Mazandaran Province - in Literature

In Literature

In the Persian epic, Shahnameh, Mazandaran is mentioned in two different sections. The first mention is implicit, when Fereydun sets its capital in a city called Tamishe near Amol:

بیاراست گیتی بسان بهشت.................... به جای گیا سرو گلبن بکشت

از آمل گذر سوی تمیشه کرد .............. نشست اندر آن نامور بیشه کرد

under the title "فریدون چو شد بر جهان کامگار", and when Manuchehr is returning to Fereydun's capital, Tamisheh in Mazandaran (known as Tabarestan), after his victory over Salm and Tur:

ز دريای گيلان چون ابر سياه.............. دمادم به ساری رسيد آن سپاه

چو آمد بنزدیک شاه آن سپاه.................. فریدون پذیره بیامد براه

under the title "تهی شد ز کینه سر کینه دار".

In the second section, a region called Mazandaran is mentioned in the Kai Kavoos era; it is an area which is mostly inhabited by Div (demons). The legendary Iranian Shah Kaykavoos, as well as the Iranian hero Rostam, each take turn to go to Mazandaran in order to battle the demons.

A famous verse from Shahnameh is when Zal tells Kai Kavoos:

شنیدم یکی نو سخن بس گران ..........که شه دارد آهنگ مازندران

"I heard troubling news that the king is planning to go to Mazandaran"

However, this Mazandaran is not considered identical to the modern province of Mazandaran, and is instead a land to the west of Iran. The current province was simply considered a part of Tabaristan; the name Mazandaran is a later development, perhaps based upon local terminology.

In Gaston Leroux's 'The Phantom of the Opera,' one of the characters was formerly the daroga (chief of police) of Mazanderan.