The Tilism-e Hoshruba began as an oral narrative and was transcribed by professional dastan-gos (storytellers) in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It was the first time one of Urdu's longest epics was transferred from the oral medium into the written text. In this regard, it is one of the most important examples of how an oral narrative is preserved in written text. The written version of the Tilism-e Hoshruba brought the legend even greater popularity and several editions were published between 1883 and early twentieth century.