Sohni Mahiwal
Encyclopedia
Sindhi language
Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
:سهڻي ميهار) is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
and Baluchistan. The other six are Momal Rano
Momal Rano
Momal Rano is one of the historical romantic tale from Pakistan. It is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Umar Marvi, Sohni Mahiwal, LiLa Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul...
, Umar Marvi
Umar Marvi
Umar Marvi or Marui is a Sindh love story that appears in Shah Jo Risalo. It is a love story set in Sindh, Pakistan. Umar Marui is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan...
, LiLa Chanesar
LiLa Chanesar
-Introduction:Lilan Chanesar, is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Momal Rano, Umar Marvi, Sohni Mahiwal, Noori Jam Tamachi, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
, Noori Jam Tamachi
Noori Jam Tamachi
Noori Jam Tamachi is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Momal Rano, Umar Marvi, Sohni Mahiwal, LiLa Chanesar, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
, Sassi Punnun
Sassi Punnun
Sassi Punnun ; is one of the seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Umar Marui, Sohni Mehar, Lila Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Momal Rano and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
and Dhaj, Ror Kumar
Dhaj, Ror Kumar
Raja Dhaj or Rai Diyach, a name by which he is better known among Sindhi Rajputs when they listen to the ballad of Sorath, is an ancient figure made immortal by his abduction of Sorath, a woman of legendary beauty...
commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was a Sindhi Sufi scholar, mystic, saint, poet, and musician. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language...
. Heer Ranjha
Heer Ranjha
For 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...
and Mirza Sahiba
Mirza Sahiba
Mirza Sahiba is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. Heer Ranjha and Mirza Sahiba, including Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun are the four tales from Punjab, narrated in Punjabi...
, including Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun
Sassi Punnun
Sassi Punnun ; is one of the seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Umar Marui, Sohni Mehar, Lila Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Momal Rano and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
are the four other tales from Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
, narrated in Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
. These four include Sassi Punnun
Sassi Punnun
Sassi Punnun ; is one of the seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Umar Marui, Sohni Mehar, Lila Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Momal Rano and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
and Sohni Mahiwal again, as they are culturally included in both Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
i and Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
i traditions.
Sohni, the potter's daughter
Around the 18th c. (late MughalMughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
period), the beautiful girl Sohni was born to a potter named Lula (Loolha). They were from the Prajapati/Kumhar
Kumhar
Kumhar or Kumbhar ; also known as Prajapati, is a caste or community of India, mainly belonging to the Hindu religion. The word "Kumhar" literally means "potter" in Indian languages, pottery being the traditional occupation of the Kumhars....
caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
, and lived in Gujrat
Gujrat
Gujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...
town (in present-day Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
). At the time, Gujrat, on the river Chenab, was a caravanserai
Caravanserai
A caravanserai, or khan, also known as caravansary, caravansera, or caravansara in English was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey...
on the trade route between Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
and Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
.
As Sohni grew up, she helped her father decorate his pots. Their shop is said to have been near Rampyari Mahal by the river. As soon as the Surahis (water-pitchers) and mugs came off the wheel, she would draw artistic designs on them and set them up for sale.
Izzat Baig of Bukhara
ShahzadaShahzada
Shahzada may refer to:*Shahzada, princely title, crown prince, the son of a shah.*Haji Shahzada , one of the Guantanamo captives whose 2004 CSR Tribunal determined he was not an enemy after all....
Izzat Baig, a rich trader from Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
(Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
), came to Punjab on business and halted in the town of Gujrat
Gujrat
Gujrat is a city in Pakistan. It is the capital of Gujrat District and the Gujrat Tehsil subdivision in the Punjab Province. People living in Gujrat refer to themselves as Gujratis, which sometimes leads to confusion with people from the Indian state of Gujarat which adjoins Pakistan...
. Here he saw Sohni at the shop and was completely smitten. The song goes that instead of looking after the 'mohars' (gold coins) in his pockets, he roamed around with his pocket full of love. Just to get a glimpse of Sohni, he would end up buying the water pitchers and mugs everyday.
Sohni too lost her heart to Izzat Baig. Instead of making floral designs on earthenware, she started building castles of love in her dreams. Instead of returning to Bukhara with his caravan, the noble-born Izzat Baig took up the job of a servant in the house of Lula, Sohni's father. He would even take their buffaloes for grazing. Soon, he came to be known as "Mahiwal" (buffalo herder).
Sohni's marriage
When the people got to know about the love of Sohni and Mahiwal, there was a commotion within the Kumhar community, who consider themselves a high caste. It was not acceptable that a daughter from this community would marry an outsider, so her parents immediately arranged her marriage with another potter.Suddenly, one day the "barat" (marriage party) of that potter arrived at Sohini's house. Sohni felt helpless and lost. She was sent off to the husband's house in a Doli (palanquin).
Izzat Baig renounced the world and started living like a faqir (hermit). He eventually moved to a small hut across the river from Sohni's new home. The earth of Sohni’s land was like a shrine for him. He had forgotten his own land, his own people and his world.
In the dark of night, when the world was fast asleep, the lovers would meet by the river. Sohni would come by the riverside and Izzat would swim across to meet her. He would regularly roast a fish and bring it for her. It is said that once, when due to high tide he could not catch a fish, Mahiwal cut a piece of his thigh and roasted it. Seeing the bandage on his thigh, Sohni opened it, saw the wound and cried.
Tragic end
Meanwhile, rumours of their romantic rendezvous spread. One day Sohni’s sister-in-law followed her and saw the hiding place where Sohni used to keep her earthenware pitcher inside the bushes. The next day, the sister-in-law removed the hard baked pitcher and replaced it with an unbaked one. That night, when Sohni tried to cross the river with the help of the pitcher, it dissolved in the water and Sohni drowned. From the other side of the river, Mahiwal saw Sohni drowning and jumped into the river and drowned as well.
According to the legend, the bodies of Sohni and Mahiwal were recovered from the River Indus near Shahdadpur
Shahdadpur
Shahdadpur is a city in Sindh, a province of Pakistan. It is located at 27°51'N and 67°64'E. The historical city of al-Mansura is situated about 19 km south-east of Shahdadpur. The shrines of Sohni and Mehinwal, from the Sohni Mahiwal story, are located in and near to the city, the shrine of Sohni...
, Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, some 75 km from Hyderabad, Pakistan. Sohni's tombis said to be in this city.
In popular culture
The story of Sohni and Mahiwal was popularized in the PunjabiPunjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
poet Fazal Shah Sayyad
Fazal Shah Sayyad
Fazal Shah Sayyad was a Punjabi poet known for his qissas on tragic romances such as Sohni Mahiwal, Heer Ranjha and Laila Majnu. Of this body of work, the poem Sohni Mahiwal "has been considered his best".-References:...
's qissa (long poem), Sohni Mahiwal. Though Fazal Shah composed other poems on Heer Ranjha
Heer Ranjha
For 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...
, Laila Majnu
Laila Majnu
Laila Majnu is a 1976 Hindi movie based on the legendary story of Layla and Majnun. This film version is directed by Harnam Singh Rawail and stars Rishi Kapoor, Ranjeeta, Danny Denzongpa, Aruna Irani, Asrani, Iftekhar, Tom Alter and Ranjeet...
and others,
Sohni Mahiwal "has been considered his best".
The Sohni Mahiwal love story continues to inspire numerous other songs in modern day Pakistan, including Pathanay Khan
Pathanay Khan
Pathanay Khan was a great Seraiki folk singer from Pakistan. He sang mostly Kafis or Ghazals , which were largely based on the Sufi poetry of Khwaja Ghulam Farid and Shah Hussain...
's famous song Sohni Gharay nu akhadi aj mainu yaar milaa ghadeya.
Alam Lohar
Alam Lohar
Muhammad Alam Lohar was a prominent Punjabi folk music singer of Pakistan.He died in 1979 in an accident. He is also credited with popularizing the term and song Jugni.-Early life:...
has also made many renditions of this kalaam and was one of the first singers to bring this in a song format.
Many paintings of Sohni Mahiwal continue to be executed, attracting also well-known artists such as Sobha Singh
Sobha Singh (painter)
Sir Sobha Singh is a well known contemporary painter from Indian Punjab.-Early life:He was born on 29 November 1901 in a Ramgarhia Sikh family in Sri Hargobindpur, Gurdaspur district of Punjab. His father, Deva Singh, was in the Indian cavalry....
. Folk versions of these paintings, for example in the Kangra
Kangra painting
Kangra painting is the pictorial art of Kangra, named after Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, a former princely state, which patronized the art. It became prevalent with the fading of Basohli school of painting in mid-18th century , and soon produced such a magnitude in paintings both in content as well as...
style, are commonly found across both Punjabs in Pakistan and India.
Two Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film versions, named Sohni Mahiwal have been made:
- in 1958 starring Bharat BhushanBharat BhushanBharat Bhushan was an Indian bollywood actor, scriptwriter and producer, who is best remembered for playing Baiju Bawra in the 1952 film of the same name. He was born in Meerut, and brought up in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.-Personal Life:...
and NimmiNimmiNimmi was a popular Indian screen actress who achieved stardom in the 1950s and early 1960s in Hindi films. She gained popularity playing spirited village belle type characters, but also appeared in diverse genres such as fantasy and social films.-Early life:...
, - in 1984 starring Sunny DeolSunny DeolSunny Deol often credited as "Action King of Bollywood" is an Indian film actor, producer and director. Deol was born to Bollywood actor Dharmendra. He has won two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards. He went to England to study acting...
and Poonam DhillonPoonam DhillonPoonam Dhillon is an Indian Hindi film, theatre and TV actress. She is best known for her 1979 film, Noorie, for her six films with Rajesh Khanna Red Rose, Dard, Nishaan, Zamana, Awam and Sohni Mahiwal , Samundar Saveray Wali Gaadi and Naam .- Early life :Dhall was born 18 April 1962 in Kanpur,...
.
See also
- Heer RanjhaHeer RanjhaFor 1970 Hindi movie of same name and characters, see Heer Raanjha.Heer Ranjha is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Mirza Sahiba, Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal. There are several poetic narrations of the story, the most famous being 'Heer' by Waris Shah...
- Momal RanoMomal RanoMomal Rano is one of the historical romantic tale from Pakistan. It is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Umar Marvi, Sohni Mahiwal, LiLa Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul...
- Sassui Punhun
- LiLa ChanesarLiLa Chanesar-Introduction:Lilan Chanesar, is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Momal Rano, Umar Marvi, Sohni Mahiwal, Noori Jam Tamachi, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
- Noori Jam TamachiNoori Jam TamachiNoori Jam Tamachi is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Momal Rano, Umar Marvi, Sohni Mahiwal, LiLa Chanesar, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
- Umar Marui
- Sindhi literatureSindhi literatureSindhi literature is very rich and is generally considered to be among the world's oldest. Its writers have contributed extensively in various forms of literature both in poetry and prose.- Sufi literature and poetry :...
- Shah Jo RisaloShah Jo RisaloShah Jo Risalo is the name of the compiled verses of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Many scholars and linguists have published Shah Jo Risalo with their own compilations, hence many editions are available...
- Alam Lohar
External links
- Sohni & Mehar - The Poetry of Shah (Translated by Elsa KaziElsa KaziElsa Kazi , commonly known as "Mother Elsa", was a German writer of one-act plays, short stories, novels and history, and one of the greatest poetesses of her time. She was also a composer and a musician of considerable achievement, involved in virtually every conspicuous branch of fine arts. Her...
) - Sohni Mahiwal by Hashim Shah at punjabi-kavita.com