Hikaaitaan or Hikāyatān (, pronunciation: , lit. ‘realities’) is a title given to the semi-legendary set of 11 tales (hikayat; ), composed in the Gurmukhi Persian language (with a few words in the Majha dialect), whose authorship is historically and traditionally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. It is the last composition of the second scripture of Sikhs, Dasam Granth, and is believed to be appended to Zafarnamah—the letter to Mughal king Aurangzeb.

Historically and traditionally, the set of tales was written at Dina, Punjab, in 1704 CE. In total, there are 11 tales—composed of 752 couplets; however, historically, the first hikayat is Zafarnama, which brings the count to 12. Each tale begins with praise of the Almighty. This composition is present in all old manuscripts, including those of Mani Singh, Motibagh, Sangrur, and Patna manuscripts.

Authorship and relation with Zafarnama 
As per early Sikh historical resources, Parchi Patshahi Dasvin (Sevadas, 1741) and Gurbilas Patshahi 10 (Kuir Singh, 1751), hikayats were composed by Guru Gobind Singh at Dina Kangar, Punjab and is part of Zafarnamah which was sent along with Zafarnama. Koer Singh believes that Guru Gobind Singh had written 12 hikayats in Zafarnama. In Sakhi 13, Sevadas mentioned that Guru Gobind Singh had written fables of many kings and also mentioned his own history in Zafarnama.

The historical and traditional view is that all the Hikayats was composed by Guru Gobind Singh himself, to make Aurangzeb realize his folly in breaking oath of Quran, improve his decision-making ability on the basis of facts, and to check the activities of different departments of his government. Pundit Narain Singh, who did an exogenesis of Dasam Granth, also had the same view. Many of these tales are the Persian translations of the narratives in Charitropakhyan, which serves as an additional proof of single authorship of both compositions.

A few modern scholars claim that hikayats are not part of Zafarnama, as in their viewpoint these tales do not show any relation with the letter. and was written by court poets.

It was originally written in the Perso-Arabic script rather than in Gurmukhi.

Tales 
As per Harbans Singh, the genre of the tales "ranges from the romantic and chivalrous to the fantastic and the macabre" and were written for the tastes of a medieval Indian audience. All the tales begin with a number but this chronological ordering only begins with the second tale, leading scholars to theorize what the first tale is or if it has been lost. The following are tales and brief descriptions of the hikayats (including the Zafarnama as the first):
Tale of Guru Gobind Singh and King Aurangzeb – An autobiography of Guru Gobind Singh that includes philosophical, political, and satirical aspects. More commonly known as the Zafarnama. Other scholars postulate that the first four verses of the second Hikayat is actually the first tale, in which Sanskritized Braj verses praise God.
Tale of King Daleep and His Four Sons – Guru Gobind Singh had lost his four sons and was a direct reference to that. The story involves four sons of a Raja, three of which were gifted with vast riches but squandered it all but the youngest son was just gifted a seed, which he had planted and was able to harvest food until he eventually founded a grand city. The story may have been written with the Mughal imperial family in-mind, specifically Aurangzeb and his sons, as a possible moral lesson.
Tale of King of China – Explaining the qualities of a perfect ruler, with political and philosophical aspects.
Tale of King Subhat Singh and Bachitarmati – How women are equal to men and how the queen conquered areas from Rajasthan to Poland. The story involves an undaunted rani defeating Raja Subhat Singh in battle in order to marry him.
Tale of King Sabal Singh
Tale of King Chakrawati and Qazi Daughter
Tale of King Darab and Queen of Rome
Tale of Princess of Bilistan
Tale of King of France and His Wife
Tale of King Mayindra and Advisor's Daughter
Tale of King Sher Shah and Tycoon's Daughter
Tale of Pathan Raheem Khan and His Wife – this is a cannibalistic story that involves an adulterous Pathan wife murdering and cooking the remains of her lover up to feed her husband and his friends. The wife was fearful of her husband and did this to win his approval.

Relationship with Sri Charitropakhyan 
The following is a list of Hikayats which are similar to narratives in Charitropakhyan. In fact, six of the Hikayats are the Persian translations of the narratives found within the Charitropakhyan.
 Hikayat 4 and Charitra 52
 Hikayat 5 and Charitra 267
 Hikayat 8 and Charitra 118
 Hikayat 9 and Charitra 290
 Hikayat 11 and Charitra 246

See also 

 List of Hikayat

References

External links 
 Read Hikayatan online

Dasam Granth
Indian literature
Persian literature