Sohni Mahiwal

Sohni Mahiwal( Punjabi سوہنی مہیوال  Sindhi सोहनी  महीवाल) is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab and  Sindh, the other three are Heer Ranjha, Mirza Sahiba and Sassi Punnun.  It is also popular in Sindh and across the South Asia, the story is one  of the most prominent examples of medieval poetic legends in the Punjabi  and Sindhi languages.

Sohni, the potter's daughter

Sohni was  the daughter of a potter named Tula, who lived in Gujrat town in the  Punjab near the banks of the Chenab on the caravan trade route between  Bukhara and Delhi. As soon as the 'Surahis' (water pitchers) and mugs  came off the wheels, she would draw floral designs on them and transform  them into masterpieces of art.

Izzat Baig of Bukhara

Izzat  Baig, the rich trader from Bukhara (Uzbekistan), came to India on  business but when he saw the beautiful Sohni in the town of Gujrat on  the Chenab in Punjab, he was completely enchanted. Instead of keeping  'mohars' (gold coins) in his pockets, he roamed around with his pockets  full of love. Just to get a glimpse of Sohni, he would end up buying the  water pitchers and mugs everyday.

Sohni lost her heart to Izzat  Baig. Instead of making floral designs on earthenware, she started  building castles of love in her dreams. Izzat Baig sent off his  companions to Bukhara. He took up the job of a servant in the house of  Tula, Sohni's father. He would even take their buffaloes for grazing.  Soon, he came to be known as "Mahiwal"(buffalo herder).

Sohni's marriage

When  the people started spreading rumours about the love of Sohni and  Mahiwal, without her consent her parents arranged her marriage with  another potter.

Suddenly, one day his "barat" (marriage party)  arrived at the threshold of her house. Sohni was helpless and in a  poignant state. Her parents bundled her off in the doli (palanquin), but  they could not pack off her love in any doli (box).

Izzat Baig  renounced the world and started living like a "faqir" (hermit) in a  small hut across the river. The earth of Sohni’s land was like a dargah  (shrine) for him. He had forgotten his own land, his own people and his  world. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, when the world was  fast asleep, Sohni would come by the riverside and Izzat Baig would  swim across the river to meet her. He would regularly roast a fish and  bring it for her. It is said that once, when due to high tide he could  not catch a fish, Mahiwal cut a piece of his thigh and roasted it.  Seeing the bandage on his thigh, Sohni opened it, saw the wound and  cried.

From the next day, Sohni started swimming across the river  with the help of an earthen pitcher as Izzat Baig was so badly wounded  and could not swim across the river. Soon, the rumours of their romantic  rendezvous spread. One-day Sohni’s sister-in-law followed her and saw  the hiding place where Sohni used to keep her earthen pitcher among the  bushes. The next day, the sister-in-law removed the hard baked pitcher  and replaced it with an unbaked one. That night, when Sohni tried to  cross the river with the help of the pitcher, it dissolved in the water  and Sohni drowned in the river. From the other side of the river,  Mahiwal saw Sohni drowning and jumped into the river and drowned as  well.

Sohni's Tomb

Sohni lies buried in Shahdapur, Sindh, some  75 km from Hyderabad, Pakistan. According to the legend the bodies of  Sohni Mahiwal were recovered from the River Indus near this city and  hence are buried there.