Old Deccan Days
Or, Hindoo Fairy Legends, Current in Southern India

A collection of twenty-four traditional Indian folk tales from the state of Maharashtra, first published in 1868.

Mary Frere (Author), Sir Bartle Frere (Edited by)

9781108020770, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 September 2010

380 pages, 45 b/w illus. 4 colour illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.2 cm, 0.48 kg

First published in 1868, this volume contains a collection of twenty-four traditional stories from the southern Indian state of Maharashtra. Mary Eliza Isabella Frere (1845–1911) travelled to India in 1863 to stay with her father, Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor of Bombay. She became fascinated with Indian culture and transcribed these stories from her ayah (nanny and chaperone) Anna Liberata da Souza who had been told them by her grandmother. Expressive and detailed, these stories formed part of southern India's traditional oral culture, at risk of being lost. This volume includes an introduction by Sir Bartle Frere exploring the cultural background to the stories and a chapter by Anna Liberata da Souza describing her life and childhood. This volume was extremely popular, being reprinted in four editions by 1889 and encouraging the study of comparative mythology while revealing new information concerning Indian traditional culture.

Introduction
The collector's apology
The narrator's narrative
1. Punchkin
2. A funny story
3. Brave Seventee-Bai
4. Truth's triumph
5. Rama and Luxman, or, the learned owl
6. Little Surya-Bai
7. The wanderings of Vicram Maharajah
8. Less inequality than men deem
9. Panch-Phul Ranee
10. How the sun, the moon, and the wind went out to dinner
11. Singh-Rajah, and the cunning little jackals
12. The jackal, the barber, and the brahmin who had seven daughters
13. Tit for tat
14. The brahmin, the tiger, and the six judges
15. The selfish sparrow and the houseless crows
16. The valiant chattee-maker
17. The Rakshas' palace
18. The blind man, the deaf man, and the donkey
19. Muchie-Lal
20. Chundun-Rajah
21. Sodewa-Bai
22. Chandra's vengeance
23. How the three clever men outwitted the demons
24. The alligator and the jackal
Notes.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]