The Tragedy of Sassi Punnu: A Folktale from Punjab

The story of Sassi-Punnu is among one of the most well-known folk stories to come out of the Punjab region. A story of forbidden love, of lovers being separated, and a story that ends in tragedy. Read this folk tale from Punjab here.

The Tragedy of Sassi Punnu. Illustrated by Gowri Suresh, Visual Storyteller at ThisDay

The Punjabi folktale tradition or qissa is a form of poetic narration that was used by many writers across Punjab during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Love stories and tragic romances in the classical qissa style gained much popularity in the Punjab and became part of Punjabi folklore over time. In particular, four famous legends—Hir-Ranjha, Mirza-Sahiba, Sassi-Punnu, and Sohni-Mahival— are intrinsic to Punjabi culture and were integral to the formation of the Punjabi literary tradition. These tales feature star-crossed lovers attempting to fight social structures to pursue their love and suffering tragic fates as a result.

For centuries, these folktales or qisseh were sung and recited by bards and musicians and were were widely accessible as they were written in local vernacular languages such as Punjabi (in both Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi scripts), Urdu, and Sindhi, and were also translated into Persian, Hindi, and English.

The story of Hir-Ranjha is perhaps the most famous of the Punjabi romances. The first qissa of Hir-Ranjha was composed by Damodar Gulati (1605-1666), who lived during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar.The most well-known version of this tale was written by Waris Shah in 1706 and first published in 1851. From the early nineteenth century, numerous manuscripts of Waris Shah’s Heer were published in Punjabi and Urdu. The introduction of the lithograph printing press in Punjab led to a number of older works being reprinted and the publishing of new books. By the 1870s Punjabi print culture was thriving and Qisseh were being composed by scores of people and printed in the thousands.

Before we go further, it is necessary to look back once again at the famous-yet-tragic love legends of the land through which five rivers once gushed. Atop the list remains Heer-Ranjha, of course. Interestingly, for centuries, no one named their daughters Heer, fearing that they would rebel, fall in love, and meet a sad end. Then we have Sohni-Mahiwal, Mirza-Sahiba, and Sassi-Punnu. The heroines of Punjabi folk tales do not pine away, but rebel against the conventional norms of society and sacrifice everything for love. These folktales immortalize and enshrine mortal love as the spirit of divine love. The tales also portray a double standard of moral and social convictions and the supremacy of love and loyalty. The protagonists are punished with death for flouting social conventions and disobeying their parents, yet their deaths are glorified and offerings are made at their tombs by those who seek blessings and redemption from suffering and unfulfilled desires.

Great love stories that happened in the past became the torchbearer for humankind, when faith in the existence of true love would cease. Let's travel, then, to the banks of the rivers in Punjab, where Sufi poets have sung about the glory of divine love.

Sassi-Punnu is one of the seven popular tragic romances of Sindh besides the four of the most popular ones in Punjab. Sassi was the daughter of the King of Bhambore (located in present-day Sindh, Pakistan, its ruins can be seen even today). Upon Sassi’s birth, astrologers predicted that she was a curse for the royal family’s prestige. The royal family was aghast and insisted that the queen give the child up or, better still, be done with her by killing her. The queen didn’t have the heart to go through with this cruel decree and orchestrated a plan to save her innocent daughter. The child was put in a wooden box and thrown in the Indus.

A washerman of the Bhambore village, who was going about his daily chores, found the wooden box and the beautiful baby girl in it. Sure that the child was a blessing from God, he took her home. As he had no child of his own, he decided to adopt her and named her Sassi. His family raised Sassi with loving care as she blossomed into an unparalleled beauty. There were songs sung in praise of this hoor and her angelic demeanour.

Punnu Khan, the son of King Mir Hoth Khan (Hoth is a famous Baloch tribe in Makran, Balochistan). Stories of Sassi’s beauty reached Punnu and he became desperate to meet her. The handsome young prince, therefore, travelled to Bhambore. He sent his clothes to Sassi's father so that he could catch a glimpse of Sassi.

When he visited the washerman's house, they fell in love at first sight. Sassi's father was dispirited, hoping that Sassi would marry a washerman. He asked Punnu to prove that he was worthy of Sassi by passing the test as a washerman. Punnu agreed to prove his love. While washing, he tore off all the clothes as, being a prince, he had never washed any clothes; he thus failed the challenge. But before he returned the clothes, he hid gold coins in their pockets, hoping this would convince Sassi’s father about his honourable intentions. This move worked, and Sassi's father agreed to the marriage.

But Punnu’s father and brothers were against his marriage to Sassi—after all, Punnu was a prince, and she was a mere washerman’s daughter. For their father’s sake, Punnu’s brothers travelled to Bhambore to bring back their brother who had obviously gone astray because of Sassi and her looks.

First, they threatened Punnu, but when he didn’t relent, they told him that he had their blessing and attended the wedding. Punnu was surprised to see his brothers supporting his marriage, and on the first night, they pretended to enjoy and participate in the marriage celebrations and forced Punnu to drink different types of wine. When he was intoxicated, they carried him on a camel’s back and returned to their hometown of Kech Makran.

The next morning, when Sassi realised that she had been cheated, she became mad with the grief of separation from her beloved Punnu and ran barefoot towards the town of Kech Makran. To reach it, she had to cross miles of desert. Alone, she continued her journey until her feet were blistered and her lips were parched from crying “Punnu, Punnu!” The journey was full of dangerous hazards, but Punnu’s name was on Sassi’s lips throughout the journey.

The parched Sassi thought she had found respite when she saw a shepherd coming out of a hut. He gave her some water to drink, but seeing her incredible beauty, lustful thoughts came into his mind, and he tried to force himself on her. Sassi ran away and prayed to God to hide her. God listened to her prayers, the earth shook and split, and Sassi sank into the ground, buried in the valley. Only the tip of her scarf remained above the ground.

When Punnu woke, he was in Makran. He could not stop himself from running back to Bhambore. On the way he called out, “Sassi, Sassi!,” but to no avail.

He reached the shepherd’s hut and asked him if he had seen his beloved Sassi. Unable to contain his own guilt, the shepherd told Punnu the whole story. Punnu, distraught at the thought of his Sassi being buried in that ground, became bereft of all will to live and also made the same prayer to God. The land shook and split again and Punnu too was buried in the same mountain valley as his beloved Sassi, and today, their graves lie side by side in Sindh at the spot where they died, united finally in their death.

The story of Sassi-Punnu also appears in Shah Jo Risalo, a poetic compendium written in Sindhi verses. Shah Abdul Latif has hidden his mystical ideas under layers of symbols taken from all spheres of life as well as from the classical Sufi tradition, and particularly from Maulana Rumi's Mathnawi.

The heroines of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai's poetry are known as the Seven Queens of Sindhi folklore, who have been given the status of royalty in Shah Jo Risalo. They are famous throughout Sindh for their qualities: honesty, integrity, piety, and loyalty. They are also valued for their bravery and their willingness to risk their lives in the name of love. In his poetry, Shah has alluded in an elaborate way to these characters of Sindhi folktales and used them as metaphors for high spiritual life.

Perhaps what Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai saw in his tales of these women was an idealised view of womanhood, but the truth remains that the Seven Queens inspired women all over Sindh to have the courage to choose love and freedom over tyranny and oppression. The lines from the Risalo describing their trials are sung at Sufi shrines all over Sindh, and especially at the urs of Shah Abdul Latif every year at Bhit Shah.

It's no wonder, then, that Punjabi poetry can engulf you in its nuggets about love and its myriad mystical ways. I close today’s story with a verse from yet another legend, Bulleh Shah, who says:

Zeher vekh ke pita

te ki pita,

Ishq soch ke kita

te ki kita.

Dil de ke

dil len di aas rakhi,

Ve Bulleya pyar eho jeya kita

te ki kita.

The essence of these beautiful lines is that one cannot love with the expectation that it will be returned with the same depth and fervour, because that would be like drinking poison after weighing its potency or falling in love after careful thought. Love demands complete supplication and devotion and defies every other thought of oneself. Love just is.