In The Great Khan’s Tent Episode X: Special Episode II

01/22/23 • 34 min

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In this series of special episodes, I hope to highlight the historical background for the One Thousand and One Nights, by examining the history of the work, where the text drew its inspiration from, the original manuscripts, translators and translations, and how it found a new iteration in Children's Literature. In this Second special episode, I look into the brief history of oral literature, providing example from Gilgamesh and the Great Flood story, go into a surface level discussion about why my scholarly opinion disregards the monocausal hypothesis, and look into the first two inspirations from the subcontinent, the Jataka and the Panchatantra.

Previous Episode

In The Great Khan’s Tent Episode IX:The Arabian Nights Part VIII

In this episode we continue the story of “The Second Royal Dervish” in the continuation of Night XIII and part of Night XIV. Within this story is a nested tale of “The Story of the Envier and the Envied” which provides a moral tale for those who are envious. Within the story of “The Second Royal Dervish” we encounter, for the first time, an actual confrontation head on with the Jinn, in this case with Jarjaris, where all other previous interactions were feats of intellectual battles. This confrontation showcases that humans can go head-to-head with the Jinn, however, the cost of doing so is great.

Next Episode

In The Great Khan’s Tent Episode XI: The Arabian Nights Part IX

In this episode, we begin the story of “The Third Royal Dervish” with Night XV and Night XVI. Note that the Third Royal Dervish is the first instance we encounter of a hero who enjoys sailing, owns ships, and is subsequently shipwrecked. This clearly shows that the fundamental ideas that were to be found in orphan stories like Sindbad do have some basis in the One Thousand and One Nights. We also encounter, for the first time, the mythological bird called Rukh or Roc, again a staple in the Sindbad and other stories as well. Keep in mind here, what the Third Royal Dervish is attempting to convey and how it differs from the First and Second Royal Dervishes stories.