One figure with great personal appeal to me whom you might find in comics from India is Birbal. Part Wise-Man, part Wise-Ass, he's highly relatable for me. He was a real person from the 16th century, Mahesh Das or Raja Birbal was a Hindu advisor to Akbar, the Mughal emperor. He is the subject of a great number of folk tales known alternatively as Birbal Tales or Birbal/Akbar Tales. Still highly popular today, the Cartoon Network in India has a couple of animated series based upon his tales - Chota Birbal and Akbar & Birbal.
Not surprisingly, many have been adapted to comic book form. So let's run a few short ones here, and if the connection allows, we'll be back with a 16 page tale later today.
You don't suppose that's where the expression "to curry favour" originated?
artists and years of publication unknown
