Dragon porcelain dish in “Islamic Blue’, a product of Persian cobalt and Chinese artisans (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA)

Dragons in the Persian tradition differ from both the Western conception of an evil, flying monster breathing fire and the Far Eastern image of a powerful but often benevolent creature resembling a giant snake. Although Persian dragons more closely resemble Chinese dragons in description, they are usually seen as malevolent, and possessing both human intellect and often, a lust for power.

The source of the modern Persian word for dragon, ezhdeha (اژدها) is Azi Dahaka. a three-headed monster mentioned in the early religious texts of Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrian scripture also mentions other dragons, or Azi, including a yellow dragon who spat venom, and a red dragon who brought on a deadly winter.

In the Persian epic the Shahnameh, Azi Dahaka’s legend was transformed into that of Zahhak, a handsome Arab prince who fell under the influence of evil and grew a snake from each shoulder, each of which could only be satisfied by eating human brains daily.

Miniature of Rostam of The Shahmaneh slaying a dragon

Even though Persian dragons were a negative force, they were sometimes used as a symbol on war banners, to frighten the enemy.

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It’s thought that the origins of the Karkadann legend might come from exaggerated versions of real-life encounters with the Indian rhinoceros, or even ancestral memories of an extinct animal known as the Elasmotherium.

Then there’s the theory that the myth of the Karkadann arose from a view of the Arabian oryx, a two-horned antelope, from the side.

A description by the Greek historian Ctesias describes the Karkadann as larger than a horse, with a white body, dark red head, and on its forehead a horn:

“The base of this horn, for some two hands’-breadth above the brow, is pure white; the upper part is sharp and of a vivid crimson; and the remainder, or middle portion, is black. Those who drink out of these horns, made into drinking vessels, are not subject, they say, to convulsions or to the holy disease [epilepsy]. Indeed, they are immune even to poisons if, either before or after swallowing such, they drink wine, water, or anything else from these beakers…

The magical powers of the Karkadann horn, both as a source of poison and an antidote to it, made it a rare and valuable object. Often the Karkadann horn was described as curved, like a saber, rather than the spiral horn of the Western unicorn, based possibly on collected remains of the narwal.

In addition to their fondness for female virgins, the Karkadann could be soothed by the cooing of turtledoves. Otherwise, they had ferocious temperaments, and often fought with elephants, their mortal enemies. In these fights, the Karkadann would impale the elephant’s soft underbelly, only to be blinded by the melting fat of the elephant and die along with it.

For a far more academic account of the fabled Karkadann and related fabulous creatures, check out The Unicorn: Studies in Muslim Iconography by Richard Ettinghausen.

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