Pir Waris Shah was an 18th-century Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known popularly for his contribution to Punjabi literature.
Hashim Shah was a Punjabi writer and Sufi poet, best known for his story Sassi Punnun. His family migrated from Holy city Madina to Punjab, India, where they began living at Jagdev Kalan, the biggest village in Ajnala tehsil, Amritsar district. Hashim Shah was born in Jagdev Kalan in 1735 or 1752 and lived in that village his entire life. He wrote three stories "Kissa Kaw" named Sassi Punnu, Sohni Mahiwal, and Shirin Farhad.
Heer Ranjha is a traditional Punjabi folk tragedy with many historic poetic narrations; with the first one penned by Damodar Gulati in 1600s, on the preexisting oral legend; and the most famous one, Heer, written by Waris Shah in 1766, in the form of an epic. Set in Takht Hazara and Tilla Jogian, it follows the story of love, forced separation, and eventual simultaneous demise of two youths in the Punjabi countryside.
Pakistani folklore encompasses the mythology, poetry, songs, dances and puppetry from Pakistan's various ethnic groups.
Mirza Sahiban is a traditional Punjabi tragedy originally written by the 17th-century poet Pilu. Set in a village in Jhang, the tragedy follows the romance between two youths, belonging to chieftain families of their respective clans, their elopement and eventual demise.
Shah Jo Risalo is a book of poems of the Sindhi Sufi mystic and poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Shah Abdul Latif's poetry was transmitted orally during his lifetime and compiled after his death and designated as Shah Jo Risalo or Poetry of Shah.
Sassui Punnhun or Sassi Punnu is a traditional Sindhi, Balochi, and Punjabi tragic folktale. Set in Sindh and Makran, the tragedy follows the story of a faithful lover who endures many difficulties while seeking her beloved husband who was separated from her by rivals.
Sohni Mahiwal or Suhni Mehar is a traditional Punjabi–Sindhi folk tragedy. Set in central Sindh or northern Punjab, depending upon the version of the tragedy, the folktale depicts the separation of two lovers and their tragic demise.
Alam Lohar was a prominent Pakistani Punjabi folk music singer.
Punjabi folklore are a core part of the Punjabi culture. Other important components of Punjabi folklore are farces, anecdotes, idioms, folktales, and sayings.
Damodar Gulati also known as Damodar Das Arora, was a Punjabi Hindu poet, of the 16th and 17th centuries, hailing from Jhang. He is widely celebrated for his poetic narration of the romance tragedy, Heer Ranjha, on the preexisting Punjabi oral legend; his tradition continued to be adapted throughout centuries in Punjabi literature. He lived during the reign of Mughal king Akbar.
Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab of present-day Pakistan and India and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhī scripts are the most commonly used in Western Punjab and Eastern Punjab, respectively.
Fazal Shah Sayyad (1827–1890) was a 19th-century Punjabi poet known for his qissas on tragic romances, most notably Sohni Mahiwal, Heer Ranjha and Laila Majnu. Of this body of work, the poem Sohni Mahiwal "has been considered his best".
Nawab Kumhar Inayat Kotia was a Punjabi singer, songwriter and composer from Kot Inayat Khan village situated in, Wazirabad Tehsil, Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan. He wrote, directed and sang many famous Punjabi songs based on the folklore and heroic characters of Punjab. Nawab Kumhar's folk singing style left a strong impact on later folk singers who adopted his style of singing particularly his jugni singing style which was later adopted by next generation singers like Alam Lohar and made more famous among the next generations through Radio and TV singing platforms.
Babu Singh Maan, also known as Maan Maraarhan Wala, is an Indian songwriter/lyricist of Punjabi-language folk songs. He penned the first song of singer Kuldeep Manak's career.
Punjabi folk music is the traditional music on the traditional musical instruments of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. There is a great repertoire of music from the time of birth through the different stages of joy and sorrow till death. The folk music invokes the traditions as well as the hardworking nature, bravery and many more things that the people of Punjab get from its gateway-to-India geographical location. Due to the large area with many sub-regions, the folk music has minor lingual differences but invokes the same feelings. The sub-regions, Malwa, Doaba, Majha, Pothohar, and hills areas, have numerous folk songs. Punjabi dance OP Bhangra music which is a genre of Punjabi modern music invented in Britain by the Punjabi diaspora.
Sri Charitropakhyan or Pakhyan Charitar and also Tria Charitra is a huge composition of short stories, with the purpose of learning from others' mistakes to acquire more refined judgement in all fields, present in Dasam Granth, which is generally and traditionally ascribed to Guru Gobind Singh. The composition contains 405/404 tales or episodes of wiles of men and women, containing many historical, mythological and philosophical aspects, having 7558 verses. This composition ends at Chopai which is one of the Nitnem banis. The term Charitropakhyan is derived from two words, Charitar means characteristics/function of character and Pakhyan means already told. There are two types of Charitars, Purakh Charitar and Tria Chariter.
The Tomb of Heer Ranjha is a 15th-century historic monument and presumed mausoleum of Heer Syal and Dheedo Ranjha, from the traditional Punjabi folk tragedy of Heer Ranjha, situated in Jhang, Punjab, Pakistan.
A Bengali Kissa, also known as Keccha, is a genre of Bengali poetry and prose as well as a tradition in the Bengali language of oral story-telling. It started flourishing in Bengal with the fusion of local Bengali folklore and stories from the Arab and Turco-Persian immigrants. The art form remains popular amongst the rural Muslim communities of Bangladesh.
Pilu was a Punjabi dramatic poet who is most well known for composing the Punjabi tragic romance of Mirza Sahiban. Not much is known about identity of Pilu but according to most sources he was a resident of village Bhaun, Chakwal in modern-day Pakistan. Although others identify his birthplace as Amritsar, he was a contemporary of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
