MadZiddi’s Reviews > Hamzanama: The Adventures of Amir Hamza > Status Update

The lengthiest Urdu Hamzanama was spread over 46 volumes ( about 50,000 pages)! These were divided into eight dafaatar. The fifth daftar is known as Tilism-e Hoshruba.

In my collection I have all eight (technically seven) volumes of Tilism-e Hoshruba that were published by Khuda Bakhsh Library, Patna (Bihar) in 1988 ( a photo of the first volume : https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/... ). This set was basically a facsimile of the one that was originally published ( about 10,000 pages) from 1884 to 1890 by the famous Naval Kishore Press of Lucknow. The first four volumes were written/recorded by Muhammad Husain Jah Lakhnavi. Munshi Ahmad Hussain Qamar wrote the last four.

These volumes of the Tilism were originally marketed as tarjuma of a supposedly original Farsi dastaan because Urdu nasr was still in its infancy( most writers/publishers preferred Persian antecedents). Since the lengthiest Farsi Hamzanama has just two volumes, it is believed that Tilism-e Hoshruba is in fact an original work (i.e. not a translation) that was composed and recited by the dastangos of the Subcontinent (esp. the Delhi-Lucknow region).

Interestingly, the first Urdu Hamzanama - written in 1801 ( Fort William, Calcutta) - had just one volume. By the 1890s, it had spread over 46 volumes!

Abandoned. Need original version with sharah

MadZiddi wrote: "Abandoned. Need original version with sharah"

Also recommended :

1. A collection of articles/ speeches on Dastaan-e Amir Hamza by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi: https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/daastan...

(SR Faruqi also wrote a lengthy work called SAHIRI, SHAHI, SAHIB QIRANI: DASTAN-E-AMIR HAMZA KA MUTALA , in five volumes).

2. Muqaddamah Tilism Hoshruba: https://ia803201.us.archive.org/13/it...

Thanks. Very useful.