Shah Latif, Sindh's greatest poet, whose poetry enriches every
Sindhi-knowing person, and those who read his translated works! The only
intellectual of his class to breakaway from prevailing traditions. His
love-filled songs, soaked in the romances of the land, make the masses'
hearts throb with ecstasy. But scholars have not focused on his own love
life. Nothing has been written about the poet's life that could be termed
satisfactory. The few attempts made fell victim to the common tradition
of Syed worship and belief in the miraculous powers of the saints.
Only one anecdote is often repeated, the one which led to his marriage. Even the identity of the family whose daughter he wed has not yet been properly worked out. Tradition has it that the poet and his parents shifted during his early childhood to a place called Kotri, where lived an elite Mughal family. This family's members were devotees of Habib Shah, father of Shah Latif. One day, a young lady of their Haveli fell ill. As was the custom of the age, a runner was dispatched to Habib Shah to come and pray for the lady's recovery. It so happened that Habib Shah was sick himself. The ailing father thought it fit to depute his son, Shah Latif, in his place.
On the poet's arrival at the Haveli, normal purdah was observed and chaddar-clad lady was brought for the prayer. The young lady extended her hand and Shah Latif, while holding the little finger of the lady's hand, administered the prayer and on observing her instant recovery, recited a verse. (Whosoever's little finger is in the Syed's hand, she need not worry about anything). The proud Mughals keeping in view the poet's youth, were quite ruffled. All communication and contact with the family was severed. This being a classical case of 'love at first sight', the poet was badly affected. The idea of a union between the two vastly different families was opposed vehemently by the proud and haughty Arghuns.
The poet in great distress over these developments, broke away from the place. Three years of wanderings took the poet to many places, enriching his observations and widening his perspective. His return was much celebrated by his waiting father.
An interesting event again brought the two personalities face to face. The Mughals' household was one day attacked by the dacoits of the neighbouring Dal tribe, while all the males were away. The servants and children couldn't resist the attackers and were robbed of valuables. On return, faced with this situation, the elder Mirza was highly enraged. He ordered immediate preparations for avenging the robbery.
Grasping the situation, Shah Latif mustered his strength and offered his assistance to Mirza. The proud Mughal refused. The poet insisted. Acknowledging the Mughals' bravery, he said it was his duty to help them in their hour of need: only to meet with stubborn refusal. The poet patiently explained the importance of co-operation, in case the return attack succeeds, the situation would be avenged, and the Mughals' honour would be vindicated. If he failed and died in the pursuit, again the objective of the Mughals would be achieved, as he would no more be there to bother them again. To the poet's great disappointment, the Mirza not only refused help but jeered at the poet's capacity to be of any use. Distressed, the poet recited an anguished verse: "Baig, this high position of yours will never last in Kotri; I have this hope that the Dals will end your pride." The attacking Mughals were ambushed and all were slain. Only a male child was left to take care of the family. The senior women saw their family's disaster as resulting from the displeasure of Shah Latif: They immediately offered the possibility of a union between the families. After much consideration, the poet consented and was married to the daughter of the late Mirza. The tradition is narrated in the semi-historical accounts as well as the Tazkira i.e. the biographical narrations compiled immediately after the poet saint's death.
The only modern biographical work, by the celebrated H.T. Sorley, gives a simple one-sentence statement that the "poet was married to the daughter of a friend of his younger days: Mirza Moghal Baig, who in 1713, died an untimely death at the hands of robbers". It leads us to the hypothesis that the poet married quite late in life. Because by the time his contemporary's daughter would come of age, he must have been quite advanced in years. Shah Latif was born in 1102 AH. The year of the death of Mirza Baig is 1124 AH, as deciphered from the interesting date composition made by one of the members of the poet's retinue, on his death." Famous history Tuhfat-ul-Kiram written by Mir Ali Sher Qani. On hearing this, the poet reacted that it is not proper to grudge a person after his death, it can better be composed like "there was a good Mughal". The dates of these two compositions are the same i.e. 1124 AH. Shah Latif made preparations and shifted to Bhit Shah, well before the death of his father in 1144 AH. The date of Mirza Baig's death given by Sorley doesn't fully correspond to the date coming down to us through tradition.
There also exists confusion over the name of the poet's father-in-law. Sorley has written it as 'Mirza Mughal Baig', but Tuhfatul Karam has it as 'Mirza Baig Arghun'; Sorley has not indicated his source. Sorley might have got this idea through Gurbuxani, who on was, no doubt, influenced by Mir Abdul Hussain Sangi.
Sangi has composed some traditions regarding the life and character of the poet in Persian verse. In particular, in one anecdote he refers to the person, to the whole family, and to the male members of the household as 'Mughal' and 'Mughals'. He has also given Mirza Baig as the persons more than once. In the annexure, he has admitted the fact that the Mirza was Arghun. It can be easily understood that when he refers to them as Mughals, he means it as a caste "a race" as a separate identity and not as a name of an individual. This is clear from various verse composition in his famous book Lutaif-e-Latifi. Thanks to a recent discovery of a grave in the historical graveyard of Torki, the inadvertently created riddle stands solved.
The grave is a true representative of the Arghun/Turkhan tradition, located on a platform adjacent to the famous Baiglar graveyard, in the vicinity of the Tomb of Miyoon Vahyoon, on the west side of Tando Allahyar-Tando Adam road. Elaborately decorated with the inscription in Naskh and Nastaleeq, along with conventional decorative motifs, the grave proudly conveys the name of the person buried there as Mirza Baig Arghun.
Is this the same Mirza Baig Arghun, father of Shah Latif's bride, or someone else? As far as the location of the grave is concerned, it is situated at about four miles from the Hala Haveli, thus quite close to Sui Kandar, where the poet was born and Kotri, where Mirza Baig resided.
It may be argued that there can be more than one person in one particular vicinity/locality, well separated in time, bearing the same name and belonging to the same tribe. But it is near impossible that in such restricted locality and in a particular period there lived two persons with an identical name, both prominent enough to be buried in dignity and decorum befitting to the elite. We have no other reference in our history or literature of any other person of the same name. Shah Latif's father-in-law, as we have discussed earlier, died in 1124 AH. The year of the death of Mirza Baig Arghun, buried adjacent to the Baiglar graveyard, is also 1124 AH. The cenotaph is presently broken into two halves, and some chips are off at corners, suggesting mishandling by non-expert culture-loving enthusiasts, in their pursuit of jungle cutting and site clearing.
The geographical position and the date of his death makes it certain that the person buried here is the same Mirza Baig Arghun, whose daughter was married to Sindh's greatest poet Shah Abdul Latif of Bhit.
