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PREFACE
This is the
Twentyninth book, in serial order, to have been
compiles under the Sindhi Adabi Board’s Folklore
and Literature Project. In 1956 the Board had
approved this 5-year research project (1957-61
for collection, compilation and publication of
Sindhi folklore. Subsequently, it was extended
for a further period of three years.
The initial work
on the project started in January 1957, and the
first two years were devoted mainly to the
collection of material both from oral tradition
of the village folk and written record. The oral
tradition was reduced to writing through a
network of the field-workers, one stationed in
each ‘taluka’ area. The compilation and
publication work commenced from 1959.
The project aims
at publishing representative works pertaining to
the following main segments of Sindhi folklore
(a) fables, fairytales and romantic stories; (b)
folk-poetry; (c) folk-songs; (d) marriage songs;
(c) ballads pertaining to wars and other events;
(f) riddles; (g) proverbs; (h) wit and humor;
and (i) folk customs and superstitions. It is
expected that forty basic volumes will be
completed and published under the above
categories. By now, 15 volumes have been
published, 10 are under print and the rest are
under compilation.
This volume is
the first of the series projected to codify the
more popular and time-honored ‘folk stories’ of
the lower indus valley which have captured the
imagination of the people of sindh during the
past eight centuries and have continued to be
mentioned by the fire-side. Sung by the
women-folk in their homely songs, narrated by
the rhapsodists in folk-assemblies, recited by
the professional minstrel at fears and
festivals, versified by the folk-poets, and
alluded to by the classical and other to
differentiate them from ‘tales’. The folk-tales
and fables have no clear historical background
expect in-so-far as faint memories of the
childhood of the human race, superstitions
lingering from early times, or social mores and
morals are dimly reflected in them. In contrast,
the folk stories are those narrations which have
some geo-historical basis. In them, names of
some persons and places and references to some
events and occurrences could be identified
historically. The folk stories may be
pseudo-historical or historical. Adventure,
romance and intrigue are among their more
conspicuous elements. They invariably have their
heroes and heroines. A folk story usually
reclaims from the historical past that which is
more exciting and romantic, and uses it after
diluting it with its own unbelievable.
Stories included
in this volume are mostly the romantic ones,
ranging from pseudo-historical to historical.
According to the people, these are the ‘real’
stories rather than mere tales. They believe
that at least the central characters of their
stories did live once upon a time and that the
main events in them did actually occur. Each
story has its geographical habitat and a
background in history. Through their continued
keen interest and imaginative search, people
come to identify the localities where events
occurred and where their heroes and heroines
lived or died.
The substance of
each story with a brief discussion of its
geo-historical setting follows.[1]
I. Mokhi and
Matara (The Barmaid and the Devotees of Bacchus,
(pp.3-20). An enterprising talented woman
established a brewery (batthi) and opened a
tavern for the entertainment of the care-free
folk. Her daughter Mokhi, a thoughtful and
courteous girl, served as barmaid. The fame of
the tavern and the name of the Mokhi, the
barmaid, traveled far and wide and many
wine-bibbers, tipplers and revelers began to
frequent the place. But, one day came the Matara,
the real devotees of Becchus. They were the
eight adventurous young men, two from each of
the great Samma, Soomra, Channa and Chauhan
clans,[2]
who came all the way from their distant quarters
to drink the verities of mandh (wine) at this
famous tavern. They enjoyed their drinks and
decided to visit the place again. After six
months, they came again and enjoyed the
experience so much that they now determined to
take long journeys to be at tavern every six
months. Mokhi served them whenever they came and
they always left satiated after having a grand
good time.
Once as they
arrived, it so happened that no old wine was
left to be served to them. Mokhi was much
perturbed. But then she remembered an old mutt
(wine jar) long since abandoned in a corner, and
she hastened to have a look at it. The jar was
full to the brim, but a cobra seemed to have
fallen into it for long time; its flesh was all
dissolved and only the skeleton was left. To
serve or not to serve, was the problem for Mokhi.
Obviously, the wine had the venom of cobra in
it, though it was very colorful and had a long
fermentation. Instead of disappointing her fond
customers, she decided to serve them this wine
apologizing at the same time that since no other
wine was available, she had no choice but to
offer an old abandoned jar. They welcomed her
offer, had their first sips and enjoyed the
taste immensely. Then they asked for more, and
more, and drank cup after cup. “Never have we
tasted such a wine”, they said. They were
heavily intoxicated, but left in a happy
hilarious mood praising Mokhi and the superb
quality of the wine.
Next they came
after a long interval of twelve months. Mokhi
was happy to welcome them knowing that plenty of
good quality wine was now available for them.
She served them with grace and confidence, but
after their first sips they returned the cups to
her and asked for the wine they had been served
last year. Mokhi was baffled. That old jar had
been drained off and cleansed immediately after
they had left last time. But there was a variety
of excellent wine in the numerous jars stored
inside, and Mokhi opened up another jar and
served them with a different quality. They
returned their cups again after the very first
sip and entreated her to serve them the same old
wine. Again an again Mokhi opened up a new jar
to serve them with a different quality, but they
returned their cups every time begging her to
serve them the same old wine.
There was no
other jar left to serve them with another
variety. Finding them desperate, Mokhi now saw
no other way out but to tell them the truth.
“The wine that you had a year ago was from an
old abandoned jar and had the venom of cobra
mixed in it.” “Cobra! Cobra! What? – drank wine
mixed with the venom of cobra!!” – They cried.
The very thought of the venom and an instant
effect: the shock killed them and they all fell
dead on the spot.
There versions of
this story have been recorded. The earlies
references to it are found in the verses of the
renowned poets, Shah Karim (d. 1620), Shah Inat
(d. 1708-1713 and Shah Abdul Latif (d. 1752).
Later on other poets have also alluded to it.
The story finds numerous references in folk
poetry. The centre of the attention has been the
subtle psychological idea that in genuine zeal
and zest one ______ survive a real hazard, but a
conscious felling of the hazard may _____ to be
fatal even after it is all over.
The tavern is
said to have been situated near the present
Kaunkar village (the area which remains green
and fertile to this day), about 10 miles
north-east of Karachi, where the graves of
Mataro, Mokhi and her mother are pointed out in
the old graveyard on a hillock.
The story appears
to have originated in the pre-Muslim times, then
the socio-political influence of Iran extended
to Sind during the Sassanid period
(4th to 7th century A.D.). Mokhi is obviously
the Sindhized form of moghi derived from moghon,
the Zoroastrian criests who used to serve the
ceremonial wine on feasts and festivals.
II. Muree and
Mongthar (pp. 21-29). A man named Mongthar used
to live high up on the hill in his cave-like
home and was well-known for his great muscular
power all around in the area. He moved his young
bride, Muree, immensely, and had nurtured her
with great affection. He would go hunting far
and wide every day to procure meat for her
meals. One day, he could not hunt any animal,
but instead of disappointing Muree he cut a
piece of flesh from his thigh, cooked it and
carried it home for her. Later he told her what
he had done and said that he would do anything
to make her happy.
A goat-herd,
Khoratth by name, used to graze his goats down
in the vale. He had long black curly hair on his
head which attracted Muree’s attention. So, when
Mongthar went out hunting, Muree could come down
to meet Khoratth and show her fondness for him.
Khoratth dissuaded her but she persisted in
meeting him and professing love for him “Is it
that Mongthar does not love you?” he asked her
one day. “Oh, he is so very fond of me that once
he cut a piece of his own flesh and cooked it
for me; but, I am in love with you.” Then he
said to her: “I am just poor goatherd while
Mongthar is an invincible strong man in this
area. Leave me alone; for, so far as Mongthar is
alive I will have nothing to do with you.”
Muree returned
home brooding over the black long tresses of
Khoratth: “So far as Mongthar is alive Khoratth
will have nothing to do with me”, she said to
herself.
Once when
Mongthar was very pleased with her, Muree asked
him: “Is there anything stronger than your
muscles?” “Yes”, he said, “a well-twisted rope
made of the hair of young black goat.”
Next when Muree
met Khoratth, she begged him to make for her a
well-twisted rope out of the hair of his young
black goats, and he made the rope for her. She
would carry this rope with her, and once when
she was with Mongthar on the high cliff, she
told him she would like to see if the rope was
stronger than his strong muscles. To make her
happy, Mongthar let her tighten the rope round
his arms and bind him down. Then he tried his
strength to break the rope, but the more he
tried the more the rope cut through his flesh to
the bones. Now when Muree saw that Mongthar was
absolutely helpless, she pushed him down the
cliff and he fell down dead.
Muree then came
to Khoratth and told him what she had done with
Mongthar who was now dead, and asked him that he
should now marry her. Khoratth was stunned when
he heard this. “I would ask you a question”, he
said to Muree. “Why did you kill him when he
loved you so much?” “For the sake of your long
beautiful hair”, she replied. Khoratth than took
out his scissors, cut his hair and said to her:
“Take this object of your love. It is yours, but
leave me alone.”
Indeed, Muree
killed Mongthar
Just for her love for the long hair.
So the story
concludes.
One common
version of this story has been recorded. The
folk poets have frequently referred to it in
their lyrical songs. Geographically, the story
belongs to the hilly region north of Karachi
where in deh Soreeng the two adjoining hills
separated by a narrow cut in between are still
being remembered after the names of Mongthar and
Muree. Its primitive environment (living by
hunting in the cave) suggests that the story is
rooted in early times.
III. Udho Kehr
and Hothal Fairy (pp. 30-71). Jam Mohrr son of
Manaheen, of great Kehr clan of the Sammas, was
the ruler of Kachh-Kakrala. His wife tried to
entice his younger brother, the handsome Udho,
but he refused her overtures and left the
capital. In his wanderings, he met a ‘fairy’,
Hothal by name, at the Chakasar Lake and had a
great romance with her. Then he married her, and
two sons, Jakhro and Jadam, were born to them.
Hothal had warned Udho not to reveal her
identity as a fairy, but once the secret was out
inadvertently and Hothal fairy flew away.
Four version of
this story have been recorded which differ in
some details. Below its mythological cover
(transforming Hothal into a fairy, the
historical setting of this folk story can be
clearly traced. (i) Names of ‘Mohrr’ and ‘Udho’
are traceable almost in every genealogical table
of the Sammas of Sind. (ii) The rule of Jam
Mohrr and others of the Kehr clan in Kakrala[3]
is confirmed by the histories of Sind.[4]
The folk story speaks of jam Mohrr as the ruler
of ‘Kachh-kakrala’, that is both of Kachh[5]
and kakrala. This is also confirmed by the Kachh
tradition which mentions ‘Moad’ (i.e. Mohrr) as
the first powerful Samma ruler of Kachh. The
tomb of one ‘Moad’, ruler of Kachh, still stands
in Kachh, one mile west of Gholaiya, and bears
an inscription which is conjectured to be of the
14th century A.D.[6]
(iii) Also the folk story mentions ‘King
Banbhnia’ who attacked the territories of lower
Sindh and Kachh. One of the versions describes
him as “the king of Samuee Nagar”. Obviously, he
is Jam Banbhnia of Samuee who was one of the
founders of Samma dynasty of Sindh. He secceded
his father Jam Feroze by about 1350 A.D. and
extended the Samma power in Sindh and Kachh
until about 1365-66 A.D. when he was taken as a
political prisoner by Sultan Feroze Shah of
Delhi. (iv) Jam Udho’s marriage with Hothal also
appears to be a historical event. More than one
versions of the story mention Hothal as the
“daughter of Sangan Nigamara”. The Nigamara
chiefs, according to Sindh histories, ruled the
territories between the mouth of the Indus and
present Karachi with their capital at the port of Dharaja. Thus, they were the
neighbors of the Kehar Chiefs of Kakrala which
included the eastern delta of the Indus and the
territories further east and south including
Kachh. Friendly relations between these
neighboring chiefs are confirmed by the author
of Tuhfat-al-Kiram who is usually well-versed in
local details. Thus, there is a strong
presumption matrimonial relation between them.
IV. Phul-Wadho
and Bhori (pp. 72-143). When Prince Phul-Wadho
did not show interest in any of the beautiful
maids of his household, one of them tauntingly
remarked: `Let him alone, he will marry none
else than renowned Bhori of Oonchal Kote.’ The
Prince vowed that he shall marry none else than
beautiful Bhori.
Then, the Prince
set out with one hundred selected companions-all
disguised as Yogis. After reaching Oonchal Kot,
by magic he by-passed the guards to the well
inside the palace. There he influenced the maid
servant of Bhori, who had come to fetch water
from the well to convey it to Bhori that a
mendicant was waiting outside at the palace door
and he would not move until she herself brought
the alms to him. When Bhori came out with alms,
she fell in love with him on the very first
sight, because besides his handsome looks, he
had the halo of magic around him. Bhori then
took him as her guest inside the palace and
asked her father to marry her to him, but he
refused her hand to a mendicant. Phul-Wadho then
changed his dress and proved that he was not a
mendicant but a prince and Bhori was married to
him.
Bhori’s mother,
however, was not pleased at all and she engaged
an evil-women (dhooti) to break the marriage.
The dhooti succeeded in creating doubt in
Phul-Wadho’s mind that Bhori was not faithful to
him. In spite of Bhori’s pleading, he left her
and departed with his friend. On his way,
Bhori’s sister planned situations for him which
made him realies his mistake. He returned to
Oonchal Kote and the lovers were reunited.
Three versions of
this story have been recorded, of which two are
in verse composed by two village poets about
half a century ago. The graves of Phul-Wadho and
Bhori (locally known as Bibi Bhori) are pointed
out to this day on a hillock on the southern
side of the town of Diji in the present Khairpur
district (of the Khairpur Division). Adjacent to
these graves on the west stands the towering
Diji Fort built by Amir Sohrab Khan Talpur by
the turn of the 18th century A.D. May be, this
fort was built on an earlier site where Oonchal
Kote (literally `High Fort`) might have stood.
The area around the present Diji Fort is
archaeologically old. A site on the western side
was executed during the last decade and
important ruins of the Indus Valley civilization were
uncovered. May be that was the site of `Oonchal
Kote` of this story. Reference to `Gorakh-Nath`
in the story suggest that it may have originated
later in the 13th century A.D. when Gorakh Nath,
the celebrated Guru of the Yogi Panth lived.
This reference, however, could be a latter
interpolation by the story tellers.
V. Lakho
Phulani (pp. 145-183). The name of Lakho Phulani
is well-known in the folklore annuals of both
Sindh and Kachh.[7]
There are more than one stories, instead of one
story with more than one version, current about
Lakho Phulani in Sindh. These centers mainly
upon his romances, personal qualities, or his
military exploits. His passionate wooing of and
adventurous marriage with Mehr Rani (Queen Mehr)
of Nuhato[8]
and their subsequent separation is widely
remembered and narrated by the villagers in the
south-eastern part of Sindh, the area in which
Queen Mehr lived or ruled. Subsequently, Lakho
had his romantic love with a poor working maid,
popularly remembered as `Odin` after her
profession. She was the daughter of Bela, one of
the headmen of the thousands of the Odes[9]
whom Lakho had employed while founding his new
capital Keragadh (Fort of Kera). Lakho’s
marriage with `Odin proved to be a happy one,
and to commemorate it he built two reservoirs,
naming one in honor of his father-in-law as `Bela-ra`
and the other after his own name as `Lakha-ra`
both of which still survive and are locally
known to the people. Lakho’s romance with the
humble Odin maid has been alluded to by the
great Sindhi poet Shah Abdul Latif (1690-1752
A.D.) and also sung by the folk-poets of Sindh.
Among his personal qualities, Lakho’s
munificence and generosity is widely recounted
by the bards in Sindh and his great camping
feasts on the banks of the Puran River[10]
are rembered by the people to this day. In his
exploits, he is known for his great personal
valour and quick moves against the enemy whom he
always vanquished. The name of his famous mare
Lakhi (the Precious) is also remembered to this
day. His expeditions against Habbo and Loonyo
towns are recounted. His attacks upon or in
defense of, the Rabaree people are mentioned.
The two chiefs, Jasso and Jasraj, seeking
revenge against the Wandhees,[11]
and the fears of the Sanghar people, also figure
in the context of Lakho’s military exploits.
Taking a
comprehensive and critical view of the whole
Sind tradition and piecing together all the
available bits of information coming from the
professional minstrels, poets, rhapsodists,
country bards and the people, the story of Lakho
Phulani has been constructed and denoted as
narrative No. (I) in the text (pp. 145-162). The
reference to Lakho’s attacks on the Rabarees in
this narration needs revision in the light of
original verse in Shah Abdul Latif’s Poetical
Compendium (RISALO). More probably, Lakho’s
actions were in defense of the Rabarees to whom
his mother belonged. Three other narratives
collected from the filed are recorded on pp.
163-184. Thus, the Sindh tradition about Lakho
Phulani, including his genealogy, is fairly well
optimized in these four narrations.
The Kachh lore is
equally rich in its accounts of Lakho Phulani,
and since it has not been included either in the
text or reviewed in the Sindhi introduction to
this volume, we propose to discuss it here in
some details.
The Kachh
tradition recorded so far is derived mainly from
the official sources of the court of Kachh or
from the professional minstrels either directly
connected with the court or living in the Pavar
district around the capital town of Bhuj. A
complete picture is possible only when folklore
record from all over the country, particularly
from Kanthi, Abrrasyo, Gardo, Banni and Panchham
areas becomes available. The recorded traditions
centers mainly on the genealogical tables of the
Raos of Kachh and their cousins (the Jams of
Navanagr) and of their early Samma ancestors,
and on the accounts of succession and rule of
different rulers of Kachh in different periods.
These accounts portray Lakho Phulani as a
powerful ruler, conqueror and a great political
figure of his times, but give little account of
his personal life-his munificence and his
romances which are the warp and woof of real
folklore.
The Samatri (the
genealogical record of the Sammas kept by the
Doongar Bhats) and the oral or recorded accounts
of the bards connected with the Court of Kachh,
are the main sources which have been used by
different writers who have been concerned
chiefly with the history of Kachh. Alexander
Burnes (1825), Captian Charles Walter (1872),
James Burnes (1831), Mrs. Postans (1839, mainly
following Alexander Burnes, S. N. Raikes (1854)
and finally D. P. Khakkar (1879 (who
supplemented the local accounts by references to
the Gujrat annals and other outside historics)
accumulated in their writings the local Kachh
tradition mainly using the official and
semi-official sources, and this record has been
used by the subsequent writers, starting from
the editors of the “Gazetteer of the Bombay
Presidency” (the volume dealing with Kachh and
other States) in 1880 to the latest account of
kachh’s history and legends in 1958 by Rushbrook
Williams. All these writers*
are either unaware of or unacquainted with the
annals of Sind, the original homeland of the
rulers of Kachh, particularly of the immediate
ancestor of Lakho Phulani. Even the latest
author, Rushbrook, is heavily influenced by the
Gujrat annals even through these are neither
corroborated by the Kachh record nor by the Sind
tradition. In his fanciful account of Lakho
Phulani as well as of the early history of Kachh,
this author has Endeavored, rather too
conspicuously, to read between the lines much
than the Kachh lore warrants, and often produced
a distorted perspective.
According to both
the Kachh and Sind tradition, Lakho was son of
Phul, and hence known as ‘Lakho Phulani’. Phul
regained the territories of his father ‘Saand’
with the help of his kinsmen in Sind, and ruled
over Gedi. Guntree, Pathgadh, Boladi and Anjar.[12]
According to the ‘Genealogy’, Lakho was born to
Sonbai, wife of Phul from the Rabaree clan, who
was a paragon of beauty. According to
Sind lore, Lakho was born on the
8th of Kartak Month of Samvat 976 (920 A.D.)
while the ‘Genealogy’ records the date as
‘Wednesday, 10 Kartak, 922 S’ (866 A.D.).[13]
All accounts agree that he succeeded his father
Phul, and was a great warrior unequalled in
velour. He founded ‘Kera Kot’ or ‘Keragadh’, the
Fort of Kera or Keda, and made it his capital.
It was a great city with architectural beauty of
its own, as can be judged from its magnificent
ruins which lie 13 miles south of Bhuj.[14]
The Kachh annals
give the date of Lakho Phulani’s death variously
as ‘Friday, 8 kartak, 901 S’[15]
(844 A.D.), 1035 S’ (979 A.D.),[16]
and 10 Kartak, 1041 S’[17]
(985 A.D.). According to Sind tradition, since
Lakho was born in 920 A.D., his death should be
placed at about 1000 A.D. or even later, because
he is credited with having lived a long life.
The circumstances
of his death are equally shrouded in mystery.
The recorded Kachh lore does not preserve any
local memory of this event, but borrows from
Gujrat sources and quotes verses in Gujrati
according to which he died at the hand of his
sister’s son Mulraj (Mulraj thee Lakho murrer-The
Genealogy)-a statement which has been taken for
granted by the later writers. Charles Walter (p.
93 has, however, recorded that “lake Phollance...
was murdered by his son-in-law” which seems to
represent the local Kachh memory.
Sind tradition is unanimous in
ascribing Lakho’s death to local family feud
rather than to any battle; for unconquerable
Lakho never lost any battle. According to Sind
lore which finds support in one of the verses of
the great poet Shah Abdul Latif (1690-1752),
Lakho was murdered through an intrigue in which
his uncle Khenghar was also involved.
A close look
would indicated that Lakho Phulani’s great name
and unequalled power and prestige in
contemporary history as a renowned warrior,
ruler and builder of Kachh power, later on lured
the story-tellers of the neighboring countries
of Gujrat and Marwar to claim his death at the
hands of their own kings and commanders. Thus,
Tod had all the evidence in the lore of Marwar
that Lakho was killed by a Rathor chief, Raja
Siyoji. The chroniclers of Gujrat, on the other
hand, would credit this feat to none else than
their chief Mulraj who, they assure, killed
Lakho with his own hands in the battle of Atkot.
Adkot or Akad on the banks of the Jambumati
River. Moreover, in this battle Lakho was not
alone but had with him the combined strength of
the armies of Kachh, Sind and of great Graharipu
“the lord of Wonthly”. Some of the writer’s
excursioning into Kachh history now, not only
readily accept these claims to grandiose of the
Gujratis but even naively manipulate
explanations to the ludicrous in their stories
of Mulraj’s bravedo. “What happened to
Graharipu’s Kutchi and Sindhi allies after his
capture, and after the death of Lakho?” Answer
Rushbrook William, “presumably they returned by
sea to their own possessions” (p. 82). Bhagwan
Lal was perhaps the first to conjure up a more
‘convincing’ proof of Lakho’s slaying by Mulraj
at Akad in his ‘History of Saurashtra’ more than
80 years ago, by pronouncing that a paliya
erected on the spot where Lakho fell, still
stood there with the date 1036 S. inscribed on
it. Writing in 1958 Rushbrook Williams would
still refer to the Paliya (p. 82) in spite of
his knowledge of Khakhar’s conclusive evidence
in 1879 that the Paliyas there bear no such
inscription (p. 34, ft. n.).
Some scholars
have attempted to evaluate the Kachh accounts in
the light of circumstantial evidence from other
historical events to determine the era of Lakho
Phulani. Khakhar on the basis of 12 different
arguments concludes “that Lakha Phulani must
have lived between S. 1185 and 1212 or at least
to S. 1235” (p. 37). But, this conclusion is
challenged by J. Bugress (in footnote on the
same page 37) who is convinced that Lakha’s era
rather fails a hundred years later in S.
1379-1441 or 1322-1344 A.D. The writers of
Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency give 1340 A.D. as
Lakho’s death (Appendix-A, p. 254) while
according to Tod Lakho was slain by the Rathor
chief in 1212 A.D. which according to Khakhar
may be more near to the truth (p. 34). These
viewpoints need a critical evaluation in the
light of the history of the Sammas in Sind,
which provides a better perspective for the rise
of the Samma chiefs in Kachh.
VI. Boobana and
Jararr (pp. 185-227). After the death of their
father, King Turk, the younger and the more
intelligent Prince Nizam was put on the throne
whereupon the elder brother Jam left the capital
in wrath. After years of anxiety of having a
child, Prince Jararr was born to King Nizam.
When the Prince grew up he went out hunting one
day and fell in love with a magician woman and
refused to return to the palace. His parents
died in anguish and his uncle Jam usurped the
throne. The wise minister, Vazier Salim, tried
to bring about reconciliation between the uncle
and the nephew, assuring Jam to keep the throne
to himself. On Vazier Salim’s advice, Prince
Jararr also agreed to return to the capital. The
Vazier banished the magician woman, and planned
marriage for both King Jam and Prince Jararr
with the two daughters of a chief of the Dahiri
clan. The king was engaged to Kakee and Prince
Jararr to Boobana. Jararr and Boobana saw each
other and fell in love at the first sight.
The magician
woman now wanted to wreck vengeance on Prince
Jararr. She entered the service of King Jam and,
after gaining his confidence, she told him that
Vazier Salim was not sincere to him otherwise he
should have engaged him to the younger and more
beautiful Boobana. She urged him to marry
Boobana and not Kakee. On the day the marriage
procession was to leave the capital, this woman
got intoxicants served to Prince Jararr and
locked him up behind. On reaching the chief’s
place, King Jam insisted that Boobana be married
to him. Since Prince Jararr was absent the
king’s proposal was accepted and Boobana was
married to Jam. Boobana took with her a trusted
servant and kept the king at a distance. Prince
Jararr knowing what had happened sent Kakee back
to her father’s home.
King Jam kept
Boobana confined in his palace, but with the
help of a clever woman, Prince Jararr found his
way to her. Thus, the lovers continued to meet,
though Jararr was once caught and punished, and
subsequently banished. Jararr returned and
continued meeting Boobana secretly. The magician
woman informed King Jam, and Jararr was finally
caught and put to death according to one
version. According to another version, he was
punished to death by being thrown into ocean.
This was done, but he was fortunately saved by
fishermen. People were against the tyrant king,
and prince Jararr marched with an army against
the capital and defeated his uncle. King Jam now
repented, allowed Boobana to join Prince Jararr
and the evil woman was put to death. Prince
Jararr allowed his uncle to retain the throne,
preferring to live a happy life with Boobana.
Five versions of
this story have been recorded which differ in
details but the central theme remains the same,
viz., an intense and sincere love between
Boobana and Jararr and their being true to each
other despite all intrigues and hazards. Graves
of Boobana and Jararr, of whose love the bards
have continued to sing, is pointer out to this
day in the ancient graveyard of Makli near
Thatta, the old capital of Sind. Mention of the
‘Turk King’ suggests that this story may have
originated sometime during the post-Samma period
of Sind history (16th century A.D. after the
advent of the Arghuns and the Tarkhans in Sind.
However, ‘Turk’ is also the name of sub-branch
of Sammas, and Boobana is mentioned as the
daughter of Dahiri chief, the ‘Dahiris’ being an
important clan of the Samma stock. As such, the
story may have originated in the early Samma
society before the 16th century A.D.
VII. Hammoon and
Darya Khan (pp. 229-271). This folk story amply
demonstrates how the people through their lore
can reclaim a hero from history and make him as
their own, by visualizing his grandeur through
the mist of time and conjuring up tales about
him by weaving myth around some hazy historical
reminiscent of him. The lore of the folk has no
place for a hero without some unbelievables
about him. A truly historical hero as a human
person hardly excites the curiosity or captures
the imagination of the simple folk. To be
entirely acceptable to them, the ‘historical’
must be diluted with the mythical.
Darya Khan, a boy
of unknown parentage, was in the service of
Lakhdhir, one of the ministers, when the ruler
Jam Nizamuddin recognized his talents and took
him in his own service. The young lad through
the great Jam’s personal patronage and through
self-education started his new career with great
competence and confidence. The Jam eventually
raised him to the highest position, above his
other ministers and above his own son, as Prime
Minister and Commander-in-Chief of his forces.
The greatest military achievement of Darya Khan
was his victory over the Arghun forces at Sibi,
in 899 A.H.
After the death
of Jam Nizamuddin (914 A.H he was succeeded by
his son Jam Feroze whose mistrust of Darya Khan
obliged him to retire from public service. Jam
Feroze was a weak ruler, and soon Jam Salahuddin,
one of the Samma chiefs from Kachh, attacked and
occupied Thatta, the capital of jam Feroze. Jam
Feroze’s mother appealed to Darya Khan for help,
and as a loyal servant, he gathered the Sindh
forces and marched against Salahuddin who
vacated the capital and fled back to Kachh. Jam
Feroze, however, did not change his attitude to
Darya Khan and he retired once again. Jam Feroze
now employed some Arghun Chiefs as his advisers
and they sent intelligence reports to Shah Beg
Arghun, the ruler of Kandhar (whose forces had
been defeated at Sibi by Darya Khan some 20
years earlier), to attack Sindh. Darya Khan was
a great patriot, and hearing of Shah Beg’s
invasion, he appealed to his countrymen to join
him against the Arghun army to defend Thatta,
the capital of Sindh. There were long drawn
battles outside the capital and the Arghun
forces were held at bay till they contrived to
kill Darya Khan treacherously.[18]
That is how
history remembers the great patriot Darya Khan.
But the people saw in him their own hero,
probably even during his life time. How a boy of
obscure origin could attain such a high
position? The people had their own answer: he
was no ordinary boy, but he blessed son of a
Sayyid saint from the city of Joon.[19]According
to them Darya Khan had, indeed, supernatural
powers to have defeated the strong Arghun forces
at Sibi, and the event must have been a fond
subject of folk assemblies throughout the
country when Darya Khan returned victorious
marching all the way from Sibi to Thatta. The
men high up knew Darya Khan as a great public
figure and this is what was recorded of him in
history. The people knew much more about him as
a person. It was their privilege to rember and
extols the greatest of the great events of Darya
Khan’s personal life-his memorable marriage with
beautiful Hammoon, which history has forgotten.
Sure, the people knew the whole story of this
romantic marriage and have not forgotten any of
the details to this day.
Hammoon, they
say, was the beautiful daughter of Balo, the
Rathor Chief of the area around present Jhudo
(in the Tharparkar district of the Hyderabad
Division). Kauroo and Peroze were her uncles.
Beautiful Hammoon grew up in the Jhudo area
where the marked depression of Hammoon’s little
lake (Hammon-jo-Talao) can be soon to this day.
It was that lake, where she was taking bath
along with her girl friends that Darya Khan met
her first and they fell in love with each other.
But, it was not easy for Darya Khan to have her
hand. His merit was recognised only after he had
killed, singles handed, a lion or some other
ferocious wild beast and had conquered Kandhar.[20]
Moreover, Hammoon’s hand had already been
promised by her father to the son of Kahu, the
Chief of Daunr or Dero clan, whose capital was
on the site known after his name to this day as
“The Mound of Kahu” (Kahu-jo-Darro,[21]
near the present city of Mirpurkhas in the
Hyderabad Division). Kahu was an influential
chief, being a real brother of queen Murkhaeen,
the wife of Jam Nizamuddin. But all opposition
failed to prevent Hammoon’s marriage with Darya
Khan who had the distinction of being the
bridegroom, and is, therefore, remembered to
this day with that appellation as ‘Doolah Darya
Khan’ (Darya Khan the Bridegroom).
This romantic
marriage of Hammoon with Darya Khan is central
to all the current folklore about this great
hero and history must turn to the folklore
recond for details of this memorable event in
the personal life of the great patriot.
VIII. Mir Bago
and Sind Rani (pp. 273-283). This is another
story with a clear historical perspective, which
has been in the process of developing into folk
story during the last two centuries. Here again,
some of its topographical details have been
preserved by the people but not recorded in
history. The precarious fortune of a village
girl who was to become Sindh Rani (Queen of
Sindh) but never became one, and the ill-luck of
the two ruling chiefs each one of whom wanted to
have her as his bride but his rule did not last
long enough to be able to marry her while the
third chief had to renounce his title to rule in
order to marry her-were events fascinating
enough to capture the imagination of the common
folk to treasure the whole story and continue to
remember and recount it to this day while
history is silent about it.
By about 1770
A.D., a beautiful girl was born in a village of
the Odheja community, the ruins of which can
still be seen about 7 miles south of the
historical site of Thharee in the Matli taluka
of the
Hyderabad district. She was
named Soneti (‘golden’), and as she grew up her
beauty became proverbial in the whole
neighborhood. The people talked about Soneti,
the Paragon of beauty, and Prince Sarfaraz, the
heir apparent to the throne of Sind, heard of
this in Hyderabad. He sought her hand and the
wedding took place with great rejoicings.
Sarfaraz soon succeeded his father as ruler of
Sindh, and the people now fondly called Soneti
as Sindh Rani (Queen of Sindh. The marriage
preparations were about to begin when Sarfaraz
was imprisoned, and his greedy uncle Abdul Nabi
got him murdered, and succeeded in capturing the
throne. Since Soneti had been known as ‘Sindh
Queen’, he decided to marry her. But soon the
country rose in revolt against him and he was
defeated on the battlefield in 1786 A.D. by Mir
Fateh Ali khan, the leader of the Talpur Baloch
Confederacy, Abdul Nabi fled the country and
never returned to marry “Sindh Queen”. The
people were left speculating as to who would
marry Sindh Rani.
When Mir Fateh
Ali Khan called the Talpur Chiefs to decide upon
a plan of territorial division giving each chief
an independent jurisdiction, he found rivalry
between them to marry Sindh Rani so strong that
their disunity was likely to defeat the
objectives of the newly gained victory. He,
therefore, declared that the one, who chose to
marry ‘Sindh Rani’, would have to forego his
territorial share and his status as a sovereign
chief of the new confederacy. Thereupon all
became silent except the young chief, Mir Bago
Khan, who made the momentous decision: “I prefer
to choose Sindh Rani.” When this became known,
beautiful Soneti was much impressed by Mir
Bago’s chivalry and agreed to marry him to
become a commoner instead of ‘Sindh Queen’ which
appellation had not augured well from the very
beginning. Mir Fateh Ali Khan then married
Soneti to Mir Bago, assigned an estate to him
for maintenance, and bestowed a generous dowry
upon the bride. The people admired Mir bago for
his bold decision and reveled in the rejoicings
of his marriage with beautiful Soneti whom they
continued to call “Sindh Rani”.
Mir Bago was an
able and energetic chief who excavated a new
canal to irrigate his semi-barren estate, and
this brought prosperity to the people in that
area. Then he founded a new settlement at the
canal head which soon developed into a busy
market town. The people called the canal and the
new settlement after the chief’s name as “Bago
Wah” and “Tando Bago”. Mir bago was a generous
man. His Otaq (Reception Hall) became a
rendezvous for the people from all over the area
and a place for feasts and folk assemblies. Mir
Bago helped the relatives of his dear wife and
made her brother Saeen Dino the chief manager of
his estate. Mir Bago and ‘Sindh Rani’ now looked
ahead to the happiest days of their lives.
Time had slipped
quickly, and hardly had the economic prosperity
and social popularity been achieved when Soneti
fell ill. Mir Bago tried his best to provide her
the beast treatment but the illness proved to be
fatal and ‘Sindh Rani’ died in 1794 A.D. after
having lived a very happy but short married life
of less than ten years. According to her will,
Mir bago buried her in her ancestral graveyard
of Devano Shah near the Odheja village, and in
her memory built a marble grave on a raised
platform within a square enclosure with the most
beautifully carved stone walls. There her grave
stands to this day[22]
with the following inscription on it:
“She joined God
on the fifth of Ramadan The month of mercy
of the Merciful 5th Ramadan,
1204 A.H.”
The canal ‘Bago
Wah’ continues to flow and the town ‘Tando bago’
continues to flourish; and so also the people
continue to remember and recount the story of
“Mir Bago and Sindh Rani.”
New York
City, N.A.
BALOCH
January 12,
1964. Director,
Sindhi Folklore Project.
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