Akbar and Birbal: Tales of Wit and Wisdom

by Amita Sarin

Mango trees are court witnesses
Magical sticks identify thieves
Birbal must take a trip to heaven The friendship between Emperor Akbar and his minister Birbal created history and some delightful stories! The tales of Akbar and Birbal have been passed on from generation to generation, enthralling young and old listeners alike. This book brings together a selection of these stories, along with fascinating historical details about the Mughal court, the emperor and his witty courtier. With well-researched introductions to each aspect of Mughal life, Amita Sarin recreates Akbar's court in all its grandeur and vitality. The stories in this collection are both amusing and thought-provoking, both historical and timeless.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, India

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2005

Reviews

[Shefali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for children. Stories are short and sweet but not as good as the stories that your parents tell you..

[Chip Huyen]

Read this book when I was traveling in the Middle East. Didn't like it very much when I was reading it, but maybe it's bc I applied adult/foreign standards to children's books.

[Moshiur Rahman]

The book is a lot of fun. It is a book about the great emperor Akbar and his loyal advisor Birbal. If you read this book you will learn a lot about the ways in which Birbal tackled his problems set for him by Akbar. You can also learn a lot of new ways to solve your own problems by reading this book. In all the stories there is something to learn. And you don't always get the same lesson in every chapter.

[KitaabWorld.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

The friendship between Emperor Akbar and his minister Birbal created history and some delightful stories!

The tales of Akbar and Birbal have been passed on from generation to generation, enthralling young and old listeners alike. This book brings together a selection of these stories, along with fascinating historical details about the Mughal court, the emperor and his witty courtier. From the time that a chance meeting in the forest brought Akbar and Birbal face-to-face, the emperor and his minister together faced dilemmas that ranged from the ethical to the personal, from debates on the true nature of justice to the problems of hen-pecked husbands. An old widow is robbed of her bag of gold and Birbal nails the culprit. A thief runs away with the emperor s royal seal but gives Akbar a surprise later. Birbal manages a miraculous escape when envious courtiers conspire to have him killed. The king asks his ministers how many crows there are in the city, and only Birbal has the answer.

With well-researched introductions to each aspect of Mughal life, Amita Sarin recreates Akbar s court in all its grandeur and vitality. The stories in this collection are both amusing and thought-provoking, both historical and timeless.

See other books in our Folktales from Islamic Traditions booklist here:
https://kitaabworld.com/blogs/news/fo...

[Mandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little collection was a very quick read that I enjoyed before bed.

I'm always interested when I find folktales that are based on real historical figures. These were mainly about advisor Birbal finding ways to outwit ill-meaning people and make emperor Akbar smile at the same time. They were lightly entertaining.

I didn't realize this collection was intended for children. Normally that's not a deterrent for me at all, but this collection felt abbreviated and a bit shallow compared to my expectations. I would be open to reading other stories about this iconic pair, but maybe from a different author or intended for an adult audience.

[Neha · Rating 3 out of 5]

simply written. while the stories are captured, i felt the essence was missing. Not sure why.
still a charming look into the fabled world of Akbar & Birbal

[prasun kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very good story no.

[Kunal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missing a few of the good ones (heating khichdi/heat from a distant lamp, as an example), but the ones listed are good! Great background and context too

[Rudolph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful short stories depicting great friendship between Akbar and Birbal.

[Elliot Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for persons who don't know much about akbar and birbal. Love historical accurate fact in the book

[Kookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly charming little tales. Super easy read.

[Pikachu]

This is a collection of stories about the mughal Emperor Akbar and his clever advisor Birbal. Birbal is full of wisdom and can solve many issues that come up in court. I have visited Akbar's palace in Fathepur Sikri outside Agra so I can really imagine some of these things happening.

[Marisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

While my reading lore did not start with these tales, I would say it might as well have. Akbar and Birbal had been a large part of my life as a child. I was about seven or eight when my father had brought me four individual Akbar and Birbal short story books. I ate all of them up, and sang their praises to everyone.

I had this urge to read those tales, again, and while I couldn't find the exact books (Because in India, short stories at that time were published by small publishers that may not even work well now), this one did the job. It was like re-reading a part of my childhood, and while it lacked the fun it did as before(Not because I have grown, but because the books I read as a kid were far better), I still enjoyed this because it brought back memories.

[s · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book off I was a bit skeptical but, as the pages passed I started loving it. This book was full of amazing riddles and very smart and answers.
It was all going great until I realized something, it was EXTREMELY repetitive. I mean while the problems, tricks and riddles were different the main idea and the plot stayed the same! It was always "somebody thinks that they are either smarter, better, more deserving or just hate Birbal, than Akbar puts that person and Birbal in a bad situation, Birbal gets them out and then they realize he does deserve the job."It got really boring, pretty fast.
Overall, I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it!

[Meowchick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who doesn't love their stories? :)

[Gowthami]

nothing

[Vijay Dhameliya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories are freaking exciting while others are insult to Birbal's intellect. And narration of Akbar's time at the beginning of every new section is worth reading.

[Shiva S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good as it has Good themes in the story. Birbal was really an intelligent character in this story