The December issue of Out of Print features an excerpt from the Tilism-e-Hoshruba
translated and retold by Shanhnaz Aijazuddin. The origins of the tale are
story in themselves, and we are pleased to feature a piece by Shahnaz contextualising Hoshruba here on
the Out of Print blog:
Tilism-e-Hoshruba – A Summary
Shahnaz Aijazuddin
Outlines of Hamza Nama
The
Dastan of Tilism-e-Hoshruba is the continuation of the Dastan-e-Amir Hamza, the
adventures of the legendary hero Amir Hamza. Although the Tilism is a narrative
complete in itself, it helps to be familiar with the outlines of the earlier
Hamza story to which there are frequent references in the text of the Tilism.
According
to the Hamza Nama, the legendary Persian monarch Nausherwan had a troubling
dream. He consulted his gifted astrologer Vizier Buzurchmeher, who interpreted
the dream as indicating that Nausherwan would lose his kingdom to a rival for
several years, and that it would be restored to him by a young Arab to be born
in Mecca at the auspicious moment of the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. That
child was to be Amir Hamza, which is why Hamza was later known as Sahib-qiran
or Lord of the Conjunction.
Nausherwan
sends his vizier Buzurchmeher to Mecca (then part of the Persian empire) to
identify the baby and to ensure that he is reared as a ward of the Persian
court. Hamza’s father is identified in the narrative as Abu Muttalib, the
leader of the Hashemite clan. The choice of the name Abul Muttalib who was the
grandfather of the Holy Prophet Muhammad was not accidental, for it used him –
a real figure – as a corner-stone character into an essentially fictional text.
Hamza
grows up to become a warrior of formidable strength and intelligence. Hamza,
being blessed, receives gifts that have supernatural powers. He is also given
the Great Name (legendary unknown name of God) that prevails over all forms of
magic. His childhood friends - the wily trickster Amar and the loyal archer
Muqbil - are also blessed with divine gifts and remain his companions during
his numerous adventures.
In
time, Nausherwan uses Hamza to fight on his behalf, but in his heart he fears
him. His Vizier Bakhtak fuels Nausherwan’s insecurities and plots against
Hamza. Amar shields Hamza against Bakhtak’s fiendish schemes. Hamza and the
beautiful Meher Nigar, daughter to Nausherwan, fall in love and Nausherwan
reluctantly consents to the marriage. Just before the wedding Hamza is wounded
in battle and rescued by Jinni-king Shahpal’s vizier.
In
return for the kindness Hamza promises the Jinni king that he will vanquish the
defiant devs who have taken over his kingdom. Hamza is trapped in Koh Kaf (land
of Jinni and fairies) for 18 years due to the machinations of the Jinni king’s
daughter Aasman Pari who is besotted with him. Eventually, Hamza returns to
Persia and marries his beloved Meher Nigar who has loyally waited for him.
The
last part of Hamza’s story involves his return to Mecca. Here, the fictional
Hamza becomes the real Hamza bin Abu Muttalib, who defends his nephew the Holy
Prophet Muhammad against the Kaffirs of Mecca and is subsequently martyred at
the Battle of Uhud.
Tilism-e-Hoshruba
Amir
Hamza re-appears as a hero in the Tilism-e-Hoshruba. The literal meaning of the
word Tilism is enchantment. Hoshruba is an empire of enchantments that contains
many other magic-bound realms within it. The Tilisms are deemed to have been
created by an ancient pantheon of gods such as Samri, Jamshed, Laat and Manaat
who have been long dead but whose magic remains alive through their creations.
The realm of Hoshruba itself consists of the Visible and the Invisible Tilisms
(divided by the River of Blood) and a mysterious place of the darkest magic
best described as the Veil of Darkness. These Tilisms are populated by wizards
and witches whose names reflect the kind of magic they practice. Witches are as
powerful as wizards; they rule kingdoms; they lead armies, and they are given
equal importance in the narrative. .
Tilism-e-Hoshruba
recounts the adventures of Amir Hamza and his sons and grandsons - all of them
(like their illustrious forebear) brave, chivalrous and stunningly handsome.
The
Tilism-dastans usually involve a quest for the Lauh-e-Tilism - the magic tablet
or keystone that is closely guarded by the ruler of the Tilism. The keystone is
so designed that only the person destined to vanquish the Tilism, known as the
Tilism Kusha, is able to reach it. The keystone requires some sort of
sacrifice, usually of blood before it reveals its secrets to the Tilism Kusha
and guides him.
The
story begins with Hamza as the commander-in chief of the Islamic army defeating
a Persian ruler Laqa, who has been making false claims to divinity. Amir Hamza
chases him out of the Tilism of a Thousand Faces into Kohistan. Laqa takes
refuge in Kohistan because it shares a border with the Tilism-e-Hoshruba. The
ruler of Hoshruba Afrasiab is the formidable King of Wizards who reveres Laqa
and deputes his wizards to help Laqa fight Hamza.
Laqa’s
allies include the sons of Naushervan, Hamza’s old patron and adversary from
the days of the Dastan-e-Hamza. Laqa’a vizier is Bakhtiarak son of Bakhtak, the
vizier who had schemed against Hamza and Amar in the earlier legends.
Hamza’s
childhood companion Amar has a pivotal role in the later narrative. Because of
his talent for disguises and trickery, Amar is known as king of Ayyari or
tricksters. (Ayyari or the art of trickery is a profession with its own
costumes, codes and sign language.) He has an army of over a hundred thousand
other tricksters who acknowledge him as their leader and teacher. Amar uses
divine gifts such as the cloak of invisibility and the magic pouch that
contains many worlds to succeed in his tricks.
Hamza’s
astrologers are the sons of the great Buzurchmeher, vizier to Nausherwan. At
his behest, they cast an astrological chart and inform him that his grandson
Asad is the Tilism Kusha of Hoshruba. Hamza sends Asad to invade Hoshruba with
a large army. Amar and four other tricksters accompany this army. The invaders
are beset by magical snares and enchantments at every step, but due to their
superior moral authority and physical prowess, they manage to overcome all these
hurdles.
Afrasiab,
both the King of all Wizards and the emperor of Hoshruba, sends his lesser
functionaries to combat Asad and the five tricksters. Afrasiab’s concern is
accentuated when his own niece Mahjabeen falls in love with Asad and elopes
with him. His consternation is absolute when Mahjabeen’s grandmother – the
powerful sorceress Mahrukh – also defects to Asad’s side. Many powerful wizards
of Afrasiab’s camp, disgruntled with their own ruler, join the Tilism Kusha
Asad and Mahrukh. At this, Afrasiab sends his own wife Hairat along with his
best people to confront the rebels, confident that they will be disposed of
easily. Despite that, Afrasiab suffers defeats and humiliations at every turn.
Eventually he conjures the deepest and darkest magic at his command but is
consistently foiled by the cunning ploys used by Asad’s five tricksters.
Afrasiab
however manages to capture Asad and Mahjabeen but finds that he cannot execute
Asad as that would go against the constitution of the Tilism written by its
ancient creators.
Despite
the absence of their leader Asad, the rebels gain increasing strength,
culminating in their securing the alliance of Kaukab, the powerful ruler of a
neighbouring Tilism.
Once
Asad is released, the rebels along with their allies help him in the quest for
the Loah or keystone. Afrasiab, now desperate, turns to the ancient wizards
surviving from the time the Tilism was created.
Eventually
after fourteen years of conflict, the Tilism Kusha Asad kills Afrasiab. The
land of enchantments is finally rid of all magical illusions. Hamza restores
the throne to the former ruler of Hoshruba who had been deposed by Afrasiab and
imprisoned by him. The living god Laqa escapes and is rescued and given refuge
by another powerful wizard.
The History Of The Tilism
As
the Tilism contains so many characters from the original Dastan of Hamza, it
has a strong Persian and Arabian flavour. The Tilism dastans evolved in the
days of the later Mughals when the kingdom of Awadh was in a decline. Although many
of the idioms, language and culture are recognizably derived from courtly life
at Lucknow, the Tilism belongs to a time and a space that is all its own. There
are few oblique references to the 1857 War of Independence/Mutiny and the
presence of the British. However, there is no direct mention of any specific
places or towns, as we know them.
The
seven daftars or volumes of Tilism-e-Hoshruba form one continuous narrative of
prose, interspersed with poetry. Dastan narration was an intrinsic part of the
court ritual. It enjoyed a common appeal that encouraged the narrators to
tailor their stories to suit their audience.
In
the late nineteenth century, the Naval Kishore Press in Lucknow commissioned
dastan- narrators or known as dastan-gohs to compile the primarily oral
tradition into written form. These were first published between 1883 and 1905.
My
interest in the Tilism began as a child when I came across an abridged edition
which I read with an almost insatiable appetite. It was written in highly
Persianised Urdu but despite its archaic style the beauty and richness of the
language and the sheer magic of the story has captivated me over the years. I
realised though that for the Tilism to be appreciated by others, it needed to
be translated into English while at the same time, its inordinate length –
padded by lengthy often gratuitous passages of purple prose and poetry – had to
be edited and re-interpreted into a readily intelligible idiom while retaining
the flavour of the original.
