The story was written by Pilu, a poet who lived during 16th century in Punjab.[5] Mirza and Sahiban were lovers who lived in
Khewa, a town in the
Jhang District which was Sahiban's ancestral village. Mirza was the son of Banjal, a
Kharal chief of Danabad while Sahiban was the daughter of Khiva Khan, a
Sial chief.[5]
Both Mirza and Sahiban ran away to marry against Sahiban's parents' wishes. While eloping Mirza stopped under a
jand tree, where he rested for a while and fell asleep. Sahiban did not want to begin her new life through her brothers' bloodshed. She decided to break all the arrows of Mirza thinking she will beg her brothers for their acceptance so that nobody would get hurt. When Sahiban's brothers reached near them, Mirza woke up but discovered that his arrows were broken, and was killed by Sahiban's brothers. Sahiban could not bear this loss and chose to end her own life by stabbing herself with an arrow.
Adaptations
There have been various film interpretations of the folk tale:
Mirza Sahiban, a 1957 Indian Hindi-language romance film by Ravi Kapoor starring
Shyama and
Shammi Kapoor.[6]
Mirza Jat (1967) is a Pakistani Punjabi film starring Firdous and
Ejaz Durrani[2]
Mirza Jat (1982) is a Pakistani Punjabi film starring
Shahid Hameed.[7]
Mirza Jatt, a 1992 Indian Punjabi-language romance film by Ravinder Ravi starring
Gugu Gill and
Manjeet Kullar.[6]
Hero Hitler in Love, a 2011 Indian Punjabi-language film by
Babbu Maan, starring Maan and
Mouni Roy. It creates a modern Mirza and Sahiban story with a twist.
Mirza Juuliet, a 2017 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Rajesh Ram Singh, starring
Darshan Kumar and
Piaa Bajpai in the lead roles. It is a modern retelling of the original story, set in
Uttar Pradesh, showing the nexus between politicians and criminals.
^Sahibaan remains unheard. The Hindu (newspaper), Published 11 October 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
^
abBanga, Indu (2005). "Appendix - The Story of Mirza and Sahiban in Pilu's Narrative". In Grewal, Reeta; Pall, Sheena (eds.). Precolonial and Colonial Punjab: Society, Economy, Politics, and Culture: Essays for Indu Banga. Manohar. p. 171.
ISBN9788173046544. Mirza was the son of Banjal, a Kharal Jat Chief of Danabad in the Montgomery district. Sahiban was the daughter of the Jat Chief Khiva Khan belonging to the Syal clan ...
Swynnerton, Charles (1903). "The Love Story of Mîrza and Sâhibânh".
Romantic Tales From Punjab. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd. pp. 365–407.