ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>CHA&#7788&#7788HI&#256&#7748 D&#298 V&#256R</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279<i>CHA&#7788&#7788HI&#256&#7748 D&#298 V&#256R</i> is a Punjabi ballad describing the battle between Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh, father of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Singh and <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Muhammad Cha&#7789&#7789h&#257, a Muslim chieftain of the Cha&#7789&#7789h&#257 clan of the Ja&#7789&#7789s. The poet is some P&#299r Muhammad, whose name appears in some verses of the poem. The <i>V&#257r</i> was first published in Persian script by Q&#257z&#299 Fazal Haq, a teacher at Government College, Lahore. According to his statement, P&#299r Muhammad, the poet, was a resident of Gujr&#257t district, and he composed this ballad in the early years of the British occupation of the Punjab. No evidence is available in the text to support this statement. Nevertheless, the details of the events provided, and the casual way in which the poet has introduced different personalities as if everybody knew about them, indicate that he was an eye-witness to the happenings he has described.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The events of the strife are spread over a period of a few years but no dates are given. <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Muhammad became the chief of the Cha&#7789&#7789h&#257s, after the death of his father, P&#299r Muhammad (not to be confused with the author of the poem), probably in 1785. His adversary, Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh, died in 1'792. As such the events narrated in the <i>V&#257r</i> took place between 1785 and 1792.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Sikh <i>sard&#257rs</i> had occupied large portions of the Punjab by 1780, but some Muslim chiefs, who had created independent states for themselves in the wake of the downfall of Mu<u>gh</u>al authority, were holding out in certain areas. The Cha&#7789&#7789h&#257s had their stronghold in the Waz&#299r&#257b&#257d and H&#257fiz&#257b&#257d <i>parganahs</i> where they were masters of 78 villages. They formed their own state under their leader, N&#363r Muhammad, grandfather of <u>Gh</u>ul&#257m Muhammad, and had sufficiently strengthened their position by the time the latter became the chief. They had common boundary with Sard&#257r Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh, and were always a source of trouble to the Sikh chieftain. Quite frequently they raided his territory and looted and plundered the villages. Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh was forced to retaliate. The Cha&#7789&#7789h&#257s offered stubborn resistance to him from the fort of Manchar, which they were forced to evacuate after a long siege and considerable loss of life.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is a lengthy <i>V&#257r</i>, with 91 <i>pau&#7771&#299s</i> (stanzas) available and published. But it remains incomplete, and nobody knows how many stanzas the poem originally contained. After the 91st stanza, one verse from 92nd stanza has been given in the text. The first verse is in praise of the Creator. Thereafter two full stanzas describe events from the lives of mythological and historical figures - prophets, kings, great men - from Semitic traditions. The poet comes to the subject in the fourth stanza. His description of events is sketchy though he does not lack poetic fancy and imagination. He is at his best when depicting a battle scene.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Unlike most other Muslim poets he has no prejudice against words from Hindu or Sikh sources, nor is he excessively given to pedantic vocabulary of Perso-Arabic origin. He belonged to Gujr&#257t district and used the dialect of that region, which is a mixture of central Punjabi and Lahnd&#299.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Shamsher Si&#7749gh Ashok<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>