Sassi Punnuh or Sassui Punhun ( sd, سَسُئيِ پُنهوُن) is a love story from
Punjabi,
Sindhi, and
Balochi folklore. The story is about a faithful lover who will endure any difficulty while seeking her beloved husband who was separated from her by rivals.
The story also appears in
Shah Jo Risalo
''Shah Jo Risalo'' ( sd, شاھ جو رسالو) is a poetic compendium of famous Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. In fact, it is many compendia, for Shah Abdul Latif's poetry in various forms of bayt and wai was compiled by many of hi ...
and forms part of seven popular tragic romances from
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The other six tales are ''
Umar Marvi
Umar Marvi or Marui ( sd, عمر مارئي, ur, ), is a folktale from Sindh, Pakistan about a village girl Marvi Maraich, who resists the overtures of a powerful King and the temptation to live in the palace as a queen, preferring to be in simpl ...
'', ''
Sohni Mehar
Sohni Mahiwal or Suhni Mehar ( pa, , ਸੋਹਣੀ ਮਹੀਂਵਾਲ is one of the four popular tragic romances of Punjab including Sindh. In Sindh Sohni's shrine is in Shahdadpur Town of Sangar District. The others are Sassi Punnun, Mirza ...
'', ''
Lilan Chanesar
Lilan Chanesarr ( sd, ليلا چنيسر) is a traditional story which dates back to the time of Jam Chanesar, one of the Soomra Dynasty, Soomra rulers in the 14th century Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan. It has often been retold in Sindhi language, Sind ...
'', ''
Noori Jam Tamachi
''Noori Jam Tamachi'' ( sd, نوري ڄام تماچي) is a famous tale of Prince Jam Tamachi's falling in love with the charming fisherwoman Noori. Noori makes Jam happy with her perfect surrender and obedience which causes him to raise her abo ...
'', ''
Sorath Rai Diyach
Sorath Rai Diyach ( sd, سورٺ راءِ ڏياچ) is one of the historical romantic tales from Sindh, Pakistan. The story also appears in Shah Jo Risalo and forms part of seven popular tragic romances from Sindh, Pakistan. The other six tales are ...
'', and ''
Momal Rano'' commonly known as
the Seven Queens of Sindh
Seven Queens (Sindhi:ست سورميون, pronunciation (sat-a soor-myoon); meaning ''Seven heroic women'') is a name commonly referred to the seven female characters that appear in the poetry of the Sindhi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in his boo ...
, or the Seven heroines of
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai ( sd, شاھ عبداللطيف ڀٽائي, ur, ; 1689/1690 – 21 December 1752), commonly known by the honorifics ''Lakhino Latif'', ''Latif Ghot'', ''Bhittai'', and ''Bhit Jo Shah'', was a Sindhi Sufi mystic, an ...
.
Punnu
Mir Punnhun Khan (Mir Dostein) was the son of Mir Aalii or Ari, a
baloch king of
Kech
Kech may refer to:
Places
*Kech, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
* Kech District, Balochistan, Pakistan
*Kech River, in Iran and Pakistan
* Kech, Iran (disambiguation), the alternative spelling of several places in Iran
Other uses
*KECH-FM, a radio ...
,
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
.
Sassi
Sassi was the daughter of the Raja of
Bhambore in
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
(now in Pakistan). Upon Sassi's birth, astrologers predicted that she was a
bane
Bane may refer to:
Fictional characters
* Bane (DC Comics), an adversary of Batman
* Bane (''Harry Potter''), a centaur in the ''Harry Potter'' series
* Bane (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film trilogy
* Bane the Druid, a Gu ...
on the royal family's honour. The Raja ordered that the child be put in a wooden box and thrown in the
Sindhu
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
. 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 children of his own, he decided to adopt her.
![Trilok Singh Artist 1954](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Trilok_Singh_Artist_1954.jpg)
Sassi grew up to be as beautiful as the fairies of heaven. Stories of her beauty reached Punnu 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
Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...
. Sassi's father was dispirited, hoping that Sassi would marry a washerman and no one else. He asked Punnu to prove that he was worthy of Sassi by passing the test as a washerman. Punnu 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 Sassi's father agreed to the marriage.
Punnu's brothers
Punnu's father and brothers were against his marriage to Sassi (Punnu being a prince and she being a washerman's daughter) and so, for their father's sake, Punnu's brothers travelled to Bhambore. First they threatened Punnu but when he didn't relent, they tried more devious methods. Punnu was surprised to see his brothers supporting his marriage and on the first night, they pretended to enjoy and participate in the marriage celebrations and forced Punnu to drink different types of wines. When he was intoxicated they carried him on a camel's back and returned to their hometown of Kech.
The lovers meet their end
When Sassi woke up the following morning, she realized that she was cheated by her brothers-in-law. She became mad with the grief of separation from her beloved and ran barefoot towards the town of Kech Makran. To reach it, she had to cross miles of desert. Alone, she continued her journey until her feet were blistered and her lips were parched from crying "Punnhun, Punnhun!". The journey was full of dangerous hazards. She was thirsty, when she saw a shepherd coming out of a hut. He gave her some water to drink. Seeing her incredible beauty, he tried to force himself on Sassi. Sassi escaped and prayed to God to hide her. God listened to her prayers, land shook and split and Sassi found herself buried in the valley of mountains. When Punhun woke in
Makran
Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, ...
he could not stop himself from running back to Bhambore. On the way he called out "Sassi, Sassi!" to which the shepherd told Punnhun the whole story. Punnhun also lamented the same prayer, the land shook and split again and he was also buried in the same mountain valley as Sassi. The legendary grave still exists in this valley.
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai ( sd, شاھ عبداللطيف ڀٽائي, ur, ; 1689/1690 – 21 December 1752), commonly known by the honorifics ''Lakhino Latif'', ''Latif Ghot'', ''Bhittai'', and ''Bhit Jo Shah'', was a Sindhi Sufi mystic, an ...
sings this historic tale in his Sufi poetry as an example of eternal love and union with divine. But according to the famous tale by
Hashim (poet)
Hashim Shah ( Punjabi , ਹਾਸ਼ਿਮ ਸ਼ਾਹ ; b. 1735 d. 1843) was a Punjabi writer and Sufi poet, best known for his story ''Sassi Punnun'' (or ''Sassi Panhu''). His family migrated from Holy city Madina to Punjab, India, where t ...
(Hashim Shah) Sassi dies while crossing the desert.
Kech Makran
The
Kech Makran is located along the Makran Coastal Highway in
Baluchistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The fort of Punnhun whose construction dates back to 6000-8000
BC is located there.
Tombs of Sassi Punnhun
Sassi and Punnu's alleged graves are located near
Lasbela, Balochistan, 45 miles west of
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
.
In popular culture
Films
The folk tale has been filmed many times including:
* ''Sassi Punnu'' (1928),
Indian silent film
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
by Harshadrai Sakerlal Mehta; starring
Master Vithal
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
and Zebunissa.
*''Sassi Punnu'' (1932), Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language film by S. R. Apte and Chimanlal Luhar; starring Eiden Bai and Haider Bandi.
*''Sassi Punnu'' (1946), Indian Hindi-language film by Jagatrai Pesumal Advani; starring Eddie Billimoria and Geeta Nizami.
*
''Sassi Punnu'' (1958), Pakistani
Sindhi-language film directed by Akbar Ali, produced by Syed A. Haroon.
*''Sassi Punho'' (1960), Indian Sindhi-language film directed by Ram Rasila.
*''Sassi Punnu'' (1965), Indian
Punjabi-language film by Shanti Prakash Bakshi.
*
''Sassi Punnu'' (1983), Indian Punjabi-language film directed by Satish Bhakhri, starring
Satish Kaul
Satish Kaul (8 September 1946 – 10 April 2021) was an Indian actor in both Punjabi and Hindi movies. He acted in over 300 Hindi and Punjabi films and worked with Bollywood actors such as Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Shahrukh Khan amongst oth ...
and
Bhavana Bhatt
Bhavana Bhatt is an Indian actress who has worked in Hindi and Punjabi films.
Bhatt started her career in the Hindi film ''Do Jasoos'', where she worked with famous actors such as Raj Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar. Later she acted opposite Raj Ka ...
.
* ''
Sassi Punno
The Sassi di Matera are two districts (''Sasso Caveoso'' and ''Sasso Barisano'') of the Italian city of Matera, Basilicata, well-known for their ancient cave dwellings inhabited since the Paleolithic period.
The "Sassi" have been described by F ...
'' (2004), Pakistani Urdu film directed by Hassan Askari.
Music
The British musician
Panjabi MC
Rajinder Singh Rai (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਰਜਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ), better known by his stage name Panjabi MC, is a British Indians, British-Indian recording artist, rapper, producer and DJ. He is best known for the worldwide 2002 ...
references the tale of Sassi in his 2003 song ''
Jogi''. The "King of
Qawali
Qawwali (Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: ( Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing, originating from the Indian subcontinent ...
",
Ustad
Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian language, Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian language, Persian, , Azerbai ...
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi music, Sufi devotional music. ...
, mentions Sassi in a verse of one of his most famous songs ''Tum Ek Gorak Dhanda Ho'' written by the poet
Naz Khialvi
Muhammad Siddique ناز خیالوی (12 December 1947 – 12 December 2010), pen name Naz Khialvi, was a Pakistani lyricist and radio broadcaster, who is mainly known for his Sufi verse ''Tum Ek Gorakh Dhanda Ho'' (You are a Puzzle), later sun ...
. The Pakistani singer-songwriter
Bilal Saeed
Bilal Saeed ( born 12 December 1988) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, music producer and composer. He is best known for his singles "12 Saal" , "Adhi Adhi raat " and 'Teri khair mangdi" . The latter was also used in the Bollywood film Baar Ba ...
also mentions Sassi in his son
12 Saal
Literature
''Sasui Puno'' is a play written in
Sindhi by Indian writer
Ram Panjwani.
See also
*
Tomb paintings of Sindh
Tomb paintings of Sindh are found mainly in the Shahdadkot tehsil of Qamber-Shahdadkot in Sindh, Pakistan.
During the Kalhora period (1680–1784 AD) wall paintings became common. They often depicted folk tales, scenes from rustic life, the triba ...
*
Trilok Singh Chitarkar
Trilok Singh Chitarkar (1914-1990) was a versatile Indian painter. He has unique style of presenting himself through variety of themes - Sikh religion, history, culture, folk lore, love legends, portraits, social evils, nature, illustration of ...
, created a beautiful painting of Sassui Punnhun in 1954
*''
Sri Charitropakhyan''
References
{{Reflist
External links
Sassui and Punhun in SindhiSusuee and Punhoon in English*Sassi Punnu in Punjab
Love stories
Fictional duos
Punjabi folklore
Sindhi folklore
Sindhi people
Shah Jo Risalo
Pakistani folklore
Pakistani literature
Indian folklore
Indian literature