Manuscripta Orientalia - Manuscripta Orientalia

Abstract. The name of Korea has been preserved as Silla and Ba/esilla in Persian and Arabo‑Persian texts. Many scholarly works have been published about Iran's cultural and historical bonds with the Far East over the past century. However there are few works about Iran and Silla's historical relations, particularly about the different forms of the name Korea in Persian texts. These texts have never been studied from the philological and political points of view. Although the toponym of Silla is clear for us due to Persian and Arabo‑Persian texts, the term Ba/esilla is rarely found in these texts. Kush‑name, a Persian epic text, has widely used the term. In this paper we will deal with two forms of the toponym, Silla and particularly Ba/esilla, to show how a political event has affected the form of the name. We believe such a compound name must be closely associated with the collapse of Sasanian Empire and forced migration of the royal family to China and then to Silla. Most probably Iranians called Silla as Ba/esilla (beh + Silla = “better Silla”) when migrants lost the support they received in China and were warmly welcomed by the Silla kingdom.

Keywords: Ba/esilla, Silla, Iran, Sasanian Empire, Persian and Arabo‑Persian texts

Acknowledgement. This research was supported by the Laboratory Program for Korean Studies through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2015-LAB-1250001)

DOI: 10.31250/1238-5018-2018-24-2-53-57

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Received by the Editorial Board: 3.07.2018