Thread by @meemainseen

a Sultan, a Wazir & Storytellers
A Colorful Tale of a Romance
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Mahmud, our king of Ghazna from 10th century was an ardent collector of stories, we are told
He got the wind of Saiful Muluk, the fairly tale of love
and announced a thousand dinars to anyone bringing him the story

Onsori a poet in Sultan's court was quick to pen it & claim the reward
Hasan Maymandi, the learned Wazir had objections both on quality & authenticity
Sultan then challenged his Wazir to bring him the authentic version and win an estate in Khorasan

From here diverge two versions

Hasan then dispatched his men around the globe in search of the tale who got a trace in Constantinople
Having heard the story firsthand, a copy was arranged for the Sultan
Some say money; a lot of it was paid, others hint on agreeing to the conditions set by the storyteller

This story was never to be narrated to
"Kudak-nadaan>children | Zanaan>Women | Ablahaan>Asses | Mokhannasaan>Eunuchs | Bandagan e Zar Khareed>Slaves"

Other version tells us that Hasan learnt of the story being kept in Damascus protected under guards with no access to foreigners

Now the story was ceremoniously recited once a year in the grand fair and that gave our learned Wazir his window of opportunity
Two writers trained in the craft secretively put in place during the recital and that arranged for Mahmud of Ghazna his treasured copy of Saiful Muluk

This fascinating frame story comes to us from an old manuscript kept in Berlin, so they say
An equally fascinating tale tells of 16th century 'Masnavi Saiful Muluk' composed by one Majlisi in Chaghtay Turki, language of Mughal Darbar
Mughals thus brought this fairy tale to India

The first Indian account of this story comes to us in Urdu
In 1625 Masnavi Saiful Muluk, a poetic rendition with over 2000 verses was composed by Mulla Ghawasi a poet from Golkonda, Hyderabad
Dedicated to and patroned by Sultan of Deccan this poem was printed in Bombay in 1873

Union of Saiful Muluk and Badi al Jamal
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(finally on) this day I get to see you
forever, have I been a seeker of thy sight
I have been fascinated by thoughts of you
I haven't been In peace, not for a moment

Interestingly next version 'Sayfulmuluk-Badiuzzamal' comes to us in Bengali patroned by Burmese Durbar

Syed Alaol, influential medieval Bengali poet, by the hands of Portugese pirates ended up with an Arakan King (Myanmar)
Written as a poem the story was completed around 1670 CE

Mir Ali Sher Thattavi in 1767 composed Tuhfat ul Kiram
Written in Persian, this book gives us fair account on history of Sind and its Sufis
Mir Thattavi while describing the decline of Aror (the ancient seat of Kings in Sind) brings to us the Sindhi version of Saif ul Muluk

Those days River Mehran used to flow beside Aror ruled by a wicked ruler Dalo Rai
Prince Saiful Muluk in guise of a pious trader & his wife Badi al Jamal were journeying for Hajj when their boat was stopped by Dalo Rai who asked for Badi al Jamal in return for safe passage

Saif ul Muluk for he was pious prayed and it was because of the divine blessing that his men in three days cut through the mountains, carving a new river course
Not only they sailed to safety but Aror was also deserted for the river in changing its course shifted away from Aror

The year was 1781 and there was compiled a Seraiki version of our tale
Popular as Saifal Nama of Moulvi Lutf Ali it was written under patronage of & dedicated to ruler of Bahawalpur State
Here's a glimpse of Qissa Shah Saifal sung by Haq Nawaz
full audio:

From forgotten pages of history in the safekeeping of McGill University comes to us a Pashto version composed by one Miyan Muhammad
Published by Maktaba Faruqi Delhi in 1879 this is a poetic rendition of Saiful Muluk
This one is a gem, but then there's a Hazarvi romance

District of Hazara Gazetteer of 1907 tells the Naran Katha of Lake Saiful Muluk
Once upon a time a Prince of Delhi fell in love with a fairy of wondrous beauty in his dream
Guided by astrologers he traveled to valley of Kaghan where he had to spend 12 years in religious seclusion

Having completed his 12 years in devotion, came the big moment the fairy Badi al Jamal with 360 attendants came to bathe in the great lake
Our prince sneaked in and flinched away the cloths of Fairy Queen
She would get her cloths back on agreeing to marry our Prince of Delhi

A demon, secret lover of Badi al Jamal in his fury caused the great lake to flood
While the prince and the fairy eloped to Delhi people of Naran were not that lucky
Narrow confines of present day Lake Saiful Muluk and vast flood plain of Naran are the remnants of demon's wrath

As these tales of yesteryear faded away, there's one story that lives
told and retold through its narrators and singers

جس دل اندرہووے بھائی ہک رّتی چنگاری
ایہہ قصّہ پڑھ بھانبڑبندا نال ربّے دی یاری

ਜਿਸ ਦਿਲ ਅੰਦਰ ਹੋਵੈ ਭਆਈ ਹਿਕ ਰੱਤੀ ਚਿੰਗਾਰੀ
ਏਹ ਕਿੱਸਾ ਪੜ੍ਹ ਭਾਂਬੜ ਬਣਦਾ ਨਾਲ ਰੱਬੇ ਦੀ ਯਾਰੀ

a tale evergreen in the hearts of enthralled listeners
completed in 1863, this is Saiful Muluk of Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, the poet saint of Khari Sharif
about whom we shall talk more in the coming thread

till then ciao! my dear reader!