Persianization of Indic Narratives

This paper discusses popular literary works which have been translated from Indian languages into Persian and have subsequently influenced Persian narrative techniques. Translators addressed their texts to specific audiences and adapted them to specific genre codes. The process of adaptation and persianization can thus be seen in many Indo-Persian stories dating from the Mughal period. One of the first texts chosen to be translated during this period under Akbar was Thirty-Two Tales of the Throne or Vikrama’s Adventures, of which several translations exist. A new Persian version of the popular story collection Kathāsaritsāgara („Ocean of the Streams of Stories“) was also commissioned under Akbar‘s supervision.