Gender Feminine
Usage Iranian (Rare), Literature
Scripts توراندخت(Persian)
Other Forms FormsTourandocte, Tourandokht, Turan Dokht, Tūrāndukht
Meaning & History
Means "daughter of Turan", composed of Persian توران (Tūrān), a region of Central Asia that was part of the Persian Empire, allegedly meaning "land of Tur" (said to have been named for the legendary Persian prince Tur, a son of King Fereydoun who reigned around 750 BC), and دخت (dokht) "daughter".This is the original Persian form of Turandot. The opera by Puccini is ultimately based on a tale from the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi's epic the 'Haft Peykar' ('Seven Beauties'). The cruel princess is unnamed in Nizami's version, but known as Turāndoḵt in François Pétis de la Croix's translation of a later retelling; the story is included in Pétis de la Croix's collection 'Les Mille et un jours' (1710-1712), which in turn inspired Carlo Gozzi's play 'Turandot' (1762).