Persian emperor Nadir Shah invaded India in the eighteenth century. His onslaught was strongly resisted by many local rulers and landholders alike. The article explains the situation from the lens of an eighteenth-century Punjabi poet Nijābat who wrote a Vār -a genre in the Punjabi poetry- to appreciate the resistance of locals against the invasions of outsiders. Nijābat not only explains the atrocities committed by the army of Nadir Shah but also eulogizes the resilience of locals who showed extra ordinary resistance. An interesting feature of this Vār is the expression of various emotions such as anger, pride and weeping.

(1)          Burke, Peter. "History and Folklore: A Historiographical Survey." Folklore 115, no. 2 (2004), pp.133-139.

(2)      Dundes, Alan, and Simon J. Bronner. Meaning of Folklore: The Analytical Essays of Alan Dundes. Utah State University Press, 2007.

(3)          Dundes, Alan. Fables of the Ancients: Folklore in the Qur'ān. Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

(4)      Abrahams, Roger D. Deep Down in the Jungle: Black American Folklore from the Streets of Philadelphia. Routledge, 2018. Haring, Lee. "Roger Abrahams, Creolization, Folklore Theory." Western Folklore (2016), pp.259-296.

(5)          Burke, Peter. "History and Folklore: A Historiographical Survey." Folklore 115, no. 2 (2004), pp.133-139.

(6)         Al-Khammash, Farah Abu Bakr. The Folktale as a Site of Framing Palestinian Memory and Identity in" Speak, Bird, Speak Again" and" Qul Ya Tayer". (The University of Manchester, United Kingdom, 2014).

(7)          Dorson, Richard M. "Folklore and Fakelore." In Folklore and Fakelore. (Harvard University Press, 2013).

(8)          Burke, Peter. History and Social Theory. Polity, 2005.

(9)          Gandhi, Rajmohan. "Of the Book: Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten." (2013).

(10)      ‘Ain al-Ḥaq Farīd Koti, Urdū Zabān ki Qadīm Tārīkh, (Lahore: Arslan Publications, 1972), p.172.

(11)      Grewal, Jagtar Singh. Social and Cultural History of the Punjab: Prehistoric, Ancient, and Early Medieval. Manohar Publishers, 2004.

(12)      ‘Ain al-Haq Farīd Koti, Urdū Zabān ki Qadīm Tārīkh, (Lahore: Arslan Publications, 1972), p.172.

(13)      Mir, Farina. The Social Space of Language. (University of California Press, 2010), p. 97.

(14)      Muḥammad Āsaf Khan, Nik Suk Te Hor Nik Suk, Vār ki Hai, (Lahore: Pakistan Punjabi Adabi Board), p.72.

(15)      Khawar Saeed Bhutta, Bairūni Ḥamla Āvarūn Par Punjabi Vāraeṉ, Tehqīq Namā, (Journal. No: 23, July to December, 2018), pp.7-9.

(16)      Mir, Farina. The Social Space of Language. (University of California Press, 2010), p.100.

(17)      ibid.

(18)      Axworthy, Michael. Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010.

(19)      Javaid Ghanjaira, Phul Kirāna Bār De, Nijābat, (Lahore: Ravi Publishers, 1993), pp.144-46.

(20)      Nadir Shah Di Vār, comp. Navvab Siyal, Āsaf Khan, (Lahore: Punjabi Adabi Board), p. 4.

(21)      Before the arrival of colonials the tradition of Vār, Mahiya had very rich signs of tradition in the sub-continent. In these well appreciated types of poetry are treasures of history. For more elucidation see Farina Mir’s account on it.

(22)      Nadir Shah Di Vār, comp. Navvab Siyal, Āsaf Khan, p. 4 & Javaid Ghanjaira, Phul Kirāna Bār De, Nijabat, (Lahore: Ravi Publishers, 1993), p. 150

(23)      For more explanation see Farina Mir’s book, The Social Space of Language.

(24)      ibid.

(25)      ‘Aziz Aḥmad, Punjāb Mughlon ke ‘Ahd-i Zavāl meṉ, (Punjab Research Foundation, 1980), p.37-39.

(26)      Lockhart, Laurence. Nadir Shah. University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (United Kingdom, 1935)

(27)      Daniel, Elton L. The History of Iran. ABC-CLIO, 2012.

(28)      Sayyid Muḥammad Latīf, Tārīkh-i Punjāb ma’ Ḥalāt-i Shehr-i Lahore, (Lahore: Sang-i Meel Publications, 2000), pp.56-63.

(29)      Khafi Khan, Nizam al-Mulk, Mūntakhab al-Lūbāb, trans. Maḥmūd Aḥmad Farūqi, (Karachi: Nafīs Academy, 1963)

(30)      ‘Aziz Aḥmad, Punjāb Mughlon ke ‘Ahd-i Zavāl meṉ, (Punjab Research Foundation, 1980), pp. 37-55.

(31)      For more explanation see, Siyar al- Muta’khkhirīn by Ghulam Ḥussain Tabatabai.

(32)      Ghulam Ḥussain Tabatabai, Siyar al- Muta’khkhirīn, (Karachi: Nafīs Academy, 1963)

(33)      Sayyid Muhammad Latīf, History of Punjab, (Lahore, Sang-i Meel Publications, 2000), p.300.

(34)      For more details see an account of Mirza Ḥairat Irani, Ḥalat-i Nadir Shah

(35)      Fraser, James. The History of Nadir Shah, Formerly Called Thamas Kuli Khan, and the Present Emperor of Persia. A. Millar, 1742

(36)      Astarabadi, M. M.: Jahaṉ Gūsha-i Nādiri, (Dunya-i Kītāb Publication, 2005)

(37)      Khavaja ‘Abdul Karīm, Bayān-i Vāq‘ī, Sar Ghuzashat Aḥval-i Nadir Shah, ed: Dr. K. B Nasīm, (Lahore: Idara-i Taḥqīqat Pakistan, University of the Punjab, 1970)

(38)      Fraser, James. The History of Nadir Shah, Formerly Called Thamas Kuli Khan, and the Present Emperor of Persia. A. Millar, 1742.

(39)      Lockhart, Laurence. Nadir Shah. University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (United Kingdom, 1935).

(40)      Sayyid Muḥammad Latīf, History of Punjab,(Lahore: Sang-i Meel Publications, 2000), pp.56-63

(41)      Astarabadi, M. M.: Jahaṉ Gūsha-i Nādiri, (Dunya-i Kītāb Publication, 2005)

(42)      Navvab of Riyasat-i Avadh, for more details one may see Tarīkh-i Avadh by Najm al-Ghani Khan

(43)      Khafi Khan, Nizām al-Mulk, Mūntakhab al-Lūbāb, trans. Maḥmūd Aḥmed Farūqi, (Karachi: Nafīs Academy, 1963)

(44)      Muḥammad Bakhsh Ashob Shah Jahān Abadi was a prominent historian of his time. He had witnessed the assault of Nadir Shah on Dehli.

(45)      ibid.

(46)      For details about it see, Dalrymple, William, and Anita Anand. Koh-i Nūr: The History of the World's most Infamous Diamond. (Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2017).

(47)      Watson, Robert Grant. "A History of Persia from the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century to the Year 1858, with a Review of the Principal Events that Led to the Establishment of the Kajar Dynasty." (1866).

(48)      Nijābat, Nadir Shah Di Vār, (Suchīt, Lahore), p.1.

(49)      ibid, p.7.

(50)      Bhargava, Meena, ed. The Decline of the Mughal Empire. (Oxford University Press, 2014).

(51)      Dudney, Arthur. Delhi: Pages from a Forgotten History. Hay House, Inc, 2015.

(52)      Nijābat, Nadir Shah Di Vār, (Suchīt, Lahore), p. 10.

(53)      “Kal” here shows Kali Devi in the Vār, a Devi of destruction

(54)      “Narad” in this Vār, god, is husband of “Kal”

(55)      ‘Aziz Aḥmed, Punjab Mughlon ke ‘Ahd-i Zavāl meṉ, (Punjab Research Foundation, 1980), p. 75-77.

(56)      For more details see an account of Dr. Waḥeed Qureshi, Mir Ḥasan ka Zamana.

(57)      Hourly History, Mughal Empire: A History from Begining to End, Independently Published 2020

(58)      After destroying Dehli, Nadir Shah called Muḥammad Shah in his temporary Darbār then Muḥammad Shah put his crown on the head of Nadir.

(59)      To see Nijābat was how much spacious and historically conscious in his times see book of Javaid Ghanjaira, Phul Kirāna Bār De.

(60)      For details about “Khoja” see, A Glossary of the Tribes & Castes of the Punjab & North-West Frontier Province by Sir Edward Maclagan, Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1914.

(61)      For details about “Gondal” see, A Glossary of the Tribes & Castes of the Punjab & North-West Frontier Province by Sir Edward Maclagan, Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1914.

(62)      Sanyasi and Nāth are very old Panth in ancient India. See details about them in encyclopedia of Indian Literature.

(63)      Nijābat, Nadir Shah Di Vār, (Suchīt, Lahore), p.50

(64)      ibid, p.56.

(65)      ibid, p.61.

(66)      ibid, p.70.

(67)      ‘Ali Haider Multani, A Sufi poet in the times of Aurangzaib to Muḥammad Shah

(68)      ‘Ali Ḥaidar Multani, Kuliyāt-i ‘Ali Ḥaidar, com. Faqīr Muḥammad Faqīr, (Lahore: Pakistan Punjabi Adabi Board,  1988), p. 99.

(69)      Mīr Taqi Mīr, Zikr-i Mīr. comp. Maulavi ‘Abd al-Ḥaq, (Anjuman-i Urdū Press, Aurangabad, Deccan, 1923), p.95.

(70)      ‘Aziz Aḥmad, Punjab Mughlon ke ‘Ahd-i Zavāl meṉ, (Punjab Research Foundation, 1980), p.75-77.

(71)      Rafīque Aḥmad, Politics and Economy of the Punjab, Journal of Research, Punjab University Lahore, January 1999, p.90.