Court jester to the king

A book on the Indian stage-fool vidusaka affirms the likely existence of real-world court fools in India, and provides the only reference I recall to an early 20th century jester at the Afghan court.  A tantalising possibility needing more information.     

… we must assume that the fool is ancient.  The professional fool and the court-jester were known in ancient India; the tradition continues.  We are told that king Amanullah of Afghanistan maintained, with no sense of incongruity, at once a private broadcasting station and a court-jester.

Source: G.K. Bhat, The Vidusaka (Ahmedabad: New Order Book Company, 1959), p. 25.

Image credit: Amanullah Khan, King of Afghanistan (r. 1919-29), photo (before 1930)

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This