A Comparative Study of Indian-Persian Anecdotes in Classical Persian Literature

Image of woman in literature is an important issue of Critical Feminism. It can be argued that literature is the society's mirror, but unfortunately this mirror has not yet reflected a beautiful image of woman. With some exceptions women are usually given a nasty and negative image. This paper is a study on the images of women in some anecdotes and stories that had been written between 6th and 10th century after migration (Hijrat). Some of these stories have Indian origin such as ‘Tooti Nameh’, ‘Sindbad Nameh’, Kalila and Demnah’, ‘Javameol Hekayat’, and some have Persian origin including ‘Samak Ayyar’, ‘Bakhtiar Nameh’, ‘Marzban Nameh’, ‘Golistan’, ‘Baherestan’, and ‘Latayefol Tavayef’. Misogyny and patriarchy are evident in Indian religions especially Hindu. In some of Indian customs such as Sati women are considered at the lowest level of society and they suffer a lot. Therefore in some Persian anecdotes adopted from Indian stories, one can find traces of misogyny. In Persian Stories with Iranian origin, there is no sign of misogyny, but the approach to these texts is masculine. In stories such as ‘Bakhtiar Nameh’, ‘Samak Ayyar’, ‘Golistan’, ‘Baharistan’, and ‘Latayefol Tavayef’ women are considered as the second sex and those who are pious and obedient are praised.