Sovereign Statecraft

The Repository

The Tales

Every tale is published with its source, the lever it shows, and its verification status, in public. Nothing is presented as checked until it has been.

TaleSourceTraditionLeverStatus
Chandi: Power Honored FirstCharitropakhyan, Charitar 1Sikh—partial
The King Who Did Not InquireCharitropakhyan, Charitar 2 (the frame story)Sikhprovocationpartial
Anoop Kaur and the Ruler of AnandpurCharitropakhyan, Charitars 21–23 (the three tales titled Anoop Kaur)Sikhseductionpartial
The Martyrdom of Guru ArjanMughal court records; Sikh tradition (c. 1606)Sikhprovocationcontested
Anandpur and the Broken OathsSiege of Anandpur (1704–05); Zafarnama (1705)Sikhprovocationpartial
Bhai Lalo and Malik BhagoGuru Nanak sakhi (Janamsakhi tradition), Saidpur (Eminabad)Sikhsnake-oilpartial
Makhan Shah and the Twenty-Two ClaimantsSikh historical tradition (Bakala, after Guru Har Krishan, 1664); narrated in the 19th-century Suraj Prakash and standard encyclopedia accountsSikhsnake-oilcontested
The MasandsSikh history (rehatnamas, later chronicles); see Grewal and the Encyclopaedia of SikhismSikhdependencypartial
Prithi Chand and the SuccessionSikh history (Guru Ram Das's eldest son; the Minas)Sikhdependencypartial
Ram Rai and the Altered LineSikh historical tradition (Guru Har Rai); Asa di Var, Guru Nanak, Ang 466Sikhflatterypartial
The Lahore Durbar, 1839–1849Sikh Empire history after Ranjit SinghSikh—partial
Victor the JackalPanchatantra, Book I (Mitra-bheda), opening tale; Ryder (1925), 'The Loss of Friends'Indicflatteryverified
The Blue JackalPanchatantra, Book I, tale 14 in Ryder (1925); Wikipedia's list also shows it under Book III in other recensionsIndicsnake-oilpartial
The Parrot and the Seventy NightsShuka Saptati (Seventy Tales of the Parrot); Richard Schmidt's 1894 edition; A. N. D. Haksar's translation (2000)Indicseductionpartial
Dhritarashtra and the Counsel of ViduraMahabharata, Udyoga Parva (Prajagara); Sabha Parva (the dice); Ganguli translation sectionsIndicdependencyverified
The Brahmin and the MongoosePanchatantra, Book V (Aparikshitakarakam, 'Ill-considered Action'), tale 2 in Ryder (1925), 'The Loyal Mungoose'Indicprovocationverified