page_title: Daeva
section_title: In the Shahnameh
hierarchical_section_title: Daeva / In tradition and folklore / In the Shahnameh
caption_attribution_description: English: This painting represents an episode described in Firdawsi's "Shahnamah" (The Book of Kings), the epic story of ancient kings and heroes of Persia composed by the renowned author during the first decades of the 11th century. The text on the fragments recto and verso describes the painting. King Khusraw summons Rustam to help him stop a demon (div) disguised as a wild ass that is ravaging of the royal herds. After three days of unsuccessful battle, the hero falls asleep in the grass. Thereupon, the Div Akvan casts aside his disguise, resumes his demonic form, rushes towards Rustam, and digs up the ground around the hero. He gives Rustam the choice of being thrown against the mountains, to be eaten by lions and onagers, or cast into the sea, where he would drown to his death. Knowing that the enemy would do the exact opposite and realizing that, if cast to the sea, he would have a chance to swim to survival, he asked to be thrown against the mountains. Rustam is cast to the sea, swims back to the shore, and returns to defeat the demon in combat.
context_page_description: Daeva is an Avestan language term for a particular sort of supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are "gods that are rejected". This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws are personifications of every imaginable evil.
  Daeva, the Iranian language term, shares the same origin of "Deva" of Indian mythology, later incorporated into Indian religions. While the word for the Vedic spirits and the word for the Zoroastrian entities are etymologically related, their function and thematic development is altogether different. Originally, the term was used to denote beings of cultural folklore which predate use in scripture.
  Equivalents for Avestan daeva in Iranian languages include Pashto, Balochi, Kurdish dêw, Persian dīv/deev, all of which apply to ogres, monsters, and other villainous creatures.
context_section_description: A list of ten demons is provided in the Shahnameh: Besides the afore-mentioned Az "greed", Kashm "wrath" (Avestan Aeshma), Nang "dishonor", Niaz "want", and Rashk "envy", the epic poem includes Kin "vengeance", Nammam "tell-tale", Do-ruy "two-face", napak-din "heresy", and (not explicitly named) ungratefulness.
  Some of the entities that in the Middle Persian texts are demons, are in the Shahnameh attributes of demons, for instance, varuna "backwards" or "inside out", reflecting that they tend to do the opposite of what they are asked to do. Although Ferdowsi generally portrays divs as being distinct from humans, the poet also uses the word to denote "evil people".
  One of the more popular stories from the Shahnameh is that of Rostam and the Dīv-e Sapīd, the "white demon" of Mazandaran, who blinds Rostam's men (who are then cured with the blood of the demon's gall).
caption: Div Akvan throws Rustam into the Caspian Sea.
exif: {}