After his birth, he was never told of the cause of his father’s and grandfather’s death until he was a young man. One theory has it that Dulla was born at the same time as Akbar’s son Salim (who would later become Emperor Jahangir), but Salim was a weakling and on doctors’ suggestions Akbar brought in Ladhi (Dulla’s mother and a strong Rajput woman) to his palace in Delhi and made her breastfeed Salim. So BOTH DULLA AND SALIM were practically brought up by Ladhi. As adolescents, these two had a good friendship. Dulla and his mother move back to their homeland once Salim has grown up enough.
The story of Dulla has been poetically treated by many and has been written in the style known as Saddam (similar to Mirza by Peelu and Bhagwan Singh). The above incident is thus narrated:
Tera saandal dada maareya, ditta bhore vich paa, Mughlaan puthhiyaan khallaan laah ke bhariyaan naal hawaa.
In the Chardah (East) Punjab-now India-during the Lohri bonfires that mark the end of the deep winter and the start of spring (Capricorn Constellation-Makar appears over the horizon) all the Sikh and Hindu families mark Dulla Bhatti’s social and humanitarian contribution made to rescue and then reintegrate the abducted children and girls from the Moghul forces. The Lohri Song is sung upon the birth of a baby boy- for the agricultural community this marks the continuation of the family land occupation.
Abdullah and his family single-handedly fought the powerful Mughals for the farmers of Punjab, which is why their songs are still sung in folk tales on Lohri (Makarsankranti). Lohri of Punjab is incomplete without Dulla Bhatti. A Pakistani movie with this name was released in 1956. A play is also narrated. Also, RDB’s Dulla is attributed to Rajput Sher Baba Dulla Bhatti with the following lyrics:
