CHAPTER I

Iranian literary tradition in the opening centuries of Islam 1

The character of the Persian history during the Sasanian epoch 6

Importance of this epoch according to the Arab writers of the first
centuries of Islam 10

The position of the Parsi community and the centres of the preservation
of Persian tradition during the period of the Khalifat in Tabaristan,
Khorasan and Fars 15

The castle of Shiz in the district of Arrajan in the province of Fars
described by Istakhri, p. 118, 2-4; 150, 14-7; Ibn Hauqal, p. 189, 1-2;
cf. the translator of the _Khoday Nameh_, Behram, son of Mardanshah of
the city of Shapur in the province of Fars 19

This castle was the residence of those acquainted with the Iranian
tradition (the _badhgozar_) and here their archives were lodged 20


_ARABIC WRITERS AS SOURCES OF SASANIAN CULTURE_.

To the Iranian element belongs a very rich rôle in the external as well
as the internal history of Islam. Its influence is obvious and constant
in the history of the Moslem nations' spread over centuries. Whenever
the circumstances have been favourable it has been clearly manifest;