Resistance is a part of Punjab’s tradition which is nothing unusual as we witness it in all societies in the face of oppression. Let’s very briefly look at the history, literature and folklore to understand how the resistance has become a historical experience and expressed itself.

Mention was made of Porus’s war with Alexander earlier. About the Battle of Hydapses [326 BC] historian Arrian says; “one of the Indian kings called Pours, a man remarkable alike for personal strength and noble courage, on hearing the report about Alexander began preparing for the eventual. Accordingly when hostilities broke out … Alexander lost no time in joining the battle, but his horse being wounded in the first charge, he fell headlong to the ground and was saved by his attendants who hastened up to his assistance”.

Plutarch is of the opinion that this was one of Alexander’s hardest battles: “the combat then was of mixed kind; but maintained with such obstinacy, that it was not decided till the eighth hour of the day.” About the personal encounter between the two he says that when Alexander asked towering Porus how he wished to be treated, he said what has become the most quotable quote; “treat me, Alexander, as a King treats another king”. Porus’s courage stood in total contrast to Darius’s conduct of war, who despite being a mighty emperor fearing for his life fled the battleground to his eternal shame.

In the modern history of the Punjab the first classical poet Baba Farid [12th century] denounced the invaders and their plundering of the peasantry thus; “O Farid, these stalks of mustard though sweet are poison / some dropped dead toiling and some having plundered got away with the crop”.

Guru Nanak [1469-1539] is the most profound social commentator. He not only chronicles historical events but also critiques them ruthlessly. His “Babar Vai” is a unique historical document that exposes the brutal nature of Babur’s invasion which led to the massacre of people at an unprecedented scale ignored by historians afflicted by Mogulomania. “Bringing the wedding party of sin from Kabul he [Babur] demands lands as wedding gift, O Lalo / Decency and righteousness are hiding and falsehood struts … [trans-Shivpreet Singh]”. It were the women who suffered the worst humiliation and pain. “They whose hair had made them look fairer, and who touched with sacred vermilion have had their head shorn with scissors, and their throats choked with dust / Those who stirred not out of their private chambers are now denied shelter even on the roadside/ Riches, youth and beauty they formerly relished have turned into their enemies/Minions at the conqueror’s behest drag them to dishonor”, reads BabarVani. So much for the great Mughal who really hated everything Indian! Nader Shah of Persia invaded India in 1738. Before the sacking of Delhi this megalomaniac plundered the Punjab laying it waste. Poet Nijabat of Sargodha [18th century] composed his highly celebrated epic on this carnage called “Nijabat Di Var aka Nader Shah di Var”. The Var is a historical document as well as a great literary feat. He showed who the quislings were and who resisted the ferocious armies of Nader. “May this Nizamuddin be utterly uprooted who lighting the candle showed the thief our house”. Nizamuddin was the governor of Deccan who was in secret communication with Nader.

The resistance in the Punjab was so widespread that even pacifist Nath Yogis took to battleground. “Ra Bhobuturges all the members of the Panth [Sect/ school] to do battle / you are hardy and colossal/ go down fighting.”

Poet Ali Haider of Khanewal in his verses vociferously castigated both nobility and Nader Shah; former for its dishonorable capitulation and latter for his savagery. “This cruel Nader of Iran has absolutely no reluctance to slaughter people,” he says about the invader. And this is how he Ali Haider names and shames the nobles at the court in Delhi: “These Indians [nobles] have no shame at all / they offer treasures aplenty to the Persians/ if you [nobles] can’t find a swift current, fall into a puddle and drown yourselves”.

Shortly afterwards Ahmed Shah, an Afghan marauder and erstwhile lieutenant of Nader Shah, repeatedly invaded the Punjab and caused carnage. The loot and plunder by his troops was so absolute that a saying became popular: “what you eat and drink is yours / the rest belongs to Ahmed Shah.”

Baba Bulleh Shah [1680-1757] during his life witnessed the total destruction of the Punjab at the hands of two savage invaders Nader Shah and Ahmed Shah. Ensuing social chaos and political anarchy unhinged people. “Punjab is in shambles /terror of the deepest hell has stricken us “, he declares. Invaders in the 18th century literally reduced the Punjab into a hellfire.

Waris Shah [1722-1798] in his Heer has plenty of references and allusions to the fury unleashed by the invaders. “Ahmed Shah would strike from nowhere / God will save the town of Jandyala [his hometown]”, he says. “In this desolate country called Punjab I regret the destruction of Kasur most”, he sighs talking of the city which housed his alma mater. It were Bulleh Shah and Waris Shah who saw the burying of the Mughal Empire underneath the debris of anarchy resulting from relentless foreign invasions. They first noticed the early signs of the emergence of long suppressed local political forces. “Ones with coarse blankets became the rulers / Mughal royals drank hemlock”, says Bulleh Shah, years before the Sikh peasants demolished the Mughal structure and put an end to the Afghan occupation of the Punjab. From such chaos finally Ranjit Singh emerged and built his vast kingdom. He took the war to the aggressors and expelled Afghan from the Punjab restoring peace and harmony. This was first time in nearly 800 years that the Punjab had an astute ruler who was the son of soil. He put his country on the path to social harmony, economic progress and political stability. What happened in the aftermath of his death in 1839 was what used to happen in the East; war of succession laced with palace intrigues and assignations.

The East India Company cleverly moved in initially through its proxies and later directly to fill the political vacuum created by Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death. But in order to occupy and annex the Punjab the Company had to wage two ferocious wars known as Anglo-Sikh Wars. Poet Shah Muhammad [1780-1862] composed his famous Var/epic called “Jang Hind Punjab” on the first Anglo-Sikh War and exposed the treachery of the courtiers of Lahore Durbar and, cunning and ruthlessness of the avaricious British. “Hindus and Muslims lived happily but a fresh disaster struck the both/ No third community had hitherto interfered in their affairs,” he says. “In the absence of regime’s support the armies lost the war they had won,” declares Shah Muhammad hinting at the treachery of the nobility.

To cut a long story short, Punjab has resisted the invaders. Nothing unusual! All communities resist oppression. And the armed resistance is not the only form of resistance. Resistance has multiple forms; it can be social, cultural, political and economic. We need to put the phenomenon in perspective and analyse to make sense of our long history. — soofi01@hotmail.com

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Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2019