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[[File:Amir_Khusro.jpg|thumb|Amir Khusrow teaching his disciples]]
'''Dastangoi''' (Urdu: داستان گوئی) is a 13th century [[Urdu language|Urdu]] [[oral storytelling]] art form.<ref name=indianexpress/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/culture/collective-storytellers-reviving-ancient-art-dastangoi|title=How a collective of storytellers is reviving the ancient art of dastangoi|date=2019-06-29|website=The Sunday Guardian Live|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-30}}</ref>
<ref name=":0">{{Cite web | url=http://dastangoi.com/ | title=Dastangoi - the Re-discovered Art of Urdu Storytelling}}</ref>
The Persian style of [[dastan]] evolved in 16th century.<ref>[https://www.punjnud.com/Aarticles_detail.aspx?ArticleID=3289&ArticleTitle=Urdu%20Mein%20Tarikhgoi%20Aur%20Dastangoi%20Ki%20Riwayat%20Aur%20Fan اردو میں تاریخ گوئی اور داستان گوئی کی روایت اور فن]</ref>
One of the earliest references in print to dastangoi is a 19th-century text containing 46 volumes of the adventures of Amir Hamza titled ''[[Hamzanama|Dastan e Amir Hamza]]''.<ref name="Reuters" />

The art form reached its [[wikt:zenith|zenith]] in the Indian sub-continent in the 19th century and is said to have died with the demise of Mir Baqar Ali in 1928. Dastangoi was revived<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dastangoi.com/dastangoi-revival|title=Dastangoi - The Re-discovered Art of Urdu Storytelling|website=dastangoi.com|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref> by historian, author and director [[Mahmood Farooqui]] in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2019/jul/12/persian-art-of-storytelling-festival-brings-delight-for-delhi-theatre-buffs-2002702.html|title=Persian art of storytelling festival brings delight for Delhi theatre buffs|website=The New Indian Express|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref>

At the centre of dastangoi is the dastango, or storyteller, whose voice is his main artistic tool in orally recreating the [[dastan]] or the story. Notable 19th-century dastangos included Amba Prasad Rasa, Mir Ahmad Ali Rampuri, Muhammad Amir Khan, Syed Husain Jah, and Ghulam Raza.
[[File:A Story-teller reciting from the "Arabian Nights." (1911) - TIMEA.jpg|thumb|A female dastango standing and reciting from the "[[Arabian Nights]]" while the audience sits around her, 1911]]
[[File:Indian Kathakar Storyteller 1913.jpg|thumb|''[[Vyasa]]'' (sitting on high table), the common title for Indian oral storytellers, reciting epics among villagers, 1913]]
[[File:Dastangoi_Oral_storytelling_india.jpg|thumb|21st century, dastangoi artist [[Syed Sahil Agha]] reciting the ''Dastan-e-Amir Khusrau'']]

== Etymology ==
Dastangoi has its origin in the [[Persian language]]. ''Dastan'' means a tale; the suffix ''-goi'' makes the word mean "to tell a tale".<ref name=frontline />

==History==
Indian urban anthropologist [[Ghaus Ansari]] ascribed the origin of dastangoi to [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]], and detailed how the eastward [[spread of Islam]] carried dastangoi to [[Iran]] and then to [[Delhi]] in India. From Delhi, dastangoi made its way to [[Lucknow]] in the 18th century, aided by the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], during which several artists, writers and dastangos moved from Delhi to Lucknow.

In Lucknow, dastangoi was popular across all classes, and was regularly performed at diverse locations including ''chowks'' (city squares), private households, and ''afeem khana'' (public [[opium den|opium houses]]). "It became so popular among opium addicts that they made listening to stories an important element of their gatherings," wrote Ansari. "The prolonged intoxication and prolonged stories narrated by professional story-tellers was mostly combined. Each afeem khana had its own story-teller to entertain the clients; whereas, among the rich, every household used to appoint a dastango as a member of its staff."<ref name=peternas/> According to Abdul Halim Sharar, the noted author and historian of nineteenth century Lucknow, the Art of dastangoi, was divided under the following headings:"War", "Pleasure, "Beauty", "Love" and "Deception".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harcourt|first1=E.S|title=Lucknow the Last Phase of an Oriental Culture|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Delhi|isbn=978-0-19-563375-7|page=92|edition=seventh}}</ref>
[[File:Mahmood farooqi .jpg|thumb|Dastangoi was revived<ref>"Dastangoi - The Re-discovered Art of Urdu Storytelling". dastangoi.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21. {{verify source |date=November 2020 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/915860615 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot in plain-text form. The original cite can be found at Special:Permalink/915858836 (or in a rev close to it) as cite #6 - find and verify the cite and replace this template with it (3). [[User:GreenC_bot/Job_18]]}}</ref> by [[Mahmood Farooqui]] in 2005. Since then, he has performed thousands of shows across the world.]]
The early dastango's told tales of magic, war and adventure, and borrowed freely from other stories such as the [[Arabian Nights]], storytellers such as [[Rumi]], and storytelling traditions such as the [[Panchatantra]]. From the 14th century, Persian dastangois started focusing on the life and adventures of [[Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib|Amir Hamza]], the paternal uncle of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]]. The Indian stream of dastangoi added storytelling elements such as ''aiyyari'' (trickery) to these tales.<ref name=Context>{{cite journal|last=Farooqui|first=Mahmood|title=Dastangoi: Revival of the Mughal Art of Storytelling|journal=Context: Journal of the Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage|date=Autumn–Winter 2011|volume=VIII|issue=2|pages=31–37|url=https://www.academia.edu/1572349|accessdate=20 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722045920/http://www.academia.edu/1572349/Contextpdf|archive-date=2016-07-22|url-status=live}}</ref>

==List of early Urdu Dastans==
* ''Sab Ras'' - Mulla Wajhi
* ''[[Bagh-o-Bahar|Nau tarz-i murassa‘]]'' - Husain ‘Atā Khān Tahsīn
* ''Nau ā'īn-i hindī (Qissa-i Malik Mahmūd Gīti-Afroz)'' - Mihr Chand Khatrī
* ''Jazb-i ‘ishq'' - Shāh Husain Haqīqat
* ''Nau tarz-i murassa‘'' - Muhammad Hādī a.k.a. Mirzā Mughal Ghāfil
* ''Ārā'ish-i mahfil ([[Hatim al-Tai#Qissa-e-Hatem-tai|Qissa-i Hātim Tā'ī]])'' - Haidar Bakhsh Haidarī
* ''[[Bagh-o-Bahar|Bāgh o bahār]] (Qissa-i chahār darwesh)'' - [[Mir Amman|Mīr Amman]]
* ''[[Hamzanama|Dāstān-i Amīr Hamza]]'' - Khalīl ‘Alī Khān Ashk
* ''Fasana e Ajaib'' - Rajab Ali Baig Suroor
* ''[[Deval Devi]]-Khizr Khan'' - (Romantic dastan of a [[Vaghela dynasty|Vaghela]] princess and Delhi's [[Khalji dynasty|Khalji]] king) - [[Amir Khusrau]]
* Khamsa (Khamsa-e-Khusrau) ''five classical romances dastan'': [[Hasht-Bihisht (poem)|Hasht-Bihisht]], Matlaul-Anwar, [[Khosrow and Shirin]], [[Layla and Majnun]] and Aaina-Sikandari. - [[Amir Khusrow]]

==Dastangoi in print==

[[Fort William College]] in [[Kolkata]] published an Urdu version of the dastaan of Amir Hamza in the beginning of the 19th century.<ref name=FountainInk>{{cite news|last=Krishnan|first=Nandini|title=Dastaan-e-Dastangoi|url=http://fountainink.in/?p=1947&all=1|accessdate=20 December 2012|newspaper=Fountain Ink|date=4 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114013446/http://fountainink.in/?p=1947&all=1|archive-date=2012-11-14|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Munshi Nawal Kishore]], a publisher in [[Lucknow]], began publishing the dastaans by the 1850s. A few publications were also done in Persian.
* In 1881, Nawal Kishore commissioned the print edition of the entire Hamza ''dastaan'' from three dastangos, Mohammed Husain Jah, Ahmed Husain Qamar, and Sheikh Tasadduq Husain. Over a period of twenty five years, the trio produced a collection of 46 volumes. Each volume could be read individually or as a part of the complete work.
* ''Dastan-e-Hind'', is a collection of ''[[dastan]]'''s and Indian [[folklore]], has been performed successfully by many artist around the globe, by ''[[Syed Sahil Agha]]''. 2010.<ref>{{Cite web | work=karmpatr.com| url=http://www.karmpatr.com/2017/12/blog-post_650.html| title=DastanGoi, Dastan-e-Amir kusrow| date=12 December 2017| access-date=12 December 2017}}</ref><ref name=purplepencilproject.>{{Cite web | author=prakruti| url=https://www.purplepencilproject.com/dastango-syed-sahil-agha| title=On the art of storytelling: Dastango Syed Sahil Agha| work=www.purplepencilproject.com| date=2019-11-30| access-date=2019-11-30}}</ref>
*''Toh Hazireen Hua Yun... Dastan-e-Ankit Chadha'' - A collection of dastans woven, by ''[[Ankit Chadha]]''. 2019.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web|url=http://epaper.indianexpress.com/1943770/Delhi/December-19-2018#clip/34998887/dbcebfd3-13b7-493a-a7d0-85b8512c278c/524.5714285714286:329.1613483146068|title=Stories Never Die|last=Indian Express Delhi|website=epaper.indianexpress.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222082118/http://epaper.indianexpress.com/1943770/Delhi/December-19-2018#clip/34998887/dbcebfd3-13b7-493a-a7d0-85b8512c278c/524.5714285714286:329.1613483146068|archive-date=22 December 2018|url-status=live|access-date=2018-12-21}}</ref><ref name=":17">{{Cite book|title=To Hazreen Hua Yun...|last=Chadha|first=Ankit|date=2018|publisher=SAKSHI PRAKASHAN|isbn=9789384456726}}</ref>
*''Dastangoi-2'' is a sequel to earlier book. It contains the collection of modern dastans written and adapted, by ''[[Mahmood Farooqui]]''. 2019.

==See also==
*[[Dastan]]
*[[List of Urdu prose dastans]]

==References==
{{Reflist |refs=
<ref name=indianexpress>{{cite news
|title = Walk Back In Time: Experience life in Nizamuddin Basti, the traditional way
|url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/walk-back-in-time-experience-life-in-nizamuddin-basti-the-traditional-way/1037722/
|accessdate = 18 December 2012
|newspaper = [[The Indian Express]]
|date = 29 November 2012
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130318022905/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/walk-back-in-time-experience-life-in-nizamuddin-basti-the-traditional-way/1037722
|archive-date = 2013-03-18
|url-status = live
}}</ref>

<ref name=frontline>
{{cite news
|last=Sayeed
|first=Vikram Ahmed
|title=Return of dastangoi
|url=http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2801/stories/20110114280109800.htm
|accessdate=18 December 2012
|newspaper=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]
|date=14 January 2011
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118062906/http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2801/stories/20110114280109800.htm
|archivedate=18 January 2012
}}
</ref>



<ref name=Reuters>{{cite news
|last = Thakur
|first = Arnika
|title = Dastangoi magic revives lost medieval tales
|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-india-tales-idUSLNE78T02220110930
|accessdate = 18 December 2012
|newspaper = [[Reuters]]
|date = 30 September 2011
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111003150551/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/30/uk-india-tales-idUSLNE78T02220110930
|archive-date = 2011-10-03
|url-status = live
}}</ref>



<ref name=peternas>{{cite book
|last = Nas
|first = Peter J.M.
|title = Urban Symbolism
|year = 1993
|publisher = Brill
|location = Leiden
|isbn = 9789004098558
|pages = 335–336
|url = http://www.brill.com/urban-symbolism
|access-date = 2012-12-19
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131114171900/http://www.brill.com/urban-symbolism
|archive-date = 2013-11-14
|url-status = live
}}</ref>

}}

==External links==
* {{cite book|last=Pritchett|first=Frances W.|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00litlinks/hamzah/index.html|title=The Romance Tradition in Urdu : Adventures from the Dastan of Amir Hamzah|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|accessdate=19 December 2012|year=1991|isbn=9780231071642}}
* {{cite journal|last=Farooqui|first=Mahmood|title=Dastangoi: Revival of the Mughal art of storytelling|journal=Context: Journal of the Development and Research Organisation for Nature Arts and Heritage|date=Autumn–Winter 2011|volume=VIII|issue=2|pages=31–37|url=https://www.academia.edu/1572349|accessdate=19 December 2012}}
* {{cite book|last=Ghalib Lakhnavi & Abdullah Bilgram, trans Musharraf Ali Farooqi|title=The Adventures of Amir Hamza: Special Abridged Edition|year=2012|publisher=[[Modern Library]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8129-7744-8}}

[[Category:Spoken word]]
[[Category:Storytelling]]
[[Category:Urdu-language culture]]

Dastangoi - Revision history

>GreenC bot at 07:41, 5 July 2021