Pakistani folklore
Encyclopedia
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...
has a wide variety of folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, mostly circulated regionally. However, certain tales have related variants in other regions of the country or in neighbouring countries. Some folktales like Shirin and Farhad are told in 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...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, and almost all nations of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, with all having claimed the folklore to have originated in their land. Pakistani mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
here means the myths and sacred narratives of the culturally and linguistically related group of ancient peoples who inhabited the ancient Pakistan and its borderlands.
Provincial folklore
Sindhi folklore
SindhSindh
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...
in the south is equally rich in folklore. The love story of Sassi
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...
, who pines for her lover Punnu, is known and sung in every Sindhi settlement. Other examples of the folklore of Sindh include the stories of Umer Marvi and Suhuni Mehar.
Sindhi folk Singers and women play a vital role to transmit the Sindhi folklore. They sang the folk stories in songs with passion in every village of Sindh.
Balochi folklore
BalochiBalochi language
Balochi is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan.-Vowels:The Balochi vowel...
folklore is alive with the love stories of Hani and Shah Murad Chakar
Hani and Sheh Mureed
Hani and Sheh Mureed or Murid is a beloved epic ballad of Balochi folklore.This tale is to Balochistan what Romeo and Juliet is to English-speaking lands.The story mirrors the life of the Baloch heroes and their emotions and philosophical ideas .The hero of the story, Sheh Mureed Hani and Sheh...
, Shahdad and Mahnaz, Lallah and Granaz, Bebarg and Granaz, and Mast and Sammo, among others. The war tales of the Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
are equally stirring. The chap
CHAP
Chap may refer to:*The Chap, a British magazine*Chap, a caste in the Bhakkar district of the Punjab, Pakistan*Chap Sandi, a village in the tehsil of Kaloorkot in Bhakkar*Chap, a term for chewing tobacco*Chap, a word for no used in New Zealand...
, a Baloch
Baloch people
The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
style of dancing, has a curious rhythm distinguished by an inertial back sway with every forward step. Baloch music has a unique flavour of its own.
Kashmiri folklore
KashmiriKashmiri language
Kashmiri is a language from the Dardic sub-group and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. There are approximately 5,554,496 speakers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Census of 2001. Most of the 105,000 speakers or so in Pakistan are émigrés from the Kashmir...
regions in the north are equally rich in folklore.
Pakhtun folklore
In the Pukhtun areas of the northwest, the North-West Frontier ProvinceNorth-West Frontier Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...
is the home of energetic warlike dancers, the most prominent being the Khattak dance, which bears the name of the tribe that dances it. The romantic tale of Adam Khan
Adam Khan And Durkhanai
Adam Khan Aw Durkhanai is a classic Pashtun romance which has been called the Pashto Romeo and Juliet along with Yusuf Khan and Sherbano. It is considered classic pashto literature....
and Durkhanai features a lute player (rabab) whose music earns the love of a beautiful girl, although she hasn't seen him yet.
Punjabi folklore
Many folk tales from PunjabPunjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
have been disseminated worldwide by the Punjabi diaspora
Punjabi diaspora
The Punjabi diaspora refers to the descendants of ethnic Punjabis who emigrated out of the Punjab region to the rest of world. Punjabis are one of the largest ethnic groups in both the Pakistani and Indian diasporas...
, especially in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and USA. The tale of two lovers, Heer
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 Ranjha, is based in the 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...
i part of the 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...
, in a city called Jhang
Jhang
- Demographics :According to 1981 census of Pakistan population of Jhang was 1,970,944 with the 434,495 housing units in Jhang. In 1998 census, population of Jhang was 2,834,545, whose annually growth rate was 2.16%. Male population was 1,474,099 and female population was 1,360,446...
. Today it is celebrated in songs, movies, theatre, and quotations. One may call a romantic person a Ranjha, meaning he is a devoted lover. Similarly a girl in love may be called "Heer." Apart from the epic of Hir and Ranjha, the Punjab has a rich tradition of ballads, folk tales, folk music and dance. The folklore of the Potohar Plateau of the north shows a local variant, while the lush green irrigated agriculture of the central plains is home to more sophisticated forms of folklore. The oldest living urban centre of Multan in the south is home to gentler forms of music and dance.
Saraiki folklore
SaraikiSaraiki language
Saraiki , transliterated as Sirāikī and sometimes spelled Seraiki and Saraiki, is a standardized written language of Pakistan belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages. It is a language spoken in the heart of Pakistan...
areas in the south are equally rich in folklore.
Cultural folklore
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
high culture of 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...
and rest of South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
emphasizes Arabic, Persian and Turkish
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
culture. Islamic mythology
Islamic mythology
Islamic mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Islam from a mythographical perspective. Many Muslims believe that these narratives are historical and sacred and contain profound truths...
and Persian mythology
Persian mythology
Persian mythology are traditional tales and stories of ancient origin, some involving extraordinary or supernatural beings. Drawn from the legendary past of the Iranian cultural continent which especially consists of the state of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Central Asia, they reflect the...
is part of Islamic folklore, as Islamic religion and Persian culture dominate Pakistan. The Shahnameh
Shahnameh
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...
, One Thousand and One Nights and Sinbad the Sailor
Sinbad the Sailor
Sinbad the Sailor is a fictional sailor from Basrah, living during the Abbasid Caliphate – the hero of a story-cycle of Middle Eastern origin...
were part of the education of Muslim children in Pakistan before English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
education was imposed by the British colonialism.
See also
- Adam Khan and DurkhanaiAdam Khan And DurkhanaiAdam Khan Aw Durkhanai is a classic Pashtun romance which has been called the Pashto Romeo and Juliet along with Yusuf Khan and Sherbano. It is considered classic pashto literature....
- Alam LoharAlam LoharMuhammad 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:...
- Arabian mythologyArabian mythologyArabian mythology comprises the ancient, pre-Islamic beliefs of the Arabs. Prior to Islam the Kaaba of Mecca was covered in symbols representing the myriad demons, djinn, demigods, or simply tribal gods and other assorted deities which represented the polytheistic culture of pre-Islamic Arabia...
- Gulistan of Sa'diGulistan of Sa'diThe Gulistan is a landmark literary work in Persian literature, perhaps its single most influential work of prose. Written in 1259 CE, it is one of two major works of the Persian poet Sa'di, considered one of the greatest medieval Persian poets. It is also one of his most popular books, and...
- Hani and Sheh MureedHani and Sheh MureedHani and Sheh Mureed or Murid is a beloved epic ballad of Balochi folklore.This tale is to Balochistan what Romeo and Juliet is to English-speaking lands.The story mirrors the life of the Baloch heroes and their emotions and philosophical ideas .The hero of the story, Sheh Mureed Hani and Sheh...
- Hatim al-TaiHatim al-TaiFor Indian television series Hatim, see Hatim Hatimtai , formally Hatem ibn Abdellah ibn Sa'ad at-Ta'iy was a famous pre-Islamic Arabian poet, and the father of the Sahaba Adi ibn Hatim and Safana bint Hatem. He was a Christian, and belonged to the Ta'i Arabian tribe...
- 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...
- Islamic mythologyIslamic mythologyIslamic mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Islam from a mythographical perspective. Many Muslims believe that these narratives are historical and sacred and contain profound truths...
- Layla and MajnunLayla and MajnunLayla and Majnun, also known as The Madman and Layla – in Arabic مجنون ليلى or قيس وليلى , in , Leyli və Məcnun in Azeri, Leyla ile Mecnun in Turkish, in Urdu and Hindi – is a classical Arab story, popularized by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi's...
- 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...
- Magic carpetMagic carpetA magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport persons who are on it instantaneously or quickly to their destination.-In literature:...
- Mirza SahibaMirza SahibaMirza 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...
- 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...
- Mullah Nasreddin
- 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...
- One Thousand and One Nights
- ParistanParistanParistan or Pari-estan is a name of a fairyland in the folklore of Middle East, South Asia and Central Asia. Pari means fairy. In many children's stories Koh-e-Qaf is also used for fairyland. Koh-e-Qaf refers to the Caucasus mountains....
- PeriPeriIn Persian mythology, which constitutes the mythology of not just Persians but all Iranian peoples, peris are descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance. In earlier sources they are described as agents of evil; later, they are benevolent...
- Persian mythologyPersian mythologyPersian mythology are traditional tales and stories of ancient origin, some involving extraordinary or supernatural beings. Drawn from the legendary past of the Iranian cultural continent which especially consists of the state of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Central Asia, they reflect the...
- Prince Saiful Malook and Badri JamalaPrince Saiful Malook and Badri JamalaPrince Saiful Mulook and Badi-ul- Jamal is a classic fable from the Hazara region of Pakistan. It tells the story of a Prince's love for a fairy; the name Saiful Malook refers to a lake in northern Pakistan. -Poetry:...
- Punjabi KissePunjabi KisseA Punjabi Qissa is a tradition of Punjabi language oral story-telling that came to South Asia with migrants from the Arabian peninsula and contemporary Iran and Afghanistan....
- Rostam and SohrabRostam and SohrabRustam and Sohrab is a tragedy from the Persian epic Shahnameh. It tells the tragic story of the heroes Rustam and his son, Sohrab.-Plot:...
- RostamRostamRostam is the national hero of Greater Iran from Zabulistan in Persian mythology and son of Zal and Rudaba. In some ways, the position of Rostam in the historical tradition is parallel to that of Surena, the hero of the Carrhae. His figure was endowed with many features of the historical...
- Sassi PunnunSassi PunnunSassi 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...
- 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...
- ShahnamehShahnamehThe Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...
- Shirin and Farhad
- Sinbad the SailorSinbad the SailorSinbad the Sailor is a fictional sailor from Basrah, living during the Abbasid Caliphate – the hero of a story-cycle of Middle Eastern origin...
- Sohni MahiwalSohni MahiwalSohni Mahiwal and is included in seven popular tragic romances from Sindh and Baluchistan. The other six are Momal Rano, Umar Marvi, LiLa Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Sassi Punnun and Dhaj, Ror Kumar commonly known as Seven Queens of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai...
- The Tale of the Four DervishesThe Tale of the Four DervishesThe Tale of the Four Dervishes is a collection of allegorical stories by Amir Khusro written in Persian in the late 13th century....
- Turkish folkloreTurkish folkloreThe tradition of folklore—folktales, jokes, legends, and the like—in the Turkish language is very rich, and is incorporated into everyday life and events.-Nasreddin Hoca:...
- Yusuf and ZulaikhaYusuf and ZulaikhaYusuf and Zulaikha is the Quranic verse of Yusuf and Zulaikha . It has been told and retold countless times in many languages spoken by Muslims, especially Persian. Its most famous version was written in Persian by Jami , in his Haft Awrang...
- Yusuf Khan and SherbanoYusuf Khan and SherbanoAlong with Adam Khan and Durkhanai, Yusuf Khan and Sherbano is considered a famous Pashtun folktale on par with Romeo and Juliet.- Story :The story, written by the pashtun poet from Ismaila Ali Haider Joshi, goes as follows:...