Recognition of Roots of Chivalry on Samanid Nishapur Carved Pottery (with Emphasize on Imam Ali’s Manifestations)

Chivalry is an ethical intent in Islamic thought which was altered to a type of vulgar Sufism during Abbasid period. The intent was being called “Fotovvat-nameh” after inscription. The main factors of “Fotovvat-nameh” are about ethics. Because of his generosity and bravery, Imam Ali was the favorite hero of chivalry. Therefore, tendency to the chivalry is most obvious among Shiah stratum and their slogan is “no chivalrous except Ali and no sword except Zolfaqar”. Khorasan had a great status in the history of chivalry, since a Shiite group that opposed the Abbasids were populated there. The Samanid governed Khorasan contemporary to the Abbasids. Epigraphic pottery of Nishapur is one of the artworks that was created in Samanid era. The purpose of epigraphs on the Nishapur potteries is celebration of ethics that has a close relationship with the text of “Fotovvat-nameh”. Moreover, in the inscriptions and “Fotovvat-nameh”s, good attributes are praised and bad behaviors are disapproved, and tendency to Imam Ali is obvious in both types of the cultural phenomena. This paper tries to trace the roots of chivalry and the emersions of Imam Ali as the symbol of chivalry in the inscriptions on Nishapur pottery. Besides, the reasons of using his name and speech in the inscriptions will be explained. The results show that epigraphic pottery of Nishapur is an exposition and an old document of generosity and its rituals. Emersions of Imam Ali on the inscriptions is understood for his importance in generosity. The research method was descriptive-analytic and data was collected through library research.