The entry of the peacock motif into the art of Zoroastrian embroidery: art of Zoroastrian embroidery

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Zoroastrians of Iran are considered the oldest natives of Iran. After the Arab attack
on Iran, they lived in Khorasan for a while and then went to Yazd and Kerman.
But some of them moved to India. Qajar period, which coincides with the birth of
Zoroastrian-embroidery art (Zartoshti-duzi), Zoroastrians from India, who were
mostly cloth merchants, came to Iran and helped Iranian Zoroastrians. As some
Indian merchants married Iranian Zoroastrian women and described to their wives
about the peacock (a bird that is not native to Iran) and its beauty. Zoroastrian
women's mental image of this bird caused various forms of peacocks in Zoroastrian embroidery art. The peacock was very important in the art of the Sasanian era and is reminiscent of the goddess Anahita in Zoroastrianism. Repetition of this pattern symbolically in the clothes of women Zoroastrian artists is a way of reviving their religious thoughts. In this article, an attempt has been made to study the art of Zoroastrian embroidery, which is a native art of Iran, in its birthplace, and to discuss the reasons for the appearance of the peacock motif in this art. Considering that all motifs of this art are inspired by the native nature of Iran, the most important question of this research is why there is a peacock motif (unlike the natural/real peacock) in this art.
Original languageEnglish
Article number10.22054/qjik.2023.72224.1351
JournalIndigenous Knowledge
Volume9
Issue number17
Pages (from-to)115
Number of pages147
ISSN2538-2543
Publication statusPublished - 2022

ID: 400226143