Pakistani folklore
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Pakistan has a wide variety of folklore, mostly circulated regionally. However certain tales have related variants in other regions of the country or in neighbouring countries. Some folktales like Shirin and Farhad are told in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and almost all nations of Central Asia with all having claimed the folklore to have originated in their land.
[edit] Provincial folklore
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The provinces of Pakistan are known by the love stories in their folklore that have been immortalized by singers, reciters and storytellers of the regions.
In Punjab, many folktales have been revered worldwide, especially in the Punjabi diaspora in UK and USA. The tale of two lovers, Heer and Ranjha is based in the Pakistani part of Punjab, in a city called Jhang. Today it is celebrated in songs, movies, theatre, and quotations. One may call a romantic person a Ranjha, meaning he is a devoted lover. Similarly a girl in love may be called "Heer." Apart from the epic of Hir and Ranjha, the Punjab has a rich tradition of ballads, folktales and folk music and dance. The folklore of the Potohar Plateau of the north shows a local variant, while the lush green irrigated agriculture of the central plains is home to more sophisticated forms of folklore. The oldest living urban centre of Multan in the south has the gentler forms of music and dance.
In the Pukhtun areas of the northwest, the Northwest Frontier Province is the home of energetic warlike dancers, the most prominent being the Khattak dance, which bears the name of the tribe that dances it. The romantic tale of Adam Khan and Durkhanai features a lute player (rabab)whose music earns the love of a beautiful girl, although she hasn't seen him yet!
In Balochistan, the folklore is alive with the love story of Hani and Shah Murid Chakar, while the war tales of the Baloches are stirring. Baloch dancing, the chap, has a curious rhythm with an inertial back sway with every forward step and Baloch music has a unique flavour of its own.
Sindh in the south is equally rich in folklore, and the love story of Sassi, who pines for her lover Punnu is known to and sung at every Sindhi settlement.
