An investigation of the epic and mythical sources concerning Rustam will demonstrate a significant link between this legendary hero and Hirmand River. Their simultaneous and unnatural emergence within a particular mythical period together with the testimony and prevalence of common beliefs in Sistan region indicate that there is a mysterious yet interpretable relationship between them. Through the arrangement and analysis of such documents it can be claimed that Rustam is the exclusive hero of Hirmand River and sometimes functions as its personification.

Since the epic and Gnosis are based on common foundations, the emergence of mythological and epical elements of Shah-Name can be clearly seen in the realm of mystical literature.These elements have found their ways into the mystical literature through Sanaii's poems. Meanwhile, Rustam, the superior hero of Shah-Name, has a particular status. He is a unique hero in the realm of Gnostic poems and gnosis, especially those of Maulana's, and Maulana's mystical interpretations of Rustam shows the significance and importance of this hero in his mind and words.

The purpose of this study is to deal with the epic adventures of Rustam and his family. Research indicates that the story of Rustam has Sokai origins.Rustam and Zal do not appear in Avesta and their very sporadic existence in Pahlavid literature approves that they have Sokai origins.When Sokaies arrived the eastern parts of Iran, they changed the name of "Zarank" into Sistan. This tribe brought a combination of the culture of the states of central Asia. This culture which was made of a combination of the Iranian, Greek and Indian themes, was also affected by the kushani culture and its artistic proliferations.Based on the oral traditions and the written legacy of the eastern parts of Iran and the Great khurasan, which were propagated by Gusans (troubadours), and were written at his time, Ferdowsi changed the prose texts into a very brilliant poetic work.Ferdowsi, having set aside the ancient heroes, made Rustam the central hero of all the stories of the Shahnameh and by starting from Manuchehr Pishdadi to the Kianid Goshtasp, he covered a period of almost 700 years, Ferdowsi's main intention was to maintain the unity of Iran's epic, the Shahnameh.The consideration of other dynastic works belonging to the same genre as the Shahnameh intensifies this supposition that they all have been formed out of the same text and the same form. Some of these works are Bahmannameh, Faramarz nameh, Borzunameh, Jahangirnameh, etc.Most of the names in this heroic family also exist in Bahmannameh. The names belonging to women are fewer than those belonging to men.

Despite all the different interpretations and analysis written on the story of Rustam and Esfandyar, it still demands re-reading and explanation of some of the ambiguous parts and points. This paper intends to reveal the following points through an analysis of three verses as a sample:1. According to some evidences and documents, Gashtasb imprisoned Esfandyar's son in women's prison in order to humiliate Esfandyar. And therefore it is most likely that "bad doers" in a line of this verse refers to this story narration.2. In a verse the name "Kariman" is mentioned; in Iran's past literary tradition and also in reading the Shah-nameh (by Ferdowsi), it was a proper name; and also the name ofNariman's father. It is the plural of "Karim" bearing its denotative meaning.3. Alluding to the murder of Shah Haamavaran by Rustam in more than one part of this story; which totally contradicts the destiny of this figure in the narration of Haamavaran's War, appears to be the antithesis of what is said about it in Shah-Nameh. The reason for this issue is related to two reports on this story in the history of the Iranian epics; while traces of both can be still observed in Shah-Nameh.

Old Persian is the name applied to a language variety used in the cuneiform inscription of the Achaemenian kings (6th to 4th century BC). This language actually represents a language variety spoken in Persia. that can be localized as the language of southwestern Persia. Old Persian has some characteristic features of a stylistic and literary language.In the inscription called the Inscription of Tomb which is written beside the entrance door of the tomb of Darius and also known as DNb inscription, Darius tries to introduce himself in terms of utopian king. The DNb has talken the form of royal custom. Darius likes to reflect himself in that way and by means of this sends a message to the people throughout the world. If one compares other writings of Darius with the tomb inscription, which is considered as Darius' last words, he/she may imagine that this inscription may be a kind of will (testament). The last part of Darius' inscription includes ten lines denoting a sort of advise to a young who will probably join the immortal soldiers and future commanders. In addition, Darius emphasized largely on other features like ethical issues and subjects in this inscription.

In this study Indigenous knowledge of using of forest and Pastureland in Rustam Township has been investigated. Some regions of central part of Rustam were considered and from those regions some villages that were rich in indigenous knowledge were selected. Finally, the sample of the study was chosen using snowball method. In this study, the techniques of participant observation, free observation, semi-structured interviews and documents were used. The results show that, indigenous knowledge is not only opposed to modernization of indigenous knowledge and development but also it can be a criterion for regional development. Also, it can be concluded that, modernization programs in our country that had been appeared as land reform, caused the major changes in the structure of the sample, the division of labor exploitation activists and their stratification. As a result of this, along changing in society and lifestyles in this region, the exploitation of indigenous knowledge has been weakened and at present time this knowledge is deteriorated.

The Shahnameh has long been the only popular book that has both entertained Iranians and made them aware of their past. It functioned as a mirror in which every one saw his or her past. Thus, in addition to the changes the poet made himself in the sequence of verses, especially during the years 384 AH, the year the first draft was completed and 400 AH, when the final draft was prepared, scribers and the common readers also made changes, making it extremely difficult to find an authentic copy of the book. In this article, the writer first briefly mentions some of the reasons why reading the Shahnameh is difficult, then he concentrates on one of these reasons; that is, the case where a line is misplaced or added, a question which has been overlooked in scholarly research in spite of its importance. To do so, the writer mentions many instances in the story of Rustam and Isfandiar where the omission or addition of one or several lines has broken the logical continuity of the narrative. For each instance, the writer offers a solution which, as he argues, renders the text more coherent.

Despite increasing requirements of rural and tribal communities to use new technologies, the adoption of this technology in rural areas is very low. Surveys show that, the reason of this rejection is the incompatibility of technology with the rural environment. Scientists believe that, to accept the new technologies, it should be referred to indigenous knowledge. In this field study, the indigenous knowledge of the use of oak tree components in Rustam tribe from Mamasani tribe of Fars has been evaluated. Some regions of the territories of Rustam tribe were selected and among those regions, villages that have rich indigenous knowledge in the use of oak were selected. The subjects of the study were selected by snowball sampling method. In this study the techniques of participant observation, free observation and semi-structured interviews were used, and in some cases, documents were also used inevitably. It was found that, in the study area according to the modernization theory based on the compatibility of indigenous knowledge and development, indigenous knowledge has not only been incompatible and an obstacle at the times it was governed, but also it was sustainable in development. The example of this, is the use of oak products by people in their lives and living with this tree for many years. But the arrival of modernization program, caused fundamental changes in the structures of the studied population, and with the lifestyle changes in this area, the utilization of indigenous knowledge has been weakened.

One of the interesting topics in studying the life-story of Rustam, son of Zā l, is his multi-marriages in Iran or in foreign lands. An important account regarding his marriage is his matrimonial relation with a girl from a royal Kianid house, briefly mentioned in certain historical sources. Of this marriage, two separate versions have been reported in Iran’ s epic literature. One is the story of Rustam marrying Kay Qubā d’ s sister extensively depicted in some of the narrational scrolls of the Shahnameh. The other version, receiving little attention, is the hero’ s marriage with Kā vus’ s sister. The latter account has been versified by an anonymous poet in an unspecified period and scribed in one of the manuscripts of the Shahnameh. In the present article, we first recount the versified report of how the marriage of Rustam with Kay Kā vus’ s sister took place, and then we examine it.

Shahnameh is one of the most valuable works in Iranian culture and has always been of interest to people from all walks of life. Many scribes and copywriters have reproduced it and this has produced many manuscripts. There have been many differences and discrepancies in the writing of verses, interpretations and words between these manuscripts and, consequently, between the numerous editions of the Shahnameh. Minovy, Nooshin, Davies, Khatibi and Aidenlo have done some research on Shahnameh publications but no independent research has ever been conducted on the differences and discrepancies in those editions of the story of Rostam and Shoghad, which is one of the most important and prominent stories of Shahnameh. Regarding the importance of this issue, the authors of this paper, with the aim of examining the differences among the editions and manuscripts of Shahnameh in the story of ‘ Rostam and Shoghad’ , have focused on three editions of Shahnameh (I. e. the editions of Khaleghi, Moscow and Mohl) and by applying a comparativeanalytical method, they have extracted, classified, analyzed and ultimately attempted to find the sources and causes of these differences and discrepancies. The results of this study indicate that the the main motivations to add verses (eleven verse) by the scribes have been the completion of the structure or characterization of the story, or to add to its semantic and emotional aspect. These additions can be identified mainly by the principle of "authenticity of the brief recording". Although there are various causes in phonetic and lexical interference, the main reason was to simplify the text and bring it to the audience's understanding. In any case, the main reason for all these interferences is the lack of copyright loyalty to the original text. It is worth noting that the results of this essay are restricted to this story and ought not to be generalized to every story of Shahnameh.