Mirza Sahiban

Mirza Sahiba (Punjabi: ਮਿਰਜ਼ਾ ਸਾਹਿਬਾਂ, مرزا صاحباں, mirzā sāhibāṁ) is one of the four popular tragic romances of Punjab. The other three are Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun. The seven others are Momal Rano, Umar Marvi, Sohni Mahiwal, LiLa Chanesar, Sassi Punnun, Noori Jam Tamachiand Dhaj, Ror Kumar from Sindh and Baluchistan and are commonly known as Seven Queens (Sindhi: ست مورميون) of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.^[1][2][3] They include Sassi Punnun and Sohni Mahiwal again, as they are culturally included in both Punjabi and Sindhi traditions. These nine tragic romances are from Pakistani Punjab.^[4]

Synopsis

Mirza, a Kharal, Rajput from Punjab, and Sahiban belong to Sial Rajput tribe.^[5] They were childhood classmates as well as playmates. Sahiban was the daughter of Mahni Khan, the chief of Kheewa, a town in what is now the Sial territory in the Jhang district Punjab, Pakistan. Shayer Peelu raves about her beauty and says:

Shayer Peelu says about Mirza:

Mirza is the son of Wanjhal Khan, a land baron of the Kharal Rajput tribe, a town in the Jaranwala area of what is now Faisalabad, Pakistan^[6]

Mirza is sent to his relatives' house in Khivan to study, where he meets Sahiban and they fall in love. When, later in life, Sahiban is to be wedded to Taha Khan of the Chander family by arrangement of her parents, she sends a message to Mirza, living in the village of Danabad, through a Brahmin called Karmu:

Mirza's sister asks him not to try to rescue Sahiban, as it is the day of her own wedding and she wants her brother to be there. His whole family warns him that the "Sials" (referring to Sahiban's brothers) are aggressive and should be left alone, but Mirza pays no heed to this.

Mirza arrives on his Bakki (the name of Mirza's mare) during Sahiban's mehndi ceremony and carries her away. Sahiban's brothers find out about this and decide to follow them. On the way, as Mirza decides to rest for some moments under the shade of a tree resting his head in Sahiban's lap. Sahiban's brothers and Chanders caught up fast with them.

Sahiban knew Mirza to be an accomplished archer who would not miss a target, and that if he shot at her brothers, the latter would surely die at Mirza's hands. Thus, before waking Mirza up from his slumber, Sahiban broke his arrows so he couldn't use them, and hoped that, on seeing her, her brothers might change their minds and welcome Mirza into the family. She thought that they'd understand their love that they had for each other, but they were not to be swayed and a fight ensued. Though Mirza fought with all his might, he is unable to defeat such a large number of people and killed by the blow of a sword to his head from behind. Sahiban did not want bloodshed from either side of her beloved ones and her love to be stained with her brothers' blood. So she ended the fight with self-annihilation. When Mirza was gone, she killed herself with Mirza's sword. Out of all the legendary stories originating from Punjab, Pakistan, Mirza Sahiban's story is one of very few where the male's name comes first. The legendary tale of Mirza Sahiban is now a part of Punjabi Culture in form of folk songs sung by many singers including Alam Lohar, Kuldeep Manak, Gurmeet Bawa,Harbhajan Mann,Noor Jehan and many more.Noor Jehan sang the super hit song 'Mirza' - the traditional Punjabi folklore song in the music of legendary Pakistani musician Khursheed Anwar in the Pakistani film 'Mirza Jat' released in 1982.

See also

• Heer Ranjha
• Sassi Punnun
• Sohni Mahiwal
• Sultan Rumana

References

External links

• Punjabi Literature and Poetry Punjabi Culture and Traditions