Continuation of Two Shahnameh Rituals Among Persian Speakers in Afghanistan

Rituals are symbolic and common activities that are carried out in human societies to take advantage of supernatural forces. In this paper, two rites have been addressed, which seem to be rooted in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. One of them is singing “Makhta”. What creates a link between “Makhta” and mourning in Shahnameh is not only the way of mourning, but also the belief in the immortality of the person killed, his championship during life, and the belief that the martyr has defeated evil and increased goodness. The belief that the victim evil is innocent and the epic and tragic nature of  of these mourning poems also strengthen the connection between singing “Makhta” and mourning poems in Shahnameh. Another issue raised in this article is the Flag of Imam Ali (pbuh), which is raised every year on the day of Nowruz in the shrine ascribed to Imam Ali in Balkh province. The research shows that this “Flag” has nothing to do with Imam Ali and is the same Derafsh Kaviani (Flag of Lotus) mentioned in Shahnameh.