There are times when things cease to appear in black and white increasing the grey area that challenges human mind which is generally comfortable in seeing things in either-or terms.

It is the sixteenth century. On the one hand we have probably the most liberal and secular emperor in the history of India, Akbar, the Great, ensconced in the imperial seat in Delhi supported by a large segments of Muslim and Hindu elites because of his inclusive policy and on the other we see a dauntless rebel, Dulla Bhatti, leading a peasant movement against the imperial administration in the north western Punjab in the Sandal Bar which is not far away from Lahore. Cause celebre is the heavy taxation imposed on agriculture. Dulla refuses to acquiesce to the dictates of the regime as his father Farid and grandfather Bijli did before him. So we have on the stage of history two larger than life figures confronting each other. One protagonist can declare the other villain but can we dub one an absolute hero and other an absolute villain? Dulla opposes the oppressive tax regime, rises against socio-political excesses and acts as saviour of the wretched who are desperate to get rid of royal chokehold. Akbar is an unusual ruler who wants to separate state from religion, treats faith as a private matter and strives for the inclusion of people of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds in the affairs of the empire. Who we declare to be a hero in absolute terms?

Dulla Bhatti is celebrated in the folk tradition as an exceptionally brave man who challenged the mightiest of the Mughals whose armies built one of the greatest empires in the subcontinent spreading over thousands of miles and scores of regions. His was the best advisory council an emperor ever had in this part of the world. The fact that Raja Todar Mal, the emperor’s financial wizard, was a Punjabi from the ancient town of Chunian in the vicinity of Lahore did in no way bring relief to Punjab’s peasants who groaned under the heavy weight of levies. Inability to pay the taxes and consequent uprising further depleted the means of peasant livelihood and thus proved an economic disaster for the countryside providing more grist to the mill of defiance. Dulla’s daring practice, according to folk narrative, of saving girls and women from the clutches of power drunk royal troops who sometimes went berserk earned him the eternal respect that we see in the songs of Lohri ( a festival celebrated on winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year).

There are so many descriptions about him laced with fictional and quasi-historical detail that it becomes difficult if not impossible to sift facts from fiction. Court historians of course would not give him in their chronicles the space and place he deserved. He would deliberately be seen little more than a petite rebellious chieftain and a social bandit deserving the royal wrath.“Dulla Bhatti was a trendsetter in peasant insurgency in medieval Punjab,” writes Ishwar Dayal Gaurin in his book “Martyr as Bridegroom”. Certain facts are beyond doubt. Dulla was a historical figure who led peasant insurgency in the Sandal Bar. Akbar twice moved his capital from Delhi/Agra to Lahore and spent almost a decade and a half in the Lahore fort. Was it his love for Lahore or a lurking fear of a local rebellion spiraling out of hand that made him focus on the fertile plains of Punjab? It’s also a fact of history that defiant peasantry was battered by the royal army, its leader captured and executed publically in the “Nakhas” (horse market) which is now called Lunda Bazaar facing Dilli gate. It is believed that another rebel and poet-saint Madho Lal Hussain, in a show of solidarity was present at the moment of Dulla’s execution (1599) in the crowd. Dulla in chains remained totally unimpressed by the royal might of Akbar, refused to budge an inch on his political stance and rejected the suggestion of petitioning the monarch for mercy with the contempt it deserved. His sense of human dignity, his conviction, justness of the cause he espoused and total absence of fear in the face of death made him what he is; an immortal folk-hero celebrated by bards and people.

Strangely the bards who recited/sang the epic poem (Dulle di Var) depicting the struggle of Dulla Bhatti and made it popular were all from the eastern part of Punjab, called East Punjab (now part of India). No research scholar has been able to find traces of this poem in and around the region (Pindi Bhattian) where Dulla lived and led the uprising. Why? Scholars must find the answer. Let’s attempt some tentative explanation. Remember Babur, Akbar’s grandfather, who invaded India in fifteenth century? Babur’s savage and barbaric instinct had insatiable lust for blood. He ordered general massacre of Punjabis when met with resistance. Slaughter of men and mass rape of Hindu and Muslim women by Babur’s troops at Aimnabad (Gujranwala) deeply hurt Baba Guru Nanak who after witnessing blood and gore wrote his famous “Babur Bani” in which he thoroughly exposed Babur for what he actually was; a murderous tyrant and remorseless pillager. The Gurus that succeeded Baba Guru Nanak and their followers were continuously persecuted by Mughal rulers. The followers of the emerging new faith were found in greater number in the eastern part of Punjab. They vociferously supported all the forces which opposed and resisted Mughal hegemony and oppression. Such a historical situation can give us some clue as to why Dulla’s rebellion had greater resonance for the people in the East Punjab.