Ferdowsi died in 1020 in Tus, aged about 79. A Persian poet, Ferdowsi is the author of the Shahnameh, the Book of Kings, a monumental epic of some fifty thousand couplets that narrates the history and legends of Iran from creation to the Arab conquest. It took him about thirty years to complete, and he deliberately used a Persian language largely free of Arabic words, helping to preserve it as a literary tongue. According to tradition, he received a disappointing reward from Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. He is regarded as the national poet of Iran, and his tomb in Tus is a place of pilgrimage.
Before and after
- c. 1010sMurasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji
- from c. 1011 to 1215Ghurid dynasty
- from 1011 to 1934Construction of Saint Sophia Cathedral
- 1015Construction of Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg
- 1020Death of Ferdowsi
- 1020Construction of Wawel Cathedral
- 1021Ibn al-Haytham completes the Book of Optics
- 1021Vikings are at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland
- 1024The Song dynasty issues the first government paper money
More in Art, literature & culture
- 787 CESecond Council of Nicaea
- 11th centuryPublication of The Song of Roland
- 14th centuryPublication of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- 1353Publication of The Decameron
- 1387Publication of The Canterbury Tales
- from 1478 to 1834Spanish Inquisition
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 11th century.