Sama’a: The Chandayan – Talk by Prof. Naman Ahuja

A Sufi Tale of Ishq between Languages, Cultures & People

An Illustrated Talk by Prof. Naman Ahuja

Composed in Hindavi (using the old Hindi dialect of Jaunpuri Avadhi), the Chandayan is regarded as one of the foundational texts of the history of Hindi literature. The 16th-century historian Badayuni tells us that the Chandayan was selected for religious instruction by the Sufi, Maulana Da’ud, in the Tughlaq period.

A racy yarn recounting the romance of Lorik and Chanda, it was, equally, an allegory about ishq—love for the Divine. The remains of five manuscripts, which were profusely illustrated sometime between 1475 and 1525, are also foundational for studies in art history. They form the largest corpus of evidence of pre-Mughal painting in north India.

Naman Ahuja is a professor of art history and visual culture at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and General Editor of Marg. In his lecture, he will take us through some highlights of the paintings of this popular tale and reflect on how the “vernacular” Chandayan is a valuable source of social and cultural history that allows scholars to map the politics of language and patronage in the domains of the sultanates.

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