Ferdowsi completes the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings
- Date
- 8 March 1010 CE
- Category
- Culture, arts & philosophy
- Region
- Khorasan, Greater Iran (modern northeastern Iran)
- Era
- Post-Classical / Medieval
- Significance
On 8 March 1010 CE the poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi completed the Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), the national epic of Greater Iran, after roughly three decades of work begun around 977 CE in his native Tus in the Khorasan region.
Comprising some 50,000 rhymed couplets across 62 stories and around 990 chapters, it is the longest epic poem ever composed by a single author. The work recounts the mythical, heroic, and historical past of the Iranian world from the creation of humankind to the Muslim Arab conquest of the seventh century, immortalising figures such as Rostam and Sohrab and the principle that unjust rulers forfeit divine legitimacy. Ferdowsi dedicated the final recension to Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, though legend holds he was poorly rewarded with silver rather than the promised gold. By composing in a Persian largely purged of Arabic loanwords, Ferdowsi helped preserve and revitalise the Persian language and linked Iran's pre-Islamic heritage with its Islamic era, making the Shahnameh a cornerstone of Persian literary and cultural identity.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 8 March 1010 CE
- Abbasid Caliphate750 CE – 1258 CE
- Song Dynasty960 CE – 1279 CE
- Byzantine Empire330 CE – 1453 CE
- Kanem-Bornu Empire700 CE – 1900 CE
- Liao Dynasty (Khitan Empire)916 CE – 1125 CE
- Fatimid Caliphate909 CE – 1171 CE
Related culture, arts & philosophy events
- Murasaki Shikibu completes The Tale of Genjic. 1008–1021 CE
- Rajaraja Chola completes the Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur1003–1010 CE
- Zhu Xi completes the Neo-Confucian synthesis and the Four Booksc. 1175-1190
- House of Wisdom and the Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement under al-Ma'munc. 830 CE
- The rise of the European university (Bologna and Paris)c. 1088 (University of Bologna)
- Al-Ghazali completes The Incoherence of the Philosophersc. 1095 CE
Further reading
The wider story
The Story of Art
The best-selling art history ever written, from cave paintings to the modern age.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.