Ra Trakhan Gets Castaway

Ra Trakhan

Ra-Trakhan, an ancient Ra of Gilgit, is said to have married a woman of a wealthy family of Darel. The Ra was very fond of playing polo and used to go to Darel weekly for the purpose of playing his favourite game with the seven brothers of his wife.

One game was played on the condition that whichever party lost the game should be murdered. After a long and skilful game, the Ra was the winner, and according to the conditions of the agreement, he executed all his brothers-in-law.

The Soni (queen), who was much disturbed on hearing the sad news of her brothers' death, determined to avenge them and mixed arsenic in her husband's food. So, he died, and she took the reins of government into her own hands.

After a lapse of a month she gave birth to a son who was named Trakhan; but, his mother, who was deeply grieved on account of her brothers' fate, did not like to see the son of a murderer, and cruelly locked him up in a wooden box, which she secretly threw into the river.

The box is said to have been carried away by the current as far as Hodar, a village in the Chilas District, where it was seen by two brothers of poor means, who were collecting wood on the riverbank. Noticing that the box was floating quite close to the bank, and thinking that it might contain some treasure, one of them jumped into the river and brought it ashore.

Thinking it better to open the box in their house, they concealed it in a bundle of wood and carried it home. There they opened it, but to their and their mother's great surprise, a lovely infant was found in it still alive. Their mother brought up this outcast child with every care. The family was in straitened circumstances, but after the arrival of the child, they grew richer and richer, and they considered his arrival the cause of their prosperity.

When the infant was six years of age he began to talk freely with his foster mother, who now related to him the story of his appearance among them, and their becoming more prosperous since his arrival. When Trakhan reached his twelfth year, he wished to see the Gilgit district, of which he had heard a great deal, especially in respect of its fertility. So, he set out for the place accompanied by his foster brothers.

He stayed for a few days on Harali, a hill to the north of Gilgit, which has a flat stretch of land called "Baldas" at its top. This was cultivated in those days, as the water-supply (which has now dried up) was sufficient, and there existed a small village on the spot. The mother of Trakhan was still the ruler of Gilgit, but had then fallen dangerously ill. The people were therefore in search of another competent Ra from any of the neighbouring districts, as there was no one left of the ruling family of Gilgit.

One early morning when the village cocks began to crow, the birds, instead of the usual noise of Kukroonkoon, uttered the following words, to the great astonishment and delight of the people, “Beldas tham bayi" (there is a king at Baldas).

Men were at once sent thence to bring down any stranger they happened to find. The three brothers were seen by them and captured and forcibly carried before the queen.

Trakhan was "handsome and stately in appearance, and the queen therefore addressed him, and asked him to relate the reason for his undertaking this journey, and inquired of his country and his birth. He related all his history at full length, and she found, to her extreme surprise and joy, that the boy then speaking was her own son, whom she had so mercilessly thrown into the river when her mind was disturbed by the murder of her brothers. She then embraced Trakhan and proclaimed him the rightful ruler and heir to the chieftainship of Gilgit.

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Folkloristan x Khoswakt | The Folklore of Gilgit Baltistan