If Punjab madly loves one animal, it’s its buffalo. Why, a non-Punjabi may ask? You won’t starve if you have a buffalo as it amply provides you with what can keep you and your family nourished. It’s not without reason that this animal in folklore and classical literature is the stuff of many a story.

Two great heroes, Ranjha and Mahinwal, at some point in their times were herders. Ranjha, dispossessed and declassed, at the recommendation of Heer is employed as a herder. Buffaloes are companions of Heer and Ranjha in our greatest tale. They not only pave the way for the male protagonist to stay close to heroine but also act as a shield that protects the amorous playfulness of the lovers by hiding it from the public eye. The other hero Mahinwal is little known by his actual name because of his close association with buffaloes. People changed his name from Mirza Izzat Baig to Mahinwal which literally means one who herds buffaloes.“Without you buffalo-herd, my heart is always full of sorrow,” says Khawaja Ghulam Farid in one of his lyrics [Kafi}.

In our folklore, buffalo has been the most coveted animal. Mian Kamal Din, the greatest storyteller of the 20th century, tells a weirdly fascinating story of Punjabis’ love for buffalo. “Mulraj [governor of Multan and Jhang during Sikh rule] was a great buffalo lover—When the British imprisoned Mulraj no one dared to shepherd his herd. So it drifted around. Saee saw it and ordered his brother to take hold of the buffaloes. ‘These are Mulraj’s buffaloes. Taking them means wading through blood, replies the brother’.‘Our seventeen generations have fought and died in pursuit of our goal of having buffaloes. No big deal if we two die the same way, says Saee’. Mulraj, being a great buffalo lover, whenever heard of a good buffalo, managed to buy it whatever the cost. It was reported to him that Chaudhry Bahaab Lalera had a reddish brown buffalo. The way the beauty of the animal was described cast a spell on Mulraj”.

Mulraj wanted the animal at any cost but Bahaab refused to sell it on one pretext or another. It so happened that his father’s friend Ra Mohla defaulted on his annual payment of tribute to the government. He got a Sikh soldier killed who abused him while demanding the payment. Now he was on the run pursued by officials. He requested Bahaab to offer Mulraj the animal and get reprieve for him. The former released the buffalo in the Mulraj’s huge shed. The latter with his keen eye detected the animal and wondered aloud as to who brought the coveted buffalo. Mian Kamal Din describes the scene:“…Bahaab got up and said; ‘I brought it sir’, ‘Are you Bahaab’? ‘Yes sir I am’. ‘There must be some favour you want from me’. ‘No sir’. ‘…Some compulsion forced you to budge---But I will not disappoint you’. ‘Well sir, you know that Mohla, son of Qadar Baksh!’ said Chaudhry Bahaab. ‘Oh, Mohla the scoundrel, Mohla the criminal--- He killed my Sikh official’. ‘No sir ‘replied Bahaab. ‘Surely he did but don’t worry. Sikh women haven’t stopped delivering babies. They will be able to give birth to many more. Hadn’t Mohla killed that Sikh, I would never have got this buffalo’. Among the Punjabis the love of buffalo borders on obsession. So much so that its milk is called sacred light [Noor].

Not in the distant past one’s assets were measured in terms of number of buffalos they had. The bigger the size of the herd, the greater the wealth. This was especially true of the people of Bars [Punjab’s jungle like areas between rivers in the West Punjab] and those who lived close to the six rivers of Punjab. Till the early 19th century, for example, hustling was a thriving business between the rivers Ravi and Sutlej. Organised gangs of thieves would lift buffaloes from the River Ravi and make them swim across the river Sutlej and vice versa. The river acted as some sort of an informal border not to be easily crossed. Buffalo, etched on the psyche of our people, is rightly thought to be useful as well as beautiful. Thus it was a prized possession but at the same time was an easy target for cattle lifters.

Noori Kamokay, a great balladeer [Dholaie] of the 20th century, apart from glorifying freedom fighters like Nizam Lahoar, composed ballads on buffalo which are uncannily beautiful pieces of poetry. In one of his ballads he says: “Keemay, sing paean to the Lord as you are in the midst of the crane like flock of buffalos / some are grey, some black, some brown, some white/ and some are with curved horns which are beautiful like bangles that adorn the arms of a newly-wed—As I sit down to milk the buffaloes, a stream comes and the pot overflows …After bathing in the river, they come out like mirrors that bedeck the showrooms in the bazar/ in the wee-hours they make joyful noises raising their tunes in Ragas; Aasa, Bhairvin, Pilu, Pahari, Ramkali, and Megh Malhaar / but buffaloes have one failing; they go docilely with the thieves when roped in---”.

Noori poetically expresses in large measure what buffaloes mean for Punjab; high utility, unusual beauty and vulnerability. Health of the rural poor and peasants depends on the buffaloes they raise. The family that owns buffaloes would have milk, butter, Gheo [Purified butter] and lassi [a drink made from yogurt] which is known as Punjab’s white beer. Extra milk, butter and Gheo will be sold to make a living. We all know that fresh milk is provided to urban people largely by milkmen from the village that surround our cities and towns.

Aryans unfamiliar with the water buffalo found in the Punjab /Indus valley turned it into a demon that represented evil for them. But for Punjab it has always been/is an animal that represents divine love for humans. In our land vision of a herd of buffaloes signifies abundance, tranquility and peace. It points to the presence of water and green foliage without which life isn’t sustainable. Let’s not hesitate to butter the animal up that butters our bread. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2021