Story of Paňkhiā Bādshāh

This is a story in the Eastern (Fatehpur) dialect of Azamgarhi about a king who once asks his seven daughters that from whose fate they eat. Six of them reply, “We eat because you give.” The seventh one refuses to accept this at any cost. Hearing this, the king gets furious and sends her to a jungle where she, fortunately, finds a good hut to live, meets Paňkhiyā Bādshāh (the king who appears on a swing of Punkah or fan). Finally, they both marry and live happily. Realizing this, her other sisters become jealous and poison her husband. Still, he is lucky enough to survive owing to his miraculous powers.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
System: The UNT Digital Library

Story of winters and springs

This is a story of a king who has seven children and once tells one of his children to bring a few things from the market. He instead brings a book that makes the king angry, and he evicts him. The son leaves the palace, goes to another village, and begins to stay there. He takes up a challenge and wins. The king gets pleased and marries his daughter with him. The prince then returns to his father’s kingdom, and the story continues. The story is recited by Asiya Khatoon, who is a Bhojpuri speaker hailing from Siwan district from Bihar, in (Eastern) Urdu. The researcher asks her maternal grandmother to interpret in Azamgarhi. She interprets in the Northern dialect.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
System: The UNT Digital Library

Performance of various folk songs along with discussions on them and some conversations

This is a recording of various folktales which begin with a short conversation. After completing the narration of a story, Mehar Afroz asks Qamar Afroz to stitch a cloth. After which, she asks Asiya Khatoon to sing some folksongs along with her, followed by a discussion on each of them. These kinds of traditional songs are sung on the occasion of girls' marriage, varying from praising the beauty of the beloved daughter to vidāī — the girl's farewell from their parental home. The songs in this recording are in the Eastern dialect of Urdu. The discussions on them and some other conversations take place in a mix of Azamgarhi and Urdu.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
System: The UNT Digital Library

Story of a prince and his stepmother

This is a story about a prince whose mother died and his stepmother would never like him. The story describes how she troubles him and never gives him good food to eat, but he was lucky enough to have the blessings of a miraculous cow and feed on her milk. Later on, when his stepmother realized this, she ordered that all cows be slaughtered. Still, the prince escapes along with the cow to a different country where he grows up in a healthy environment. After quite a few years, he returns to his village, reuniting with his father.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
System: The UNT Digital Library

Interpretation of an Urdu poem on dowry system

This is a description of an Urdu poem, written by one of the speaker's relatives, on the dowry system prevalent in North India. The poem is in the Urdu language, and the speaker interprets it and explains its meaning and significance in Azamgarhi to the researcher.
Date: February 1, 2020
Creator: Shaikh, Maaz
System: The UNT Digital Library