[Preliminary Entry] ‘Iṣmat-nāma is a Persian version of an allegorical Indian popular story entitled Canainī or Candāyan composed first in Hindi by Mawlānā Dāwūd in 1379. Next ‘Abd al-Quddūs Gangohī (d. 945/1566) made a first Persian translation into Persian (Čandāyan). During Jahāngīr’s era (r. 1605-1627), Ḥamīd Kalānawrī (d. 1628) accomplished another version of the story in Persian maṯnawī in 1607 and named it as ‘Iṣmat-nāma.
The story in detail is about Mīnā, the princess of India whose spouse, Lurik, leaves her after falling in love with another woman called Candā. While Mīnā mourns her separation, a tricky go-between old woman aims to convince her to join a lover named Sātan. Yet she stays loyal to her husband and mourns his separation following bārāmāsī tradition until Lurik returns back to her at the end of the story. According to Kalānawrī, the story characters personify moral and spiritual themes. Also during the Mughal period, due to the demand of the daughter Awrangzeb (r. 1658-1707), Zīb al-Nisā’, ‘Abd al-Ġafūr compiled the story in prose in 1084/1705.
P. S.
v) Information on colophon; vi) Description of miniatures/illustrations; vii) Other remarks; viii) Information on catalogue(s)
Aligarh, Mawlānā Āzād Library, Lytton collection, 111
.Edinburgh, University Library, 308
, viii)Hukk - Ethé – Robertson 1925, pp. 279-280
.Edition: ‘Iṣmat-nāma yā dāstān-i Lurik wa Mīnā, ‘Ābidī Amīr Ḥassan, ed., New Delhi. 1985.
| Main Persian Title: | ‘Iṣmat-nāma |
| English Translation of Main Persian Title: | Book of Chastity |
| Translator: | Ḥamīd Kalānawrī |
| Original Sources: | |
| Year / Period of Composition: | 1607 |