JestineLegg9 at 14:26, 18 April 2026

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{{Short description|Punjabi poet}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Piro Preman
| image = Piro Preman Ik Sau Saat Kaafiyan.jpg
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| caption = Representation of Piro Preman featuring verses from her poetry – Ik Sau Saat Kaafiyan
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| birth_date = {{birth date text|1832}}
| birth_place = [[Sikh Empire]]
| death_date = 1872 or 1875
| death_place = [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]]
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| resting_place = [[Chathian Wala]], [[Kasur District]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], Pakistan
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| notable_works = ''Ik Sau Sath Kafian''
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'''Piro Preman''' (1832–1872 or 1875<ref>{{cite web | url=https://blog.apaonline.org/2020/06/16/the-untold-history-of-indias-vital-atheist-philosophy/ | title=The untold history of India's vital atheist philosophy| date=16 June 2020}}</ref>) was the first female Punjabi poet, and an [[Ex-Muslims|ex-Muslim]] follower of the Gulabdasia sect.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apnaorg.com/articles/piro/|title=Piro Preman|publisher=}}</ref><ref>Malhotra, Anshu. "Telling her tale? Unravelling a life in conflict in Peero’s Ik Sau Saṭh Kāfiaṅ. (one hundred and sixty kafis)." Indian Economic & Social History Review 46.4 (2009): 541–578.</ref><ref>Singh, Neeti. “Peero: Maverick ''Bhakta'' and First Woman Poet of Punjab.” ''Indian Literature'', vol. 62, no. 4 (306), 2018, pp. 201–13. ''JSTOR'', {{JSTOR|26792168}}. Accessed 24 Jan. 2023.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Punjab Reconsidered: History, Culture, and Practice |date=20 September 2012 |publisher=Oxford Academic |others=Anshu Malhotra, Farina Mir |isbn=978-0-19-807801-2 |location=New Delhi, India |pages=189–220 |chapter=Chapter 7: Panths and Piety in the Nineteenth Century: The Gulabdasis of Punjab |oclc=768071511}}</ref> She was formerly a [[Dalit]] [[Mirasi]] Muslim courtesan([[tawaif]]) and [[prostitute]] named Ayesha.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dutt |first=Nirupama |date=2010-04-01 |title=Waiting for spring - The emergence of a Dalit identity in Punjab is a recent development, spurred in part by the failure of Sikhism to abandon caste discrimination. |url=https://www.himalmag.com/dalit-sikhism-waiting-spring/ |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=Himal Southasian |language=en-GB |quote=The second known Dalit writer of Punjab was Peero Preman (1830-1872). Peero had earlier been a Muslim courtesan named Ayesha, and later joined the Gulabdasia sect and inherited sainthood from her mentor, Gulab Das.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kazmi |first=Sara |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/341407/SKThesis-WithCorrections.pdf?sequence=2 |title=Writing Resistance in the Three Punjabs - Critical Engagements with Literary Tradition |date=February 2022 |publisher=Faculty of English, Queens’ College, University of Cambridge |pages=96 |format=PDF |quote=Peero was a Muslim woman in eighteenth century Punjab who disavowed her religion and joined the Gulabdasis, an unorthodox sect that drew on the ideas of Bhakti and Sufi devotion to criticise organised religion and caste inequalities.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Malhotra |first=Anshu |url=https://www.academia.edu/43457618 |title=Biblio: review of books - Deras, disciples and doubleness - Piro and the Gulabdasis: Gender, Sect and Society in Punjab |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-946818-8 |volume=XXIII |location=New Delhi |pages=8}}</ref><ref name="dawn.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1379158 | title=Piro Preman, the Punjabi poet who pushed the boundaries of sexuality with her verses| date=3 January 2018}}</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Gulab Das and Piro sitting in the Gulabdasi Dera.jpg|thumb|Gulab Das and Piro Preman sitting in the Gulabdasi [[Dera (organization)|Dera]]]]
Little is known about Piro's life.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Khalid |first1=Haroon |date=3 January 2018 |title=Piro Preman, the Punjabi poet who pushed the boundaries of sexuality with her verses |language=en |work=Dawn |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1379158}}</ref> She apparently had Dalit origins.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Singh |first=Perneet |date=25 January 2010 |title=Jaipur Literature Festival: Spotlight on Punjabi Dalit writing on final day |work=The Tribune |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100126/nation.htm#16}}</ref> Her mother is said to have died early after she was born and she accompanied her ''[[fakir]]'' father to various places of pilgrimage.<ref name=":0" /> During one of these trips, she is believed to have been taken by a Lahori man who sold her into prostitution in a brothel.<ref name=":0" /> She is believed to have been sold into prostitution at [[Heera Mandi]], the [[red-light district]] of [[Lahore]].<ref name=":0" /> She escaped Heera Mandi and went on to become a devotee of Gulab Das at the Gulabdasi Dera in [[Chathian Wala]] (in present-day Pakistan).<ref name=":0" /> Das was a [[Jat Sikh|Sikh Jat]] who founded the Gulabdasi sect. The sect was based on [[Hindu]]–[[Sikh]] [[asceticism]], but considered themselves to be neither Hindu nor Sikh.<ref name="Malhotra1"/><ref name = "Tribune">{{cite web|last1=Malhotra|first1=Anshu|title=The importance of being Piro in Punjab|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121206/edit.htm#6|website=The Tribune|accessdate=19 December 2016|date=6 December 2012}}</ref>

Most of the information about Piro comes from her own autobiographical verses, the ''Ik Sau Sath Kafian'' or the "One Hundred and Sixty [[Kafi]]s (160 Kafis)", written in the mid-nineteenth century. In ''160 Kafis'', Piro describes a series of events in her life after she began living with Gulab Das in Chathian Wala. Piro refers to herself as a prostitute, and also a [[Muslim]]. Following her arrival in Chathian Wala, Piro writes that her "professional wardens" from Heera Mandi followed her and persuaded Gulab Das to send her back to Lahore. She ultimately agreed to return to Lahore, where she describes a confrontation with ''[[mullah]]s'' and ''[[Qadi|qazis]]'' who assume that she has not only become an [[Apostasy in Islam|apostate]], but also [[Religious conversion|converted]] to the religion of her guru, thus becoming a ''[[kafir]]''. Piro does not deny apostasy or conversion, but refuses to convert back to Islam. She abuses the ''mullahs'' and Islam, and praises the spirituality of her guru. According to historian Anshu Malhotra, "The unabashed use of language that might be considered vulgar among the respectable today, adds a colourful dimension to Piro’s speech."<ref name="Malhotra1"/>

{{Blockquote|text="Making false religions and promises,

You make [[Muslims|Turks]] by [[Khitan (circumcision)|snipping the penis]] and the moustache;

Hindus are made with [[janeyu]] and chat,

Women cannot be made thus, they are both wrong."|author=Piro Preman, translated by Anshu Malhotra<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khalid |first1=Haroon |title=Piro Preman, the Punjabi poet who pushed the boundaries of sexuality with her verses |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1379158 |work=Dawn |date=3 January 2018 |language=en}}</ref>}}

Piro Preman refused to be an abandoned lover at the mercy of a cruel beloved. She refused to wait for a beloved who would deign to give her his acceptance. She wrote:

“Piro! I will not accept the companionship of a lie.

Those that are separated will never meet, just like a broken thread.

Nor family, nor your in-laws, not your age-mates, neither your friends.

They disperse as people do when they disembark from a boat.”<ref name="dawn.com"/>

Piro writes that her actions result in her being abducted, and forcibly transported from Lahore to [[Wazirabad]]. She is incarcerated at Wazirabad by a woman named Mehrunissa. Piro describes that she was able to befriend two women, Janu and Rehmati, and utilise their help to send a message to Gulab Das. The guru sends two of his disciples, Gulab Singh and Chatar Singh, to Wazirabad. With the help of sympathisers, the disciples are able to rescue Piro and bring her back to Gulab Das' establishment in Chathian Wala.<ref name="Malhotra1">{{cite web|last1=Malhotra|first1=Anshu|title=Theatre of the Past: Re-presenting the past in different genres|url=http://125.22.40.134:8082/jspui/bitstream/123456789/924/1/Anshu_Malhotra_2_July.pdf|publisher=Nehru Memorial Museum and Library|accessdate=19 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220155549/http://125.22.40.134:8082/jspui/bitstream/123456789/924/1/Anshu_Malhotra_2_July.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Piro and Gulab Das shared an intimate relationship despite social and religious pressures.<ref name="The News on Sunday">{{cite web|last1=Awan|first1=Mahmood|title=The feminine metaphor|url=http://tns.thenews.com.pk/poetry-the-feminine-metaphor/|website=The News on Sunday|accessdate=19 December 2016|date=25 January 2015|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220181337/http://tns.thenews.com.pk/poetry-the-feminine-metaphor/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The two were interred together at a tomb in Chathian Wala.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Khalid|first1=Haroon|title=Together forever|url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/07012011/page22.shtml|website=The Friday Times|accessdate=19 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022005954/http://www.thefridaytimes.com/07012011/page22.shtml|archive-date=22 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although the Gulabdasis were neither Hindu nor Sikh, following the [[Partition of India]], they were expelled from Chathian Wala by the now Muslim-majority populace in Pakistan. The sect subsequently fled to India where they settled in [[Haryana]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Khalid|first1=Haroon|title=The last stand|url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20120511&page=24|website=The Friday Times|accessdate=19 December 2016}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Piro's life has been the subject of two Indian plays – ''Piro Preman'' written by Shahryar in 1999, and ''Shairi'' written by Sawrajbir in 2004.<ref name=":1" /> ''Shairi'' was also performed by Pakistani theatre group [[Ajoka Theatre]] led by [[Madeeha Gauhar]] in Lahore and by the theatre group Manch Rang Manch in [[Amritsar]].<ref name = "Tribune"/> A member of the Gulabdasis, Vijender Das, has also compiled all of her writings and published a volumed called ''Sant Kavyitri Ma Piro (Saint Poetess Mother Piro)'', together with a comprehensive introduction to her life.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Malhotra |first=Anshu |title=Piro and the Gulabdasis: gender, sect, and society in Punjab |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-946818-8 |location=New Delhi, India |pages=491–492}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Preman, Piro}}
[[Category:1832 births]]
[[Category:1872 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian women poets]]
[[Category:Punjabi-language poets]]
[[Category:19th-century women poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:People from Punjab Province (British India)]]
[[Category:Prostitution in India]]
[[Category:Indian female prostitutes]]
[[Category:Indian courtesans]]

Piro Preman - Revision history

JestineLegg9 at 14:26, 18 April 2026