"Saraiki Language: Where It Is Spoken and Useful Phrases"

The Saraiki language is the main language of south Punjab, spoken around Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Rahim Yar Khan, and also in northern Sindh and the Dera Ismail Khan side of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The 2023 census counted 28.84 million people with Saraiki as their mother tongue, about 12 per cent of Pakistan. It is close enough to Punjabi that a Lahori will follow much of it, but it has its own sounds, its own script letters and a poetic tradition centred on Khawaja Ghulam Farid.

This guide covers where Saraiki is spoken, how it differs from Punjabi, its writers and singers, and a handful of words that are useful on a trip to Multan or Bahawalpur.

Where is Saraiki spoken?

Saraiki's heartland is the south-western half of Punjab, the area people often call the Saraiki belt. On a trip you will hear it as the everyday language of Multan's bazaars, the old city of Bahawalpur, Uch Sharif and Dera Ghazi Khan, and in the towns along the Indus such as Kot Addu and Mithankot.

Wikipedia, drawing on the linguist Christopher Shackle and others, groups the varieties roughly like this:

• Central Saraiki, the Multani variety around Multan, which most people think of as standard Saraiki.
• Southern Saraiki, in Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan districts.
• Sindhi Saraiki, spoken in northern Sindh.
• Northern Saraiki or Thali, around Dera Ismail Khan and the Thal desert.

Older local names are still heard too: the Bahawalpur variety is known as Riasti, and the Dera Ghazi Khan variety as Derawali.

Where does the name Saraiki come from?

Before the 1960s there was no single name. People spoke of Multani, Riasti or Derawali, and the British-era linguist George Grierson grouped these with Hindko under the label Lahnda, or western Punjabi. The name Saraiki was adopted in the 1960s by regional social and political leaders, during a movement to standardise a script and promote the language. One theory links it to the Sindhi word siro, meaning up-river or north.

The census has counted Saraiki speakers separately since 1981, when 9.83 per cent of Pakistanis reported it as their mother tongue. In 1998 the figure was 10.53 per cent, or 13.9 million people, and by 2023 it had reached 28.84 million. Islamia University Bahawalpur set up a Department of Saraiki in 1989, and Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan followed in 2006.

How is Saraiki different from Punjabi?

Saraiki and Punjabi are related closely enough that speakers of each understand a good deal of the other, and some scholars treat both as parts of a greater Punjabi language. The differences a listener notices are real, though.

• Implosive sounds. Saraiki has four implosive consonants, made by pulling air into the mouth, written in IPA as ɓ, ᶑ, ʄ and ɠ. Sindhi has them too, but they are rare among Indo-European languages. Shackle's examples include ᶑak, mail, beside ɖakʈar, doctor.
• No tones. Lahore Punjabi uses pitch to tell some words apart; Saraiki has no tones.
• My and your. Where Punjabi says mera and tera, Saraiki says meḍa and teḍa, with the implosive ḍ. You will hear it in song titles such as Pathanay Khan's "Meda ishq vee toon".
• The future tense. Like Hindko and other Lahnda languages, Saraiki forms its future with an s sound, where Lahore Punjabi uses -ga.

Our guide to the Hindko language covers Saraiki's closest relative in the north, and the languages of Pakistan guide puts both in the national picture.

How is Saraiki written?

In Punjab, Saraiki is written in Shahmukhi, the Urdu form of the Perso-Arabic script, with seven diacritically modified letters for the implosives and extra nasal sounds. The modern standard was agreed in 1979. In Sindh, the Sindhi alphabet is used instead. Older traders and bookkeepers wrote in a script called laṇḍā or Multani, which has almost disappeared.

For an Urdu reader, Saraiki text looks familiar but not quite right: most letters are the same, and the modified ones mark the sounds Urdu does not have.

Who are the great Saraiki poets and singers?

Khawaja Ghulam Farid

Khawaja Ghulam Farid (born about 1841 or 1845 in Chachran, died 24 July 1901) is the poet who made Saraiki an identity. A Chishti Sufi, he was educated at the court of the Nawab of Bahawalpur, Sadeq Muhammad Khan IV, and after his hajj in 1875 spent around eighteen years in retreat in the Cholistan desert, which his poems call the Rohi. His Diwan-e-Farid is a collection of kafis, short sung poems about longing for the beloved, and they are still sung at shrines and on stage across south Punjab and Sindh.

He is buried at Mithankot in Rajanpur district. Our guide to the Kot Mithan shrine covers the tomb and how to get there.

Later voices

• Shakir Shujabadi, the best-known modern Saraiki poet, whose collections include Kalam-e-Shakir and Peelay Patr.
• Pathanay Khan (1926 to 2000) of Kot Addu, who sang Farid's kafis in a style of his own and received the Pride of Performance in 1979.
• Ataullah Khan Esakhelvi and Shafaullah Rokhri, counted among the legends of Saraiki music and among the most popular singers from the region.

Useful Saraiki words and phrases

You do not need these to get by, since everyone in the region speaks Urdu with visitors. A few words of Saraiki, though, will usually earn a smile in a Multan bazaar. The spellings below are simple Roman forms; the meanings come from Wiktionary's Saraiki entries and the grammar notes above.

A safe approach: greet in Saraiki, then carry on in Urdu. People switch without a second thought, and hotel, transport and shop staff in Multan and Bahawalpur use Urdu with visitors as a matter of course.

Where will you hear Saraiki on a trip?

The language is all around you on any trip to south Punjab, but a few places bring it to the front.

• Multan's shrines and bazaars. Around the tombs of Bahauddin Zakariya and Shah Rukn-e-Alam, and in the old city lanes, Saraiki is the language of the stallholders and the pilgrims. Our places to visit in Multan guide covers the city.
• Bahawalpur and Uch Sharif. The Riasti variety of the old state, heard in the city and in Uch, an easy trip from Bahawalpur. See our guide to places to visit in Bahawalpur.
• Kot Mithan at urs time. The urs of Khawaja Ghulam Farid includes kafi singing at his shrine, which is the closest you will come to Saraiki poetry performed in its own setting.

Is it worth learning about Saraiki before a trip?

If you are travelling to Multan, Bahawalpur or Dera Ghazi Khan, yes, a little. Knowing that south Punjab speaks its own language, not Lahore Punjabi, explains a lot about the region, from its music to the way people greet you. It also makes the shrines and their poetry far more interesting.

If you want a phrasebook to get around, Saraiki is not where to spend your effort. Urdu does the work everywhere in the Saraiki belt, and a Punjabi speaker will be understood in Punjabi. Our Pakistan travel guide has the practical basics for any trip.

Frequently asked questions