Did the story of Shireen Farhad take birth in Chakwal?

93 km from Islamabad on the M2 Motorway comes Neela Dalha Interchange. About four kilometers from here is a village Neela. As you enter the village, a beautiful temple building stands in front. Among all the temples in Pothohar, this one is in the best condition. It seems to have been built around the partition.

But the purpose of coming to this village today is not to make you visit a temple or a fort, but to make you aware of a folk tale that has been going on here for centuries, which is said to be historically related to Iran, but the local people call it Iran. Instead of referring to this village settled on the banks of the river Swan.

Every elder of the village not only narrates this story, but he says that this story has been passed down from his ancestors in the same way. This story has also been recorded by the well-known historian of Chakwal, Anwar Baig Awan, in his book ‘Dhani Adab wa Kultur’, published in 1967.

He writes: Although the story of Shireen Farhad is related to Iran, where Qasr Shireen and Farhad’s dug canal are described, there are some researchers who refer to it as Makran Baluchistan instead of Iran. are Then Chakwal, which was called Dhani in ancient times, how did this story get attributed?

The Dhani region was a part of the Iranian Empire during the reign of the Iranian King Darius Yush I (518 BC). In those days the Indus Valley was the 20th province of Iran. But in the local legend, instead of King Khosrow Parvez of Iran, there is mention of Raja Nil Vai whose palace is located in Nila and Shireen is the daughter of the king. In this story, there are Potohar hills instead of Mount Bistun and the location is the banks of the Swan instead of Iran.

It is said that once upon a time there was a king named Neel who ruled in Mauza Nila. He built his palace on a mound on the banks of the river Swan, traces of which can be seen even today. Now there are police station and rest house buildings. This palace was built under the supervision of a Tarkhan named Farhad. When the palace was built, the king was so impressed by its beauty that he told Tarkhan that whatever he asked for would be granted.

The architect said, ‘Shall I ask for the safety of my life?’

‘Ask whatever you want,’ said the Raja.

The architect said, ‘Give me your daughter’s bond.’

The king was shocked to hear this, but what would he do, he had promised in the full court. But from the inside, this matter started to eat the king like a gnat, where is Raja Bhoj, where is Gangu Teli, where is the princess and where is Tarkhan. The companions advised the king to renege on the promise, but the royal honor did not allow it.

The king’s advisors said why not make this relationship subject to strict conditions. Bashah agreed to this and sent Farhad to say that we want to bathe the bride in the milk of deer. If you collect milk from nine deer, the princess will be handed over to you.

Farhad did not understand how he would fulfill this condition, but with the belief of Ishq, he went to the forests and began to meditate. It is mentioned in the tradition that at last the mercy of God was revealed and Khwaja Khizr (peace be upon him) appeared and gave Farhad a flute and said, “Play it and the deer will gather to you and you will get as much milk as you need.” When Farhad started playing the flute, within a few moments herds of deer flocked around him.

He sent a message to the Raja that I have collected the deer, the Raja should send his servants to milk the required milk. The king’s servants were surprised to see Farhad playing the flute and thousands of stags gathered. This place is still close to Nila and is known as Mauza Harnianwala.

King Yeh Sun became very pensive and fell ill. The king’s advisors thought of another plan, why tell Farhad that the princess has stipulated that the marriage will take place when you dig a canal and pass it under the palace. Farhad also accepted this condition and walked towards the mountains with his ax. But where is the mountain and where is the mountain, even here Khwaja Khizr (peace be upon him) came to help and told Farhad to leave it and go on, the river will automatically follow you.

The mound in Nila village where the king’s palace is said to be and next to which the river Swan flows. It is said that it was passed from here by Farhad. (Sajad Azhar)

Farhad was very happy and he took a stick and walked across the river towards his beloved’s palace. When he was tired and fell asleep, the water began to swirl here. The king got the news that Farhad was bringing Darya. The king was very upset and scolded his advisers very much that you disgrace me. The advisers said that you give us one more chance and we will save your life from Farhad. They made it known that the princess had died and that charity was being given for her death.

He gave a lot of food to a woman and sent her to Farhad to bring her food and inform her that the princess had died. When Farhad got this news, his heart was so hurt that his soul flew there. The woman was happy and immediately reached the court to get the reward and honor. Meanwhile, there was an outcry in the capital that there was a flood. The family of the king also climbed on the roof of the palace and began to see the water. The water started circling around the palace. A dead body was also floating in it. The same woman said that this body is Farhad’s.

It was heard that the princess also jumped from the palace into the water. People also jumped into the river to save the princess, but the two bodies were attached to each other as if they were hugging each other. The people took out the two bodies and buried them on a high mound at the confluence of the river Swan and Nala Panharan. These graves are still there where a fair is held every year. The poets of the region have also made this incident a part of their poetry.

Professor Shahid Azad is a teacher of English literature at the University of Chakwal. He told Independent Urdu that saying that the story of Shireen Farhad originated in Chakwal may not be historically correct, but there is definitely some truth behind folk tales. Since the history of Chakwal is thousands of years old, various folk tales are attributed to it, one of them is this.

Tombs attributed to Shireen Farhad, where an annual fair is also held. (Sajad Azhar)

He said that characters similar to Shireen Farhad may have given rise to this story and with the passage of time it was given the name of Shireen Farhad.

Baqir Waseem Qazi is attached to the Department of Urdu in Asghar Mall College, Rawalpindi. And historically there is evidence of this. Many things have happened in the history of Chakwal. Shireen was the queen of Iran. The tomb of Shireen who is here, if she was a princess, would have been her tomb. Therefore, I think that this is a local story which has been attributed to the name of Shireen Farhad.’