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Sindh and its Reverence of the Feminine

By Web Deskupdated : 2 months ago

166

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Sindh: 9 December 2020: One big aspect of Sindhi culture that's sometimes invisible from the outside is its reverence of the feminine. While there are many aspects of this one can talk about, I will focus on the following: women in stories, legends and folktales.

In 17th-18th century, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai canonized some of these stories into The Seven Queens of Sindh. They are: Marvi, Moomal, Sassui, Noori, Sohni, Sorath and Leela.

In Sindh, we grow up hearing these female-led stories. We learn about them in school. We hear them in music, poetry and songwriting. We see them on TV shows, stage shows, in novels. These stories are so thoroughly entrenched in Sindhi consciousness that it is hard to understate their importance. 

Every Sindhi person can recite some of them, if not all of them. Femininity occupies a space here that is unique to Sindh.

However, for some reason, these stories are not as widely known outside of Sindh. Why? Not only are these stories tragic and beautiful (and Shah's retelling of them in poetry form is very complex and incredible) but they tell us so much more about Sindh and Sindhi identity than any other form of cultural analysis, in my personal opinion.

Let's take one example: Umar Marvi. I won't write out the entire story, I will just summarize it.

UMAR MARVI
Marvi is a beautiful girl born to a simple family in Malir, Thar. She is engaged to be married to Khet, however another boy named Phog falls in love with her. When Marvi refuses his advances, Phog goes to Amarkot (now known as Umarkot) and tells the ruler Umar Soomro about this girl's beauty. Umar asks Phog to take him to Malir. 
When Umar Soomro looks at Marvi, he falls in love with her. So he kidnaps her.

Umar forcefully takes Marvi to his fort (Umarkot Fort). There he offers her jewels, comforts, royalty, food, status. He offers her his undying love and loyalty. He offers her everything in the world. But Marvi doesn't like any of it, she doesn't want any of it and she just wants to go home. She wants to be with her love Khet and live on her land. She tells Umar if she dies here in this fort in captivity, he should send her body to be buried in Malir.

In Shah's poetry, Sur Marvi is written from the perspective of Marvi only - who says no matter what Umar does, she will not change her decision nor her resolve to go back home.
Finally, dejected after many months, Umar decides to send Marvi back home. When she arrives home, she is happy to be back... but she is not accepted. People think her honour has been defiled by Umar. When Umar Soomro hears of this, he comes to Malir and testifies for Marvi that she is chaste. Marvi tells him she doesn't need him there and that he should leave.

To the village, Marvi says I will prove it to you by going through an Agni Pariksha. She holds a burning iron rod and doesn't get burned. Umar seeing this also holds the rod and doesn't get burned.

So, a story canonized in 17th century Sindh cannot fully be expected to align with modern progressive views of feminism but there are important themes in this story that are not expressed in folk stories from other parts of South Asia.
1. Consent. It is incredible to see the idea of sexual consent written into a folk story in South Asia. This is not a common theme in folktales.
2. Agency and Will. Most stories are written from the perspective of men where women have little to no agency, whereas in this story Marvi shows explicit agency, will and self-determination.
3. Equality. Umar doing the Agni Pariksha, a test in Hindu mythology exclusively reserved for women, to prove his chastity is incredible to read about.

Both Marvi's well and Umerkot Fort are real places in Sindh. However, whether or not this story actually happened is irrelevant. What matter is the space it occupies in Sindhi culture and consciousness.

Regarding Marvi's well, Altaf Rajper of Marvi Cultural Complex writes: 

"[Marvi’s] devotees come here to pay homage to the honourable and resilient girl that she was," says Rajper. "The well is blessed. I have heard tales of people coming and wishing upon the well. People also drink its water believing it will cure them of their illnesses."

There is nearly a magical reverence to not just Marvi but to all seven of the queens of Sindh. There is a similar monument of Noori at Keenjhar lake, there is a tomb for Sassui in Lasbela. These legends don't just occupy cultural space in terms of stories but also in terms of physical monuments, rituals, festivals. Sindh can never be understood without this reverence of the feminine.

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Sindh and its Reverence of the Feminine

By Web Deskupdated : 2 months ago

166

Print

 

Sindh: 9 December 2020: One big aspect of Sindhi culture that's sometimes invisible from the outside is its reverence of the feminine. While there are many aspects of this one can talk about, I will focus on the following: women in stories, legends and folktales.

In 17th-18th century, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai canonized some of these stories into The Seven Queens of Sindh. They are: Marvi, Moomal, Sassui, Noori, Sohni, Sorath and Leela.

In Sindh, we grow up hearing these female-led stories. We learn about them in school. We hear them in music, poetry and songwriting. We see them on TV shows, stage shows, in novels. These stories are so thoroughly entrenched in Sindhi consciousness that it is hard to understate their importance. 

Every Sindhi person can recite some of them, if not all of them. Femininity occupies a space here that is unique to Sindh.

However, for some reason, these stories are not as widely known outside of Sindh. Why? Not only are these stories tragic and beautiful (and Shah's retelling of them in poetry form is very complex and incredible) but they tell us so much more about Sindh and Sindhi identity than any other form of cultural analysis, in my personal opinion.

Let's take one example: Umar Marvi. I won't write out the entire story, I will just summarize it.

UMAR MARVI
Marvi is a beautiful girl born to a simple family in Malir, Thar. She is engaged to be married to Khet, however another boy named Phog falls in love with her. When Marvi refuses his advances, Phog goes to Amarkot (now known as Umarkot) and tells the ruler Umar Soomro about this girl's beauty. Umar asks Phog to take him to Malir. 
When Umar Soomro looks at Marvi, he falls in love with her. So he kidnaps her.

Umar forcefully takes Marvi to his fort (Umarkot Fort). There he offers her jewels, comforts, royalty, food, status. He offers her his undying love and loyalty. He offers her everything in the world. But Marvi doesn't like any of it, she doesn't want any of it and she just wants to go home. She wants to be with her love Khet and live on her land. She tells Umar if she dies here in this fort in captivity, he should send her body to be buried in Malir.

In Shah's poetry, Sur Marvi is written from the perspective of Marvi only - who says no matter what Umar does, she will not change her decision nor her resolve to go back home.
Finally, dejected after many months, Umar decides to send Marvi back home. When she arrives home, she is happy to be back... but she is not accepted. People think her honour has been defiled by Umar. When Umar Soomro hears of this, he comes to Malir and testifies for Marvi that she is chaste. Marvi tells him she doesn't need him there and that he should leave.

To the village, Marvi says I will prove it to you by going through an Agni Pariksha. She holds a burning iron rod and doesn't get burned. Umar seeing this also holds the rod and doesn't get burned.

So, a story canonized in 17th century Sindh cannot fully be expected to align with modern progressive views of feminism but there are important themes in this story that are not expressed in folk stories from other parts of South Asia.
1. Consent. It is incredible to see the idea of sexual consent written into a folk story in South Asia. This is not a common theme in folktales.
2. Agency and Will. Most stories are written from the perspective of men where women have little to no agency, whereas in this story Marvi shows explicit agency, will and self-determination.
3. Equality. Umar doing the Agni Pariksha, a test in Hindu mythology exclusively reserved for women, to prove his chastity is incredible to read about.

Both Marvi's well and Umerkot Fort are real places in Sindh. However, whether or not this story actually happened is irrelevant. What matter is the space it occupies in Sindhi culture and consciousness.

Regarding Marvi's well, Altaf Rajper of Marvi Cultural Complex writes: 

"[Marvi’s] devotees come here to pay homage to the honourable and resilient girl that she was," says Rajper. "The well is blessed. I have heard tales of people coming and wishing upon the well. People also drink its water believing it will cure them of their illnesses."

There is nearly a magical reverence to not just Marvi but to all seven of the queens of Sindh. There is a similar monument of Noori at Keenjhar lake, there is a tomb for Sassui in Lasbela. These legends don't just occupy cultural space in terms of stories but also in terms of physical monuments, rituals, festivals. Sindh can never be understood without this reverence of the feminine.

Copied 

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