Habba Khatoon. Deconstructing History. Professor Mohammad Aslam

​​Habba Khatoon:

Deconstructing History  

​Professor Muhammad Aslam

​[In continuation of the previous]

​We have seen that the old chronicles fail to give any clue that A Habba Khatoon or A Zoon was there in Yousuf Shah Chak's palace. Shayiq tells us that there was some Habeeba in Yousuf's court, who was a pious lady: chu budah ast khātūn Habībah ba-nām/yakī 'ārifah büd sahib-i maqam ("There was a lady named Habiba; she was a mystic, a woman of spiritual rank"). Kachroo tells us that Yousuf Shah's men spotted Zoon, and she was honoured to share his bed. Baharitan-e-Shahi (no author no publication date) doesn't talk about any woman in the palace except that Akbar had gifted Yousuf Shah two mistresses. Obviously, Akbar wouldn't know Zoon or Habba Khatoon; she couldn't be the one among the two mistresses. Despite devoting two chapters to the rise and fall of Yousuf Shah Chak and minutely detailing intrigues/wars against him, the author chose to remain silent about the king's personal life. Hassan Khoyhami talks about Yousuf Shah Chak's amorous life: "Because of his excessive youthful thoughts and indulgence in sensual matters, he could not pay attention to the affairs of governance. Day and night, he lived a life of pleasure and luxury, absorbed in worldly desires, gatherings of joy and merriment, music and song, and the company of singers and dancing women. He had a natural poetic temperament; therefore, he could compose verses in Persian, Hindi, and Kashmiri extemporaneously" (Tareekh-e-Hassan, vol. 2, 2013, Srinagar: Ali Mohammad & Sons. Trans. Professor (Dr) Sharief Hussain Qasmi, p. 266). Khoyhami also briefly talks about Habba Khatoon and says that Yousuf Khan (Yousuf Shah Chak) met Habba by chance, and listening to her notes in the maqam-e-Iraq, he was captivated. After paying handsomely to her parents, he honoured her by sharing his bed. He says that "Habba Khatoon was unmatched in beauty, charm, melodious voice, and graceful manners. The notes of her songs in the 'maqam-e-Iraq' could leave listeners spellbound and unconscious" (ibid.). In her company, he would wander in meadows and scenic resorts, especially Gulmarg, Sona Marg, Ahrabal, and Achabal (ibid.). Amin Kamil (1995) tells us that Mohammad Din Fauq had benefited from Mahjoor's views on Habba Khatoon. So had Professor Mujeeb read Mahjoor's biography of Habba Khatoon while writing a play in Urdu, Habba Khatoon. Kamil's Habba Khatoon (1959 and 1995) is a comprehensive analysis of the old chronicles and their failure in solving the riddle surrounding Habba Khatoon. Providing a brief assessment of the various sources of Habba Khatoon, Kamil (1995: 52-58) concludes by saying that "many aspects can come to light through discussions if, along with considering what others have said, one also applies one's own analytical thinking". Nobody has heeded his suggestion.  

​Walkhu's (1994) Habba Khatoon appears to me more like Arabian Nights than a factual history. Wakhlu's assertion about Zoon being named Habba Khatoon not in the court of Yousuf Shah Chak but by a saint, much before she became the queen, is in contradiction to the tradition. Wakhlu has given a detailed account of how Habba Khatoon would advise Yousuf Shah Chak in administrative matters and actively participate in the affairs of the court: "Day by day Yusuf loved an easy and care-free life and allowed her to give orders. He found her wise and sought her advice. The love and concord of Yusuf and Habba were as close as nut-kernels in one shell" (p. 185). Following Khoyhami (p. 267), he has related an incident which, to me, is no less than a fairy tale. Khoyhami hasn't given any characters to the story, but Wakhlu has mentioned four main characters, excluding the maids and servants in the palace. The story (pp. 200-203) is that of Gaffara, his wife, Zubeda, Habba Khatoon, and Yousuf Shah Chak. The story begins with Gaffara's wife preparing her bed, and her husband, feeling sick and mentally perturbed. He had seen a magnificent beauty at a window. He was sleepless and ran in fever. His wife, Zubeda, Habba Khatoon's personal maid, who lay by his side, enquired of him the reason for his suffering. Gaffara told her that he was mentally restless. He wouldn't give any reasons for his "mental restlessness", though his wife tried her best. When his condition deteriorated, a hakim was called. On seeing the patient, he laughed and told his wife that Gaffara was in love. Zubeda was stunned. She loved her husband and insisted that he should divulge the name of the dame who he had fallen in love with. After much persuasion, Gaffara told her that it was Habba Khatoon. One day, Habba Khatoon found her maid ill and haggard. She asked her about her ailment. After great insistence, Zubeda informed her about the reason. Habba told her not to worry and thought about a plan which she shared with her husband, Yousuf Shah Chak. Habba wrote the 'drama' and directed it herself. A room in the palace was well decorated and lit with fantastic lighting, giving it an aura of a magical room-I was reminded of a language-teaching method developed by Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychologist and educator, called Suggestopedia. The servants and maids were strictly ordered not to disclose anything about the room to anybody. Gaffara was given the assurance that Habba had been contacted and informed about his love for her-Khoyhami (267) says that Habba Khatoon herself talked to the man. He was happy, took a bath and was led to the magical room where everything seemed like Alice's Wonderland. In the magical room, Gaffara spent three nights enjoying the bed with Habba Khatoon (that is what he was made to believe). Gaffara was completely cured. After three days, Zubeda told him that it was she and not Habba who he had spent the three nights with. Gaffara was astonished and felt ashamed that he had made a wish that could never be fulfilled. He apologized to Habba Khatoon. At the conclusion of the drama, Yousuf Shah was told about it, and he felt very happy and proud that his wife had managed the show very skilfully. This is how Wakhlu seems to have fantasized the whole life of Zoon aka Habba Khatoon

​GMD Sufi (Kashmir: Being a History of Kashmir From the Earliest Times to Our Own. 2018. 3rd Ed. Srinagar: Ali Mohammad & Sons) talks about Zoon becoming Habba Khatoon when "[o]ne day, while singing in a saffron field, her melodies reached Yusuf Shah who happened to pass by. The Prince was captivated. This was a turning point in the life of Habba. She was henceforth a queen and was called the Nur Jahan of Kashmir" (p. 47). However, he says that after the king was exiled "Habba forsook the world and became a hermitess" (ibid). According to Sufi, Habba lived in a small cottage and "passed the rest of her life in contemplation and is believed to be burried [sic] there, though the exact grave cannot be definitely recognized" (p. 48). Abdul Ahad Azad, the most revered literary historian and poet, has also failed to provide any authentic view of Zoon, who he says had become Habba Khatoon, a queen of Yousuf Shah Chak-It is important to note that Azad and Mahjoor were friends. Mahjoor must have shared his findings with Azad. As mentioned elsewhere, Azad had travelled extensively collecting information about the various old and new poets of his time; he seems to have concentrated more on their kalam (poetry) than their life sketches. Building his short narrative on oral tradition, he has added nothing to what the popular belief has been. I wonder on what basis Gunjoo equated Azad's poor history with Browne's A Literary History of Persia and Maulana Shibli Nomani's She'r-ul-Ajam, which are widely considered the best literary ventures because of their depth and comprehensive research. Avtar Krishan Rehbar's (1965) and Naji Munawar and Shafi Shauq (2014) too haven't gone beyond the beaten track. Munawar & Shauq's Kaeshir Zaban ta Adbuk Tawareekh, though written almost five decades after Rehbar's Kaeshri Adbaech Taereekh leaves the reader wanting in unlocking the identity of Zoon aka Habba Khatoon. To me, the book seems to have been written with virtually no research done in identifying the real Habba Khatoon. Is there a way to resolve this issue and let Kashmiris know who this woman with three names- Habeeba, Habba Khatoon and Zoon was actually? Written records given us three different personas:  

​1 Habeeba: The royal court's beautiful lady with a mesmerizing voice. She was pious, an 'arifa' (ascetic). No 'arifa' would like to be a concubine, however great a man might be. Therefore, Kamil's (1995. Footnote 1, p. 34) assertion that this name was used to suit the Persian diction seems far-fetched. Since there is no poetry of Habeeba available, she can't be taken as Habba Khatoon who has remained a household name in Kashmir for centuries.  

​2 Zoon: Two different Zoons: One born to Bota Raj and sold to Kashmiri shawl vendors. THE Zoon born to some Bota Raj appears to be a false narrative to justify the name of a mountain peak in Gurez. To my mind, Kashmiris, in general, and Kashmiri shawl vendors, in particular, have never been so inhuman as to accept (or ask for) a child, especially if it is a girl, in place of money. Therefore, this narrative must be rejected outright. The second one, born to Abdi Rather and married to Aziz Lone and thereafter to Yousuf Shah Chak. This seems simply an imaginary creation of Mohammad Din Fauq. Abdi Rather, Aziz Lone, and Zoon, first the village woman and then a queen of Kashmir, appear fictitious to me.  

​3 Habba Khatoon: Born in a rich and noble family in Shehar (I am assuming that Shehar meant Srinagar, though Pandrethan could have been a city in those days), married to her cousin before becoming one of the queens of Yousuf Shah. How did she reach Chandahar, Pampore? Unless we establish a relationship between Srinagar's rich family and Abdi Rather of Chandahar, there is no way to believe that after her divorce from her cousin, Habba Khatoon had Aziz Lone as her second husband. Maybe she was remarried somewhere else and made her first love a permanent theme of her poetry! We will explore this later when I discuss her poetry.  

​The Zoon of Chandahar has reigned over the psyche of the Kashmiri ethos for centuries. Even though her life has remained a mystery, she has continued to enjoy popularity because of the socially relevant songs attributed to her. The question arises that if Zoon, as claimed by Wakhlu, had burnt all her work before she died, whose vatsan (a form of poetry) and vaakhs do Kashmiris sing? Nobody seems to have refuted Wakhlu so far. Moreover, tradition has it that Zoon was a village girl, married to a village boy and, much later, went into the harem of Yousuf Shah Chak either as a queen or a concubine. SL Sadhu (Habba Khatoon. 1999. 2nd. Trans.

 Professor Mohammad Zaman Azurdah. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi) doesn't have any definite answer to whether she was a queen or a keep (p. 30). However, Khoyhami (2013) says that she became a concubine, which is carried forward by Wakhlu and others. Whether a queen or a keep, the fact remains that Zoon of Chandahar continues to be an important figure in our folklore-it need not be true also. The Habba Khatoon of Shehr-e-Khas, Sringar, is present in poems where she gives her family background-parents, husband, and the place where she was married, and her upbringing. There is no proof of her having been married to either Aziz Lone or Yousuf Shah Chak. As we will see, in her poems, THE Habba Khatoon of Srinagar tells us more about her life than people have really paid attention to. Is it possible to know who Habba Khatoon was? Yes, it is. Modern science has a solution. Centuries-old bones can often tell us quite a lot about the identity of the person buried in a grave. Forensic anthropologists and bioarcheologists can help us estimate (1) a biological profile and (2) DNA and genetic identity that would identify the person. But will this be allowed? Given our conservative outlook and lack of a scientific bent of mind, this seems an uphill, if not an impossible, task. In the absence of such a scientific investigation, Habeeba, Habba Khatoon, or Zoon will remain a mystery.  

​Burial Place  

​A scientific approach would also solve the riddle of whether Habeeba in Biswak is the real Habba Khatoon and/or if the grave at Pantachowk is that of Zoon, aka Habba Khatoon. Otherwise, claims made by Professor Shad Ramzan and Mr Abdal Mahjoor cannot be verified. According to Kamil (1995), Mr Yousuf Teng had claimed in one of his write-ups that Habba Khatoon's grave was at Biswak. Lately, Mr Taing, in conversation with a friend of mine, quoted Mahjoor's following as proof of Habba Khatoon's burial place at Biswak:  

​Born in a farmer's home in Chandahar.

Fate made me queen.

Even in that splendour, I feared God.

My beloved-ah, he loves me not.  

​In no way do these lines relate to the burial place. Also, these lines are autobiographical in nature. The last line is elegiac because the poet says that her lover doesn't love her. Had Yousuf abandoned her? Moreover, the Kashmiri expression 'padsha bhai' (queen) need not be taken in its literal meaning only. Figuratively, Kashmiris still use the expression for a married woman who is living like a queen (a comfortable life) with her in-laws-soa che vaervi padsha bhai (She is a queen at her in-laws). Mr Taing should know that Abdul Ahad Azad had much before Mahjoor, in 1945, said this about Habba Khatoon in vign-i-vanvun ('Sweet Melody'. See Padam Nath Gunjoo. Kuliyat-e-Azad. 1967. J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. Pp. 424-25):  

​A peasant maiden she was from Chandhar, Zoon by name

King Yousuf's beloved Habba Khatoon.

My friend, her wisdom crowned her with fame  

​Come, my friend, let us stroll amidst the garden of flowers.  

​Mahjoor had chided Rasul Mir of Shahabad for ignoring the Moon (Zoon) of Chandahar:  

​Why was Shah Abadi Mir seeking Qandahar's Moon?

Why didn't he remember Chandahar's Moon?  

​Rasul Mir (kuliyat-e-Rasul Mir. 2001. J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, P. 150) had said:  

​You have shamed even Qandahar's Moon, my Sun.

Beneath your burning gaze, I fade unmoving, undone, and far too young. 

 

​INTERPOLATION:

What was special about the Qandahar Moon? Kamil (1995, p. 61) takes it in the sense of 'mah-e-nakhshab'. Nakhshab is an ancient name for the modern city of Qarshi in southern Uzbekistan, where Ibn Ata aka Ibn Muqanna had created an artificial moon (between 775 and 783 AD) that rose every evening from a well in the foothills of Mount Siyam near Nakhshab. This moon illuminated an area of twelve miles with its light. Hence, a symbol for extreme beauty. Mirza Ghalib had said:

  

​chhorã mãh-e nakhshab ki tarah dast-e qazā ne

khorshid hanüz us ke barābar na hua tha

Fate cast him aside like the Moon of Nakhshab,  

​And even the sun had not yet risen to match his brilliance.  

​Anyways, the above discussion in no way tells us about the burial place of Habba as Mr. Taing claimed. Kamil (1995), referring to an article by S Razi (in Shiraza, May-June 1989: 60), wherein he had quoted a 19th-century Kashmiri poet, Wahab Lone, who said: 

​He docked the boat in Pandrethan.

At Pantha Chowk, he sat down in front of the Khatoon.  

​He was talking in Athwajan.

Since then, I've been waiting for him.  

​"Khatoon" is obviously Habba Khatoon, but it doesn't say that she was buried there. As mentioned earlier, the Zoon of  Chandahar was created by Mohammad Din Fauq out of his own imagination. He seems to be a good storyteller, and His-Story went into our folklore. He must have the cue from Mahjoor's biography.. Unfortunately, the latter's biography isn't available, and we have no way to confirm that Zoon really existed. Yousuf Shah Chak lived a very amorous life. Maybe some concubine was there of this name. 

This GHOST will haunt Kashmiris till doomsday. Since nobody seems to have refuted Wakhlu's assertion that Zoon aka Habba Khatoon, burnt all her work before she died, we have to believe that the poetry that we listen to and/or read is that of THE Habba Khatoon of Shehr-e-Khas, which I am going to prove by textual analyses of her poems as I find them very informative about who this Habba Khatoon was. Whether or not this Habba Khatoon became the queen of Yousuf Shah Chak will remain a mystery, though. Let us see how poems help us in identifying this enigmatic poet.

 (Historical discussion concluded)