Sassi Punnu

Sassi Punnu (सस्सी पन्नू) is the Love Story of Sassi Punnu, that is supposed to be more than 200 years old and sung in folktales in Sindh.

Sassui Punhun (Sindhi: سَسُئيِ پُنهوُن, Sassui Punhun, Urdu: سسی پنوں, Sassi Punnun‎, Punjabi: ਸੱਸੀ ਪੁੱਨੂੰ, Sassi Punnun), is a famous folktale of love told in the length and breadth of Sindh, Pakistan. The story is about a faithful wife who is ready to undergo all kinds of troubles that would come her way while seeking her beloved husband who was separated from her by the rivals.

The story also appears in Shah Jo Risalo and forms part of seven popular tragic romances from Sindh. The other six tales are Umar Marui, Sohni Mehar, Lilan Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi, Sorath Rai Diyach and Momal Rano commonly known as Seven heroines (Sindhi: ست سورميون ) of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

Sassi-Punnu : Love Story

At the time when these cities were flourishing, traders used to go back and forth. They would come here from Baluchistan and places up north, hawking their wares, perfumes, silks and opium.

In Lakhpat, there used to be a city called Bhambhor. It would be in Sindh now, but then it was all one land. In this city, there lived a childless Brahmin couple.

They went to a seer who predicted that they would have a daughter but that she would end up marrying a Muslim. They were thoroughly distraught when they heard this. Sure enough, after some time a baby girl was born to them. The wife said to her husband, "It is better that before she blackens our name [by marrying a Muslim], we set her free." So, she put the baby into a small trunk and floated her out to sea. A Muslim washerman saw this trunk floating by and thought it must surely contain treasure. So, he opened it up. Seeing the tiny baby, he took her home, and he and his wife brought her up as their own. She was named Sassi and grew to be extremely beautiful. Everybody envied her looks, but her father would not agree to give her in marriage to anyone.

About the same time, in the area called Makran in Baluchistan, there was a Jatt king named Ari. He had five sons, of whom the youngest was named Punu. One day their minister, a Hindu of the Lohana caste, was going to Bhambhor on business. Punu said, 'Now when you go to Sindh, you must find me a bride o had come out to buy perfumes and silks from the traders passing through. He saw Sassi there and liked her immediately.

He summoned Punu to Sindh, and Punu married Sassi forthwith.

However, when the relatives of Punu in Baluchistan heard what had happened, they were enraged, exclaiming, 'How can a Jatt's son marry the daughter of a mere washerman?' So saying, they loaded up their camels and rode into Sindh to fetch Punu back. In the dead of the night, they gagged him and carried him back to Baluchistan, leaving poor Sassi behind.

Sassi woke to find her husband gone. In anguish, she pined for him for years, and wandered all over Sindh looking for him in vain. Wandering thus, she finally met with her death somewhere in the hills of Sindh, near where Karachi is today. She asked the earth to open up and receive her, leaving merely the tip of her scarf above ground.

When Punu finally received word of this, he came to look for her. On coming upon this scene, he was so overcome with grief that he too died on the spot; and today their graves lie side by side in Sindh at the spot where they died, united finally in their grief.

Sassui

Sassui was the daughter of the Raja of Bhambore in Sindh (now in Pakistan). Upon Sassui's birth, astrologers predicted that she was a curse for the royal family’s prestige. The Raja ordered that the child be put in a wooden box and thrown in the Sindhu. A washerman of the Bhambore village found the wooden box and the child inside. The washerman believed the child was a blessing from God and took her home. As he had no child of his own, he decided to adopt her.

When Sassui became a young girl, she was as beautiful as the fairies of heaven. Stories of her beauty reached Punhun and he became desperate to meet Sassi. The handsome young Prince therefore travelled to Bhambore. He sent his clothes to Sassi's father (a washerman) so that he could catch a glimpse of Sassi. When he visited the washerman's house, they fell in love at first sight. Sassui's father was dispirited, hoping that Sassi would marry a washerman and no one else. He asked Punnhun to prove that he was worthy of Sassui by passing the test as a washerman. Punnhun agreed to prove his love. While washing, he tore all the clothes as, being a prince, he had never washed any clothes; he thus failed the agreement. But before he returned those clothes, he hid gold coins in the pockets of all the clothes, hoping this would keep the villagers quiet. The trick worked, and Sassui's father agreed to the marriage.

Punnhun

Mir Punnhun Khan (Mir Dostein Hoth) is the son of Mir Aali, son of King Mir Hoth Khan, ancestor of the Hoths, a famous Baloch tribe in Balochistan. King Hoth was son of Mir Jalal Khan, ruler of today's Balochistan (Pakistan) region in the 12th Century, and father of Rind, Lashari, Hoth, Korai and Jatoi.

External Links

• The story of Sassí and Pannún
• THE TRAGIC LOVE STORY OF SASSI & PUNNU - YouTube
• http://creative.sulekha.com/sassi-punnu-love-stories-of-punjab-1_84725_blog

References

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