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
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 ...
in his book ''Shah Jo Risalo''. They are:
*
Marui
is a Japanese multinational retail company which operates a chain of department stores in Tokyo as well in other major Japanese cities. They are best known for their women's fashion and accessories, which are aimed at the 25–35 age range. ...
Noori
Noori ( ) is a Pakistani rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, formed in 1996. The group was formed by songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist, Ali Noor, along with his younger brother Ali Hamza, who were soon joined by bassist Muhammad A ...
(نوري)
* Suhni (سوہنی)
* Lilan (ليلا)
* Sorath (سورٹھ).
These seven female characters, which the poet picked from history to convey his poetic message, have remained cultural icons in the history of Sindh for their bravery, passion, loyalty, commitment, and character strength.
Marui's character portrays the love for the land, its people, her commitment to her traditions, her stance before a tyrant king, Umar (عمر) or as some say (Amar—امر). Moomal's character portrays an image of a passionate soul, brimming with love for her beloved, Rano (راڻو) and suffers at the altar of separation and rejection but does not surrender. Sasui is a daunting lady, who takes a debilitating journey of mountainous tracks to find her beloved, Punhoon (پنهون). Noori is a fisher-woman who enchants the king Tamachi (تماچي) and turns out to be one of the most romantic characters in Sindhi literature like Moomal and Suhni. Sohni is a daring soul, who, in order to meet her beloved Mehar (ميهار) overlooks the hyper waves of the Indus River and keeps meeting her beloved on the far bank of the river and one night falls victim to the river waves and dies. Lilan loses her king (husband) Chanesar for an obscenely expensive necklace and undergoes travails of an unbearable separation to regain her status and character; while Sorath is a loving soul, full of passion and care about her beloved.
Shah Abdul Latif had structured his poetry book, ''Ganj'', commonly known as '' Shah Jo Risalo'', in a form that suggested he intended to convey his message to the world through his verse. Among many intentions behind his poetry, one of his major inclinations was towards highlighting the marginalized populace of the country, especially women. Accordingly, he chose these Seven women or Seven Queens of the
Sindhi folktales
Sindhi folktales ( sd, لوڪ سنڌي ڪهاڻيون) play an important part in the culture of the Sindhi people of southern Pakistan. Pakistan's Sindh province abounds in fairy-tales and folktales that form its folklore. Some of these folktale ...
as protagonists in his stories. These tragic romantic tales are '' Umar Marvi'',''
Momal Rano
Momal Rano or Mumal Rano ( sd, مومل راڻو) is a romantic tale of Momal and Rano from the Sindhi folklore and Rajasthani folklore. It is a multifaceted story that entails adventure, magic, schemes, beauty, love, ordeals of separation and abo ...
'', ''
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 rulers in the 14th century Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan. It has often been retold in Sindhi and Persian.
Chanesar's wif ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Sassui Punhun
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 separat ...
'' and ''
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 ...
''.
These heroic women have a considerable influence on all the literature written in Pakistan ( Sindhi,
Balochi Balochi, sometimes spelt in various other ways, may refer to:
* Balochi language, a language of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan
* an adjective for something related to the Baloch people, an ethnic group of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan
* an adjecti ...
,
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
) and particularly Sindhi literature in India, Moomal and Suhni being the prominent ones. From the texts of these folktales, and especially Latif's poetry, the role of these very women would appear to dominate the role of men as their counterparts. In Umar-Marvi, if only Latif's poetry is analyzed, less space is dedicated to Umar's role, most of the story/narration refers to difficulties Marvi undergoes as a result of her abduction by the King Umar in the south-eastern part of
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 ...
. In Moomal-Rano, Moomal's role overwhelms everything else including Rano's character. Sasui-Punhoon is predominantly the story of Sasui's struggle to find her beloved husband who left her, apparently, for good. Only a little chunk is dedicated to Punhoon in this story. Noori-Jam Tamachi is predominantly the romantic tale from Noori's context. Tamachi is just like a source to help substantiate Noori's perspective. Suhni-Mehar is again the story of Suhni's anxiety and trouble she takes to meet Mehar. Mehar is not more than a figment of image. In Lilan-Chanesar, again the supposed protagonist is Lilan. However, in Sorath-Rai Diyach, Sorath, unlike the characters in the aforementioned tales, dominates the story in the spirit, not the material (space given to her in the text).
Thus, the story of each of these Eight Heroic Women, little or more, one or the other way, relates to the cultural milieu and substance of the evolutionary process of the peoples living in the regions of old India and current Pakistan. Lubna Jehangir painted all seven queens of Shah Abdul lateef and displayed them at the Ocean art gallery under guidance of Attiya Dawood