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{{Short description|Sufi epic poem written in 1379 by Maulana Daud}}
{{Infobox poem
| name = Chandayan
| author = Maulana Daud
| written = 1379 CE
| language = [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]]
| genre = Sufi epic poem
| form = [[Mathnawi|masnavi]]
| meter = doha and chaupai
}}

'''Chandayan''', or '''The Story of Chanda''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lande |first=Joel B. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/How_Literatures_Begin/Xk4aEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Maulana+Daud&pg=PA88&printsec=frontcover |title=How Literatures Begin: A Global History |last2=Feeney |first2=Denis |date=2021-07-20 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-18652-8 |pages=88 |language=en}}</ref> is the first Hindi literary poem which established the genre of [[Sufism|Sufi]] ''premkhyan'' or love story.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Truschke |first=Audrey |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/India/Pi82EQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=premakhyans&pg=PA238&printsec=frontcover |title=India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent |date=2025-06-03 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-22122-9 |pages=238 |language=en}}</ref> It was written in 1379 CE by poet Maulana Daud who was a [[Chishti Order|Chishti]] Sufi.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Manjhan |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Madhumalati/62vMdziymzgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mirig%C4%81vat%C4%AB+(ca.1503)+or+%22The+Magic+Doe%22&printsec=frontcover |title=Madhumalati: An Indian Sufi Romance |date=2001-02-01 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-158751-1 |pages=xiv–xvii |language=en}}</ref> The poem is composed in [[Mathnawi|masnavi]] form (or a poem in couplets)<ref>{{Cite book |last=M. S. Asimov |url=https://archive.org/details/TheAgeOfAchievementA.d.750ToTheEndOfTheFifteenthCentury/page/n399/mode/2up |title=The Age of Achievement A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century |publisher=UNESCO |year=2000 |isbn=978-9231036545 |pages=400 |language=English}}</ref> and in the [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] dialect, the regional language of the eastern Gangetic plains,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Dāūda |title=The English Translation of Candayan, the Pioneer Indo-Sufi Masnavi of Maulana Daud |date=2023 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-032-52078-0 |location=London |pages=23–41 |translator-last=Hines |translator-first=Naseem Akhtar}}</ref> but was written in the Persian-Arabic script.<ref name=":4" /> Daud had composed the poem for the entertainment of a provincial court in North India.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sheikh |first=Samira |date=2017 |title=Review of Love's Subtle Magic: An Indian Islamic Literary Tradition, 1379–1545 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.3.0634 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=137 |issue=3 |pages=634 |doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.3.0634 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref>

== History ==
Chandayan is recognized as an important literary text in the history of Hindi literature<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Chandayan: A Sufi Tale of Ishq between Languages, Cultures & People |url=https://www.sdmart.org/event/the-chandayan-a-sufi-tale-of-ishq-between-languages-cultures-people/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=San Diego Museum of Art |language=en-US}}</ref> because it pioneered a new genre of literature called ''Awadhi premkatha'' which mixed literary conventions from Persian, [[Apabhraṃśa|Apabhramsha]], and oral Awadhi folk traditions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orsini |first=Francesca |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/East_of_Delhi/be3DEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+chandayan&pg=PA43&printsec=frontcover |title=East of Delhi: Multilingual Literary Culture and World Literature |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-765829-1 |pages=28 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Tyler W. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/If_All_the_World_Were_Paper/mmzvEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Cand%C4%81yan+(1379+C.E.)&pg=PT14&printsec=frontcover |title=If All the World Were Paper: A History of Writing in Hindi |date=2024-10-01 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-55875-4 |language=en}}</ref> Traditionally, the masnavis that were composed for the courtly states of India were written in the Persian language and style.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:India, Sultanate, 16th Century - Page from the "Prince of Wales Museum Chandayana" - 1981.55 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|manuscript of Chandayan from the Prince of Wales Museum]]
The word ''masnavi'', taken from a Hebrew and Arabic word, means a story that can be interpreted on many levels. As such, Chandayan is an allegory about a man on a spiritual journey who follows the Sufi path to become closer to God as well as a love story about two characters named Chanda (the moon) and Lorik (the sun).<ref name=":1" /> The plot of the story takes inspiration from a popular oral folktale and epic called [[Lorikayan|Candaini]] which was sung by [[Ahir]] singers of northern India.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mohamed |first=Malik |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Foundations_of_the_Composite_Culture/yPnZEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+chandayan&pg=PT196&printsec=frontcover |title=The Foundations of the Composite Culture in India |date=2023-12-01 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-003-83095-5 |language=en}}</ref> Candaini was also a love story about two characters called Lorik and Canva.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shaikh |first=Sanahadbegam |date=2023-05-16 |title=Rare Slides of Chandayan Manuscript now a part of UW Libraries - South Asia Center |url=https://jsis.washington.edu/southasia/news/rare-slides-of-chandayan-manuscript-now-a-part-of-uw-libraries/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120213326/https://jsis.washington.edu/southasia/news/rare-slides-of-chandayan-manuscript-now-a-part-of-uw-libraries/ |archive-date=2025-01-20 |access-date=2025-03-26 |work=South Asia Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

Succeeding poets used Chandayan as a template to create their literary works,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Behl |first=Aditya |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Love_s_Subtle_Magic/HR6hDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mirig%C4%81vat%C4%AB+(ca.1503)+or+%22The+Magic+Doe%22&pg=PA109&printsec=frontcover |title=Love's Subtle Magic: An Indian Islamic Literary Tradition, 1379-1545 |date=2016-07-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-062882-6 |language=en}}</ref> some of which include Mirigavati, composed in 1503 by Sultan Husain Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur, [[Padmavat]] which was composed in 1540 by [[Malik Muhammad Jayasi]], and [[Madhumalati]] which was composed by Mir Sayyid Manjhan Rajgiri in 1545.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Meri |first=Josef W. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Medieval_Islamic_Civilization_L_Z_index/LaV-IGZ8VKIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Maulana+Daud&pg=PA620&printsec=frontcover |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z, index |date=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-96692-4 |pages=620 |language=en}}</ref>

== Author ==
Chandayan was composed by poet Maulana Daud who was a Chishti Sufi during the reign of [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq|Firoz Shah]]. He lived in the city of Dalmau, present day Rai Bareilli district in [[Bihar]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Behl |first=Aditya |title=Love's subtle magic: an Indian Islamic literary tradition, 1379-1545 |last2=Doniger |first2=Wendy |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514670-7 |location=New York |pages=36–59}}</ref>

== Structure ==
Daud incorporated an elaborate, structured prologue into the poem that is traditionally found in Persian masnavis. The prologue has 17 stanzas and includes, praise to God (''hamd''), exhalation of the [[Muhammad in Islam|Prophet Muhammad]] (''na't''), eulogies for the four righteous Caliphs and acknowledgement to his patrons and spiritual preceptor.<ref name=":1" />

== Poetic form and prosody ==
The format and structure of Chandayan served as a model for many masnavis that were created later. The poem uses meters and verse forms like [[Doha (poetry)|doha]] and [[Chaupai (poetry)|chaupai]],<ref name=":2" /> and utilizes the four foot [[Apabhraṃśa|Apabhramsha]] meter.<ref name=":1" /> The poem is composed of ''kadavakas'' or stanza like units which were popular in the Awadhi language. Each kadavaka is preceded by an introductory Persian prose phrase or sentence.<ref name=":1" />

== Manuscripts ==
[[File:Chanda talking to a Friend.jpg|thumb|Chanda talking to a Friend, Folio from a manuscript of Laur Chanda. Probably Delhi - Jaunpur belt. Sultanate Period, 1525–1575. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya]]
A complete Chandyan manuscript does not exist and there are only several damaged and incomplete copies which includes five illustrated versions<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sheikh |first=Samira |date=2017 |title=Review of Love's Subtle Magic: An Indian Islamic Literary Tradition, 1379–1545 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.3.0634 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=137 |issue=3 |pages=634–636 |doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.137.3.0634 |issn=0003-0279}}</ref> and two unillustrated version from the 15th and 16th centuries.<ref name=":2" /> Folios of the manuscript are housed in the [[Berlin State Library|Staatsbibliothek]] in Berlin, [[John Rylands Research Institute and Library]] at the University of Manchester, the [[Bharat Kala Bhavan]], in Benaras,<ref name=":3" /> the [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya]] in Mumbai and the [[Lahore Museum]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Bhuyan |first=Avantika |date=2024-05-05 |title='Chandayan': A translation of an epic proportion {{!}} Mint |url=https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/chandayan-epic-translation-awadhi-to-english-pre-mughal-miniature-paintings-11714882187164.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208105721/https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/chandayan-epic-translation-awadhi-to-english-pre-mughal-miniature-paintings-11714882187164.html |archive-date=2025-02-08 |access-date=2025-05-11 |work=mint |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Awadhi literature]]
[[Category:Hindi-language literature]]
[[Category:Sufi poetry]]

Chandayan (poem) - Revision history

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