Crossing the dense opaque haze of three thousand years appears the figure of a woman whose name was Akhit Jadoo.
She is mentioned in early Sassanid stories, but that does not necessarily place her in that era. Just as in the writings of any period of history, characters and stories of an earlier age may appear, she could have been there in the Achaeminid age, or perhaps she existed even further in the past.
She arrived in the city of Susa in Mesopotamia, but from where? It is difficult to answer that with any certainty. The only thing that is clear from ancient Iranian literature is that she had the power of inflicting death, and the palms of her hands could emit rays of fatality and annihilation.
Had she come from Samra, on the other side of the Euphrates? Or was she a daughter of the Jadav or Yadav tribe? Did she use to milk their cows and had arrived in Susa riding a bull? Or had she come to the fertile valleys of Iran on the back of a bedecked camel, crossing in a year the immense desert? Did she belong to some Shaman tribe dancing on the shores of the Caspian Sea, absorbed in meditation and worship of the unknown, their activities dictated by the spinning of the stars?
The rest of this article is only available to subscribers.
Access our entire archive of 350+ articles from the world's leading writers on Islam.
Only £3.30/month, cancel anytime.
Already subscribed? Log in here.
Not convinced? Read this: why should I subscribe to Critical Muslim?