Raja Dhaj

Raja Dhaj or Ror Kumar or Rai Diyach (Sindhi: راجاراءِ ڏياچ‎), a name by which he is better known among Sindhi Rajputs when they listen to the ballad of Sorath Rai Diyach, is an ancient figure made immortal by his abduction of Sorath, a woman of legendary beauty.[1] His deeds are still recounted after hundreds of years in the states of Haryana (the highly popular swaang called Sorath), Rajasthan, Gujarat and Sindh (Sur Sorath, one of the traditional 30 Surs included in Shah Jo Risalo).
This unforgettable romance is based on actual history that has to do with the times of the founder of Rori Shankar[2] in Sindh, who was none other than the protagonist of this story. With the establishment of Rori, Raja Dhaj founded the Ror Dynasty, which was to rule Sindh for the next one thousand years, in 450 BC.[3]

Historical importance

Historian Dr. Raj Pal Singh, a Jat by caste himself, has said in his book "Ror itihaas ki jhalak",[4]

Raja Dhaj occupies an extremely important place in the history of Rors. His name is commonly on the tip of every Ror's tongue and he has become the popular subject of many swaang episodes and songs, which are heard with great admiration by people of all castes in North India even today.

Progeny

Dhaj, Ror Kumar had six sons from Sorath. They were named as Kunak, Takshak, Prasenjit, Kardhman, Raghu and Sharanjit. Kunak succeeded Raja Dhaj as the monarch of Sindh and Hind; Takshak went to Lucknow, Raghu went to the present-day Pune-Satara area, Prasenjit renounced the world and became a Jogi; Kardhman went to Eastern Uttar Pradesh and his descendants are supposed to be the owners of 84 villages in the present-day Gorakhpur and Gonda districts till today.[5]

Sacrifice

Rai Diyach was a generous ruler of Jhuna Garh. He gave his head to Beejal or (Bijal), a minstrel who possessed good artistic capability to amuse by his musical instrument. Shah Abdul Latif covered their character in Sur Sorath.[6]

Bijal came to Rai Diyach and sang for six days successively to persuade the king to lay his head. Diyach offered him to ask for anything he liked to have. As the intrigues of fate would have it, the minstrel asked for his head. The kind and generous king gave it. In truth, Bijal was bribed by King Anerai to go visit Rai Diyach's court and sing to him with the motive to demand the king's head when asked for a reward. Bijal himself was Diyach's nephew (his sister's son), who was cast away as an infant because he was prophesied to bring death to his uncle.[7][8]

Sorath, the queen of King Diyach, sacrificed herself for the sake of love for her husband and followed him into the world of the dead.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Sindhi Adabi Board Online Library (Folk_Litrature)". www.sindhiadabiboard.org. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. Page 14, "Ror Itihaas ki Jhalak" (Hindi) by Dr. Raj Pal Singh, Pal Publications, Yamunanagar (1987)
  3. Pages 102 & 118, Aryavart evam Ror Vansh ka itihaas, by Shri Ramdas, All-round Printers, Karnal (2000)
  4. Page 19, "Ror Itihaas ki Jhalak" (Hindi) by Dr. Raj Pal Singh, Pal Publications, Yamunanagar (1987)
  5. Page 94, Ror Itihaas Ki Jhalak, by Dr. Raj Pal Singh, Pal Publications, Yamunanagar (1987)
  6. Datta, Amaresh (1987). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 9788126018031.
  7. Iyer, Vivek (2007). Tigers of Wrath. Polyglot Publications London. ISBN 9780955062810.
  8. Jotwani, Motilal (1986). Sufis of Sindh. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting - Government of India. p. 92. ISBN 8123005083. Retrieved 27 November 2018.

Further reading
  • A part of Bhittai's "Sur Sorath"
  • The full story of Dhaj, Ror Kumar and Sorath, which has been compiled by Shri Ramdas after consulting swaang artistes as well as bards, can be read in the book "Aryavart evam Ror Vansh ka itihaas" on pages 68–98
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