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
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
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
uqp@uqp.uq.edu.au
© 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
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