Mirasis’ song in praise of Raja Sansar Chand

Shriniwas Joshi

I could lay my hands on ‘The Legends of the Panjab’ written by Sir Richard Carnac Temple. It is in three volumes costing only Rs 1 each and published between 1883 and 1890.

These books were out of print, but the Department of Languages, Punjab, reprinted these in 1962. Lal Singh was the Director General of that department then. He writes: “Sir Richard Temple is a name too familiar to the Indian scholars and students of literature in general and Punjabi writers and critics in particular. The renowned European scholar has made substantial contribution to Punjabi folklore and has monumental work entitled ‘The Legends of the Panjab’ to his credit. The book has gone down in the history of Indian literature as classic in itself and its study is largely coveted by almost all research scholars and students.”

Temple was Captain and then Lt. Colonel with the Bengal Staff Corps, fellow of the Royal Graphic Society, member of the Royal Asiatic, Philological, and Folklore Societies.

The second volume of it contains a song sung by the Mirasis (traditional singers and dancers) of Jammu relating to the fight between Raja Sansar Chand Katoch of Kangra and Raja Fateh Prakash of Sirmaur. This fiction has been so draped with historical touches that one feels that it is absolutely true. It is also believed that the folklores generally narrate the history of the era if other evidences were missing. Sir Richard also corroborates it: “It must not be presumed that hero and story or story and incident, have any real historical connection, until it is demonstrated that such is the case.”

The business of the Mirasis was to make the tale interesting and connect the noble part of their audience with someone among the reputed national heroes. This song purports to relate a war between Raja Sansar Chand Katoch and Raja Fateh Prakash of Sirmaur and is interesting in showing how rapidly facts become distorted.

It says that Sansar Chand Katoch died at a very old age in 1824 AD (historical fact). Fateh Prakash was placed on the throne of Sirmaur in 1815 AD by the British government and died in 1850 (historical fact) after a prosperous and well spent life. The story that Mirasis narrate was in praise of Sansar Chand: “The powerful Sansar Chand, (like) the Lord Rama was bathing and was absorbed in meditation.” History, however, does not support the story that follows in the folklore. The song says that Sansar Chand and Fateh Prakash were related because Sansar’s sister was married to Fateh Prakash. One day Fateh Prakash went to his wife and asked her to play chess with him and the stake would be her brother’s head. Said he: “If you lose, I will go and bring Sansar Chand’s head here.” “Very well”, said the Rani: “If you lose, my brother will come and fetch your head.”

On this, Raja became very angry and threw the pieces on the face of the Rani and said: “How can your brother fetch my head? I have a large army and many allies, while your brother is a dancing boy. How should he wield the sword?”

“My brother’s slaves are as many as your whole army,” said the Rani and wrote the whole story to her brother.

Sansar Chand attacked Sirmaur, killed Fateh Prakash and took his sister with him to Kangra. The Mirasis sang: “Killing Sirmaur and meeting the Queen, he took back his army to the Sutlej. The dutiful son of Tegh Chand (father of Sansar Chand) distinguished himself; may the great king remain (ever) a monarch.”

There is an article on the story of Kangra supporting the song of Mirasis and says: “If the Rani (sister of Sansar Chand) bears a son, then he will sit on the throne of Sirmaur and she did give birth to a son, who became the king of Sirmaur.”

The true history, however, unfolds that Sansar Chand fought against Sirmaur only once on the battlefield of Chararatu in 1796 on the boundary of Kangra and Kehlur, in which Raja Dharam Prakash of Sirmaur fell to the gunshot of the enemy.

Sansar Chand wanted to take away the body of fallen Raja as a trophy, but his design was checked by the soldiers of Dharam Prakash. The song of the Mirasis refers to the sister of Sansar Chand married to Raja Fateh Prakash, which appears to be a figment of imagination. It is, however, true that Fateh married five times bringing wives from the princely states of Keonthal, Baghat, Bilaspur, Kumharsain and from an unknown place. On his death in 1850, the throne of Sirmaur went to Raja Raghbir Prakash born to Baghati Rani and not to the son of hypothetical sister of Sansar Chand.

Tailpiece

A separate state, Guler, was formed in AD 1416 by slicing Kangra. The king of Guler — Raja Hari Chandra at that time gave surname Katoch to his younger brother, king of Kangra. ‘Katey per Oonchey’, i.e. Katoch.