Habba Khatun

Habba Khatoon (born Zoon; 1554–1609; sometimes spelled Khatun), also known by the honorary title The Nightingale of Kashmir, was a Kashmiri Muslim poet and ascetic in the 16th century. Biography She was born in a small village in Chandhara. Pampore, Pulwama in Kashmir. Her real name was Zoon or Zun. According to the oral tradition, she was called Zoon because of her great beauty. Although a peasant, she learnt how to read and write from the village moulvi. According to legend, one day Yousuf Shah Chak, the last independent emperor of Kashmir, was out hunting on horseback. He heard Zoon singing under the shade of a chinar tree, and the couple met and fell in love. The oral tradition describes Zoon as Yousuf Shah Chak's queen consort, although there is scholarly debate about whether she was in fact a lower status mistress or member of his harem. She entered the palace in about 1570, and at some point changed her name to become Habba Khatoon. The couple were reportedly very content, and Yousuf Shah became the ruler of Kashmir. However, they were separated in 1579 after the Mughal emperor Akbar had Yousuf Shah arrested and imprisoned in Bihar, never to return. After this, Habba Khatoon became an ascetic, and spent the rest of her life wandering across the valley singing her songs.