ABSTRACT

The search for the origins of a concept is a perilous task, as it is necessary to ensure that the centuries of accumulated baggage, myth, prejudice and propaganda are jettisoned. Sometimes there is a danger of retrojecting an essentialised and idealised image of the concept which may completely distort the image of the original. It should be stated at the start that it would be incorrect to assume that this research posits a form of futuwwat that is constant and unchanging or which forms the nucleus of an Iranian identity, consciously or otherwise. Patriotic, nationalist Iranians have argued the case for an ethic of futuwwat (or jawAnmardC ) that careers through Iranian history and pre-dates the Islamic invasion of Sassanian Iran.1 While it is true that futuwwat has indeed been an element in Iranian history for the last one thousand years, it has been manifested in diverse forms. Moreover, the Islamic contribution to futuwwat in Iran should not be overlooked, as the medieval Sufi version of futuwwat emerged from a range of traditions that developed over the preceding five hundred years. That is to say, it was not specifically Iranian, Persian, Sassanian, Islamic, or Arab. Persian futuwwat from the tenth century onwards evolved and developed with the influence of all of the above.