The Romantic Age (Part 2 of 3)

In the year 1355-56 A.D., Umar Soomro-II became the king of Sindh. The capital of his empire was Umarkot in the Thar Desert of Sindh. At that time, it was a prosperous area, rich in agriculture, arts and crafts. It was during this period that the following historical romance took place.

The two men alighted from their camels. Their lower half of the face was covered with their turban end. They approached the girls standing at the water well. The girls seeing them coming, ran towards the village afraid that the strangers might not molest them. However, two girls were brave enough to remain at the well, thinking that maybe the wayfarers wanted a drink of water. When the strangers came close, one of them removed the turban end from his face. The girls observed that he was a handsome man, though clad in ordinary clothes, he had a royal bearing. The other man pointed his finger at girls and said, “Sire, that one is Marui.” The handsome man came close and looked at the girl’s brilliant beauty and exclaimed, “Oh God! You have created an angle on earth!" Suddenly, he asked the girl, “O, beautiful damsel will you marry me?” The girl undauntedly replied, “No, I am already betrothed to my kinsman Khet Sen.”

The stranger, who had succumbed to her beauty, saw the stoic determination behind the girl’s words and lost all propriety, grabbed the girl and mounted her on his camel and rode off into the desert of Thar with his companion. The girl kept yelling for help and with her fists kept beating the rider, but all in vain.

The other girl leaving her water pitcher unfilled from the well ran fast to the village and told the people how the stranger had taken away Marui.

Marui’s father Palini accompanied by Khet Sen, other relatives and some people of the village, followed the footsteps of the camels. They walked through the desert and at last they sighted a Castle and found that the footsteps went in through the Castle gates. They went in and discreetly enquired about the camel riders from the people and were told that the camels had gone in the direction of the gates of the royal palace.

On the way to the palace, they met Phog, a farmer working in the lands of Palini and he said to Palini, “you had refused my offer to marry your daughter Marui, but now she is in the palace of the King Umar Soomro who will now marry her. Go back to your village quietly least harm may come to you from the King’s men.”

Marui’s father and the villagers did not argue with Phog and returned to the village. When all the villagers heard that The King Umar Soomro had taken Marui away, they were very much afraid and many thought it better to leave their village and seek a safer place to live.

So, Pogh had taken his revenge from Palini for refusing his offer to marry Marui to him. It was he who had come to Umerkot and when granted audience with King Umer Soomro, he had described the beauty of Marui so eloquently that the king was surprised, that such a jewel of a girl existed in his domain and that also near his Capital Umerkot. The King was curious to see the girl and warned Phog that if the girl’s beauty failed to impress him, he shall have to face the consequences. So at night they mounted the camels, reached Malir and brought Marui to Umerkot as narrated above.

Marui was given a royal bedchamber and the chambermaids were directed for her comfort in all respects.

Marui was very perturbed and kept wailing, for her parents and her people and for her village Malir. The king came every night with costly dresses rare jewels and implored Marui to accept the gifts and consent to marry him as now this palace was her only home. Marui neither accepted the dresses nor the jewels but remained in her dress with her coarse loee (shawl) covering her head saying, “I will not dishonor this loee as it was given to me by my parents.” She kept telling King Umer Soomro, “O! Umer I belong to my parents, my betrothed Khet Sen and my people and will not disgrace myself by accepting your fineries”.

Time fled and Marui remained adamant in refusing to marry the King. The king became very angry and put her into prison in shackles. Even in Prison Marui pined for Malir and her Maroos and kept praying to God and Umer for her release from Prison and for her return to Malir.

At last, King Umer relented that he had done a great injustice to Marui by holding her against her will. He acted immediately and told Marui that he is sending his messenger to her parents to come and take her home. She was released from prison and brought to the Palace.

Her parents though afraid, came, were met with due honour and Marui was handed over to them. But they were admonished to see that no harm comes to her.

Thus, Marui reached Malir and her Maroos. But her betrothed was suspicious thinking as to how she could be chaste after remaining with the King for nearly a year. Consequently, he, the villagers, and the village girls kept a distance from her. This hurt Mari very much.

When the King heard about it, he came with his guards who surrounded the village and called for the village elders to settle the matter. He told the villagers on oath that Marui was as chaste as she was on the day he had taken her away. But if they still don’t believe him, he will undergo any test to defend his honour. Here Marui came out before the King and told him that it was her honour at stake so she will take the test. All present agreed to this and a ‘fire walk’ was proposed to prove her chastity.

Wood was collected and ignited and the fire roared. When all wood was burned and the burning red-hot coals appeared, Marui was asked to walk over the coals from one end to the other. She prayed to God and quietly walked over the coals from one side to the other. Praise be to God, neither burn marks were found on her feet nor her clothes took fire. Thus, she was absolved. The King Umer Soomro also followed her through the fire to absolve himself and he also remained unscathed.

Great celebration took place after which the King Umar Soomro returned to Umerkot.

Sources:

1. Chronological Dictionary of Sindh by M.H. Panhwar. 1983. (http://panhwar.com/dictionary.htm)
2. “Tareekh-e-Sindh (History of Sindh). By Allama Syed Sulleman Nadvi. 1947. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Sulaiman_Nadvi)
3. “Salient Features of the Rule of Soomra Dynasty in Sindh”. Research Articles (Queen Zainab Tari/Golden period of Sindhi women/Renaissance etc.) by Research Scholar Qamar Din. M. Hayat Soomro. 2009. (http://salientfeaturesofsoomrodynasty.blogspot.com/)
4. Shah Abdul Latif's Patriotism in the characters of Umar and Marvi (http://www.bukisa.com/articles/73922_shah-abdul-latifs-patriotism-in-the-characters-of-umar-and-marvi)
5. Umar and Marvi (http://www.nbseminary.com/archives/umar-and-marvi)

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Romantic Age in Sindh. (part 1 of 3)

The very first Royal romance took place in the period of the Rule of Soomro Dynasty In Sindh during the reign of King Kamaluddin Chanesar Soomro (1283-84to1300-01 A.D). Prior to this, centuries back no romantic tale came to light to become a historical legend to be narrated and sung by Bards and Minstrels and later by the great poet of Sindh Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai.

King Chanesar was a handsome man and was known for his wisdom, velour, kindheartedness and romantic nature. Once he heard about the beauty of Leela daughter of a Village chieftain. When he saw her, he instantly fell in love with her. Soon they were married and lived in love and happiness.

It so happened that Raja of a neighboring State of Cutch, named Rai Khanghar had a beautiful daughter named Kaunro. She prized her beauty with rare jewels. Once her father gave her a Naulakha Haar (necklace worth nine lacs of rupees). It was studded with such sparkling jewels that when Kaunro adorned herself with it and went into a dark room, the room was illuminated with its brilliance.

Princess Kaunro was engaged to her kinsman Itmadi . He had sister named Jamuni who was kaunro’s lady in waiting. Once Jamuni in a playful mood teased the princess saying , what worth is her beauty and jewels if she had no husband like the handsome king Chanesar. Kaunro was stung to the heart and determined to become the Queen of king Chanesar, come what may. She was so possessed by her wish and determination that she told the Queen mother about it and with the permission of her father, they hatched a plan and dressed as saudagars (merchants , they reached the capital city Debal Bunder (port).

There, they approached the Grand Vazier (minister) Jakhro who was said to be a friend and favorite of King Chanesar, and implored him to plead for them to King Chanesar. Jakhro told them that Chanesar will not prefer Kaunro to Leela but they kept imploring him so much so that Jakhro to the king about them. King Chanesar replied to him that no other woman was a match to Lila.

Kaunro and her mother were very much distressed and tried to get an access to the Palace. After great efforts, they were able to have an audience with Queen Leela. They told her that they had come to her in the hope that she will take Kaunro as a lady’s maid. Leela was impressed by their bearing and good manners and permitted Kaunro to remain in the Palace as a companion to her.

In no time Kaunro gained confidence of Queen Leela and taking a chance one day, she displayed her necklace to the Queen. Leela was wonder struck by the sparkling jewels in the necklace and could not help but to request Kaunro to give her the necklace at any price. Crafty Kaunro told her that the price was a night in bed with King Chanesar. As if bewitched by the magic of the jewels, the Queen succumbed to Kaunro’s desire.

The destiny and the satan played their part.

One night when King Chanesar came to bed, he found Kaunro sitting on his bed. He was surprised at her audacity and ordered her to remove herself from his sight. But she told him about her deal with the Queen. He was shocked and enraged at Leela, wondering how Leela could have agreed to such a proposal to get the necklace. He immediately ordered Leela to leave the Palace and never show up before him.

Though he made Kaunro his Queen but Chanesar kept pinning for Leela’s love which was embedded in his heart.

When Lila came to her senses, she in her repentance tried in every way for reconciliation with her beloved Chanesar but to no avail. She came to her parents and lived in heartrending grief and sorrow. Seeing her condition, God took pity on her and a chance came by for her. The Grand Vazier Jakhro came to her one day and told her that he has fallen in love with a girl of her village and wants to marry her. She agreed to help him on condition that he will bring King Chanesar to attend his marriage ceremony. Jakhro agreed and all arrangements were made when the time came.

With all fanfare and grandeur, King Chanesar arrived with marriage procession. After the solemnization of the marriage, refreshment and entertainment began with songs and dances. Leela veiled herself and joined the singers. She sang so pathetically in her sad sweet voice riling the lover for his faithlessness causing grief and misery to his beloved, that Chanesar was touched to the heart and told the singing girl to unveil he face to him to see whether she was as beautiful and sad as her enchanting voice.

Leela unveiled her face and stood humbly before her King. Chanesar was so surprised that he stood up, his heart thumping and his eyes tender with his love for Leela. Silence prevailed for a short while. Then Chanesar cried out, “Leela. Oh! Leela, my love, come to me, sacrifice everything, take your place in the Palace and no more shall you suffer the pangs of separation ever again.”

Sources:

1. Chronological Dictionary of Sindh by M.H. Panhwar. 1983. (http://panhwar.com/dictionary.htm)
2. “Tareekh-e-Sindh (History of Sindh). By Allama Syed Sulleman Nadvi. 1947. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Sulaiman_Nadvi)
3. “Salient Features of the Rule of Soomra Dynasty in Sindh”. Research Articles (Queen Zainab Tari/Golden period of Sindhi women/Renaissance etc.) by Research Scholar Qamar Din. M. Hayat Soomro. 2009. (http://salientfeaturesofsoomrodynasty.blogspot.com/)
4. “Soomras”( http://yangtze.cs.uiuc.edu/~jamali/sindh/story/node9.html)
5. “The Song of the Necklace” by Tirithdas Hotchand 1961.(http://openlibrary.org/b/OL275978M/Shah_Abdul_Latif)
6. Lila-Chanesar Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiLa_Chanesar).

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SALIENT FEATURES OF THE RULE OF SOOMRA DYNASTY IN SINDH.

RENAISSANCE:

Renaissance in Sindh came during the reign of Soomra Dynasty from 1011 A.D. and onwards, whereas in Europe renaissance came first in Italy during 1340-1540 A.D took centuries to spread all over Europe and to British Isles.

In 1011 A.D, the first Soomra King Sardar Khafif Soomro conquered Sindh from the last Arab ruler of Ali bin Umar of Habari Dynasty. King Khafif Soomro and his successor kings Soomar, Bhoongar and Dodo-1, established their rule from the shores of the Arabian Sea to Multan,Bahawalpur, Sadikabad and Uch in the north and in the east to Rajistan and in the west to the border areas of Balochistan.

The Renaissance started from 1092 A.D. when Princess Zainab Tari Soomro became the sovereign Queen of Sindh. As a first step, attention was paid to Sindhi language, which had remained dominated by Arabic during the last three centuries. Not only reforms were made in promoting Sindhi language for good governance, but fast progress was made in Arts and Crafts, Architecture, Agriculture and music, both instrumental and vocal. Sports like horse and camel races, wrestling known “Mulluh” and other marshal sports were patronized.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE:

As everywhere in the world, the literature had a poetic start, so in Sindh also, the Minstrels and Bards made great strides in Sindhi Folk poetry. They composed their poetry around popular myths, folk tales, historical events and romances. A minstrel named SUMANG CHARAN stands prominent among all other minstrels and bards of the early period.

In this period, “Doha (couplets)”, “Gaha”, “Geech (marriage songs)” “Gaya (songs of Soomra women)”, forms of Sindhi poetry developed as a part of dramatic narration. Later on new dimensions were brought to Sindhi poetry, after the battle of Dodo Chanesar, the Soomra kings with the armies of Sultan Allauddin of Dehli, in 1313 A.D. near the city of “Thaar Banghar” which gave rise to Epic form of poetry in Sindh.

A minstrel named BHAGU BHAN, also a court poet of Soomra Kings, was renowned as composer and singer of Epic poetry. He was an expert in playing local musical instruments, especially “Surando”. This instrument could be called the violin of the East.

There were other master musicians and singers as Chand Fakir, Bahiro Mangto, Lado Bhag and many others from Charans, Mangtas and Manganhars tribes. From the women poets, MAI MARKHA SHAIKH was a remarkable poet of that time. They all played their part towards poetical progress in Sindhi literature during the rule of Soomra Dynasty in Sindh.

The great historical, dramatic, romances, that took place in the reign of the last few Soomra kings were, “Lila-Chanesar”, “Umar- Marui” and “Moomal-Rano”. Earlier than this, the love tales of “Sassi-Punhoon”, “Sohni- Mehaar” and “Sorath-Raidiach” were narrated in melodious poetry by minstrel and bards in public musical evenings patronized by the Soomra Kings.

Centuries afterwards, the tales of these historic romances became the subject matter of Sufistic poetry by the famous Sufi poet of Sindh, Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, who immortalized these tales. He transformed these tales into different “Surs” i.e. musical composition with classical norms. Since then great Sindhi, master musicians and singers keep singing these soulful melodies even in this 21^st. Century and this will go on till Sindh and Sindhi people exist in this world.

REFERENCES:

1. “A History of Europe”. By H.A.L Fisher, Published by Edward Arnold & Co. London. 1949, page 446.

2. “Poetry before Shah Abdul Latif” article by Abdul Ghafoor. M. Soomro in “Sind Quarterly”.Vol.1/X-1981. No: 3 Karachi Sindh.

3. “Salient Features of the Rule of Soomra Dynasty in Sindh”. Research Articles(Queen Zainab Tari/Golden period of Sindhi women/Renaissance etc.) by Research Scholar Qamar Din. M. Hayat Soomro. 2009.

4. “Soomran Jo Daur” (in Sindh language) by Famous Scholar Dr.Nabi Bukhsh Khan Baloch. Published by Sindhi Adabi Board Hyderabad.1980.

5. Chronological dictionary of Sindh by M. H. Panhwar. 1983.

Further information and comments are invited from the readers.

CATEGORIES:

History of Pakistan History of Sindh Indian History Stubs

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