Heer Ranjha

Painting by Shafqat Jilani

Dheedo Ranjha was the son of landlord Mauju Chaudhary Jatt (belongs to Ranjha Clan) and lived in Takt Hazara by the river Chenab in Punjab. Heer was the daughter of prosperous farmer Chuchak from Jhung Punjab (belongs to Sial Klan). Both were young and beautiful, but they were destined to suffer immeasurably. Ranjha did not have many worldly skills but he was a good shepherd and a fine flute player. Ranjha was a favourite son of his father and did not take interest in farming. After the death of his father, he was considered a burden on the family. His brothers ill-treated him and denied him his proper share in the ancestral land property.

Ranjha went to Heer’s village Jhang and both of them liked each other. Heer’s father offered Ranjha a job of herding his cattle. Ranjha routinely played his flute in the fields after work and Heer became mesmerized by it and eventually fell in love with Ranjha. Heer’s envious uncle, Kaido, informed her parents Chuchak and Malki. Heer was forced by her family and the local priest (Maulvi) to marry another prosperous man named Saida Khera belonging to the Khera clan. Ranjha wandered the countryside alone until he met a Jogi (ascetic) Gorakhnath and became a Jogi himself, piercing his ears. While reciting the name of God he wandered all over Punjab and eventually went to the village where Heer was living. Heer could not forget Ranjha and always remembered him. When the matter was brought to the Kaji, he favoured them. Heer was separated from her husband collectively. Heer and Ranjha went to the Heer’s parents and they agreed for their marriage. On the wedding day, Kaido poisoned her food in order to punish her for her behaviour. Hearing that news, Ranjha rushed to aid her, but it was too late as she had already had the poisoned food and had died. Broken-hearted Ranjha ate the remaining poisoned food and died by her side. Heer and Ranjha were buried in Heer’s home town Jhang. Now, people visit that place in Jhang (Pakistan Punjab) with great respect and love to remember Heer and Ranjha.

The story of Heer Ranjha was first narrated in verse by Damodar Gulati, a native of Jhang, and is broadly based on eyewitness accounts. Since then, it has been narrated in various ways in different languages (Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Haryanvi, English, Sindhi, and Persian), both in verse and prose. However, the most famous version was written by Waris Shah in 1766 in prose Punjabi.

Image Credits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heer_Ranjha