The var, in

Punjabi poetry Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab region of India and Pakistan and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which the Sh ...

, is a heroic ode or ballad which generally narrates legend such as stories of Punjabi folk heroes or a historical event.''The Encyclopaedia of

Indian Literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Republic of India has 22 officially recognised languages. The earliest works of Indian literature were o ...

(Volume One - A to Devo)''. Amaresh Datta, ed. Sahitya Akademi: 2006, 352. Examples of the former including ballads narrating the feats of

Dulla Bhatti Dulla Bhatti (also known as Dullah Bhatti and Rai Abdullah Bhatti) is a Punjabi folk hero who supposedly came from the Punjab region and led a revolt against Mughal rule during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar. He is entirely absent f ...

Raja Rasalu, whereas examples of the latter might include Amir Khusrau's Var for Ghiyath Al Din Tughlaq who took the throne of Delhi in 1320 and Najabat's ''Nadar Shah Di Var'' which describes the invasion of India by

Nadir Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...

in 1739. The Var has also been used to evoke the mood of devotion or sacrifice, as in

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sing ...

's '' Chandi di Var'', or to narrate the

mystical experience Scholarly approaches to mysticism include typology (disambiguation), typologies of mysticism and the explanation of mystical states. Since the 19th century, mystical experience has evolved as a distinctive concept. It is closely related to "mystic ...

of a Pir,

Bhagat Bhagat is a term used in the Indian subcontinent to describe religious personalities who have obtain high acclaim in their community for their services and devoutness.It is also one of the clan in Mahar caste with clan totem as King Cobrahttp:/ ...

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

References

{{Portal, Literature Punjabi literature

See also

References