Heer Ranjha is a famous sad love story from the Punjab region. Other such Punjabi love stories include Mirza Sahiban, and Sohni Mahiwal.
The theme of this story is based on Inter-caste rivalry. The story is centred around two lovers, Heer a beautiful girl from a rich Sial caste family; and Ranjha belonging to a wealthy clan of Ranjhas. They both fell in love but Heer's parents against their marriage. Later, Heer is married by force to a rich young man. Ranjha, very saddened by this, became a hermit and tries to meet Heer several times but fails. Later, they both commit suicide under the same mulberry tree where they used to make love.
This story has been written by different writers, at different times. The best and most famous is Heer by the poet Waris Shah written in 1761. Some films in Punjabi language and Urdu have also been made about this story.
The story is still very popular today. Many young girls and boys who fall in love have to face the same problems due to the caste differences. Some people believe that there were two real young lovers called Heer and Ranjha, long time ago. They say that they died and were buried together in a tomb near Jhang in Punjab.
