Submitted by: Hadia Amjad

Title: Ambwa Tale – امبوا تلے – Beneath The Mango Tree
Poet: Ameer Khusro

Language: Braj

Braj

Braj Bhasha language, also spelled Braj Bhasa, Braj Bhakha, or Brij Bhasa,  languagedescended from Shauraseni Prakrit and commonly viewed as a western dialect of Hindi. It is spoken by some 575,000 people, primarily in India. Its (purest) forms are spoken in the cities of Mathura, Agra, Etah, and Aligarh.

Most Braj Bhasha literature is of a mystical nature, related to the spiritual union of people with God, because almost all of the Braj Bhasha poets were considered God-realised saints and their words are thus considered as directly emanating from a divine source. Much of the traditional Northern Indian literature shares this trait. All traditional Punjabi literature is similarly written by saints and is of a metaphysical and philosophical nature.

Another peculiar feature of Northern Indian literature is that the literature is mostly written from a female point of view, even by male poets. This is because the saints were in a state of transcendental, spiritual love, where they were metaphorically women reuniting with their beloved. (In its inversion of the conventional genders of worshipper and worshippee, Maulana Da’ud's Chandayan departs from this tradition.)

Sample poem

اے ری سکھی
مورے سئیاں گھر آئے
اے ری سکھی
بھاگ لگے مورے آنگن کو
اپنے پیا کی میں دیکھ صورتیا
ہار گئی میں تن من کو
ہار گئی میں تو تن من کو

امبوا تلے ڈولا رکھ دے نہروا
آئی ساون کی بہار رے

Analysis

Braj words	Changed forms common today
Ri ay	Ay ri (oh my dear)	Grammatical change
sakhi	dost	Lexical change
Saiiyaan	shohar	Lexical change
moray	mere	Lexical change
lagay	jaagi	Lexical change
bhaag	qismat	Lexial change
sooratiya	soorat	Morphological change
naharwa	naher	Orthographic change
Day rakh	Rakh dey	Grammatical change
dola	doli	Lexical change
talay	neechay	Lexical change
ambwa	Aam ka tarakht	Grammatical change