Celebrating Heer, the medieval heroine who challenged patriarchy in Punjab
The legend of Heer-Ranjha is believed to have played out in real life on the banks of the river Chenab, way back in the second half of the 15th century. This was the site that many poets chose to tell the tale of the lovers.
For instance, scholar Muhammad Sheeraz places it thus: “For centuries, the Chenab River has been flowing through the soils of the Punjab, the land of five rivers, and its fast and furious waves have told tales of love and romance. Heer-Ranjha is one of the tales told in unison by the waters of the Chenab.”
It was the rendition by Sufi poet Waris Shah, completed in 1766, that captured the imagination of the Punjabis. His Qissa is an all-time classic and a bestseller. Chandigarh-based historian Ishwar Gaur, who sources his writing of Punjab’s history from folklore, Sufi poetry and Gurbani, said about Waris’ text:
“It is a complete socio-cultural text of the turbulent 18th Century Punjab and truly secular in nature and it is time we acknowledged its value and not treated it as mere erotica.”