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Of the many hundreds of pen names that crowd the columns of Urdu poetry none is perhaps as apt or true as Rangila (Joyous), the moniker of the 14th Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah Rangila.
Muhammad Shah Rangila was crowned Emperor on September 28, 1719. He managed to hold onto the…
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Dastangoi is an art and tradition of storytelling that goes at least as far back as 9th century Iran. Heavily inspired by the verse epic Shahnamah, dastans eventually evolved into rollicking adventures involving djinns, fantastic beasts, demons, parees (fairies), princesses, magicians, evil kings and wizards.
A good dastan employs at…
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Almost immediately after exiting the Chawri Bazaar Metro Station at the Hauz Qazi exit, right next to the Ashok Chaat corner, one can find Delhi’s aakhri qabala navees or the last deed writer.
In the old days, before the adoption of an English legal system and framework, qabala navees used…
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Kabootarbaazi was a hobby of the nawabs (an honorary title given by Mughal emperors to semi-autonomous Muslim rulers of princely states) of the Mughal times.
For a layman witnessing the game for the first it, kabootarbaazi appears to be about just a bunch of people setting their pigeons free and…
