded by

The city was founded by Darius I the Great, in Media along with the two other [[Achemenian] cities of Apamea and Xerxes. (Strabo xi. p. 524 ; Xerxes "Laodikeia") Pliny (vi. 29) describes it as being in the extreme limits of Media, and (re-)founded by XerxesI.

The city was a center of Chosroes I's empire. After military reverses (ca. 540) following his sack of Syrian Antiochia in 538, he was forced to rename his capital "Antiochia".

It is the site of the Battle of Nihawānd in 642 that completed the fall of the Sassanid Empire and the Islamic conquest of Iran.

Natives of Nahavand include Benjamin Nahawandi, who was a key figure in the development of Karaite Judaism in the Early Middle Ages, and 8th-century astronomer Ahmad Nahavandi, who worked at the Academy of Gundishapur.

Currently it had an estimated population of 77,206 in 2005.[1] Nahavand also gives its name to the musical mode (maqam) Nahwand in Arabic, Iranian and Turkish music.

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahavand

Zion: Daniel or prophet Daniel is buried in Sush or Shusha in Iran.

//farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2667273235_e14...

//biblesearchers.com/prophecy/daniel/daniel8-...

Hamadan

Dear Sam and Anonymous...
I knew about Esther and Mordechai's tomb in Hamadan (Ecbatana). I hadn't seen the pictures. They look fascinating. Thanks. As far as I know, Daniel and Habakkuk are also buried in Iran. As Sam mentioned there had been an old alliance between Jews and Persians.
I didn't know that Nahavand is the same as Antiochia of Chosroes, and that you come from there! Amazing.

SamsamIII: Fascinating info.

SamsamIII: Fascinating info. Thank you.

Dear Zion: This particular city, Ekbataneh or Hamadan is where Queen Haddasah or Queen Esther and Mordaci are buried.

//www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Architecture/hamadan...

//www.sandiegojewishworld.com/iran/hamadan/sd...

//www.farsinet.com/hamadan/esther.html

Jewish Shrine Esther and Mordecai in Hamadan,Iran
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhRyAObY8bI

//www.royalty.nu/MiddleEast/Iran/Esther.html

Samsam

Elahi ke on padeshahan doran ghajaar goor be goor shan. ke dar tole hokomate tazi khod ****** be in mamlekat. nesfesho forokhtand va az dast dadand va toye nesfe digash ******. khoda nayamorzeh in bad heybata ro.

Re; Readers

Dear Tahiri ; Your sincere emotional responce is pretty justified, since , for many centuries the nation has been governed via ignorant ,detached rulers with absolute disregards to the true concept of Iranic heritage , be it Jewish bashing , Bahaii bashing, Zorostrian bashing.. etc. Ghater-bidin-Shah was just an insignificant link in the the chain of idiocy & treason. thx again for your thought full feed back. btw* Even in Reza Shah time whom I respect as a patriot , the Fort was changed into a Kalantary/Jandarm base which did some more damage to it through modern ill-planned renovation , Cheers!!

 Irandokht Geramii; I,m humbled by your wise comment & will take the wisdom of Your message to heart , Yes indeed ..Doshman shavad parandeh bakht ger khoda khahad . Cheers!!!

Ebi jan; bavaret misheh ? unbelievable ! You would expect that from a foreign army , yet the most damage comes from within . Cheers!!

Zion Pal ! , I doubt there is much I can teach a wise man such as You but hey, don,t let that stop You ..hehe..Ekbataneh being a big bastion of Jewish culture brewed Jewish devotion to the cause of Iran for centuries & Yes Jews were present in most Iranian battles , be it those Jews who spied on Roman Jerusalem for Sassanid Khosru Parviz & Following his plea, 26,000 of them joined his army and in conquest of  Jerusalem by Persians 614 or Jews working as a 5th column in Babylonian conquest or Jews of Khaneghain & Carahea recruiting christian Arab fighters & lakhimids for Iran on the eve of Qadesiyeh or  the Jewish Struggle against the Seleucids,  Jews did everything that was asked of them as allies & Iranians . God bless em..Cheers!!!

Dear Ms Nazy Kayvani ! , Thank You for your well written & thought full feed back . We are all products of our childhood . Following my Dad's advice , I try to stick to the truth & don,t rush to judge but as You already must have figured , all of us have many dimensions , invisible through the tint of cyber world that magnifies specific emotions 10 folds in absence of direct dialogue . Being a mere human , I at times might have trouble delegating my views patiently & hence risking the projection of the wrong self .  Just so You know, some times behind those few angry comments is a man , smiling:)..thanks again & best wishes !!

Dear Samsam

Dear Samsam:

Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself with us. You revealed so much about the mosaic that makes you an Iranian, a Nahavandi, a Bakhtiari, a son, a father, and a man. Sometimes you write your political opinions with a lot of anger which I know comes from the passion you feel. In those opinion comments you use unfamiliar words and expressions which confuse me and hide the man behind those thoughts and opinions from me. The few times when you have written personal blogs, expressing your feelings and passions, a whole different individual has emerged. I suppose that's true of all of us, Samsam, and the many dimensions which comprise our personalities and characters, our likes and dislikes, and our approaches to life.

It was touching to read about Samsam, the man. I have a family connection to Nahavand, too, and your respect for the place taught me something new. Take care of that hangover. Masti-o-raasti works for me, too.

Thank you very much.

Sam

That was a great read. I enjoyed it and learned from it.

Samsam Jaan, Baa Ejaaze !!

Tahirih Jaan,

There are many SIGNS of stupidity left on our historical sites.The two most disturbing ones which always made my heart ache,when I saw them,again & again on field trips :

1-Fathali Shaah ,ordered his own relief to be carved on top of a pre-Islamic (Sassanid) one,in Cheshmeh Ali :

//www.chn.ir/News/?section=2&id=24421

2- An inscription in Palace of Darius in Takht-e-Jamshid,from a Qajar king( Naseraldin shah?!).

//oi.uchicago.edu/gallery/pa_iran_paai_per_mf/index.php/5C12_72dpi.png?action=big&size=resize&fromthumbnail=true

And the list is not limited to the above examples.

Quote from Dai Jaan Napoleon:(hope I remember it correctly)

" be ghole Napolo'n,tanhaa chizi ke had o marz nadaare,hamaaghete"

best wishes

very nice blog

I guess your dating experience proves that there is a silver lining in every cloud!  a nice blog came to life.

Well done  :0)

IRANdokht

Dear Samsam, if I may say so...

I tried to read the writing under the old picture of Nahavand and , my blood started to boil!! when I saw that  ignorant Naseraldin shah  did destroy such an amazing historic place. This drunken, sex crazed, ignorant man has destroyed so much of our past, and if I may say so " future" by destroying valuable people and places.

Sorry this blog is about your dear Nahavand, but I could not contain my hatred of this unman.

My husband  parents are  from Malayer and his grand parents from both side are from Jewish ancestry. I guess they did resist  the invasion too:))

God bless and nice to see you back,

Tahirih

Guess , ancheh az del bar-ayad, bar del neshinad

heh :) my 1st blog @ 3am....finally found a sitter after 2 months , ventured out, mixed the routin charm & alcohol strategy , tagged the hot chic , went perfect until the kid part :), , turned down politely , came home empty handed .  Gotteh hand it to ladies, guess , their organic censors works impecable even, under the effect of 7 shots of 5th avenue . Mention kid, Ex  and alarm goes beeep beeep..lol..So  writing this piece should be called, blogging impaired, kinda like driving impaired ..::))

Souri nazanin; You are kind and generous as always ..Thanks for your heartfelt comments . Cheers Madam !!

Dear Mona ; Thank You so very for the Farsi version( may I say, more original & gorgeous use of vocabylary , great jem )..I had this, on an old magazine , I kept..Too lazy to type..took the easy route..Cheers Miss !!

Ali jaan; No, Bravo to You for reading & kind word, Hamshahri..Cheers!!

Ebi jaan ; My dear Pal, in presence of such ostads such as You , I am humbled for Your feed back . I find election a minor point of disagreement & not a fundamental diffrence . justa distraction..Cheers pal!!

Party Mama ; Once again, thanks for your timely & well chosen addition(You probably work in Youtube, knowing where to find everything) . Enjoyed it with a cup of hang over coffee (better than tylenol). It cured my headache.thx & cheers!!

Samsam jan, thank for sharing

this beautiful piece with us. I really enjoyed. A wonderful read for Sunday morning :O)

Party girl : Thank you so much for this beautiful song, I always loved hearing this when I was younger.

Dear Mr.Samsam, I enjoyed reading your blog.

کی بود که پیکی آید از هندوستان
کآمد آن شاه  بهرام از دوده کیان
کِش پیل هست هزار بر سرآن هست پیلبان
کآراسته درفش دارد به آیین خسروان
که پیش لشکر برند سپاهسالاران
مردی گسیل باید کردن زیرک ترگمان
که شود بگوید به هندویان
که ما چه دیدیم از دست تازیان
بر یک گروه دین نزار کردند بیوژدند شاهان
شاه ما و هر که ایر بود ایشان
چون دیودین دارند چون سگ خورند نان
بستدند پادشاهی از خسروان
نه با هنر نه به مردی
بل به  افسوس و ریشخندی
بستدند به ستم از مردمان
زن و خواسته گاهِ شیرین باغ بوستان
گَزیت برنهادند ببختند بر سران
باج بی پایان خواستند ساکِ گران
بنگر که چند بد افگند آن دُروج به این جهان
که نیست بدتر از وی اندر این جهان

با اجازه شما جناب صمصام، یک مقدار خواندن شعر آسان تر می‌ شود.

مونا :)

Bravo

Samsam jaan:

Beautiful piece. What a blessed memory, having been there. 

PG, Ebi jaan:

 My late grandmother was Lor. Although not much of a music person, but every time she heard this song, she'd sing along. I still hear her voice, every time this song is playing.

Thanks.

Samsam Jaan!!

Enjoyed reading every line of it.You still amaze me pal.Hope after all hypes of elections,we read more blogs by you about your hometowm .

cheers

for you :

For Samsam

Anyone who knows his roots will forever be anchored to his land no matter how far he goes.