The Persian dragon is one of the varieties of dragon least mentioned (or portrayed) in English-language literature. As represented in Islamic art, 1300-1600 C.E. (A.D.), their appearance and behavior is like a blend of late European dragons and Asian dragons. (In this article, the word "Persian" is used rather than "Iranian," due to the differing territory of the Persian Empire contemporary to the time period in consideration.) The Persian dragon is wingless, with the mane, talons, and long serpentine body characteristic of the Asian dragon. But it also breathes fire, and has an inclination for man-eating so common in European dragon-slaying myths. You could say that it has the body of an Asian dragon with the personality of a Western dragon. However, in some ways they differ from both. This information is based on 10+ consistent illustrations.

How to tell a Persian dragon apart from an Asian (Chinese/Japanese) dragon.
(Dragons in Chinese and Japanese art are fairly similar to one another, with the main difference between them being number of toes and style in which they're drawn. I know there are other varieties of dragons in Asia, but these are the ones with which I am sufficiently familiar.)

• Persian dragons usually have a prominence on the lower leg. (See morphology for more description.) The other dragons don't have this organ.
• Persian dragons always have a single horn on the center of their forehead, with two main prongs. Chinese and Japanese dragons only sometimes have horns; when they do have horns, these are usually in a pair, not singular, with one on either side of the head.
• Persian dragons usually seem to lack a tail-tuft of any sort. Chinese dragons have a tail-tuft, which is said to have traits that help distinguish a male dragon from a female.
• Persian dragons are almost always shown breathing fire. Chinese and Japanese dragons rarely breathe fire, if ever, although they may breathe clouds.
• Persian dragons seem to be strictly terrestrial, without an affinity for flying or swimming, which are both very important activities for Chinese and Japanese dragons.

• Head: A single head. (Worth mentioning, with dragons.)
• Wings: No wings.
• Horn: On its forehead, a single rugged horn with two primary prongs (also be interpreted as two horns, placed very close together.)
• Nose: End of nose may be like that of a horse, crocodile, camel, or even an elephant's trunk! If a trunk, it lacks nostrils, and comes to an undulating point like a tail.
• Ears: When external ears are shown at all, they're low, small, simple, and pointed, like an Asian dragon's ears.
• Jaws: Large, long jaws, usually open to display sharp teeth and tongue, with the upper mandible curved up and back as if flexible.
• Fire: Fire breath is shown in nearly all illustrations. It emerges from the mouth, not the nostrils, and is usually wreathed about the tongue. This is also characteristic of late European dragons.
• Venom: The texts describe the dragons as having a poisonous bite, poisonous saliva, and/or poisonous internal fluids. Since the texts I've read don't mention the fire-breath shown in the illustrations, the fire might be a symbolic representation of venom.
• Proportions: Long, serpentine body, with lengths roughly equal in neck, torso, and tail. None of the three segments will be identical in length. Usually two segments will be similar and the third segment (whichever it is) will be different. If a segment is shorter (up to half the length of another segment) it will be the neck or torso. If a segment is longer, it's usually the tail. Persian dragons have remarkably consistent proportions as dragons go. Their extended length, measured from chin to tail-tip, is 20 Persian-dragon-head lengths long. (Artists measure proportions by the subject's head. An adult male human is 7 1/2 heads tall, measuring by adult-male-human heads, regardless of how many centimeters tall he is.)
• Legs: Four short legs. I've found no depictions with six or two legs. Exception: when the dragon is the constellation Draco, the legs are not shown.
• Feet: Hindfeet and forefeet match, and in form resemble a mix of tiger paws and eagle talons. The toes are fairly short but dextrous, with long curved claws.
• Prominence?: On each leg, between the knee/elbow and the foot, is a peculiar prominence. It might correspond to a horse's chestnut or a deer's musk-gland. It's usually oval, and sometimes is encircled by hair. This prominence seems to be unique to the Persian dragon. (I don't know exactly what it is, or what to call it, but it's usually there.)
• Movement: Usually shown clambering about in the wildnerness, using its talons and tail to grasp tree branches and outcroppings of stone. Also shown standing on level ground. I haven't found any depictions of them flying, so they may be flightless.
• Feathers?: The shoulders and hips are ornamented with long, slender, trailing appendages which may be feathers, or vestigial wings. This is also characteristic of Asian dragons.
• Hair: Hair seems to always be present, and usually dispersed in this way, but with some variation in which are included in an illustration: along the spine, in tufts at the elbows/knees, along the backs of the limbs, along the lower jaw as a beard, and/or on the head as a mane. Hair also encircles the eyes.
• Skin: Most of the body is scaly or leathery, with the ridged underbelly characteristic of both European and Asian dragons.
• Tail: Tail-tip is bare, without a spade, mace, or tuft of hair.

Medium-small dragons were depicted in two cases out of the nine. A medium-small dragon is one-third larger than a small dragon. Its head is 76.2 centimeters (30") long, measuring from chin to nape.

Out of the nine useful illustrations, I've found one representation each for a medium-large and large dragon. The medium-large dragon is a third again the size of the medium-small dragon.

The large dragon was the one which swallowed King Ardashir whole, horse and all. He is four times the size of the small dragon, three times the size of the medium-small dragon, and just over twice the size of the medium-large dragon. The large dragon would be 20.4 meters (66.8') long.

And so that is the size variance of the Persian dragon: about five to twenty meters.

Appearances in stories.
I know of several appearances made by dragons in the Shah-nama. (In English, called The Book of Kings.) They are as follows:

King Faridun transforms into a dragon to test his three sons. The princes react differently to encountering a huge, ferocious dragon in the forests (they don't know they are facing their own father) and then Faridun returns to his human form and rewards them names and kingdoms according to their actions. The youngest prince, Iraj, showed both wisdom and courage, so he is given Iran (Persia).

King Bahram Gur encounters a dragon while hunting other animals, slays it, and is nearly killed himself when he was covered by the dragon's venom. His life is saved when his horse carries him to a place where the venom may be cleaned off. He also finds a venom-covered human corpse within the dragon's belly. The text says the dragon has woman's breasts, but none of the pictures I've found show anything like that.

The hero Rustam (Roostem) rests beside a spring. A dragon (actually a transformed Deev named Asdeev or Asdiv, where Deev or Div are apparently some sort of evil wizard or demon) intends to devour them in the night. Rustam's war-horse, Rakhsh (Raxs, Reksh) awakens him, and together they slay the dragon. The text says Asdeev is a white dragon, but none of the pictures I've found show him that color.

Prince Gushtasp slays a destructive dragon as a service to his bride, a daughter of Caesar.

I know of one appearance made by a dragon in the Durab-nama:

King Ardashir is riding in the mountains and is swallowed whole by a dragon, horse and all. It happened so quickly that he didn't have time to turn his horse and fight.

Appearances in art.
The dragons appear in illustrations for any of the above stories. They also appeared in sky-charts of constellations. In those instances, Draco has the head of a normal Persian dragon, sometimes very detailed, but is legless.

Bibliography.

Kyori. "Rustam and the Fire Dragon Asdeev." The Serene Dragon. 19 April 2005. http://www.theserenedragon.net/Tales/persia-rustam.html

Keightley, Thomas. The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries. London, 1870. Internet Sacred Texts Archive. 19 April 2005. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfm/tfm004.htm

Allen, Judy. Griffiths, Jeanne. The Book of the Dragon. London: Orbis, 1979. Amazon. Amazon.

Anderson, John K. Tales of Great Dragons. Santa Barbara: Bellerphon, 1998. Amazon.

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