This manuscript is written in the same distinctive handwriting as the Zoroastrian fragment (see cat. 2), almost certainly by the same ninth-century scribe. It contains an episode from a tale concerning Rustam, a hero of the Shāhnāma or 'Book of Kings', the Persian national epic. The Sogdians were familiar with legends concerning Rustam, his red horse Rakhsh and his leopard or panther skin, all of which are depicted in murals from the city of Penjikent in Sogdiana. The episode related here, however, does not occur in the Shāhnāma, but may well be translated or adapted from a lost Persian or Middle Persian original.
Ink on paper
The British Library,
Or.8212/81 (Ch. 00349)