Poet & writer
Hashim Shah
ਹਾਸ਼ਮ ਸ਼ਾਹسید ہاشم شاہ
Sufi poet patronised by Ranjit Singh, best known for Sassi Punnu.
Hashim Shah was born around 1735 at Jagdeo Kalan near Amritsar into a family of Syed carpenters and Sufis. He was a Sufi, a physician and a poet, and Ranjit Singh is said to have granted him land.
He is best known for Sassi Punnun, the legend of the washerman's daughter who follows her kidnapped husband into the desert, told in dohras of great beauty that are sung all over the Punjab. He also wrote Sohni Mahiwal, Shirin Farhad and many dohras and kafis.
He died, by most accounts, in 1843, having lived through the whole rise of the Sikh kingdom.
