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PREFACE
This is the
seventeenth book, in serial order, compiled
under the Sindhi Adabi Board’s Folklore and
Literature Project, approved in 1956, for the
collection, compilation and publication of
Sindhi Folklore and Literature.
The work on the
project was started in January 1957, and the
first two years were devoted mainly to the
collection of material both from the oral
tradition of the village fold and the written
record. The oral tradition was reduced to
writing through a network of field-workers, one
stationed in each taluka area. The
compilation and publication work commenced from
1959. So far, 19 volumes have been published,
and this volume pertaining to "Folksongs" is the
twentieth of the forth volumes proposed to be
published under this project.
General
Characteristics and Classification
Folksongs of the Lower Indus Valley have much in
common with the folksongs of any other place of
people and yet, both in sentiment and substance,
they have many peculiarities of their own.
Sindhi folksongs are predominantly pastoral in
character. They represent the characteristic
social environment and natural habitation of the
unsophisticated folk, and are a ready vehicle of
expressing their feelings of relaxation,
informality and care-freeness. In their style
there is certain facility and freedom in
expression, which ignores any commonly,
recognized principles of diction, and there is a
sort of spontaneity which rules out all ideas of
standardization. They inspire an elemental joy,
and appeal more to the heart than to the head.
The fertile Lower
Indus Valley of Sindh has been a land of peace
and prosperity, where the care - free village
folk have sung and danced since times
immemorial. Although no written record of the
songs of the older times has survived,
references to that effect are found in the early
works of history and literature. It is recorded
in Fatahnamah (alias chachnamah)
that in 712 A.D., the young Arab General
Muhammad b. al-Qasim was entertained here by
musicians, singers and dancers of the Samma
community and he was greatly impressed by their
Duhl- and- Sharni (Drum and pipe)
performance.
From the point of
substance and sentiments, the Sindhi Folksongs
may be classified into the following main
categories:
A.
Songs, which have
gone out of fashion and become obsolete due to
changed social, economic and political
conditions, e.g.:
(a) War
songs, of three main varieties: (i) the Epics-Jangnamo
or Fathnomo, (ii) the battlefield songs-
Chalto and Chali, and (iii) the
Kedaro songs or the dirges over the dead.
(b) Songs of
the womenfolk: (i) Atan or kapaitee
(the spinner’s song in the weaving
assembly), and (ii) the songs pertaining to the
household work, such as Cheeno (songs
pertaining to the sifting of the "cheena"
grain), Loto (the water-pitcher) etc.
(c) Romantic
love songs: (i) Sanehroo (love message),
(ii) Kangalrro (crow, the messenger), (iii)
Khenhoon or the ball-game songs, etc.
(d) The
Kasabnamahs or guild-songs of the artisans
and craftsmen.
(e) Songs
pertaining to historical events: Mir Bahram’s
valour, the exploits of the Hurs, etc.
B.
Songs which are still popular among the village
folk:
(a)
Devotional songs: Madah,
Maulud, Munajat, Marsiyyah.
(b)
Lyrical
songs: Wai or Kafi
Baitu, Chhallo, Belan, etc.
(c)
Songs
accompanying folk-dances: Jamalo, Baghi,
Wahwal, Hanbochhi, Samah, etc.
(d)
Monsoon
songs: varsaro, Panhari, Sawan Trij, etc.
(e)
Songs
of workers and labourers: Ha-ma-ra-cho,
bhaeeo,
etc.
(f)
Songs of the womenfolk: (i)
Marriage songs – Geech or Giyo or Sihro & Kamin,
(ii) Festival songs of fun and merriment –
Dhaunro, Koondo, Gandan, Khago, etc.
(iii) Lullabys or
the cradle-songs – Phulano and Lolee.
The present survey
shows that areas outside the influence of modern
developments, particularly in education and
agriculture, have retained their traditional way
of life and also their typical age-honored
folk-songs and folk-dances. Inquiries into the
folklore of the Tharparkar area of Sindh region,
which due to its peculiar geographical position
and geological
nature has remained outside the influence of
modern developments, have indicated that along
with its traditional way of life it has also
preserved a large variety of its typical
folksongs.
Songs which
have gone out of vogue
Folksongs in
Sindh, as everywhere else, are a function of
time, place and circumstances. At different
periods, at different places and under different
circumstances, the villagers in sindh have taken
to different songs. With a change in time and
circumstances, the older songs slowly and
unwittingly became obsolete and the new ones
came into vogue. Writing in 1851, Burton said
that in Sindh “each trade- the smith, the
carpenter, has its own kasabnamah, or collection
of doggerel rhymes, explaining the origin of the
craft, the invention of its tools, the patron
saints, and other choice bits of useful
knowledge, without which no workman would be
respected by his fellows.”
On inquiry, the aged ones among the villagers
have testified that they faintly remember to
have heard such traditional verses at a certain
smith’s or carpenter’s shop which has, since
then, disappeared or dwindled due to the
manufactured tools and articles imported from
outside. Today, however, such Kasabnamahs have
become obsolete.
Similarly, many
songs pertaining to the past historical events
and personages have gone out of fashion. Also
the people of Sindh at different periods have
had popular songs about the changes in the
course of the river Indus, the foundation of the
famous capital city of Thatta, the generosity of
Sakhi Sapparr (the Prince of Lasbela), the
bravery of Dodo, Nagar and Bhoongar (the princes
of the Soomra dynasty) and the faithfulness of
the Abro chief, the valour of Abdullah Khan –
the ruler of Kalat (1715-1730 A.D), the
magnanimity and forbearance of Mir Bahram Talpur
(18th century), the exploits of Bullo
of Badam and Gandubo Baloch, the tribal feuds of
Kalmati Baloch, Jokhias, Burfats, Changs, Jatts
etc., the British conquest of sindh (1843 A.D),
the exploits of the Hurs (1896 & 1941), and the
justice of the solitary English officer whose
name the villagers remember as "Tarwat" (Captain
Trywhitt). The complete versions of many of
these songs of the good old days are either lost
of have survived in some details and is still
narrated by the professional minstrels.
In order to give
the reader an idea of some of these "historical"
songs, the following specimen are being selected
for their brevity and compositeness.
Forbearance of Mir
Bahram. Mir Bahram Talpur was the trusted
courtier of the kalhora princes. When main
sarfraz ascended the throne (1772 A.D), he was
instigated by his courtier, Tajo Likhi to get
Mir Bahram assassinated. Mir Bahram knew the
evil designs and got his faithful servant
assassinated (1773-74). But before that the
people had sung:
Should Bahram
revolt, the steel would rain:
Sindh would
beseech Allah and the Raja would incoke Ram
But an uprigt man
is Mir Bahram,
Loyal to salt is
his every vein.
Jawalasingh’s
death at the hands of Hurs. During the first Hur
rising (1896-97), one Sikh police officer,
Jawalasingh, was too much enthused to win an
award by catching the hur leaders. He encamped
at a local fair held annually at the tomb of a
saint, bahram Sher, from the 13th to
the 15th of the lunar month. He
harassed the keeper of the tomb Guhram faqir, on
the pretext that he was harbouring the Hurs. He
also snatched away from him the wooden sword
which once belonged to the late saint. Finally
jawalasingh said to him: “if you are a true
faqir, pray that I should see the Hurs.” “you
shall see them” replied the faqir. He saw the
Hurs only a few hours later in the evening and
they shot him dead. A village poet composed a
ballad which was sung by the people and is
partly remembered to this day:
Salutations to
Bahram sher
The solitary saint
of the desert,
“Your prestige was
upheld
Through the
faqir’s word.”
Jawalasingh did
see the Hurs and perished
And the fair
instantly dispersed:
It was a good show
on the thirteenth
But on the
fourteenth it all scattered.
The Current
Varieties
The folksongs
represented in this volume are currently popular
among the village folk in different parts of the
country. Of these, five (Nos. I, 2, 4, 54 & 57)
are common to the whole of sindh, another five
(Nos. 7,11,12,13 & 14) belong to the northern
region, two (Nos. 3 & 28) to the western hilly
region of Kohistan, another two (Nos. 24 and 35)
to the Middle and lower regions, and the
remaining 43 to the south-eastern area of
Thar-&-Parkar. From the point of language, they
are composed in standard sindhi speech as well
as in its regional dialects of seraiki,
Kohistani and Thari-Dhatki.
Though varied in
content, some of the most popular folksongs
belong to the following main categories: (a)
love and romance, (b) certain functional
activities of life, (c) the monsoon season, and
(d) the sentiments of a newly married girl. In
the following pages, it is proposed to introduce
the reader to some representative version of
songs from these categories.
(a) songs
pertaining to love and romance. Jamalo, Moro,
Belan and Chhalo are the typical folksongs
belonging to this category.
JAMALO. This is
one of the most popular folksongs and is always
sung in chorus to the rhythm of Huhi (the kettle
drum) along with a folk dance of the same name.
It seems to have originated in Lar, the southern
part of sindh, but gained wide popularily
throughout the country. Probably it centers on
the story of a youth, named Jamalo, whose
separation and final return home are being
recounted in the song by his sweet-hart. The
contents of a representative version would be s
follows:
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: Jamalo
went, with camel men
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: He went
afar, down to Lar
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: He had a
golden wear, in little finger
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: He had a
fine wand, in his hand
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: His eyes,
were nice
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: His teeth,
pearls wreath
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: His hair,
curls bear
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
(After mentioning
most of the features)…
Leader: Happy ho!
He has come
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
Leader: Auspiciouc
is his return
Chorus: Ho
JA-MA-LO
MORO. This is the song of the peple of the
western hilly region, and is usually sung to the
tune of a stringed instrument called danburo.
The song takes its name from the word "Moro"
which occurs in its refrain, and which
originally was probably the name of a town or
locality where the beloved resided. The refrain
in most of the versions refers to the permission
sought by the lover from his superiors to allow
him to visit "Moro". The first verse of each
stanza is usually meaningless while the second
verse gives the sense. It is a solo song, with a
quick rhythm. Part of a typical traditional
version of the Moro song is translated below:
Refrain: Moro I
love more
Sir! Let me visit
Moro.
An elephant is on
the hill
I love my love, I
will
Sir! Let me visit
Moro.
On the hill are
trees
Let the love
increase
Sir! Let me visit
Moro.
On the hill is a
dove
I love my love, I
love
Sir! Let me visit
Moro.
A crow is on the
mount
The love is all I
count
Sir! Let me visit
Moro.
On the mount is
rain
I suffer in love’s
pain
Sir! Let me visit
Moro.
BELAN. It is a
love song, and most of its varieties are
composed in the Sindhi-Siraiki dialect. It is
popular particularly among the Jutt folk. The
name Belan is probably derived from belh
signifying the double repetition of the second
hemistich or the double nature of the verse. It
is a solo song with a specific mode of singing.
Of each stanza, the first two verses are sung by
gradually raising the voice, which is
technically called the Olani, and the last two
verses are sung by lowering the voice gradually
which is called lahini.
Olani: (raising
the voice gradually)
You are coming and
going my darling dear!
Please take care
that the peple don’t stare.
Lahini: (Lowering
the voice)
Oh, Alo, Alo, Oh
Oh Oh, dear!
Do take care lest
the people may stare.
Olani:
Red is my spinning
wheel, with a rod of steel
Unsatiated is the
tove in my heart I feel.
Lahini:
Oh, Alo, Alo, Oh
Oh Oh, dear!
Unquenched is the
thirst in my eyes I feel.
CHHALO. It
literally means a ring, token of love between
the lover and the beloved. The verses of the
Chhalo composition are usually short with a
quick rhythm. It is a solo song. The difference
between the Belan and the traditional type
Chhalo, from the point of mode of singing, is
that in the chhalo the olani is longer than the
Lahini. The following stanzas are typical of the
traditional type:
Olani: (raising
the voice)
Chhala dear you
From here you go:
What migt happen!
When will you
return!
Lahini: (lowering
the voice)
Fly away ye pigeon
To my love’s
region.
Olani:
Ghhalo’s colour is
red
which will never
fade
I love my friend
Woe be to the
fiend.
Lahini:
Fly away ye dove
I remember my love
(b) The functional
songs: These are the songs pertaining to the
various functional activites of life. Humaracho,
Mandhiarro and valarro are the songs of this
type. Humaracho is the farmlabourer’s song.
Valarro is the song of the cattle-boys who sing
this song while bringing the cattle home in the
aftrernoon. Mandhiarro is sung by the womenfolk
while churning the curds.
HUMARACHO. It
originated as the farm labourer’s song in the
Tharparkar district of Sindh. Most of its
versions are composed in the Thari dialect. It
is usually sung by the workers engaged in gudd
(process of cleaning grass from the cotton
fields) or labaro (harvesting). Parts of some
versions, with different contents, are
translated here:
(I)
Leader:
Hum-Ma-Ra-cho ray bhai
(say Humaracho oh
brethren!)
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The
village folk are passing by
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The girls
are going to fetch water
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The folks
are preparing to clean the fields
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The
harvesters come with zeal and vigour
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: See their
swings in unison
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: They
proceed shoulder to shoulder
Chourus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho.
(II)
Leader: Look at
the fields of Khahurr (place)
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: Men have
assembled for gudd
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: Time has
come to scare away the birds
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The birds
are hovering over the fields
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: Sparrow,
doves, and the herrha birds
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The
corn-ears have ripened in paur (place)
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The youth
are crushing and eating the raw grain
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The girls
are playing merrily
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The cattle
are grazing in the fields
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The children are enjoing the drink of
milk and curds
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
(III)
(Representing the
sentiments of a newly married wife whose husband
has not yet returned).
Leader: I am
yearning for my love
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: I am
lonely without him
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: I keep
remembering my love
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: Pray, he
should return
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
(IV)
(About the Monsoon
rains).
Leader: The
monsoon season has set in
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: Clouds are
swimming in the sky
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The taro
bird is singing
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The
drizzling rain has begun
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The
southern breeze in blowing
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The
lightning glitters now and then
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
Leader: The rain
water has flooded the fields
Chorus:
Hum-Ma-Ra-Cho
MANDHIARRO. It is
means a long wooden churning stick, the lower
ends of which rotate in the curds-jar making a
soft rolling sound which the villagers consider
to be the symbol of plenty and prosperity.
God has bestowed
the green prosperity
The mandhiarro is
murmuring.
The country is rid
of draught and famine
The mandhiarro is
murmuring
Those who have
stored grain for the next year’s sowing
My their hopes be
fulfilled
The mandhiarro is
murmuring
Those who have
hoarded it for profits
May their plans be
wrecked
The mandhiarro is
murmuring
Thanks for the
plentiful livelihood
Thanks for the
mati
jar full of buffalo’s milk
The mandhiarro is
murmuring
May the
unbetrothed be betrothed
And may the
betrothed be married
The mandhiarro is
murmuring
(c) Songs
pertaining to the monsoon season. These are the
songs mainly of the Tharparkar area which is a
dry region with high earth mounds of peculiar
geological formation. There are no springs and
no oases. The wells dug be man are very few and
far in between, and during the dry season most
of the people have to fetch drinking water from
a distance of miles. Under these severe
conditions, people look to the monsoon rains
with anxiety. Their millet crops as well as
their sattle depend upon the monsoon rains. It
is, therefore, natural for the people of this
area to sing their monsoon songs. While
reference to Sawan, the monsoon month, is common
to many of the songs, the Varsaro and the
panhari may be considered to be the typical
monsoon folksongs.
During the dry
season (December-May) a substantial part of the
population migrates westwards to the Central
Indus Valley in search of livelihood. Many
families from near by come and settle down in
the central Valley, but only the male members of
the families from the more distant areas leave
their homes and take employment in the central
plain. When the monsoon season sets in, they
return home with their earnings to the immense
joy of their families. This coming back home at
the onset of the monsoon season, which is
anxiously awaited by one and all, has assumed a
romantic significance and is the central theme
of the Varsaro and the panhari folksongs.
VARSARO. It
literally means "the monsoon shower". The burden
of this song is the anxiety of the loving mother
who is anxiously waiting for the return of her
dear son because there have been showers and the
monsoon season has already set in.
My sweet son!
The tracks are wet
with rain,
Your homeland is
all green
Welcome back home,
After earnings
abroad.
I may be
sacrificed for your sweet name,
Come oh dear son!
That we may pass
together, the monsoon.
Oh my sweet son!
Prepare a young
she-camel
And send her to
this side
To bring seed for
your land
Oh fruit of my
heart!
Come! Oh dear son!
That we may pass
together, the monsoon.
Your sister goes
up the mound-pass
And watches the
distant track,
And says to those
who cross:
“Kind folk! Look
for my elder brother
And send him if he
be there.”
May I be
sacrificed
For the direction
from which you arrive
Come! Oh dear son!
That we may pass
together, the monsoon.
The skirt of your
bride
Measures a hundred
"hands"
And the necklace
costing nine hundred thousand
Adorns her
beautiful neck.
Oh husband of the
lovely wife!
Welcome beck home,
That we may pass
together the monsoon.
PANHARI. Panhari
is the girl who goes to fetch water. During the
monsoon season, the village ponds are filled
with rain water. Availability of palur (the rain
water) is an occasion for unbounded joy for the
people. Every morning, women of the village,
wearing their colourful costumes and ornaments,
carry double jars (one over the other) on their
heads and walk leisurely in parties to the
village pond to fetch water.
The substance of
the following version is that a young bride goes
to fetch water from the pond. The monsoon season
heas already set in but her husband has not yet
returned home. In a romantic mood, she sits
beside the pond, recounts the monsoon scenes and
remembers him. Incidentally, her husband riding
the camel arrives at that time and begins to
console her without disclosing his identity. He
asks her to accompany him to the village. Not
recognizing him, she resents the overtures of
this stranger, hurries back home and complains
to her mother-in-law who breaks the good news to
her that the stranger was no other than her
husband himself.
Formations of
black clouds have appeared in the north,
Oh young girls
fetching water!
And slowly,
slowly, the rain is falling,
Oh my dear love!
All the seven
girl-friends in a party,
Oh young girls
fetching water!
Have gone to the
pond to fetch water
Oh my dear love!
All the seven
girls have put on beautiful clothes,
Oh young girls
fetching water!
But your fair wife
wears the unwashed clothes
Oh my dear love!
“Oh ye camel-man
coming from the eastern side,
Oh young girls
fetching water!
Please help the
jar on my head-
Oh my dear love!”
“Why are you so
depressed,
Oh you girl
fetching water?
And why your
clothes are unclean
Oh my dear love!”
“Throw that veil
down
Oh you girl
fetching water!
And come along
with me
Oh my dear love!”
“The veil goes
with my head
Oh you camel-man!
I won’t accompany
you
Oh my dear love!”
“There were no
clouds, nor any thunder
Oh my
daughter-in-law!
Then how is it
that your frock is wet?
Oh my dear love!”
“There came a
camel-man, as I fetched water,
Oh my
mother-in-law!
His words made me
weep,
Oh my dear love!”
“That camel-man
was my son
Oh my simple
daughter-in-law!
He was the husband
of my fair-maid
Oh my dear love!”
(d) songs
pertaining to the sentiments of the newly
married girl. Doro, Sawan Trij, jhalario,
jhonbkio, Rahorro Relan, Popiri and vindul, all
belonging to the Tharparkar area, and the songs
of this category. Due to the predominance of the
hindu joint family systerm in this area, the lot
of the newly married girl foten becomes
miserable. Her husband is a demi-god for her,
whose pleasure largely depends upon the pleasure
of his mother, the bride’s mother-in-law, who is
always beyond reproach and always right.
Of these songs pertaining to the newly married
girl, (i) the Doro portrays the yearning of a
newly married bried bride for her parents and
relatives. (ii) ‘Jhalario’ is a kind of ear-ring
which the bride’s brother wants to purchase as a
gift for her. The song represents the
affectionate sentiments of the brother and other
relatives for the newly married bride. (iii-iv)
Jhanbkio and Rahorro Relan portray the concern
of the bride’s brothers to do everything to
please their brother-in-law. (v) ‘popiri’ is the
only song pertaining to a muslim girl, named
Halima, who is a "delicate beauty" and hence
called "popiri". Her complaint is not against
the mother-in-law but against the strenuous task
of fetching water from the distant village well.
Vindul song exposes the extremely cruel
behaviour of the mother-in-law. It relates the
sad story of a newly married girl, named Vindul,
who was supposed to have been done to death by
her cruel mother-in-law.
The following is
the version of a sawan Trij song. Sawan Trij
literally means the third day of the monsoon
month of Sawan. This day is celebrated as a
festival day of the monsoon season. On this day
the young bride remembers her mother and
recounts her own hardships due to the
maltreatment by her mother-in-law:
Oh dear mother! It
is the third day of Sawan
Oh what a Sawan
Month! But your daughter is in her husband’s
home!
Rest of the
girl-friends are going out to play,
But the
mother-in-law has given your little daughter the
bajhra grain to sift
And your daughter
will go on sifting the grain
Four of five full
sifting-pans-
Nay, I have sifted
half a maund.
Rest of the
girl-friends are going for bath
Except your
daughter! Oh dear mother!
The mother-in-law
has put her to grind the corn-
I have had to
grind one full pan
Of bajhra grain,
measuring half a maund!
I wish I could
break the hand-mill into pieces
And throw to dust
all the grain- oh dear mother!
Rest of the
girl-friends are going out for the duthh-
To collect the
wild seeds, fruits and flowers.
But the
mother-in-law has detained your daughter to bake
loaves.
I have baked and
baked – oh dear mother!
Four hundred
loaves
And my hands are
burning with blisters.
Oh dear mother!
Rest of the family members eat loaves of wheat
flour
Your daughter gets
but a dry bajhra-loaf
Oh dear mother!
All the rest get plenty of milk,
But the
mother-in-law gives a potful of boiled-grain to
this young daughter of your.
Oh dear mother!
There is a downpour of heavy monsoon showers
But this sister of
brothers is lying alone, wet and cold
Oh mother! Send
them (brothers) to invite home this young sister
of theirs,
Who has not eaten
for nights and is yearning for the parental
home.
The Present
Survey
The present survey
has brought to light 57 generic types of
folksongs current in the Lower Indus Valley of
sindh, all of which are included in this volume.
Each type represents a specific mode of music, a
method of singing and a basic refrain which
distinguish it from other types. Apart from
these distinguishing characteristics, each
generic type may have a number of versions
(texts or compositions) with differing substance
and content’s, which may be common to the other
varieties as well. The number of versions
collected and included in this volume is 301.
Each generic
variety in the text is preceded by a brief yet
compete descriptions, while other details are
discussed in the Sindhi introduction to this
volume (pp.1-21).
University of
sindh.
N.A.BALOCH
Hyderabad. 13th
October, 1965
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