Mulla Do Piyaza (1527-1620) was the Advisor and

Vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. Mulla Do-Piyaza, also portrayed as witty, was Birbal's rival. Even though these folk tales originated at the end of Akbar's reign (1556–1605), Mulla Do-Piyaza began to appear much later. Most scholars consider him to be completely fictional.

Background

There is no historical proof of his existence. There are some sources which tell that Do-Piaza was born as Muhammad Al Abdul Momin to Atgah Khan, the commander of Mughals and to Jiji Anga, a

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...

. He was given the honorific

Mullah Mullah () is an honorific title for Islam, Muslim clergy and mosque Imam, leaders. The term is widely used in Iran and Afghanistan and is also used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and Sharia, sharia law. The title h ...

for his witty purpose. He served as the

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of Akbar's Empire. In the folk tales, Mulla Do-Piyaza is depicted as Birbal's

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

counterpart and as a proponent of orthodox

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Most of the time he is shown getting the better of both Birbal and Akbar, but there are other stories which portray him in a negative light. No Mughal-era records mention any courtier called Mulla Do-Piyaza, and pamphlets on his life and jokes were published only in the late 19th century. One modern scholar, Hafiz Mahmood Shirani, states that Mulla Do-Piyaza was a historical personality whose original name was Abdul Momin, and who was born in India, left for

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1582, returned after 36 years, died in 1620, and was buried in Handia. The manuscripts which mention him date back to an author who died in 1532—years before Akbar was born. According to C. M. Naim, Shirani's character is fictional and based on

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

folklore unrelated to Akbar. Mulla Do-Piaza is also told that he was chef in his past life and had mistakenly created the legendary dish

Dopiaza Dopiaza (, , meaning "two onions") is the name of two separate dishes, one in the Greater Iran region and one in South Asia. It refers to a family of recipes, typically meat-based, that contain onions as a major ingredient. There are two alt ...

. As per his name suggest, he might be a librarian or a Mulla (cleric) but as per Mughal folklore, and most sources he is known to be vizier of Akbar era. A local legend narrates that upon seeing

Birbal Mahesh Das (; 1528 16 February 1586), popularly known by his title Rajah Birbal (), was an Indian minister and commander of the Mughal Empire. He is mostly known in the Indian subcontinent for the folk tales which focus on his wit. He was app ...

's impressive ''pagdi''(turban), Do-piyaza became envious and approached his wife. This anecdote is often cited as evidence that Mullah Do-Piyaza must have been married.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullah Do Piaza Mughal Empire Humour and wit characters of India Akbar

Background

See also

References