that ends in a typical y “Saljuq-style” dragon head
ingrained in the Near and Central Asian regions
with small pointed ears and prominent outward-
at the beginning of the Christian era The con-
curling snout tip, the wide-open mouth revealing
ventional depiction of the two winged flying
the teeth and the tongue
geniis hovering over the sovereign while holding
In the same vein, the stirrup was associated
a shawl at either end was probably intended to
with royalty in Mongol society Juwaynī whose
bring heavenly fortune On the back of the impos-
family from Khurasan had been accustomed to
ing throne, oriented towards the ruler, are inward-
serve in the Mongol administration, records in
curving golden dragon-headed finials Crowned
his Taʾrīkh-i jahān-gushāy that “the sign of a great
by a pair of bifurcated antlers, the long upturned
emir [among the Mongols] was that his stirrups
snouts revealing sharp teeth and elongated
were of iron ”153 The use of dragon protomes on
tongue, a tangled mass of mane fluttering at the
a thirteenth-century Mongol iron stirrup frag-
back and beard projecting from the chin, they are
ment, excavated in Qaraqorum, may therefore
closely related to the dragon heads in the Jāmiʿ
reflect the exalted status accorded to the stirrup
al-tawārīkh produced in 714/1314–5 The figures
in Mongol society The inward-facing heads,
are rendered as ethnical y East Asian, presumably
which Hans-Georg Hüttel identifies as lupine
Mongol, identifiable not only by their physiog-
dragon heads,154 top the crossbar of the stirrup
nomies with slant eyes, small mouths and round
and are pictured with gaping jaws flanking the
jaws but also their attire, while the scal oped upper
slot for the stirrup strap (fig 196) 155
edge of the ceremonial chair recalls Chinese-style
The affiliation of the dragon symbolism with
models and is decorated all over with floral rep-
royalty156 took many forms In the Avestan texts
resentations that also follow sinicised conven-
the Iranian mythic hero-king Farīdūn brilliantly
tions, gold palmette-like blossoms set against a
defeated the three-headed, six-eyed dragon
black background (fig 195) From the tip of the
Dahāka and fettered and imprisoned the beast
cusped apex of the throne back projects a tall,
on Mount Damāwand,157 achieving this feat not
stemmed foliage bracketed at the stem from which
least on account of the magical powers attributed
issue stemmed blossoms held by smaller such
to him 158 Imbued with these powers, Farīdūn was
brackets The vegetal composition is flanked by
even able to assume the shape of the beast he had
the dragon heads It is interesting to compare the
vanquished, which he did to test the worthiness
representation to the similarly lavish descriptions
of his three sons, Salm, Tūr and Iraj; whereupon:
known of Qubilai’s throne at Khānbāliq:
he roared, belched anger, sowed terror, and
ornamented with dragons among clouds, and
flames came out of his mouth When his three
with a white awning and cushions embroidered
sons drew near, he saw the mountains had dark-
in gold 151
ened around; he arose, with the clouds of dust
Other emblems of power such as the dragon rod
about his feet, bearing rage and filled the world
of Mūsā are also illustrated in the surviving folios
with roar and howl 159
of the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh of Rashīd al-Dīn, tran-
After judging his sons’ reactions to these events,
scribed and illuminated in Tabriz under the
he divided his kingdom between them, Salm
supervision of the vizier 152 In one of the minia-
receiving the Near East, Tūr the Central Asian
tures Mūsā, Hārūn ibn ʿImrān (Aaron) and the
region beyond the Jayḥūn/Āmū Daryā (Tūrān),
Israelites stand watching the Egyptians drown in
and Iraj the centre, Iran 160 The scene is portrayed
the Red Sea (Qurʾān, sūra 28, 76–82), while Mūsā
in a miniature from the so-called small (that is,
is shown supporting himself on an elongated staff
small-format) Shāh-nāma group of manuscripts,
151 Itō Chūta, Shinakenchiku sōshoku (“Chinese Architec-
Tibet or Mongolia, tentatively dated between the twelfth
ture and Decoration”), 5 vols , Tokyo, 1943, vol 1, p 89, cited
and the fourteenth century with outward-facing dragon-
after Shatzman Steinhardt, 1988, p 72
heads, now in The Metropolitan Museum, New york, inv
152 Martin, 1912, repr 1968, vol 1, p 24, fig 12; Talbot-
no 1999 119a, b See LaRocca, 2006, p 243, cat no 127
Rice, 1957, p 61, cat no 11
156 See chapter 7
153 Tr Boyle, 1912–37, vol 1, p 22
157 yasht 5 33–5, 15 23–4; yasna 9 7–8; Vidēvdāt 1 18
154 Dschingis Khan und seine Erben, 2005, pp 166–7, cat
158 yasht 5 61–5 Cf Tafaẓẓolī, “Ferēdūn,” EIr.
no 151 (catalogue entry by Hans-Georg Hüttel)
159 Dulęba, 1995, p 58
155 Cf also a pair of stirrups in gold, silver and iron from
160 Shāh-nāma, tr and ed Mohl, 1838–1878, vol 1, p 135