Shahbaz (bird)

Shahbaz (Persian: شَهباز) is the name of a fabled bird in Persian mythology.[1] It is described as having a body similar to an eagle, being bigger in size than a hawk or falcon, and having inhabited an area within the Zagros, the Alborz, and the Caucasus within Greater Iran. In ancient Persian mythology, the Shahbaz was a god who helped the Iranian peoples and guided the Faravahar to the Iranian lands.

Standard of Cyrus the Great (Derafsh Shahbaz), founder of the Achaemenid Empire, featuring the Shahbaz (see List of Iranian flags)

History

The word Shahbaz literally translates to "royal falcon".[2][3][4] It was standard practice for the Persian Shah to keep a royal falcon or another bird of prey.[5] This symbol represented both strength and aggressiveness.[4] The ancient Egyptian deity of Horus is speculated to have been the archetype for the standard of Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire.

British explorer Richard F. Burton considered the symbol to refer to the goshawk species Accipiter gentilis.[2] Shahbaz could have alternatively referred to another common bird over the skies of the Iranian Plateau: the eastern imperial eagle, though this observation has never been claimed by historians as merited.

During the Achaemenid era, the Persian imperial flag was hence rectangular in shape, divided kite-like into four equal triangles alternating between two colours. The standard, a ceramic plaque with the fabled bird-like creature that is speculated to be the Shahbaz (Derafsh-e Shahbaz-e-Talayi) carved out, was found during excavations at Persepolis in the early 20th century. The belief is that this was the official symbol of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great and his heirs.

See also
  • Chamrosh, a Persian mythical bird that is described as having inhabited the Alborz Mountains
  • Huma bird, a legendary bird in Persian and later cultural Islamic mythology
  • Simurgh, a mythical bird in Iranian literature

References
  1. Mark, Joshua J. (16 January 2020). "Ancient Persian Gods, Heroes, and Creatures - The Complete List". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  2. Burton, Sir Richard Francis (1852). Falconry in the valley of the Indus.
  3. Brill, E. J. First Encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936.
  4. Altmann, Peter (3 December 2019). Banned Birds: The Birds of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Mohr Siebeck. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-3-16-158163-2.
  5. Khan, Hazrat Inayat (28 September 2020). The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan: The Smiling Forehead. Library of Alexandria. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-61310-665-5.
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