The English Translation of Candayan

This book is the first English translation of Candayan, the pioneer work in a long tradition of Indian-Sufi love narratives. The story was adapted from an oral epic Chanaini, popular in the Awadhi speaking region of north India in the fourteenth century. The early manuscripts of Candayan, though composed in the Awadhi dialect, were recorded in the Persian script. Each stanza-like unit is introduced by a phrase or sentences in the Persian language style, making it necessary for a reader to know the Persian script and language, as well as the Awadhi dialect. This somewhat limits the access to fully explore Candayan. In addition to this, the esoteric interpretation, which is the distinguishing feature that gives the Indian-Sufi masnavi literature its unique identity, was also not yet realized. Candayan deserves to be celebrated and recognized because it marks the beginning of the indigenizing process of the masnavi in India, and served as a model for this literary genre for the next 540 years