Prose in Urdu literature, though not so popular as Urdu poetry, forms a major part among the people who are enthusiastic about the Urdu language. The component of the prose of Urdu literature was generally restricted to the olden form of long epic stories known as Dastaan which was often written in Persian language, in original form. These long and epic stories dealt with excellently magical and otherwise brilliant creatures and events in a very convoluted and complicated narrative.
As a genre, Dastaan originated in Iran, and thereafter was disseminated by folk storytellers. It was assimilated by individual authors. The plots of Dastaan are based on both folklore and classical literary subjects. Dastaan was typically popular in Urdu literature, which is typologically close to other narrative genres in Eastern literatures, such as Persian Masnawi, Punjabi Qissa, Sindhi Waqayati bait, etc., and also reminiscent of the European novel.
The oldest recognized Urdu Dastaan is Dastan-i-Amir Hamra, recorded in the early seventeenth century, and the extinct Bustan-iKhayal ("The Garden of Imagination" or "The Garden of Khayal") by Mir Taqi Khayal. Most of the narratives Dastaans were recorded in the early 19th century, thus representing contaminations of `wandering`, motifs borrowed from the folklore of the Middle East, central Asia and northern India. These also include Bagh-o Bahar (The Garden and spring) by Mir Amman, Mazhab-i-Ishq (The Religion of Love) by Nihalchand Lahori, Araish-i-Mahfil (The Adornment of the Assembly) by Hyderbakhsh Hyderi, Gulzar-i-Chin (The Flower Bed of Chin) by Khalil Ali Khan Ashq, and the smaller dastaans.
Examples of famous Dastaans in Urdu Language include:
* Nau tarz-i murassa` - Husain `Ata Khun Tahsin
* Nauaini hindi (Qissa-i Malik Mahmud Giti-Afroz) - Mihr Chand Khatri
* Jazb-i ishq - Shuh Husain Haqiqat
* Nau tarz-i murassa` - Muhammad Hadi a.k.a. Mirza Mughal Ghafil
* Araish-i mahfil (Qissa-i Hatim Tai) - Haidar Bakhsh Haidari
* Bagh o bahar (Qissa-i chahar darwesh) - Mir Amman
* Dastan-i Amir Hamza - Khalal `Ali Khan Ashk
* Talism Hoshruba - Muhammad Husain Jah
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