A literary history of Persia

BARBAD THE MINSTREL 15were transcribed from a Pahlawf original, appears to me worthyof more serious attention. According to this legend, one of thechief ornaments of the court of Khusraw Parwiz, the Sisanianking (A.D. 590627), was a minstrel named by Persian writersBarbad, but by Arabic authors Bahlabad, Balahbad orFahlabad, forms of which the first and third point to aPersian original Pahlapat. Bahlabad and Barbad whenwritten in the Arabic character are not easily confounded ;but if written in the Pahlawi character, which has but oneand for R and L on thesign for A and H on the one hand,other, they are identical, which fact affords strong evidencethat the legends concerning this singer go back ultimately tobooks written in Pahlawi, in other words to records almostcontemporary. Now this Barbad (for simplicity themodern Persian form of the name isadopted here, save incitations from Arabic texts) presents, as I have elsewherepointed out, 1 a striking resemblance to the Samanid poetRudagi, who flourished in the early part of the tenth centuryhim by Ibn Qutayba (fA.D. 889) in his 'Uyunu'l-akhbdr (MS. of St. PetersburgAsiatic Museum, No. 691) ; al-Jahidh (}A.D. 8P)) in his Kitdbu'l~Hayawdn(Cambridge MS., Qq. 224) ;Hamadhani (circ. A.D. 903), ed. de Goeje ;theauthoi 5 of the Kitdbu'l-Mahdsin wa'l-Addad (ed. Van Vloten, pp. 363-64),probably al-Bayhaqi (circ. A.D. 925) Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi; (|A.D. 940), vol. i,p. 192 or 188 of another edition ; Abu'l-Faraj al-Isfahani (fA.D. 957), in theKildbu'l-Aghdni ; Yaqiit (fA.D. 1229), vol. iii, pp. 250 et seqq. ; and al-Qazwini (fA.D. 1283), in his Athdru'l-Bildd (pp. 154-55, 230-231, 295-297).Of Persian writers who allude to him we may mention Sharif-i-Mujallidi(date uncertain : cited by Nidhami-i-'Arudi-i-Samarqandi in the ChahdrMaqdla) Firdawsi; (fcirc. A.D. 415), in the Shdhndma ; Nidhami of Ganja(\ circ; A.D. 1203) in his Khusraw wa Shirin, and the other Nidhami abovecited (t circ. A.D. 1160) Muhammad; 'Awfi(circ. A.D. 1228) ;and Hamdu'llahMustawfi of Qazvvin (circ. A.D. 1340) in the Tdrikh-i-Guzida. I am indebtedto Baron V. Rosen, of St. Petersburg, for calling my attention toseveral of the above references, which I had overlooked when writing thearticle referred to in the next note.1See my article in the J. R. A. S. for January, 1899 (pp. 37-69), onThe Sources of Dawlatshdh ; with some remarks on the Materials availablefor a Literary History of Persia, and an Excursus on Barbad and