Borzūya

Borzūya
Artwork of Borzūya
Born	5th century - 6th century Abarshahr or Merv[1]
Died	6th century Sassanid Iran
Education	Academy of Gondishapur (possibly)
Known for	Translating many books into Pahlavi
Medical career
Profession	Physician

Borzuya (or Burzōē or Burzōy) was a Persian physician in the late Sassanid era, at the time of Khosrau I. He translated the Indian Panchatantra from Sanskrit into Pahlavi (Middle Persian). But both his translation and the original Sanskrit version he worked from are lost. Before their loss, however, his Pahlavi version was translated into Arabic by Ibn al-Muqaffa under the title of Kalila and Dimna or The Fables of Bidpai and became the greatest prose of Classical Arabic. The book contains fables in which animals interact in complex ways to convey teachings to princes in policy.

The introduction to The Fables of Bidpai or Kalila and Dimna presents an autobiography by Borzūya. Beside his ideas, cognitions and inner development leading to a practice of medicine based on philanthropic motivations, Borzuya's search for truth, his skepticism towards established religious thought and his later asceticism are some features lucidly depicted in the text.^[2]

There is considerable discussion whether Borzūya is the same as Bozorgmehr.^[2] While sources indicate they are different people, the word "Borzūya" can sometimes be a shortened form of Bozorgmehr.^[3]

See also

• Academy of Gundishapur

References

1. ↑ http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/borzuya-also-burzoe-a-physician-of-the-time-of-kosrow-i-
2. 1 2 François de Blois (1990), Burzōy's voyage to India and the origin of the book of Kalīlah wa Dimnah, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-947593-06-3 
3. ↑ Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh, "BORZŪYA" in Encyclopaedia Iranica. Oneline link accessed in December 2010: BORZŪYA.