"Chronicled Tales" of Akbar - Birbal

Hi all

This post is placed under history Section of history_geek's BLOG..

Since the show - Jodha Akbar on Zee TV has introduced Birbal, and we are having a lot of discussions on him, hence i thought to post something on Akbar - Birbal tales.  So, here are some of them, from the "earliest possible sources"...

I do not claim credit for this post, because this is not SOLELY my personal research, as i have taken translation for this post from the research paper material of an eminent professor.. The original material was in Urdu books. I took the translation. Though, i verified the content of this post(i.e., the research matter of the professor) from the sources mentioned along with each anecdote.

 

1. One day Akbar asked to Birbal - "Bring me a Muslim turned into a Hindu." Birbal asked for the time of one week. The king agreed. When six days had passed, on the seventh day Birbal took a donkey to the river and busied himself in bathing it. It happened that Akbar too came to the river. He asked, "Oh Birbal, what are you doing?"  He said - "Jahanpanah, I am bathing this donkey, so that it will turn into a horse."  The king said, "You fool, can a donkey possibly turn into a horse?" Birbal said, "Jahanpanah, how can a Muslim turn into a Hindu?"  

From:

Matba Jauhar-e-Hind. 

Lata'if-e-Akbar | Hissah Pahli: Birbal Nama. 

Pd. in Delhi, By Maha Narayan, in 1888, Urdu, Volume-1 
Page-2

 

2. One day Akbar, in the assembly, asked all of courtiers, "Which flower is the best flower of all?" No one could answer. Finally Birbal's turn came.  Birbal said, "That flower is the best of all flowers, from which the whole world's clothing is made." Akbar accepted his reply.

From:

Matba Jauhar-e-Hind. 

Lata'if-e-Akbar | Hissah Pahli: Birbal Nama. 

Pd. in Delhi, By Maha Narayan, in 1888, Urdu, Volume-1

Page-3

3. One day Akbar drew a line with his auspicious hand on the floor of the open court, and commanded, "Make this small, but don't by any means erase it with your hand." All those present were stupefied. When Raja Birbal's turn came, he at once drew another line next to it, and didn't disturb the first line. Those present saw it, and said, "In truth, the first line is small(er)."

From:

Matba Jauhar-e-Hind. 

Lata'if-e-Akbar | Hissah Pahli: Birbal Nama. 

Pd. in Delhi, By Maha Narayan, in 1888, Urdu, Volume-1 
Page-4

4. One day Akbar said "something" to Birbal and asked for an answer. Birbal gave the very same reply that was in the king's own mind. Hearing this, the king said, "This is just what I was thinking also." Birbal said, "Jahanpanah, this is a case of 'a hundred wise men, one opinion' [the text said - "sau siyane ek mat"] ." The king said, "This proverb is indeed well-known." Then Birbal replied, "Jahanpanah, if you are so inclined, please test this matter." The king replied, "Very good."
 

        The moment he heard this, Birbal sent for a hundred wise men from the city. And the men came into the king's presence that night. Showing them an empty well, Birbal said, "Jahanpanah orders that at once every man will bring one bucket full of milk and pour it in this well." The moment they heard the royal order, every one reflected that where there were ninety-nine buckets of milk, how could one bucket of water be detected? Each one brought only water and poured it in. Birbal showed it to the king. The king said to them all, "What were you thinking, to disobey my order? Tell the truth, or I'll treat you harshly!" 

Every one of them said with folded hands, "Jahanpanah, whether you kill us or spare us, the thought came into this slave's mind that where there were ninety-nine buckets of milk, how could one bucket of water be detected?"

        Hearing this from the lips of all of them, the king said to Birbal, "What I'd heard with my ears, I've now seen before my eyes: 'a hundred wise men, one opinion'!"

From:

Matba Jauhar-e-Hind. 

Lata'if-e-Akbar | Hissah Pahli: Birbal Nama. 

Pd. in Delhi, By Maha Narayan, in 1888, Urdu, Volume-1

Page-13/14

 

5. One day Akbar said to Birbal, "Bring me four individuals--one, a hero; two, a coward; three, a modest person; four, a shameless person." The next day Birbal brought a woman  before the king. He commanded, "I had called for four individuals, and you brought one. Where are the others?"  Birbal said, "Jahanpanah, this one has all four qualities." The king directed him, "Explain." He replied, "When she stays in her in-laws' house, out of shame she doesn't even open her mouth to speak clearly. And when she sings songs at a marriage somewhere, her father and brothers and husband and in-laws and caste-fellows all sit and listen, but she's not ashamed before any of them. And when she sits with her husband, at night she won't even go alone into the store-room, and she says, 'I'm afraid to go.' Then, when she takes a fancy to someone, at midnight in the dark, all alone, with no weapon, she goes fearlessly to meet her lover, and is not at all afraid of robbers or evil spirits." Hearing this, the king was pleased, and gave Birbal a reward, and commanded, "You speak truly."

From:

Matba Jauhar-e-Hind. 

Lata'if-e-Akbar | Hissah Pahli: Birbal Nama. 

Pd. in Delhi, By Maha Narayan, in 1888, Urdu, Volume-1 
Page-14

6. One day Akbar was fishing by the edge of the river. And someone from somewhere had presented to the king some honey by way of a formal gift. The king was licking it. Birbal went out from the king's presence. On the road, some Muslims who were very respected and venerable, and were on their way to pay obeisance to the king, inquired from Birbal, "What is Jahanpanah doing?"  Birbar said, "He is babbling nonsense [jhak mar rahe hain] by the riverbank, and licking up dung."  Those Muslims were very much displeased. Akbar said, "In fact Birbal did not lie, but told the truth. For I was hunting (=marna) fish, and fish in the Shastra are called 'jhak.'  And as for honey, it is well known that it is the dung of honeybees, thus I was licking it. So don't be displeased."

From:

Matba Jauhar-e-Hind. 
Zarafat-al-Akbar | Hissah-e-Suvv'am: Birbal Nama

Pd. in Delhi, By Munshi Narayan, in 1888, Urdu 
Page-5/6

7. In Akbar's court, another courtier who was a constant rival of Birbal, generally arrived wearing a very elegant turban, and Birbal, wearing a cap.  [The courtier boasted about his turban, so that Birbal undertook to rival it.] Accordingly, the next day Birbal, placing a mirror before him, tied a turban extremely excellently and went to court. [The courtier claimed the turban had been tied by Birbal's wife. Asked by the king to prove it, he pulled off his own turban and retied it as it had been before; he then challenged Birbal to do the same.] Thus Birbal repeatedly tried to retie his turban, but it never came out as before, since previously he had tied it while looking in the mirror. Then the king laughed and said to Birbal, "Birbal, that courtier says truly, and it seems that what you're not able to do yourself, you get done by your wife!" Birbal was inwardly extremely distressed.

From:

Matba Jauhar-e-Hind. 
Zarafat-al-Akbar | Hissah-e-Suvv'am: Birbal Nama

Pd. in Delhi, By Munshi Narayan, in 1888, Urdu 
Page-14/15

  

8. One day the Chief Eunuch [Khwaja-Shera] said to Akbar, "Janab Birbal is very quick-witted. He ought to be asked a question to which he can give no answer." The king said, "What you say will be asked [of him]." The Chief Eunuch said, "Today please ask Birbal where the center of the earth is, and how many stars there are in the sky, and how many men and women there are in the world." Hearing this, the king said, "It's true; good. Call Birbal." As he was saying this, Birbal appeared.  The king asked Birbal those very questions which the Chief Eunuch had told him. Birbal, having heard them, said, "I will give the answer to them tomorrow."  With these words, he went to his house.
        At dawn, Birbal, taking a hammer and an iron nail, presented himself in the king's service. The king, as soon as he saw his face, said, "Birbal has brought the answers to our questions of yesterday." He said, "Your Majesty, I am at your service." With these words he drove the nail into the midst of the royal palace, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the center of the earth. If you don't believe me, have it measured." Hearing this excellent answer, the king fell silent. And when he asked the answer to the second question, Birbal brought a ram to stand before him: "Your Majesty, as many hairs as there are on its body, there are just so many stars in the sky.  If there's any doubt of this, please count them."
        [Then Birbal said,] "I have also brought the correct answer to the third question. But one matter has thrown me into perplexity. It is this:  in which reckoning should the eunuchs be counted? They are neither women nor men. Thus the idea has come to me that if all the eunuchs in the world were to be killed, the account would become correct." Hearing this, the king laughed very much and the Chief Eunuch was inwardly very much ashamed of "the act of testing Birbal". And the king, rewarding Birbal, gave him leave to depart.

From:

Matba Kaikstan, Present at India Office Library, Folio-105
Hikayat-e-Birbal Kamil, Har-Kahra-Hissah

Pd. in Delhi,1920, Urdu
Page-39/40

You all can add more interesting events to the list..


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