A Fable on Helpfulness
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Our Stories
Bringing you folklore straight from the mountains, plains, deserts and beaches of Pakistan. Transcribed, illustrated and curated with love. Happy reading!
-Team Folkloristan
A fable about a she-goat and a crow about being helpful.
The Prince, His Friend, and the Faqir
In a land where mountains kissed the clouds, and melting sun bathed the emerald plains, ruled a King as kind as he was just. The lands...
The Frog Princess
Punjabi Folktale | A curse turns a princess into a frog, until she is rescued by fate, and a prince.
The Lioness and the Lambs
Punjabi Folktale | A fable on love, deceit and motherhood.
The Sparrow and the Crow
Punjabi Folktale | A fable on friendship
The Tiger and the Fox
Balochi Folktale | A fable set against the backdrop of a forest
The Nagini and King Ali Mardan
Kashmiri Folktale | A Dervish aids a king in freeing himself from a snake-woman
Begum and Mullah Murad
Balochi Folktale | Mullah Murad, a Rabab player, falls in love with Begum, a singer from Gwadar.
The King who Turned into a Frog
Pashto Fable | Widsom, unity, foresight and dissent.
The Disabled Prince Who Saved His Brothers
Pashto Folktale | An ostracised disabled prince rescues his brothers from a demon, paving his way to social acceptance.
The Lizard Man of Lahore
Urban Legend | Punjab | A cryptid rumoured to roam the streets of Lahore.
Five Lessons from Attar's Mantaq-ut-Tayr
Epic Poetry | Originally Persian, Absorbed into Urdu via Translation | Conference of the Birds
Gamble: An Anecdotal Lesson from the Sindbadnameh
Epic Adventure | Urdu, Persian and Arabic | Anecdotal Fable from the Sindbadnameh
The King's Quest to Find a Wise Judge
Epic Adventure | Urdu, Persian and Arabic | Anecdotal Fable from the Sindbadnameh
Shehzadi Mircha
Punjabi Folktale | A Happily-Ever-After fairytale.
Kismat Pari
Balochi Folktale | Unrequited love between a fairy and a mortal.
Izzat and Mehruk
Balochi Folktale | Mullah Izzat and Mehruk
The Son of a Peasant who Became Shah Jahan's Wazir
Mughal-era Folktale | A rags-to-riches journey of a child from Punjab
Tordilai o Shehi
Pashto Folktale | A tragedy set against the backdrop of the Mughal Emperor Akbar's Court
The Legend of Saint Sarmad Kashani Martyrdom
Legend | Hazrat Sarmad Kashani, a Sufi Saint
Fateh Khan Rabia
Pashto Folktale | The tragic romance of Fateh Khan and Rabia, which ended in tragedy.
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