The Kitab al-mahasin wa’l-addad (The Book of Marvels & Opposites) was written by an anonymous author at the end of the 9th century (between 860 and 910). It has traditionally been attributed to Al-Jāḥiẓ but contains information that indicates a later author.
The most relevant critical edition is G van Vloten’s Le Livre des Beautes et des Antitheses published by the famous Brill publishing house.
Regarding the passage below, “Aparvēz” (the Victorious), was the nickname of king Khosrow II (or Chosroes II) (590-628) the last great Sassanid ruler of the Persian Empire. Bahram Chobin is a Persian general who in 590 rebelled against the new Persian ruler, that is, Khosrow II. Khosrow fled Persia to Byzantine territory. The “King of Rome” refers to the Byzantine Emperor Maurice (the author of the Strategikon). By 591, Khosrow with the help of Maurice took back his throne while Chobin fled to the Turks where he was assassinated by Khosrow’s agents. His troops came back to Persia where they joined another rebellion (by Vistahm). Presumably, Maurice helped the Persian monarch in exchange for some territory. Once Phocas took over and had Maurice executed in 602, Khosrow II renewed hostilities. These did not end until Phocas’s successor Heraclius defeated Khosrow, who was then executed by one of his own sons (who made peace with the Byzantines). A few years later Persia was conquered by the Muslims.
“Among the gifts that no one had heard about till now, there was the gift of Aparvēz [to] the king of Byzantium to incentivize him to fight against Bahram Chobin… He sent him an envoy asking for help… Aparvēz’ envoys delivered this present to the king of ar-Rum [Rome, i.e., Byzantium], who then helped him [Aparvēz] and sent him twenty thousand riders armed from head to toe, and he also sent him two million dinars to feed this army, as also a thousand woven garments and twenty maidens, the daughters of Slavic kings, wearing silk dresses with flower patterns. In their ears they wore golden earrings with pearls and rubies/saphires, and on their heads they wore precious stone tiaras.”
The Slavic princesses were no doubt slave girls, perhaps hostages taken by Mauritius in his Slav wars. Some authors believe that these maidens were taken only in the years 600-601 when the Avars and Slavs were defeated by the Byzantines.
Copyright ©2016 jassa.org All Rights Reserved