Mirza Sahiban


Mirza Sahiban also spelled as "Mirza Sahiba" is a classical Punjabi folk tragedy, originally recorded in literary form by the 17th-century poet Pilu. Set in a village, the tragedy follows the romance between two youths, belonging to chieftain families of their respective clans, their elopement and eventual demise.
It is regarded as one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punnun.

Synopsis

The story was written by Pilu, a poet who lived during 16th century in Punjab. Mirza and Sahiban were lovers who lived in Khewa, a town in the Jhang District which was Sahiban's ancestral village. Mirza was the son of Banjal, a Kharal chief of Danabad while Sahiban was the daughter of Khiva Khan. Mirza and Sahiban belonged to the Jat community.
Both Mirza and Sahiban ran away to marry against Sahiban's parents' wishes. While eloping Mirza stopped under a jand tree, where he rested for a while and fell asleep. Sahiban did not want to begin her new life through her brothers' bloodshed. She decided to break all the arrows of Mirza thinking she will beg her brothers for their acceptance so that nobody would get hurt. As Sahiban's brothers were approaching, Mirza woke up to discover that his arrows were broken, and was killed by Sahiban's brothers. Sahiban could not bear this loss and chose to end her own life by stabbing herself with an arrow.

Adaptations

There have been various adaptations of the folk tale:Mirza Sahiban, a 1929 Indian silent film by Bhagwati Prasad Mishra.