Sylhet developed over the centuries a rich distinctive culture of its own. In the present article we would like to discuss an important component of the folk literature of Sylhet, i.e . the Sylhet Geetika or Sylhet Ballads.
A Ballad is s short narrative poem usually depicting a dramatic event. It was originally used to be sung, passed along orally and changed greatly in transmission so much so that in the process the names of the original composers were lost. As a result, it becomes an integral part of the common cultural heritage of a people. A ballad may be historical, romantic, supranational, nautical or heroic depending on its content but it must have a story revolving around a number of characters and their activities. Although the melody of a ballad is generally found to be monotonous, its language as the suitable medium of human emotion and desires, acquires a depth and vitality of its own. Being a story-based, narrative medium, it used the lyrical form of presentation for heightened effect and attempts, by stages to bring the story (and the audience) to the climax. In this way the singer himself a product of the particular local socio-cultural milieu, spontaneously becomes one of the audience. Commenting on this point, Albert B. Lord says, “In a real sense the young singer recapitulates the experiences of the generations before him starching back the distant past. From meter and music he absorbed in his earliest years the length of phrase, the partial cadences the full stops.
As for the singer’s artistic manner of presentation Albert B. Friedman says, “The Ballad method of narration is unique and until one gets used to it, it can be disconcerting. Characteristically a Ballad breaks into its story at a moment when the train of action is decisively pointed towards the catastrophe. Setting time the appearance of the persons involved the background are indicated by a few light stroke or a few casual hints. Characters prop up out nowhere just at the moment they are needed and are dropped with equal sadness”
Although narrative is one of the principal elements in a Ballad, nevertheless, it is not its sole characteristic feature. Technique is also of no less importance in a Ballad. Professor Gummere elaborates this point, “Despite its; rank as necessary condition, narrative is not a fixed fundamental primary fact in the Ballad scheme. The greatest Ballads affect us no by the story itself but by the way in which the story is told; and this way is not narrative art at high pitch.”
Similarly the dramatic quality of a Ballad contributes not a little, to it’s overall success. “The Ballad tells a story. But of the elements that go to make up a story action, characters setting and then the Ballad is mainly concerned with action. Characterization is conventional and general; setting is likewise general and static theme is implied. But the action is always vivid and dramatic and often romantic as well often it is sensationalized into the melodramatic.”
Though of ancient origin Bangla Ballades began to come into their own during the middle age. In this context, the arrival of Islam had a role to play. The distinguished folklore scholar Ashutsh Bhattacharya explains that there is a gulf of novels and folk literature; class divisions had much to do with it. While novels in ancient India remained the preserve of the privileged educated classes, medieval India witnessed under the influence of the more egalitarian Islamic ideals, novels emerging out the class and caste based social barred to a greater extent than was hitherto possible. Indian Ballads also benefited from this favorable winds of change made possible by the advent of Islam. In the localities and regions where Islamic influence were strong Ballads found congenial fertile ground to strike deep roots among the lower orders. Bhattacharya could see a close connection between the geographical spread of Islam and the development of the Bangla. Sylhet Ballads may be said to be a direct product of the impact of Islam on the culture traditions. Large numbers Ballads were known to have existed al over Sylhet but most of which had been lost for over. Prominent among these are Tilairaja, Kaldulai, monibibi, Rangamala, Chhuratjan Bibi, Alifjan Sundari, Sonamati Kanya, Jamir Saudagor and Panch Hatno.
Collection of Sylhet Ballads:
It was late Ashraf Hossain of Maulvibazar who first began the task of collection the ballads. For him it was a labor of love in the pursuit of which he devoted his entire life. Ignoring material interests, physical discomfort and social disapproval he roamed village after village in search of these hidden gems. Altogether he collected and published 22 such Ballades which include Madhumala, Sonabarai, Dhanai Sadhu, Heeradhan Bania, Puluk Jalua, Birahini Kannya, Saudamini, Syed Kalandar, Kanchon Mala, Sati Dulabhi Kannya, Sadhu Dayanada, Ali Amjad, Monipurer Lara, Dharani Raja and Adam Kha Dewani.
Following in the Footsteps of Ashraf Hossain, it found Choudhury Golam Akbar rendering yeoman’s service to eh collection, presentation and publication of the Ballads of Sylhet. In all he collected 31 Ballads of which some were published. In 1968, Bangla Academy published Sylhet Geetika 1st part , a collection of 10 Ballades submitted by him. His other collections are a Monjila Sundari, Rabiya Rahim, Zohura Kabir Choudhury, Madan Kazi, Heera Chandan, Karbala, Talukdarer Geet, Komola Rani, Khairullah Dewan and Zarina Sundari. Gulam Akbar deposited most of the Ballads to the folklore department of the Bangla Academy, many of which are still unpublished.
About 120 Sylhet Ballads have been recovered so far. Though some Ballads are known to be still extant, they are unlikely to be retrieved ever. Some Ballads still in the processession of private collectors are yet to be published. Thus Pundit Rajmohan Nath Tattabhushan collected many ballades of which only one Sonadhaner Geet is known to us. He is known to have left many manuscripts in the custody of his descendants which as they are now resident in India could not be traced. According to professor Asaddar Ali, the renowned scholar of Sylhet folk literature, the Sylhet Ballads were composed since the 14th century if not earlier. The publication of the Sylhet Geetika, 1st part led to a controversy about its antiquity. Form a careful look at the state of Hindu-Muslim relationship as depicted in these Ballads one may feel inclined to believe that they may date back to three or four hundred years. But at the same time these Ballads show unmistakable influence of later day Sylhetti dialect. Most probably, this modern touch had come from the pen of the enthusiastic editors. Not surprisingly, such undesirable revision had come in for severe criticism from the folklore scholars.
Sylhet Geetika:
Here we explain the nature, characteristics and the literary values of these Ballads by taking one example: Golam Akbar collected it forms one Abed Ali, an inhabitant of the village Rampasha under Bishwanath thana. The story runs like this: once upon a time Chadra Sen, a feudal chief, found the peace and order of his realm much disturbed by an invasion of too many snakes and tigers. In the ensuing chaos, a Muslim saint arrived to save the people from the pestilence. His success in this endeavor induced the people to accept Islam en masse and led the king’s elder daughter to leave house with the savant. The king grievously shocked at heart used his magic power to turn his younger daughter into a banana plant and got it shown into his backyard pond. Then he left the place and went to a place in the south called Nagar where he, after establishing his capital, began to live with much pomp and grandeur. But he met his nemesis when on his declaration of independence, his feudal superior Manikya forced him to a battle which Chandra Sen with Bhanu Roy who come to be very much admired by the people.
The story of this Ballad is divided into several parts for the purpose of presentation before the audience in the usual musical form. It starts with a hymn in praise of the divine creator after which the poet begs for divine power in support of his literary endeavor. But before that he expresses his gratitude to the prophet, his parents and his mentor. In the title of Kahini Suru (the beginning of the story) there is the description of the establishment of the capital on the hill by Chand Raja and the details about the capital are mentioned:
(This capital what a lavish undertaking it was people in their thousands gaze at it in sheer astonishment.)
Then in successive chapters the poet gives a graphic description of various events leading to the dramatic climax culminating in the elopement of the princess and finally the downfall of Chandra Sen himself.
According to Professon Mazharul Islam, the well known folklore scholar the Ballads may aptly be called fictions narrated through the medium of songs and lyrics. They are the real forerunners of modern fiction. Even a casual reading of these Ballads would bear Professor Islam out.
These Ballads are an important source of information regarding the history, mythology, philosophy, religion and society of mediaeval Bengal. Form a linguistic point of view also these are important specimens of the age concerned. But their real importance lies in their literary values, the way they depicted the real life, the love the joys and sorrows, the pleasures and pains of people of the time. Plenty of myths and miracles there had been but the actual concerns of these Ballads centered around real life people. In many of the Ballads, Pir-Faqirs (saints and spiritual guides) occupy very prominent place. For example, there are occasions when we find the case of a childless king becoming a father after receiving the blessings of a saint. Quite naturally these Ballads throw interesting light on the social scene of the time for example, the status of women. In the Kalodulai Ballad, as in some other the oppression of Kalodulai, the young wife at the hands of her mother0in-law comes out vividly. Similarly the Monibibi Ballad shows the plight of another married woman in a male-dominated society. Monibibi’s well-to-do peasant father gave his daughter in marriage to an in-house son-in-law who proved himself to be a thoroughly worthless hanger-on. This marriage ended in a divorce but her unhappy lot did not improve even after two successive marriages.
In the Rangomala Ballad we find the nephew of Zaimndar Chandra Narayan, the devil of a human being subjecting the helpless housewife to unspeakable brutality. This Ballad has the youth and exceptional beauty of females and lust, sensuality and such other vices on the part of chauvinist males as its central themes.
Chhuratijan Bibi takes up the institution of polygamy and its many unsavory facts such as the suffering which it cause to the helpless wives in a household. The story moves around a very wealthy and aristocratic old man of above sixty years of age – Mojid Khandakar who in spite of having sons and daughters exploited his social power to marry young Chhuratjan Bibi whose exceptional beauty drove him to take such a step. In order to save his aristocratic status, the father of Chhuratjan Bibi resolve to marry off her to the old man. In this Ballad women have been portrayed in a very hapless conditions. On the other hand in the Alip Jan Sundari Ballad women have been depicted with strong personalities. In order to save her chastity Alip Jan took her life by plunging into the river. In Jarnir Soudagor , the ever suspicious husband subjected his devoted wife to various devices to cheek her faithfulness as if the so-called chastity ideal applied to the womenfolk alone.
The character and faces of the Sylhet Ballads are all very familiar figures whom even now we come across often in our everyday experience. For this very quality the Ballads capture our attention and deserve our sympathy. Their portrait of real life people with all sublime as well as base qualities earn for the Ballads a permanent place in our hearts. In this respect the ballads compare who with any good modern day short stories. For their enduring qualities of head and heart the female heroines of these Ballads remind us of their counterparts in Saratchandra Chatterjee’s famous Bangla novels. Quite often we find genuine love and affection coming out triumphant over the false ideals of social status and aristocratic pretension. In proclaiming, the superiority of love and devotion over manmade ideals of social superiority religious sanctions and priestly prohibitions the illiterate village bards proved no less equal to their more articulate sophisticated urban fellow travelers. No doublet, these writers were also well acquainted with base inhuman nature lies the deception in love the pain of separation between lovers but side by side we see the supreme sacrifices made by lovers specially the heroines – for their loved ones sometimes going even to the extent of forsaking one’s faith. At times, these unlettered village composers move fast with their narratives at other times the pace shows down a bit yet all told the village bards show a remarkable ability in analyzing the conflict of characters and emotions, the foibles and frailties of men and women in their works. And yet with all these achievements to their credit they being to the realm of the anonymous. Deeply sincere in their presentation of human character, these simple village composers had developed a definite technique that avoided pretentious verbose linguistic style. They followed as style simple yet lively that was very much their own and not borrowed from the mighty Sanskrit literature. In short , the composer of Ballads exhibit an amazing skill in their choice of plots in their fusion of imagination with the realities on the ground and in their ability to draw a controlled restrained conclusion – altogether a remarkable achievement to say the least.
Sometimes the literary value of these Ballads are called into question. Literature being intimately related with society comes to reflect the society on its mirror. On the basis of this criterion these Ballads their weakness and limitations not withstanding do serve a useful purpose. They do educate people albeit in a non-formal way. For the poor, literate rural masses they are a joyous innocent source of much needed recreation, as for their social and anthropological values, the scholars of the relevant fields would no doubt be the appropriate authorities to deal with these questions. The literary critics are happy to take not of the composers profoundly non-communal and tolerant attitude that lends a healthy glow across the religious divide.
The people who patronized these Ballads – products of mediaeval culture – where the illiterate poverty-stricken rural masses. With the spread of western education and the downward filtering effect of it, however delayed or weak that may be gradually contributed to a loss of popularity of these relics of a by gone age. So people who used to make a living out of this profession suffered a gradual loss of their livelihood. As a result many of them gave up or changed their profession. Many of the composers being steeped in Hindu mythology and indulging in black magic and other occult practices harbor a deep sense of antipathy towards modern, urban culture. This attitude born of their inability to move with the times contributed not a little to their ultimate disappearance. The advent and progress of the entertainment revolution dealt the final blow. As a result, of this latest revolution, popular taste underwent a dramatic change forcing the way out for this type of recreation. But we are hopeful that these components of our folk culture will not suffer an unfortunate demise. Through required adoptions and desired chances they could still survive the test of time. If their collection and preservation can be ensured the Sylhet Geetika may attain a position similar to that now enjoyed by the Mymensingh Geetika (the Ballad of Mymensingh.)
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