Mullah Do Piaza

Who is Mullah Do Piaza?

Mullah Do-Piyaza, is a character from the folk tales featuring the Mughal emperor Akbar and the wit of his courtier Birbal. As he too, was known for his wit, he is portrayed as Birbal's rival. While these folk tales originated at the end of Akbar's reign, Mullah Do-Piyaza's character began to appear later, popularised by writers in the twentieth century. Based on a persian who existed before Akbar, he was Birbal's Muslim counterpart and was like a proponent of orthodox Islam. Most of the time shown getting the better of both Birbal and Akbar but there are other stories which portray him in poor light.

No contemporary record mentions about Mullah Do-Piyaza, pamphlets on his life and jokes were published in the late 19th century, which were rejected by a modern scholar Hafiz Mahmood Shirani, where he claimed that Mulla Do-Piyaza was a historical personality whose original name was Abdul Momin. He was born in India but left for Iran in 1582. He returned to India after 36 years and died in 1620. His tomb is located in Handia. But his claim was refuted by other modern scholars, who consider Mullah Do-Piyaza to be completely fictional.