Beloved and verse form

Punjabi University’s school dictionary describes mahiya as a three-line tappa. Its other senses include a beloved and Mahiya, Balo’s lover in the named tale.[1]

An exchange held by rhyme

In his account of folk songs, Gurdev Singh describes mahiye through an answering exchange: Mahiya speaks and Balo answers. He also notes opening images whose immediate purpose is to supply rhyme. Birds, a garden or blossom need not introduce a continuous plot. The sound connection can hold together a brief utterance whose emotional point comes elsewhere. This account attends to the relation between voices and phrases, rather than treating the written stanza as a miniature narrative with a single literal scene.[4]

A recorded duet

A specific arrangement survives in the notes to Folkways’ Folk Music of Pakistan. John Gonella identifies Ali Bakhsh Zahoor and Munawar Sultana as the mahiya performers, accompanied by clarinet and tabla. He describes separation and the reunion of lovers, and recognises both solo and duet delivery. The example gives the short form a named pair of interpreters and an instrumental setting. It also shows why a definition of the verse alone cannot describe everything heard in an arranged performance. The booklet bears a 1951 copyright; the reproduced sleeve bears a later 1958 copyright. The album credits the cooperation of Pakistan’s government in the recording.[2]

CREM-CNRS catalogues the recording as Mahiya punjab A02, identifying Punjabi as its language and love as its theme. Its musical information table preserves the duet’s singer credits alongside clarinet and tabla.[3]

The printed translation on the same page belongs to Tangtakore, identified as a Pushtu story song. It is not presented as a translation of the mahiya duet. When following this reference, keep each track heading with its description before attributing words to either singer.[2]

The Folkways catalogue spells the liner-note writer’s name John Gorella; the booklet prints John Gonella.[2][5]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Joga Singh, editor; Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala. ਮਾਹੀਆ — Punjabi University school-level Punjabi Kosh ↗university-hosted school dictionary entry · Source date: 2014-02-25 (online block; original print-edition date not established) · Locator: Named school-level Punjabi Kosh block: complete headword, three-line tappa, beloved and Balo–Mahiya character senses; posted 25 February 2014. Accessed 2026-11-01.The complete school-dictionary block and named editor line were read. Its short lexical senses are separated from Gurdev Singh’s longer discussion of song performance.Return to Script form 1 ↑Return to Beloved and verse form, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. John Gonella; Folkways Records. Folk Music of Pakistan, FE4425: introduction and notes on the recordings ↗primary recording booklet · Source date: 1951 (booklet; reproduced sleeve 1958) · Locator: PDF p.4 / printed booklet p.2, Mahiya paragraph; PDF p.3 copyright 1951; reproduced sleeve PDF p.2 copyright 1958; PDF p.1 Pakistan-government recording cooperation credit; PDF p.4 / printed p.2, separate Tangtakore heading and translation. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual PDF downloaded, OCR checked and the relevant booklet page visually inspected. Used for named singers, accompaniment and the described theme. The sweeping ancient-history introduction is excluded; no audio was listened to.Return to A recorded duet, paragraph 1 ↑Return to A recorded duet, paragraph 3 ↑Return to A recorded duet, paragraph 4 ↑
  3. CREM-CNRS sound archive. Mahiya punjab A02, CNRSMH_E_1965_001_005_02 ↗institutional sound-recording catalogue · Source date: 2018-07-16 (record’s last modification; initial publication not established) · Locator: Item title, language/keyword fields and musical information table. Accessed 2026-11-01.Actual item and parent collection records inspected. Item access is metadata only. Its questionable gender classification and approximate recording dates are not adopted. This represents the same Folkways recording, not an additional audition.Return to A recorded duet, paragraph 2 ↑
  4. Gurdev Singh; Sahit Kosh Paribhashak Shabdavali; Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala. ਲੋਕ–ਗੀਤ — Gurdev Singh’s signed literary reference article, embedded under Mahiya ↗signed literary reference article · Source date: 2015-08-14 (online block; original print-edition date not established) · Locator: Signed Sahit Kosh block under ਮਾਹੀਆ: cross-reference followed by the full ਲੋਕ–ਗੀਤ article; subsection13 ਮਾਹੀਏ, answering voices and rhyme-opening images; author/source line posted 14 August 2015. Accessed 2026-11-01.The complete numbered Mahiye subsection and article attribution were read. They support the answering exchange and the rhyme function of opening images. This is the same Lok-git article across its embedded and cross-reference representations.Return to An exchange held by rhyme, paragraph 1 ↑
  5. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Folk Music of Pakistan: album catalogue and track listing ↗Institutional recording catalogue · Source date: not established (album released 1951) · Locator: Track 102; Release Info, liner-note production credit. Accessed 2026-11-04.The album page and track list were read. The booklet prints John Gonella, whereas this catalogue gives John Gorella; the sound recording was not auditioned. On 5 November 2026 a direct request in the checking environment returned HTTP 403; access can vary.Return to A recorded duet, paragraph 4 ↑
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Record PH-CUL-0046 · English edition · human review not performed