In the Great Khan’s Tent

In The Great Khan's Tent Trailer

This is the Trailer for In The Great Khan's Tent! 

In The Great Khan's Tent Episode 31: The Arabian Nights Part 29

This episode marks two important milestones that we have reached here at In The Great Khan’s Tent!

Firstly this is the 40^th episode we have reached! Secondly, we have reached 2,000 all time downloads!

Both could not have happened without the support of our listeners, our supporters, and those who continue with us on our journey to examine the Literature and Folk Literature from the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, North Africa, Mongolia and the Russian Far East.

We will continue to strive to bring you the same informative, educational, and entertaining content that we have been doing! Thank you all and hope you continue this journey with us!

In light of reaching these milestones, I have decided to update our cover art and logo. I would really appreciate your comments if you like this one or prefer our older one.

In this episode, we continue our exiting exploration of the One Thousand and One Nights with the continuation of the story of “The Story of Ghanim, the son of Ayyub, the Distracted Slave of Love” with Nights 42 and 43.

Once again the historical characters of Harun al-Rashid and Jafar al-Barmaki appear but this time, their roles are clearly superseded by our main characters, Ghanim and Qut al-Qulub, and they are reduced to being secondary characters.

What differs from other stories we have encountered so far that feature Harun al-Rashid, he this time appears as someone who is more religiously inclined than before with clear issues about being punished in the afterlife. This is shown by  how many times both Qut al-Qulub and his main wife Zubeydah, are either told to as in the case of Zubeydah by the old woman, or is known as when Qut al-Qulub indicates.

This indicates, to me, that this might have been told and written down when Harun al-Rashid was older and somewhat more mature than was previously shown.

We are also re-introduced to the characters of Ghanim’s mother and his sister, Fitneh, as they appear lamenting the supposed loss of Ghanim. The concept of mistaken identity is continual here with how often all three women characters overlook Ghanim due to the troubles he finds himself in and the state, both mentally and physically, he is reduced to due to his separation from Qut al-Qulub.

In the next episode, we will conclude our special series, In The Great Khan’s Tent Presents: Tales from Central Asia, with Episode 4. However, fear not listeners, we will have a new special series to replace this one coming out next month!

In The Great Khan's Tent Episode 30: The Arabian Nights Part 28

In this episode, we continue our exciting exploration of the One Thousand and One Nights, with the story of “The Story of Ghanim the son of Ayyub, the Distracted Slave of Love” with Nights 40 and 41.

We are first told the story of the first slave, Buhkait, and how he eventually found himself castrated. We then listen to the story of the second slave, Kafur, and the mischief he inflicted on his master and the city before getting his supposed comeuppance.

We finally then return back to our main character, Ghanim the son of Ayyub, and what he found in the chest that the three slaves had carried and had attempted to bury in the graveyard.

As you listen to this episode, consider why Ghanim could have gotten the title of the “Distracted Slave of Love” by considering what he went to Baghdad to do and what he was actually doing.

This episode is important as it highlights one of the great divergences that begins to take place within the One Thousand and One Nights translations that we will have to deal with as we continue our explorations with this work. The story of the first slave, Buhkait, was excluded from the translation of Edward William Lane, on account of its content, but was included in the translation of John Payne and of Richard Burton. Payne's version of this tale, by my estimation, was significantly toned down due to English sensibilities in contrast to Burton's version which ramped up the obscenity.

If you need a refresher on Obscenity and Bowdlerization within the One Thousand and One Nights, then refer back to our One Year Special Episode 1 where we dealt with the groundwork on this issue.

In The Great Khan's Tent Presents: Ramadan/Ramzan Special Episode Part 2

Welcome to In The Great Khan’s Tent Presents: Ramadan or Ramzan, if you prefer, Special Episode Part 2!

In our final special episode for this holy month of Ramadan, we delve into two tales of lesser known and uniquely Arab, Prophets, Salih (A.S.) who was sent to the people of Thamud, located in what we would know as present day Saudi Arabia, and Shu’ayb (A.S.) who was sent to two groups of people, the people of Midian and the people of the Thicket, both of whom are also located in the present day region of Saudi Arabia.

The tale of Salih (A.S.) is an interesting one and delves into the problems of asking a prophet for a sign of his prophethood. In Salih (A.S.) case, he had given the people of Thamud a she-camel which provided them with endless milk but their hatred and jealousy against him caused them to strike out against the camel and invite their own destruction. Of interesting note here is that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), does interact with the legacy of Salih (A.S.) and the remains left after Allah destroyed them. He warns his companions, as he travels through this region, to not drink the water or even enter the town. Furthermore, the Prophet (PBUH) warns of people of asking for signs of prophethood since it is tantamount that people are really asking for the destruction of themselves and their people.

The tale of Shu’ayb (A.S.) is unique from the tale of Hud (A.S.) and that of Salih (A.S.) in that while Shu’ayb (A.S.) did ask people to come to righteousness, he also especially targeted the people of Midian and the people of the Thicket to stop exploiting people through devious means particularly through modified and erroneous use of weights and measures as well as to stop them from highway robbery.

In the next episode we will continue our retelling of the One Thousand and One Nights with the continuation of “The Story of Ghanim the son of Ayyub, the Distracted Slave of Love”.

In The Great Khan's Tent Presents: Ramadan/Ramzan Special Episode Part 1

Welcome to In The Great Khan’s Tent Presents: Ramadan or Ramzan, if you prefer, Special Episode Part 1!

In this special episode we will examine the oral and written narratives pertaining to Islam, in particular focusing on some of the lesser known Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an including the related topics to them.

The purpose of these episodes is to tell the tales and stories told about these unique Prophets that are mentioned in the Qur’an and that do not relate to either the Jewish or Christian tradition and hence are purely Arabic ones. This unique group includes of course the final seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (PBUH), but also includes the three we will be focusing on, Hud (A.S.), Salih (A.S.) and Shuaib (A.S.).

The structure of this episode is uniquely different because we are dealing with religious narratives. The first section of the episode recounts the Qur’anic verses dealing with the topic that we will be discussing before moving on to the narratives themselves.

Listeners will encounter a list of names ranging from one to many before a narrative has begun. This is called a isnad or the “chain of transmission”. The function of an isnad is to be a reliable guide to note which oral narratives have good standings and can be understood or agreed upon. The people in these isnad are often vetted through certain processes, such as not being prone to carelessness, and are understood as truthful people in good standing. Since these are religious oral tales, essentially, they use the isnad method.

In this specific episode, we deal with the narratives of Hud (A.S.) and the people he was sent to. His tale is a purely Yemeni one, as the people he was sent to were the ‘Ad, located within the present day regions of Oman and Yemen. His story is primarily known only through the Qur’an and there is an entire chapter that is named after him. The rest of his tale and the people he was sent to is transmitted through a select few oral tales.

Since we have no records of his life, the oral tales revolve around his warning to the people of ‘Ad, their ignorance or outright violence in their attempt to drive him away, and their eventual destruction by Allah for ignoring the call to return to righteousness.

After encountering the narrative of Hud (A.S.) we then move to tell the tale of the lost city called Iram of the Pillars, a city build by the king of ‘Ad, Shaddad ibn ‘Ad, and his attempt at recreating Heaven on the Earth.

The last narrative that is told, is the journey undertaken to Shaddad’s tomb and their adventures within it.

These two last narratives, certainly fitting within the folk tale genre, resemble the tales we will encounter further on in the One Thousand and One Nights.

In the next special episode of this holy month of Ramazan, we will be looking at the Prophets Salih (A.S.) and Shuaib (A.S.).

In The Great Khan's Tent Episode 29: The Arabian Nights Part 27

In this episode, we continue with our exploration of the One Thousand and One Nights, with the exciting conclusion of the story of “The Story of Nur-ud-din and Anis al-Jalis” with Night 38 and begin a new story, “The Story of Ghanim the son of Ayyub, the Distracted Slave of Love” with Night 39.

The role played by Harun al-Rashid in the story of Nur-ud-din and Anis al-Jalis clearly is another, more calmer and rational, aspect of his personality than what we saw in the “The Story of the Humpback”. While he does continue to threat Ja’far al-Barmaki with death if he does not do exactly as he says, his sense of justice is clearly more sharpened in this story than the previous one, especially in regards to the vizir al-Mo’in the son of Sawi and the Sultan, Muhammad the son of Suleyman al-Zeyni, who is his cousin.

This story also shows how the power base of the Abbasid Khalifate was built around with vital posts, such as the Sultan of Basra, being given to his family members rather than anyone from outside the immediate tribal connection.

The new story of Ghanim, returns us to the root of who these stories were really meant for with the main character being the son of the merchant who also becomes a merchant selling his wares in the city of Baghdad having traveled from his home in Damascus. We are not told yet as to why he has the appellation of “The Distracted Slave of Love” though hopefully the story will tell us. This story is once again set in the time of Harun al-Rashid, once again indicating that this story maybe one of the core stories of the One Thousand and One Nights.

In The Great Khan's Tent Presents: Tales from Central Asia Episode 3

In this episode, we continue with our on-going series titled “Tales from Central Asia” by looking at four different tales from four different ethnic groups.

The first story that is told is from the Turkmen ethnic group titled “A Mountain of Gems”. The second story that is told is from the Uzbek ethnic group titled “The Clever Brothers”. The third story that is told is from the Tajik ethnic group titled “The Greedy Qazi”.

What is interesting about these three stories is that they all bear a resemblance to similar tales that we have encountered and have yet to encounter in the One Thousand and One Nights. Although there is no indication of the provenance of these stories it can be conjectured that they were inspired by the One Thousand and One Nights and subsequently were modified to fit in their local storytelling environments. Another theory that can be examined is that these stories were developed in parallel to one another, in an isolated environment.

As we encounter these stories in the One Thousand and One Nights, there will be future special episodes comparing and contrasting them.

The last story that is told is from the Altai ethnic group called “Boroldoi-Mergen and his Brave Son”. This story is similar in its structure to the Bashkir story we encountered, Altyn-Saka the Golden Knucklebone, as well as the story of Tsarkin Khan and the Archer, the Kalmyk story. The main characters in all three of these stories are uniquely different from the environment that they find themselves in as the rest of the characters, or the village in the case of Boroldoi-Mergen, are cowardly and not brave and it is solely up to them to stand up to the unrighteous.

In the next episode, we will once again resume our exploration of the One Thousand and One Nights.

In The Great Khan's Tent Episode 28: The Arabian Nights Part 26

In this episode, we continue “The Story of Nur-ud-din and Anis al-Jalis” with Night 37.

As mentioned before, we again encounter the three historical characters of Harun al-Rashid, Jafar al-Barmaki, and Mansur. There is a marked difference in how the relationship between Harun al-Rashid and Jafar al-Barmaki is portrayed. Unlike the previous encounters, however, these new  threats are now tempered with joviality and humor. This may lead one to  believe that these threats were often used as playful banter between the two or at the very least by Harun al-Rashid. The reaction that Jafar has when faced with these threats, however, does not make it seem like he knew they were simply how Harun al-Rashid joked with him. This continues to deepen the mystery of both their portrayal within the One Thousand and One Nights and what exactly is the storyteller attempting to show.

We once again encounter the character of the fisherman, someone who was first encountered when we first began this series. Although the role Karim the fisherman plays is small, the presence of this character including the depiction of his poverty may have been an effort to show that not all characters are from similar social situations and classes.

In the next episode, we will return once again to another episode of the “Tales from Central Asia”.