of Shapur and
the most famous type of which are the bass-reliefs representing the
triumphs of the Sasanian Shapur I, over the emperor Valentine].

These facts generally important for the history of the preservation of
the epic, historic and artistic traditions of Iran, are particularly
important for the investigation of the sources of the Arabic
translations of the Sasanian chronicles and of the epopee of Firdausi.
As we know, the translators of these chronicles were Persian
"fire-worshippers" or Musalmans who had adopted Islam only externally
and had remained true to the ancient Persian religion. Among them the
foremost is called _Mobed_ belonging to the city of Sabur in the
province of Fars. He is important as a worker in the Iranian historical
tradition and about him we shall have occasion to speak later on. This
_Mobed_ probably made Arabic translations of Sasanian chronicles from
materials in the archives in the castle of Shiz. Further, the
information adduced by us above regarding the castle refers to times a
little previous to the age of Firdausi and undoubtedly among the
materials in these archives were the sources of the Shah Nameh which
were available to Firdausi through intermediate versions. Finally, we
see that these Sasanian histories were illustrated, a fact which is
confirmed by the statement of other Arab writers as we shall see later
on. Generally the district of Arrajan enjoyed its ancient glory with
reference to its cultural connections. Yakut[1] has preserved for us the
information that at Raishahar in the district of Arrajan there lived in
the Sasanian times men, versed in a peculiar species of syllabary who
wrote medical, astronomical and logical works.

[Footnote 1: "_Muajjam ul Buldan_", ed. Wustenfeld, II, p. 887. This
passage has been translated by Barbier de Maynard in his "Geographical,
Historical and Literary Dictionary of Persia", in French, pp. 270-271.
_See_ also Fihrist II, p, 105.]

What we have studied above establishes the existence of Persian literary
tradition in its national form for several centuries after the Arab
invasion. Now we have to survey wherein lie the characteristic features
of this tradition and what were its main contents. And we pass on to
their consideration.

CHAPTER II

The Parsi Clergy and the Musalman Iranophile party of the Shuubiya 26

The part played by them in the conservation of the Persian literary
tradition 30

The different varieties of