After awakening from yet another dream, Jahani receives a warning from Chandi. She immediately alerts Tafeeq and Rahul who order her to stay in the women's tent. They believe the war lord Muzahid Baig's soldiers are preparing to attack. At dawn as expected, the camp is attacked by Muzahid's men. When soldiers attempt to attack the women's tent, Jahani mounts Chandi and helps Neema and a young boy defend it, rescuing Kamilah. After the attack the nomad prince, Rahul is discovered missing. As it turns out he has been captured by Muzahid who is determined to force Rahul to find him the red haired shehzadi "who holds the key to the northern kingdoms". This is the second time Rahul has been captured and tortured by Muzahid, the first being when he was a ten-year-old boy. Dagar Khan wanted Muzahid to marry Jahani then hand her over to him so he could kill her. Rahul insists that the story of the lost shehzadi from the Kingdom of Hahayul is a legend, but Muzahid believes it to be true and offers Rahul the promise of land when he becomes Tham of Hahayul. He tells Rahul that he has disposed of the shehzadi's adoptive parents, Baqir Abbaas and his wife Zarah. When Rahul refuses to help Muzahid locate the shehzadi, Muzahid has Rahul's middle finger cut from his right hand.In the nomad camp Jahani is visited by Yazan, the snow leopard who tells her that they need to travel north. That night Jahani and Anjuli riding Chandi and Rahul on his mare Farah leave Lalazar for the Babusar Pass. They are attacked in the small pass by badmarsh bandits.
Meanwhile Azhar is devastated that Jahani has refused to travel north with him on his magic carpet. When he learns that Jahani has left the nomad camp, he travels to the Babusar Pass. There he finds Muzahid's men waiting for Jahani. He also meets Jahani's foster mother, Hafeezah on her mare Sitarah, heading north to the Kingdom of Hahayul. She is travelling north to her home in Hahayul with Baqir Abbaas's troops under the command of Saman Abdul. Hafeezah informs Azhar that Muzahid has murdered Baqir and Zarah. Azhar has Hafeezah take his horse Rakhsh north, while he travels by carpet to this father, Kifayat in Jask. There he meets Bilal, the former wazir of Hahayul. Azhar confesses his concern that Rahul may be taking Jahani to Muzahid. However, his father tells Azhar that Jahani's journey to the Qurraqoram Mountains will help prepare her and raise support.
As they travel north, Rahul tells Jahani he is uncertain that she is the shehzadi that has been foretold. He tells Jahani how he came to find her twelve years earlier. The summer the royal family of Hahayul were murdered, the nomads travelled farther north than usual into the northern kingdoms. They stayed a few days in the town of Baltit in the Kingdom of Hahayul. Rahul was nine-years-old and while in the town, he learned that a terrible tragedy had occurred in the kingdom. While walking back to the nomad camp, Rahul saw a lost, red-haired child fall into the river. He managed to rescue her and took her to the bazaar to see if anyone had lost a little girl. Her clothing was covered in blood and had burn marks. The chai walla seeing her red hair told him to hide Jahani as soldiers were out capturing any red-haired girls. The nomads quickly left Baltit, as armed men arrived in the town. Rahul, who had lost his mother and sister, had his Aunt Yasmeen care for her. At ten, Rahul was kidnapped by Muzahid who tortured him and cut off a finger on his left hand. Rahul's father Tafeeq and Aunt Yasmeen believed Jahani would be safer with Zarah and Baqir.
Jahani continues her journey northward for several days. At the Mazeno Pass, they are again attacked by bandits but are helped by Yazan. One night as they are resting, Jahani is warned by Chandi that men are approaching. They are confronted by men dressed in mismatched green shalwar qameezes, led by an unknown man. The man tells them that he is here not to fight but to talk. He identifies himself as Ali Shah, the second-in-command in the tham's army under Dagar Khan. He refused to support Dagar when he rebelled and fled to avoid execution/
Ali tells Jahani the story of what happened when she was very young. He was part of a troop left behind to guard the tham - her father, the ghenish, the little shehzadi and their ministers. When troops were overcome by Dagar's men, he managed to get the shehzadi out into the street, but in the confusion they were trampled and the little girl fell into the fire. He was able to put out the flames and they escaped to the river. However the boat to take them to safety was not there and he was wounded by an arrow. The little child got away and ran to the river in fright. And Ali lost her. Now he is commander of the Makhfi, the hidden army, who are loyal to the royal family of Hahayul.
Jahani is shocked because Ali is describing her recurring dream. When Ali Shah asks Jahani her name, Rahul becomes angry but Yazan instructs her to do so. Jahani tells him her name and lowers her dupatta which covers the bottom half of her face. Ali tells her that Jahani was the nickname for the shehzadi and that her full name is Jahanara Ashraf Shaheen Khan. He also reveals that Dagar Khan is a distant cousin to her father, the late tham. Dagar Khan wants to produce the body of the shehzadi so that he can finally have his rule over the Kingdom of Hahayul accepted by the people. Despite her appearance and Rahul's story, Ali Shah is still unconvinced but when he sees the taveez around her neck, Ali is certain he has found the lost shehzadi.
Ali tells Rahul that he has one hundred men and that "another ten thousand are stationed in the forest near the town of Gilit with my captain, Irshaad." Men are infiltrating Dagar Khan's cavalry, training to overthrow him. He also reveals that Jahani's grandmother escaped the massacre and has been quietly organizing support.
These revelations overwhelm Jahani who now realizes she has a surviving relative and has finally discovered her identity. This leaves her with many questions: "What if she couldn't do what the people expected of her?...Would a man like Ali Shah want to rule for her?,,,Is this why Muzahid wanted to marry her? Did he know she was the shehzadi?" She wonders how she can defeat Dagar Khan. Jahani's path to the throne of Hahayul will prove to be more dangerous and difficult than she could ever have imagined. With the help of Rahul and Azhar, Chandi and Yazan and many others, Jahani will have to overcome many obstacles including
Discussion
The concluding novel to the Jahani Tales, written in third person past tense, is exciting and filled with intrigue. In The Leopard Princess, Hawke ties up all of her loose ends and crafts a tension filled but satisfying conclusion.
The novel picks up where the first one left off, with Jahani returning to the nomad camp, unaware of her true identity. Azhar has not revealed what he knows about Jahani, and Rahul is doubtful about the existence of the shehzadi, believing it to be legend. Through various characters, Jahani's past and her identity are gradually revealed to her. In The Leopard Princess Jahani learns about her past and her heritage from Ali Shah, Rabb's cousin Nusrat, from Shehzadi Zeb-un-Nissa, from Kabeer Yazeed who is Jahani's uncle and imprisoned in Muzahid's dungeon, from her grandmother Kaniza, and even from Dagar Khan. But it is Ali Shah who reveals her identity. When Jahani meets Ali Shah, his story coincides so remarkably with her nightmare of fire and terror, which he could only have known if he experienced it, that she realizes he is speaking the truth.
When Jahani finally discovers who she is and what her destiny is, she initially experiences conflict over who to trust, Rahul or Azhar and self-doubt as to whether she can truly rule her father's Kingdom. The Leopard Princess follows Jahani's personal journey from internal conflict and self-doubt to courage, trust and self confidence to act as a true queen for her people. Faced with the reality that she is the lost shehzadi whom the people of Hahayul have placed all their hope in, Jahani is filled with doubt. "With Yazan by her side, Jahani felt better. But still doubt had crept into her mind. How could she rise to this challenge and be the shehzadi when she hadn't been raised to rule?" Yazan advises her "You must be yourself."
Once Jahani accepts the truth of her identity she immediately begins to act on it despite her doubts. She makes the decision that "It would be best to regain the kingdom with peace, not war." even though she believes Ali Shah would ridicule this goal. Partly this is because Jahani now believes in the vision Yazmeen shared with her of a "lost shehzadi, a girl with red hair and a snow leopard, come to the northern kingdoms, and she brought peace without a war." Jahani is not to be deterred; when Rahul counsels that she could return with him to the nomads Jahani tells him " You can return, but I would always feel I hadn't fulfilled my destiny."
The main challenge Jahani must confront is discerning who to trust. Partly this is the result of her being passed from family to family, from the nomads to Baqir and Zarah, then to Hafeezah and back again through her life. Because everyone around her seems to have a motive for helping her, Jahani is distrusts Ali Shah's motives and so she tells him, 'I want you to consult me in any plans as I need to learn about my position. What if I do not agree with your decisions?" When Ali balks at this she tells him, "And another person will rule in my name since I knew nothing...I think not." Jahani is inspired by the Angrezi rani - Queen Elizabeth who ruled England in the 1500s.
Although initially she trusted Azhar who has been protecting her since she lived in Sherwan, she begins to doubt after Rahul warns her about him. This doubt re-surfaces when Jahani accompanied by Rahul and Ali Shah, meets Azhar who suddenly appears on his magic carpet at the Indus River, offering to take her across the river to safety. Even though Chandi warns her to go north quickly, Jahani determined to make her own decisions, refuses Azhar. This turns out to be a bad decision that results in her capture and eventual arrival in the harem of Muzahid.
In Muzahid's harem, talking to Shehzadi Zeb-un-Nissa, makes Jahani realize that she's "had no experience, no emperor or tham as father, no paternal authority to tell her what she could or couldn't do...Now many men told her to do what they wanted: to be safe, who to trust, who to marry. That would have to change."
Unfortunately in her attempt to be independent, Jahani turns away the one person whom she can trust, Azhar Sekandar Khan. This is partly because Jahani doesn't know Azhar's true identity either. Hafeezah defends Azhar's actions in not revealing himself to her and cautions her, "We must always be careful that pride or hurt feelings don't blind us to truth." Although Jahani feels that she has acted in the best interests of the Kingdom of Hahayul, her heart tells her otherwise.
When Jahani feels betrayed by Azhar for his part in keeping her identity secret, and feels that there is no one she can trust, it is her grandmother who tells her that she has more allies than she knows. Jahani comes to recognize that she has not treated Azhar fairly, that he is an ally and can be trusted. She calls for his aid and when Azhar arrives outside the zenana of Dagar Khan, Jahani learns how many people have come to her aid and just who she can trust.
In Jahani, Hawke has crafted an intelligent, courageous heroine, who is not afraid to act. Trapped in Muzahid's zenana or harem, Jahani isn't resigned to her fate but devises a plan to take out the war lord on her terms. She confronts him in his bedroom no less, demanding the use of her charmed sword, Shamsher and then with the help of Yazan slays him. When she arrives in Baltit, Jahani disguises herself to visit her grandmother Kaniza who is imprisoned in the the fort by Dagar Khan. She decides on a second visit because her grandmother "Kaniza had seen her husband and her son ruling Hahayul; Jahani needed to tap that knowledge." And she decides on a very courageous path, turning herself into Dagar Khan, whom she knows will kill her in a public spectacle. Jahani shows just how important achieving peace in her kingdom is to her, when she is willing to offer her life for her people. She has changed a great deal from the young girl who witnessed the murder of her best friend only months earlier.
In The Leopard Princess, all of the characters are fictional except Zeb-un-Nissa, who was a Mughal princess and famed poet who wrote under the pen name of Makhfi. She was the eldest daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief wife Dilras Banu Begum. Zeb-un-Nissa was highly intelligent and well educated in both the Quran and in the sciences.
Hawke rounds out her novel with a map showing Jahani's convoluted journey to her kingdom, a list of main characters which is helpful but should have been placed at the front of the novel with the first map which details Jahani's journey up to that point, A Note About Languages, and a Glossary.
Young readers, aged 10 plus will enjoy the The Leopard Princess. Parents should be aware there are several murders, a reference to the rape of Jahani's mother and her murder while pregnant and also Jahani's placement in a harem or zenana. The author merely states these things and there are no graphic descriptions.
The Tales of Jahani are Rosanne Hawke's best works to date. It's obvious this story was dear to her heart and that reflects in the care with which these novels were crafted. The setting of the story, in the mountainous northern kingdoms of the Mughal Empire in 1662, the endearing heroine, the magical animals who aid her, the hint of something more between Azhar and Jahani, all combine to make this a unique historical fiction novel.
Book Details:
The Leopard Princess by Rosanne Hawke
St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia: University of Queensland Press 2016
345 pp.
Jahani is shocked because Ali is describing her recurring dream. When Ali Shah asks Jahani her name, Rahul becomes angry but Yazan instructs her to do so. Jahani tells him her name and lowers her dupatta which covers the bottom half of her face. Ali tells her that Jahani was the nickname for the shehzadi and that her full name is Jahanara Ashraf Shaheen Khan. He also reveals that Dagar Khan is a distant cousin to her father, the late tham. Dagar Khan wants to produce the body of the shehzadi so that he can finally have his rule over the Kingdom of Hahayul accepted by the people. Despite her appearance and Rahul's story, Ali Shah is still unconvinced but when he sees the taveez around her neck, Ali is certain he has found the lost shehzadi.
Ali tells Rahul that he has one hundred men and that "another ten thousand are stationed in the forest near the town of Gilit with my captain, Irshaad." Men are infiltrating Dagar Khan's cavalry, training to overthrow him. He also reveals that Jahani's grandmother escaped the massacre and has been quietly organizing support.
These revelations overwhelm Jahani who now realizes she has a surviving relative and has finally discovered her identity. This leaves her with many questions: "What if she couldn't do what the people expected of her?...Would a man like Ali Shah want to rule for her?,,,Is this why Muzahid wanted to marry her? Did he know she was the shehzadi?" She wonders how she can defeat Dagar Khan. Jahani's path to the throne of Hahayul will prove to be more dangerous and difficult than she could ever have imagined. With the help of Rahul and Azhar, Chandi and Yazan and many others, Jahani will have to overcome many obstacles including
Discussion
The concluding novel to the Jahani Tales, written in third person past tense, is exciting and filled with intrigue. In The Leopard Princess, Hawke ties up all of her loose ends and crafts a tension filled but satisfying conclusion.
The novel picks up where the first one left off, with Jahani returning to the nomad camp, unaware of her true identity. Azhar has not revealed what he knows about Jahani, and Rahul is doubtful about the existence of the shehzadi, believing it to be legend. Through various characters, Jahani's past and her identity are gradually revealed to her. In The Leopard Princess Jahani learns about her past and her heritage from Ali Shah, Rabb's cousin Nusrat, from Shehzadi Zeb-un-Nissa, from Kabeer Yazeed who is Jahani's uncle and imprisoned in Muzahid's dungeon, from her grandmother Kaniza, and even from Dagar Khan. But it is Ali Shah who reveals her identity. When Jahani meets Ali Shah, his story coincides so remarkably with her nightmare of fire and terror, which he could only have known if he experienced it, that she realizes he is speaking the truth.
When Jahani finally discovers who she is and what her destiny is, she initially experiences conflict over who to trust, Rahul or Azhar and self-doubt as to whether she can truly rule her father's Kingdom. The Leopard Princess follows Jahani's personal journey from internal conflict and self-doubt to courage, trust and self confidence to act as a true queen for her people. Faced with the reality that she is the lost shehzadi whom the people of Hahayul have placed all their hope in, Jahani is filled with doubt. "With Yazan by her side, Jahani felt better. But still doubt had crept into her mind. How could she rise to this challenge and be the shehzadi when she hadn't been raised to rule?" Yazan advises her "You must be yourself."
Once Jahani accepts the truth of her identity she immediately begins to act on it despite her doubts. She makes the decision that "It would be best to regain the kingdom with peace, not war." even though she believes Ali Shah would ridicule this goal. Partly this is because Jahani now believes in the vision Yazmeen shared with her of a "lost shehzadi, a girl with red hair and a snow leopard, come to the northern kingdoms, and she brought peace without a war." Jahani is not to be deterred; when Rahul counsels that she could return with him to the nomads Jahani tells him " You can return, but I would always feel I hadn't fulfilled my destiny."
The main challenge Jahani must confront is discerning who to trust. Partly this is the result of her being passed from family to family, from the nomads to Baqir and Zarah, then to Hafeezah and back again through her life. Because everyone around her seems to have a motive for helping her, Jahani is distrusts Ali Shah's motives and so she tells him, 'I want you to consult me in any plans as I need to learn about my position. What if I do not agree with your decisions?" When Ali balks at this she tells him, "And another person will rule in my name since I knew nothing...I think not." Jahani is inspired by the Angrezi rani - Queen Elizabeth who ruled England in the 1500s.
Although initially she trusted Azhar who has been protecting her since she lived in Sherwan, she begins to doubt after Rahul warns her about him. This doubt re-surfaces when Jahani accompanied by Rahul and Ali Shah, meets Azhar who suddenly appears on his magic carpet at the Indus River, offering to take her across the river to safety. Even though Chandi warns her to go north quickly, Jahani determined to make her own decisions, refuses Azhar. This turns out to be a bad decision that results in her capture and eventual arrival in the harem of Muzahid.
In Muzahid's harem, talking to Shehzadi Zeb-un-Nissa, makes Jahani realize that she's "had no experience, no emperor or tham as father, no paternal authority to tell her what she could or couldn't do...Now many men told her to do what they wanted: to be safe, who to trust, who to marry. That would have to change."
Unfortunately in her attempt to be independent, Jahani turns away the one person whom she can trust, Azhar Sekandar Khan. This is partly because Jahani doesn't know Azhar's true identity either. Hafeezah defends Azhar's actions in not revealing himself to her and cautions her, "We must always be careful that pride or hurt feelings don't blind us to truth." Although Jahani feels that she has acted in the best interests of the Kingdom of Hahayul, her heart tells her otherwise.
When Jahani feels betrayed by Azhar for his part in keeping her identity secret, and feels that there is no one she can trust, it is her grandmother who tells her that she has more allies than she knows. Jahani comes to recognize that she has not treated Azhar fairly, that he is an ally and can be trusted. She calls for his aid and when Azhar arrives outside the zenana of Dagar Khan, Jahani learns how many people have come to her aid and just who she can trust.
In Jahani, Hawke has crafted an intelligent, courageous heroine, who is not afraid to act. Trapped in Muzahid's zenana or harem, Jahani isn't resigned to her fate but devises a plan to take out the war lord on her terms. She confronts him in his bedroom no less, demanding the use of her charmed sword, Shamsher and then with the help of Yazan slays him. When she arrives in Baltit, Jahani disguises herself to visit her grandmother Kaniza who is imprisoned in the the fort by Dagar Khan. She decides on a second visit because her grandmother "Kaniza had seen her husband and her son ruling Hahayul; Jahani needed to tap that knowledge." And she decides on a very courageous path, turning herself into Dagar Khan, whom she knows will kill her in a public spectacle. Jahani shows just how important achieving peace in her kingdom is to her, when she is willing to offer her life for her people. She has changed a great deal from the young girl who witnessed the murder of her best friend only months earlier.
In The Leopard Princess, all of the characters are fictional except Zeb-un-Nissa, who was a Mughal princess and famed poet who wrote under the pen name of Makhfi. She was the eldest daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief wife Dilras Banu Begum. Zeb-un-Nissa was highly intelligent and well educated in both the Quran and in the sciences.
Hawke rounds out her novel with a map showing Jahani's convoluted journey to her kingdom, a list of main characters which is helpful but should have been placed at the front of the novel with the first map which details Jahani's journey up to that point, A Note About Languages, and a Glossary.
Young readers, aged 10 plus will enjoy the The Leopard Princess. Parents should be aware there are several murders, a reference to the rape of Jahani's mother and her murder while pregnant and also Jahani's placement in a harem or zenana. The author merely states these things and there are no graphic descriptions.
The Tales of Jahani are Rosanne Hawke's best works to date. It's obvious this story was dear to her heart and that reflects in the care with which these novels were crafted. The setting of the story, in the mountainous northern kingdoms of the Mughal Empire in 1662, the endearing heroine, the magical animals who aid her, the hint of something more between Azhar and Jahani, all combine to make this a unique historical fiction novel.
Book Details:
The Leopard Princess by Rosanne Hawke
St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia: University of Queensland Press 2016
345 pp.
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