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THE STORY OF HIR AND RANJHA.
BY WARIS SHAH 1776 A.D. (Translated by G. O. USBORNE with prefatory remarks by Sir R. C. TEMPLE, Bt. )
• Prefatory Remarks. My friends, Mr. M. Longworth Dames and Sir George Grierson, have sent me the translation of the poem, very celebrated in the Panjab, by Waris Shah, known as Hir and Ranjhâ, for publication as a supplement to the Indian Antiquary. It is with great pleasure that I accede to their request.
The translation is by the late C. F. Usborne of the Indian Civil Service whose untimely death, in the words of Sir George Grierson, " was a blow to the serious study of Panjabi." To it is attached " A Critical Analysis” by "Multani," who, from internal evidence afforded by the MS. itself, must have been Usborne. My friends were indebted to the good offices of his brother-in-law, Mr. H. D. Watson, also of the Indian Civil Service, for the MSS.
In volume II (1885) of my Legends of the Panjab, four separate stories relate to this great love tale-an Oriental Romeo and Juliet story. On page 177 will be found the Legend of 'Abdu'llah Shah of Samin ; on p. 494, Ismâ'il Khân's Grandmother; on p. 499, The Bracelet-Maker of Jhang; on p. 507, The Marriage of Hir and Ranjhâ; and at p. 1 of vol. III will be found the analogous tale of Mirza and Sahibân
As the Legends of the Panjab are now out of print, it may be as well if I quote here my notes on the above tales, though made 35 years ago.
'Abdu'llah Shâh was a local Balochi saint at Sarûn, near Dera Ghazi Khân, and I printed his legend because of its references to the story of Hir and Ranjhâ. In doing 80 I made the following remarks: "The story is chiefly remarkable for the introduction of the heroes of the very favourite Panjabi tale of Hir and Ranjha in the after-world. Ranjh& is represented as still following his original oogapation of a buffalo-herdsman, and as supplying milk to the Prophet.
"The story of Hir and Ranjhå is of world-wide celebrity in the Panjab, and will be given in full later in these volumes. Hir was the daughter of Chúchak, a Syal of Rangpur, in the Muzaffargarh District. Ranjhâ's true name was Didho; ho was by caste a Ranjha Jatt, and is known almost exclusively by his caste name, which also takes the diminutive forms Ranjhua, Ranjhoth, and Ranjhetra. His father Manja was a Chaudhri, or Revenue Collector, and local magnate at Takht Hazara, in the Gujranwala District.
“ The Syâls are of Rajpat origin, and claim higher rank than the surrounding Jast tribes, to whom thoy will not give their daughters in marriage, although they inay marry Jatt women. Thus, though Hir and Ranjh& were both Muhammadans, their love was illicit, and ended disastrously. The pride of the Syáls is illustrated by another celebrated love story, "Sabibân and Mirza," which will also be given in full later on, the scene of which is at Khiwê near Jhang. It is even now an insultoto & Syâl to mention either Hir or Sahibáis, and no Syål will remain present while either of these stories is being recited. They are, however, colebrated in the Panjab as the types of constant lovers, much in the same way as Abelard and Heloise in modern Europe, or as Lailt and Majnon in Arabic, and Farbed and Shirin in Persian story. Hir's tomb is about half a mile from the civil station of Jhang, and is marked on the survey map as “ Mookurba Heer," which stands for " Maqbara-i. Hir," or Hir's monument. It is a brick building, resembling in style the ordinary Musalman tomb of the 16th century, with the exception that instead of being covered by domo'it is open to the sky. There aro niches or windows on the four sides. That on the west is closed, while the other three are opon, the reason assigned being that the wind should blow on Hfr from every direction oxcept that of her boine, Rangpur, where she was murdered. The tomb stands close to an old bed of the Chenab, and it is related that at the time of
