Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie

The festival of Lohri which was celebrated on January 13 in Punjab and parts of north India brings alive the memory of Punjab’s folk hero Dulla Bhatti, as he and his noble deeds are mentioned in each song sung on the day. This centuries-old tradition of singing eulogies to Dulla Bhatti is a tribute to a person who saved lives and the honour of women and also launched a guerilla campaign against the Mughal official who harassed common people.

Generally associated with the harvest, Lohri sees people circling around a bonfire at night, offering jaggery, peanuts, rewri, (sesame and sugar balls), gajak (peanut jiggery bars) and, popcorn, etc into this life force. People dance and sing and distribute vegetables made of jaggery, nuts, and seeds.

Lohri also involves families carrying a hamper comprising eatables, clothes, and other gifts to the daughters who have been married. The first Lohri after the birth and marriage of a daughter or son is celebrated as a special festival. The festival is an integral part and a powerful symbol of Punjabi ethos and the shared heritage of Punjab.

Sikhs, Christians, Hindus, and Muslims living in Punjab celebrate it as their own festival. Due to a concerted campaign by the Ashraaf Muslims – who consider their origins from outside - against the celebration of Lohri, some Muslims show disinterest in it. Nevertheless, it is celebrated with the same joy and enthusiasm in the indigenous Pasmanda community of Punjab even today.

Dulla Bhatti belonged to the Pasmanda community. He was born as Rai Abdullah Khan Bhatti in 1547 AD in the house of Farid Bhatti in Tola Badar of Pind Bhattian across the sandal on the banks of the Chenab River near Chalk. Today, this place is located 128 kilometers northwest of Lahore.

Dulla Bhatti in the imagination of an artist

His mother raised Dulla by telling him stories of the cruelty and atrocities of the Mughals in the form of lullabies. This had a deep impact on Dulla Bhatti's personality.

Dulla Bhati's grandfather Sandal Bhatti and father Farid Bhatti used to organize farmers and victims of society and fight for their rights. They were eventually killed by high-ranking Mughal officials.

Dulla Bhatti carried forward the struggle of his grandfather and father. Along with this, he also took up the responsibility of protecting Hindu and Pasmanda women who were harassed by Mughal officials.

According to the legend, Dulla Bhatti led a guerrilla rebellion against the Mughal Emperor Akbar and became a folk hero in Punjab because of his Robinhood style of acts of kindness to the poor. His band of outlaws and bandits often looted tributes and taxes collected by the Mughals and redistributed them among the poor.

One of the stories associated with Dulla Bhatti recounts the episode of Sundari — a Sikh girl who was abducted by Mughal soldiers to be sold as a slave.

Dulla Bhatti rescued the girl and married her off at his own expense. In time, the wedding celebrations surrounding a bonfire gave birth to Lohri. The popular Lohri song 'Sunder Mundariye..' tells this story. Dulla Bhatti was eventually hanged in 1599 in Lahore, but legends of his exploits live on through folklore and Lohri songs like this.

The world has its tradition of oral history, which is passed on from generation to generation and remains alive in the hearts of people. This centuries-old tradition of oral history has been followed in Punjab too. Dulla Bhatti is known from this oral history.

Information about most of the great personalities coming from the indigenous Pasmanda society has been known from these sources of oral history, whether it was Buta Malik, who discovered the Amarnath cave of Lord Shiva in Kashmir, or Galwan Rasool, after whom the Galwan Valley of Ladakh is named, Baba Kabir or Dadu Dayal. It is not that this is the case only with the indigenous Pasmanda history, the basis of the sources of world and social, economic, and religious history has mostly been oral.

History books have been compiled by collecting oral history. The lectures and activities of Prophet Mohammed were compiled from oral history and presented in written form about 100 to 150 years after his death.

The grave of Dulla Bhatti by Muhammad Imran Saeed for Wikemedia commons

Kishan Singh, Baldev Singh, and Manpreet Ratian have compiled the oral history of Dulla Bhatti in their respective books. Besides, there has also been a tradition of relating the great personalities of Dalit, neglected, and marginalized castes to upper castes.

This was the time when Mughal Akbar had introduced a new taxation system in his kingdom including Punjab with the objective of increasing his revenue. Along with this, he had also appointed a Faujdar or Mughal administrator.

As a result of this action, Dulla Bhatti started his resistance by uniting the peasants against the imperial Mughal authority. Looting government caravans was one of the many methods used to surround and challenge the Mughals. Thus Dulla brought freedom and hope to the peasants of Punjab.

After leading a successful revolt, Dulla Bhatti was eventually captured and taken to Lahore where he was hanged in 1599 AD on the orders of the cruel anti-Pasmanda Mughal ruler Akbar. He lay in eternal sleep a simple grave in the historic Miani Sahib Cemetery of Lahore along with many other brave indigenous Pasmanda Muslims.

Only occasionally do visitors place flowers or a chaadar on it. Dulla was a hero who challenged the cruel Mughal rule through a massive peasant revolt. Dulla fought on behalf of the local peasants and oppressed people and all his campaigns against the Mughals gained great fame.

Due to such unique and unmatched bravery, Dulla emerged as the biggest symbol of rebellion against the Mughals in Punjab.

After his hanging, his fame grew even more and stories and songs of his valor were sung in every street and house in Punjab. His efforts to save young girls from exploitation by Mughal officials, military officers, and administrators were so famous that he became a popular hero. It is said that he fought to save a girl named Mundri from Mughal officials and freed her.

Despite all the social, military, and economic hurdles, Dulla Bhatti got the girl married to a suitable groom on the auspicious occasion of the Lohri festival. This is the reason why Dulla Bhatti is remembered on the day of Lohri.

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The story of a native Pasmanda, Dulla Bhatti, saving the honor of a Hindu girl has become a symbol of the mixed culture of Punjab and the festival of Lohri. It also represents the centuries-old co-existence of the Pasmanda community and the Hindu society.

(The author is a doctor by profession and a columnist and Pasmanda activist.)