Mullah Do Piyaza: The Most Notorious In Akbar’s Court

It had been a few days, and Akbar was looking for a way to pass the time. The name Mullah Do Piyaza sprang to mind. Mullah hadn't done anything mischievous in a long time, so Akbar challenged him to come up with something no one had ever seen before.

Mullah Do Piyaza travelling on his horse; Image Source: History, Heritage, Culture, Food, Travel, Lifestyle.

Akbar gave Mullah two days' time. After two days passed, he failed to do so as commanded by the emperor, from whom he got the order to leave the country. He went away and settled in a village; grew his hair and beard; and wore white robes. From his get-up, the people around him thought he was a farishta sent by Allah. In no time, the words reached Akbar’s ears, and he was presented before Akbar.

"Badshah Salamat I am a man sent by Allah, and I want to give you a dress made in heaven, and its specialty is that it can't be seen by a person who is characterless. " said the mullah disguised as a farishta.

He removed the emperor's clothes and left him in his innerwear only, and made some movements as if making him to wear the robe. All the people could see that there were no clothes, and even Akbar could see that himself. Yet none said a word in order to not be called characterless. He went to the court like that and everyone praised the robe, so Akbar thought maybe I was characterless. So he went to the haram and inquired of his wives, to which they responded.

" There are actually no clothes on you, shehnshaah," said one.

"I guess someone made a fool of you," said another begum.

Akbar became enraged and ordered his people to track him down. When he couldn't find him, he issued an order that if he came alone, he would be given a prize of 2000 sikkas. When asked why he did that, Mullah Do Piyaza answered, "Baadshah, you were the one who instructed me to do such mischievousness that no one would have ever witnessed."

Akbar was humiliated and then laughed at it. He was impressed by the Mullah’s naughtiness.

Mullah Do Piyaza’s original name was Abul Hasan. Abul Hasan was born in 1542 in the city of Taif, Saudi Arabia to Abul Mohsin. Starting from his childhood, he was very naughty. Everyone was troubled by his mischief. He even once locked his father with another woman to create a rift between his father and his stepmother, as she never treated him well. Abul Hasan's father got upset when his wife left him and he also left the place. Upon realizing that his father was hurt too, he decided to search for his father. He loved him dearly and ventured out to find him. He kept wandering but was disappointed upon not finding him. Then he met a group of people who were with Humayun. From there he came to Iran, and when Humayun again gained power in Delhi, he moved with the same group of people to Delhi.

The story of how Abul Hasan's name was changed to Mullah Do Piyaza is a very interesting one.

After coming to Delhi, Abul Hasan became an Imaam in a mosque and was called a Mullah. There, he became friends with Abul Faizi, the court poet of Akbar and one of the navratnas. Mullah was already popular around town for his sweet voice and flattering tone. Both of them got along well, and he came to know about the navratnas of Akbar’s royal court. It was one such time that he was invited by Abul Faizi to his place for a lavish dinner, and he tasted chicken do piyaza there. A chicken dish that has so many fried onions in it, and the onions improve the taste a lot. Since then, he became a lover of this dish and went to dinner only when chicken do pyaaza was made.

But how did this commoner impress the emperor so much that he became a navratna in his court?

He ended up having a job as the caretaker of poultry hens in the royal kitchen. When Akbar was going through the finances of the poultry, he found that the expenses had been reduced. Asking about this, Mullah Do Pyaaza explained to him that he fed the hens the left-out food. So he was impressed by him, and he was appointed as the palace librarian.Though Akbar was illiterate, he would always go once in a while to check everything. In the library, he found that the books had beautiful covers made of cloth, making them look extravagant and also protecting them from damage. When asked, Mullah replied that he used the leftover clothes from making the clothes and asked the royal tailor to make book covers out of them. This makeshift idea of mullah always impressed Akbar.

When Mullah was in charge of the poultry, he praised the chicken dish a lot and compelled Akbar to taste it once. Akbar loved it and gave Mullah the title, "Mullah Do Piazza." Soon, he made a place for himself in the royal court with his tricks. Not only was he famous for his improvised ideas and tricks, but he was also a skilled replier and flatterer of Emperor Akbar.

One such incident was that, after the court was dismissed and everyone was moving out, Mullah’s bronze coin fell from his pocket. In order to find it, he kneeled and crawled to find it. Seeing him find a simple coin like that, one courtier made fun of him, saying

"See Jehanpnah, you give Mullah Do Piyaza such valuable gifts, and here he is searching for a mere coin. To which came Mullah’s reply, "I wouldn't have even cared if the coin was simple, but it has the symbol of my emperor on one side, which is invaluable to me." Hearing his reply, the courtier became tight-lipped, and the courtiers burst into a fit of laughter.