Rewriting the Parrot’s Tales: Narrative Structure and Literary Craft in Nakhshabi’s Ṭuṭināma

Abstract

This dissertation examines a fourteenth century Persian adaptation of the Sanskrit Shukāsaptati (“Seventy Tales of a Parrot”), titled the Ṭuṭināma (“Tales of a Parrot”) by Żiāʾ al-Din Nakhshabi. The Tales of a Parrot story cycle, which originated in India and circulated across Persian, Arabic, and European literatures, yet has remained understudied compared to similar works like Kalila va Demna. Nakhshabi’s Ṭuṭināma is a creative rewriting of an earlier Persian translation, Javāher al-asmār (“Gems of Stories”) by ʿEmād bin Moḥammad S̱aghari and became the most influential version of the tradition. This study explores Nakhshabi’s stylistic and narrative innovations and exhibits how his reworking of S̱aghari’s text was transformed into a distinct literary masterpiece. It investigates how Nakhshabi uses of rhetorical embellishment, narrative framing, and temporal structuring to enhance the text’s didactic and aesthetic dimensions. Additionally, the dissertation examines the Ṭuṭināma’s engagement with themes of gender, power, and morality, situating it within the broader “wiles of women” tradition while highlighting its conflicted portrayal of female autonomy.