A Comparative Study of Zal and Indra’s character in Shahnameh and Rigveda

Similarities of Zal with deity warriors in the Iranian and Indian mythologies which are represented with different structures in the course of time could be reminiscent of the consistency of those characters in eternal days or the prime myth producing mind.  For this reason using descriptive analytic method the purpose of this article is to recognize the roots of the tales centering around the character of Zal in the   Indo Iranian mythologies.  Examples of similarities between Zal and Indra, Ormazd, Mehr, and Veruna in Rigveda and Shahnameh is shown.  Zal who is raised far from his family in Simorgh’s nest returns to his divine abode in the Alborz mountains and upon uniting with Mehr or the sun, establishes his similitude with the myth of Indra which borrowed statements from the myth of mythra or (Mehr) upon passing time.  The myth of Suma, a plant which gives power to Indra and provides a basis for his invincibility in its prime function that is healing property resembles the healing feather of Simorgh in the national epic which rendered Zal invincible.  The myth of Soma in Indra’s tale is comparable with the healing tree upon which Simorgh’s nest rests according to Zoroastrian texts.  The high frequency of similarities between Zal and Indra are worthy of contemplation and strengthens the assumption that these two are closely related or are representative of the same important themes repeated in a peculiar, significant way in the minds of ancestors and had been a common feature in creation of the mythological epic narratives.