ٴŪ (Pahl. dstwbl, Man. Mid. Pers. dstwr, Man. Parth. dstbr, Pāzand and NPers. 岹ū, all < OIr. *dasta-bara-(?), the first element of which seems to be cognate with Av. ąٱ- “dogma, doctrine” < ą-, *OIr. dans- “to teach”; cf. Man. Pers. dastan “powerful,” Man. Parth. dast “capable, able,” NPers. dast “power, ability,” and Dastān, the name of Zāl, father of Rostam, in all likelihood also signifying “powerful”; for the etymology of dastwar, see Bailey, Zoroastrian Problems, p. 160 n. 5; idem, 1945, p. 8; Bartholomae, p. 26; Darmesteter, I, p. 115; Horn, Etymologie, p. 126; Hübschmann, Persische Studien, p. 63; Nyberg, Manual, II, p. 59; Perikhanian, pp. 445-48).
In Middle Persian. In the Sasanian period dastwar had a wide range of meanings, primarily denoting “one in authority, having power.” It was most often a generic term referring to Zoroastrian spiritual authorities. It was qualified as ŧ āgāh “well versed in religious matters” (cf. ɲ “judge,” described as dād āgāh “well versed in the law”), and dastwar ī ŧ āgāh was thus an appellation for high-ranking theologians and jurists (in conformity with the concept of ŧ “religion,”), to whom members of the community turned for authoritative advice or decisions. For example, Wehšābuhr, ōān ō “high priest” in the reign of Ḵosrow I Anōšīravān (531-79), was styled dastwar ī Ādurbāygān when summoned to the inquisitorial tribunal convened to try Mazdak (Zand ī Wahman Yašt, chap. 2). The famous sage, seer, vizier, and counselor of Guštāsp bore the title dastwar Jāmāsˊp (Gathic Av. ə̄峾貹-; Pahlavi Yasna and Visperad, p. 205); it also occurs in Mardbūd ī ōān ō . . . ud abārīg dastwarān ī mad ēstād hēnd “Mardbūd, the high priest . . . and the other religious leaders who were present there” (岹, pt. 2, p. 39). In the common phrase pēšēnīgān dastwarān the term refers to “the ancient fathers of the faith, that is, ōōٰŧ&Dz;,” and the contemporary dastwarān ēdōn guft is to be translated “the eminent jurists/ theologians have so maintained.”
The term dastwar is also applied to leaders of evil, that is, non-Zoroastrian, religions: awēšān dēw dastwar hēnd kēšān druwandīh ŧ “those whose religion is unrighteousness are religious dignitaries representing the demon” (Pahlavi Yasna and Visperad, pp. 214-15).
Dastwar occurs in legal texts in the sense of “authorized, legal representative; legal adviser or expert” (see Dar ī dastwar “Chapter on the legal representative,” in 岹, pt. 1, p. 5; Perikhanian, p. 14). It is only in this specialized sense that the term designates a distinct juridical office and 岹ٷɲī “authorization” a specific function. According to the Ѳ岹 (pt. 1, p. 6), the dastwar is invested with legal power (岹ٷɲī), appears in the law court in the capacity of legal representative (pad 岹ٷɲī andar ēstēd), and accordingly pleads one’s cause as a lawyer (岹ٷɲī ud rāyēnišn ī dādestān kardan; 岹, pt. 1, p. 6).
By extension dastwar has the sense of “authentic canon, doctrine, dogma,” as in the expressions har čē az wizand ud āšuftagīh ī Aleksandar . . . pad dastwar mānd ēstēd “Whatever (of the Avesta and Zand) had survived the havoc and disruption of Alexander . . . and remained authoritative” and Tansar abar mad ān ī *ēwar frāz padīrift ud abārīg az dastwar hišt “Tansar assumed command; he selected those that were trustworthy and left the rest out of the canon” (ŧ첹, ed. Madan, pt. 1, p. 412; Shaki, p. 118). The term also signifies “authority,” as in ŧ pad dastwar dār “regard the religion as your authority” (Pahlavi Yasna and Visperad, p. 202) and axw ī xwēš pad dastwar kunēd “hold your conscience as your authority” (ŧ첹, ed. Madan, pt. 2, p. 528). Through development of this sense the word 岹ٷɲī came to mean “judgment; authoritative decision; permission,” as attested in pad rāst 岹ٷɲī ī Tansar “on the just judgment of Tansar” (ŧ첹, ed. Madan, pt. 1, p. 413) and pad 岹ٷɲī ī pid “by the father’s permission.”
In New Persian. In the Islamic period 岹ū occurs in the Pāzand text of Škand-gumānīg wizār (tr. J. de Menasce, chap. 15.91): Pāwlōs yašą 岹ū “Paul, their religious leader.” Although some of the original meanings of the word were retained in this period, the semantic range was increasingly widened to convey different meanings at different times. The Zoroastrian Parsis have employed 岹ū as the title of a high priest superior to the ō (Sorūšiān, p. 77), and 岹ūān 岹ū or its New Persian form 岹ū-e 岹ūān “high priest” has replaced the earlier ŧ&Dz;ō “pontiff,” itself adopted in the first centuries of Islam for the Sasanian ōān ō “high priest” (Boyce, Zoroastrianism I, p. 164).
The term 岹ū has been used in profane senses in secular Persian literature. It signifies “prime minister; minister; governmental counselor,” the temporal equivalent of Sasanian spiritual dignitaries, and is commonly used in the sense of “command; instruction; obligation; (moral) precept; draft” or “program; model; formulary or recipe, hence prescription.” At present it means “rule, regulation, code of law; grammar (岹ū-e zabān, lit., “rules of language”); order of the day; procedure of a committee meeting (岹ū-e jalsa).” In classical and literary style 岹ūī, continuing Mid. Pers. 岹ٷɲī, and also usually 岹ū mean “permission.” Obsolete meanings include “keeping one’s word, promise”; “something given by the vendor free of charge in addition to what is sold”; “customs, tax”; “foundation, pillar”; “master copy, copy”; “bolt of the door.”
ٲū was borrowed in classical Arabic as Dzū (pl. 岹ī), with a variety of meanings, mainly “army pay list; leave; formulary.” In modern Arabic Dzū refers to a “constitution, statute, regulation.” In colloquial Arabic 岹ū denotes “permission.”
Bibliography:
H. W. Bailey, “Asica,” TPS, 1945, pp. 1-38.
C. Bartholomae, Zum sasanidischen Recht I, Sb. der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften 9, Abh. 5, Heidelberg, 1918.
J. Darmesteter, Études iraniennes I, Paris, 1883.
Pahlavi Yasna and Visperad, Pahlavi Text Series 8, ed. B. N. Dhabhar, Bombay, 1949.
A. Perikhanian, Sasanidskiĭ Sudebnik (Mātakdān ī Hazār Dātastān) (The Sasanian legal code [岹 i hazār dādestān]), Yerevan, 1973, pp. 445-48.
M. Shaki, “The ŧ첹 Account of the History of the Zoroastrian Scriptures,” Archív Orientální 49/2, 1981, p. 114-25.
Škand-gumanīg wizār, tr. J. de Menasce as Škand-Gumanīk Vičār, Fribourg, 1945.
J. S. Sorūšiān, Farhang-e Behdīnān, Tehran, 1335 Š/1956.
Zand ī Wahman Yašt, ed. and tr. B. T. Anklesaria as Zand i Vohuman Yašt, Bombay, 1957.
(Mansour Shaki)
Originally Published: December 15, 1994
Last Updated: November 18, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. VII, Fasc. 1, pp. 111-112
