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)
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