- published: 21 Dec 2011
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Arash the Archer (Persian: آرش کمانگیر) is a heroic archer-figure of Iranian oral tradition and folklore.
The basic story of the bowman runs as follows: In a war between the Iranians and the non-Iranians (in post-Sassanid tradition frequently identified with the Turanians) over the "royal glory" (khwarrah), the General Afrasiab has surrounded the forces of the righteous Manuchehr, and the two sides agree to make peace. Both reach an agreement that whatever land falls within the range of a bow-shot shall be returned to the Manuchehr and the Iranians, and the rest should then fall to Afraisab and the Aniranians. An angel (in al-Biruni it is 'Esfandaramad', i.e. the Amesha Spenta Spenta Armaiti, MP Spendarmad) instructs Manuchehr to construct a special bow and arrow, and Arash is asked to be the archer. Arash then fires the specially-prepared arrow at dawn, which then traveled a great distance (see below) before finally landing and so marking the future border between the Iranians and the Aniranians.
Arash Markazi (born March 4, 1980) is an Iranian-American sports journalist currently writing for ESPN.
Markazi, who is of Iranian decent, was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Los Angeles, graduating from Notre Dame High School. He attended Arizona State University and later University of Southern California. He wrote a regular column for the Daily Trojan and also had work published in several magazines and newspapers outside of USC, including SLAM Magazine, XXL, King magazine, Vibe, Playboy, the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News and Associated Press. He graduated with a degree in Print Journalism from the USC Annenberg School for Communication in 2004.
Markazi wrote for Sports Illustrated on Campus, appearing on the cover of the March 31, 2005 issue, and began writing a weekly column for Sports Illustrated’s website SI.com called "The Hot Read." Markazi's intimate and quirky portraits of Wayne Gretzky, Ronaldo, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush caused the Los Angeles Times to name him one of the Faces to Watch in 2006