The Leopard Princess

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by Rosanne Hawke


  The look in Azhar’s eyes was overwhelming, so she glanced down at his hands instead. ‘Afterward we can create treaties with all the northern kingdoms, and never again will we be overcome by a common enemy.’

  He lifted one of her hands to his lips. She could feel his gaze on her.

  ‘And we’ll regulate the Silk Route, eliminate religious taxes …’

  He kissed her palm.

  ‘And girls will be educated, travellers kept safe with more caravanserais …’ Her words finally failed as he lifted her other palm and she braved his eyes.

  ‘So, you love me after all?’ He tilted his head and grinned.

  She gave him a mock frown. ‘Well, you can be very annoying and I’m sure we’ll argue—’

  He kissed her palms and each of her fingers. ‘Making peace with each other will be pleasant.’

  The water curled around their feet as she stood on tiptoe to rest her cheek against his.

  Together they stood watching the sun rise from the sea, bathing in its red and golden reflection. Jahani let the peace settle in her heart; so long she had travelled and now she was finally home.

  Main Characters

  Kingdom of Hazara

  Jahani (Jahanara Ashraf Shaheen Khan) (14)

  Azhar Sekandar, Jahani’s protector (18)

  Hafeezah Gulzar, Jahani’s foster mother

  Sameela Malik Habib, Jahani’s late friend (15)

  Persia

  Kifayat Ullah, former wazir of Nagir

  Bilal Abdul, former wazir of Hahayul

  Kingdom of Kaghan

  Anjuli Singh (10), Jahani’s heart sister

  Baqir Abbaas, Jahani’s adoptive father

  Zarah Baqir, Baqir’s wife, Jahani’s adoptive mother

  Saman Abdul, commander of Baqir’s troop

  The Nomads

  Tafeeq Baseer, the nomad chieftain

  Rahul Tafeeq, Tafeeq’s son, the nomad prince (20)

  Yasmeen Baseer, a pir, Tafeeq’s sister and Jahani’s nomad mother

  Neemah, a nomad widow

  Kamilah, Neema’s daughter

  Kingdom of Gilit

  Ali Shah, commander of the Makhfi, the hidden army of Hahayul

  Ehsan, troop leader of the Makhfi

  Irshaad, second-in-command of the Makhfi

  Nusrat, a woman living in the Gilit bazaar

  Rabb, a scout in the Makhfi

  Lateef, a hakim in the Makhfi

  Kingdom of Skardu

  Muzahid Baig, a war lord, who also has a residence in Kaghan

  Hissam Sarwar, a guide

  Vardah, first wife of Muzahid Baig

  Dara (8) and Shushu (6), Vardah’s children

  Shayla, second wife of Muzahid Baig

  Zeb-un-Nissa, a Mughal princess and poet

  Qadi Ghulam, head eunuch in Muzahid’s zenana

  Kabeer Yazeed, Jahani’s uncle

  Kingdom of Hahayul

  Dagar Khan, former army commander of Hahayul and ­self-appointed mir of Hahayul

  Pir Zal, a seer

  Gulzar Abdul, Hafeezah’s father

  Kaniza, the dowager queen

  Animals

  Chandi, Jahani’s mare

  Yazan, Jahani’s leopard

  Zadi, Yazan’s mother

  Bili, Yazan’s sister

  Layla, Rahul’s dog

  Farah, Rahul’s mare

  Bibi, Rahul’s hawk

  Kaveh, Hissam’s stallion

  Rakhsh, Azhar’s stallion

  Sitarah, Hafeezah’s mare

  Other

  Shamsher, Jahani’s scimitar

  A Note about Languages

  Hindustani was widely spoken in the seventeenth century in the Mughal Empire, though Persian was used in the Mughal Courts and by officials. Burushaski was spoken by many in Hahayul (modern Hunza). The nomads knew Hindustani and Persian but their mother tongue was Gujjari.

  Since Hindustani was widely spoken this is what most people in The Leopard Princess speak, either as a mother tongue or second language. Jahani and Hafeezah speak Burushaski as a mother tongue but only speak it to each other until Azhar shows he knows it also. Azhar has been brought up with Persian and he speaks this with his foster father, Kifayat, and also Bilal, the former wazir or prime minister of Hahayul. Ali Shah can also speak Burushaski but usually speaks Hindustani since he is rarely alone with Jahani. They all know a smattering of Arabic (except Anjuli) as this is their religious language.

  The complexity of life living in many little kingdoms can be shown by the use of language, but, besides a few Arabic words, I have chosen to show only three languages in the prose: Hindustani as the main one, Burushaski from the northern kingdoms, and a little Persian. Azhar’s words for the carpet are Urdu words derived from Persian. I have used alternate and older spellings for some placenames, such as Hahayul (Hunza), Nagir (Nagar), and Gilit (Gilgit), Hemalleh (Himalaya), and used the older spelling using ‘q’ instead of ‘k’ for Qurraqoram, Hindu Qush & Qashmir.

  Thus words in the glossary are Hindustani (Urdu) or common to other languages, unless otherwise marked.

  Glossary

  abu dad

  accha good

  acho brother (Burushaski)

  ahister steady, slowly

  Akbar the Great Mughal emperor during 1556-1605;

  Akbar also means great

  amis my grandchild (Burushaski)

  ammi mum

  Angrez English person/people

  Angrezi rani English queen

  api my grandparent (Burushaski)

  awa yes (Burushaski)

  ayah nanny

  Ayeshe heavenly ones (Burushaski)

  aziz dear, beloved (Persian)

  badmarsh bandits

  bai a form of endearment or respect in Hindustani

  baleh yes (Persian)

  bap/bapa father

  begum madam

  beta son

  bey ya no (Burushaski)

  Bophau barley seed scattering (sowing) rite (Burushaski)

  burutz fresh cheese (Burushaski)

  chai tea

  chai walla tea vendor

  chapatti flatbread

  charpai lightweight wooden bed woven with hemp rope

  Chin China

  chita leopard

  chup quiet

  dahl cooked lentils

  dekho look

  dupatta scarf

  Eid a religious festival

  Feraydun a hero from The Shahnameh, The Persian Book of Kings

  ghenish queen (Burushaski)

  Gordafarid daughter of a Persian hero

  hakim healer

  hazoor sir

  houri a beautiful virgin who dwells in Paradise

  jan life, also used after a name as an endearment

  janab sir

  jao go

  ji yes, also used after a name as a term of respect

  jinn a spirit which can be good or evil and take human or animal form

  ju na thank you (Burushaski)

  kaka older sister (Burushaski)

  kamarband waistband

  laaooo hear ye (Burushaski)

  makhfi hidden

  mamnoon thank you (Persian)

  mir king

  missahiba miss, title of respect

  mohur gold coin

  mullah priest

  nah kheir no (Persian)

  nanga naked

  nay no (slang)

  neechay under, below, down

  Nowruz Persian New Year, though many neighbouring countries also celebrate it

  ooper up

  panir cheese, like ricotta

  parbat mountain

  pari fairy spirit

  pedar father (Persian)

  pesar son (Persian)

  pir seer

  pyari dearest

  qameez long top/shirt

  Qhuda God

  Qhuda Hafiz God keep you safe, good bye

  rabaab stringed instrument

  rokko stop


  roti bread

  Rostam Persian hero

  sahib sir

  salar commander

  Sekandar Alexander

  Shahnameh The Persian Book of Kings

  shalwar baggy trousers

  shami kebabs spicy meat patties

  shehzada prince

  shehzadi princess

  shua thapan good night

  shukriya thank you

  Simurgh a giant bird in Persian mythology

  sitarah star

  subz chai green tea

  Sulieman Solomon

  Sunni one of the two main branches of Islam, commonly described as orthodox

  tamasha spectacle, festival

  tark animal shelter (Burushaski)

  taveez amulet, often containing words from the Qur’an

  tham king (Burushaski)

  uushaki foster relation (Burushaski)

  wah wow, wonderful

  wazir minister of state

  Zahhak an evil king in Persian mythology

  zarur certainly

  Zeb-un-Nissa imperial princess of the Mughal Empire, eldest child of Emperor Aurangzeb and Dilras Banu Begum

  zenana harem, women’s quarters

  Acknowledgements

  The Leopard Princess grew from stories I told my children when we lived near the Pakistani Karakoram Mountains, which we loved very much. It was also the original project that won me the Asialink Fellowship to Pakistan in 2006, and so I wish to thank Asialink and also Arts SA who helped finance that fruitful time of research and collecting of ideas which grew into many books.

  My sincere thanks go to author Azhar Abidi who has given permission for me to use his idea of how a carpet flies, which I found in his creative essay, ‘The Secret History of the Flying Carpet’ in Meanjin 63:2, 2004, pp. 141 – 148.

  Thank you to Michael Hawke for writing the prophecies and Jahani’s poems ‘The Tales of Jahani’, ‘Gold Bangles’, Jahani’s Lament’ and ‘Valley of Happiness’ and for giving permission to use them in The Leopard Princess. Thank you for the great advice with plotting and the character agency charts.

  Thank you, Lenore Penner, for your constant encouragement to write this story, brainstorming ideas and reading drafts. You’ve been waiting for this one a long time.

  My grateful thanks go to D.M. Cornish for his exquisite artwork and enthusiasm for this project. Thanks to Ruth Harbinson Gresham, Frank Lyman, and to Catherine Wood for the inspiring photographs of Hunza.

  Thank you to my wonderful agent, Jacinta Di Mase, and the delightful and clever team at UQP for your creative and excellent work on The Leopard Princess: Kristina Schulz, Kristy Bushnell and Jo Hunt. You are brilliant!

  Although Rumi’s poetry can be found in many books and numerous places on the internet, I have included my sources here. The Rumi line ‘She is a ray of the beauty of God’ is from Mathnawi I: 2429 – 37 and can be found at www.dar-al-masnavi.org/n-I-2429.html

  The lines Ali Shah quotes from Rumi are excerpted from ‘A New Rule’, translated by Kabir Helminski, from Love is a Stranger, © 1993 by Kabir Edmund Helminski. Reprinted by arrangement with The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Shambhala Publications Inc., Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com.

  Rumi’s words ‘Only from the heart can you touch the sky’, which Jahani dreams, can be found at www.allgreatquotes.com/rumi_quotes.shtml.

  The line ‘Have wings that feared ever touched the Sun’ are by Raba al-Adawiyya (714 – 801) and can be found in Ladinsky, D, (Trs), 2003, The Subject Tonight is Love: Sixty Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz, Penguin Compass, New York. Used with permission.

  The verse Jahani recites in the zenana is from the poem ‘Build a House for Men’ by Hafiz, found in Ladinsky, D, (Trs), 2003, The Subject Tonight is Love: Sixty Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz, Penguin Compass, New York. Used with permission.

  I also gained inspiration from the following:

  Croutier, A L, 1989, Harem, the World behind the Veil, Abbeville Press, New York.

  Ferdowsi, A, 2006, Trs Dick Davis, Shahnameh, The Persian Book of Kings, Penguin, New York.

  Gascoigne, B, 1971, The Great Moghuls, B.I. Publications, New Delhi.

  Krynicki, A K, 2005, Captive Princess Zeb-un-Nissa, Oxford University Press, London.

  Laird, E (Retold by), 2012, The Shahnameh, The Persian Book of Kings, Frances Lincoln, London.

  Luchsinger, M & Obersteiner, M, 2003, Cooking in Hunza, Aga Khan Cultural Service, Pakistan.

  Manucci, N, n.d. pre 1950, Michael Edwards Ed., Memoirs of the Mogul [sic] Court, Folio Society, London.

  Shaw, I, 1989, Pakistan Handbook, The Guidebook Company, Hong Kong.

  Ullens de Schooten, M, 1956, Lords of the Mountains, The Travel Book Club, London.

  Willson, S R, 2002, A Look at Hunza Culture, National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

  First published 2016 by University of Queensland Press

  PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia

  www.uqp.com.au

  [email protected]

  © Rosanne Hawke 2016

  This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

  Cover and text illustrations © D.M. Cornish 2016

  Map © D.M. Cornish 2016

  Cover design by Jo Hunt

  Typeset in 12.5/16.5 pt Perpetua MT Std by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

  The researching of The Leopard Princess was assisted by an Asialink Fellowship to Pakistan and financed by Arts SA.

  Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  National Library of Australia

  http://catalogue.nla.gov.au

  Hawke, Rosanne, author.

  The leopard princess / Rosanne Hawke.

  ISBN 978 0 7022 5422 2 (pbk)

  ISBN 978 0 7022 5808 4 (pdf)

  ISBN 978 0 7022 5809 1 (epub)

  ISBN 978 0 7022 5810 7 (kindle)

  For primary school age.

  Children of nomads – Juvenile fiction.

  Pakistan – History – Juvenile fiction.

  Adventure stories.

  A823.3

  University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

 

 

 


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