Habba Khatoon
| Habba Khatoon | |
|---|---|
| The Nightingale of Kashmir | |
Posthumous portrait by Valentine Cameron Prinsep, c. 1880 | |
| Empress consort of Kashmir | |
| Tenure | 1579 – 1586 |
| Born | Zoon Rather 1554 Chandhur, Pampore, Kashmir Sultanate |
| Died | 1609 (aged 54–55) Kashmir Sultanate |
| Burial | Athwajan, Kashmir |
| Spouse | |
| House | Rather (by birth) Lone (by marriage) Chak (by marriage) |
| Father | Abdullah Rather (Abdi Rather) |
| Mother | Janam Rather |
| Writing career | |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Kashmiri |
| Subject | Poems and songs about loss and separation |
| Years active | c. 1570 – 1609 |
| Notable works | Rah Bakshtam, Harmukh Bartal, Gah Chon Pevan, Chol Hama Roshay, Chaar Kar Myon Malinyo, Walo Myaeni Poshey Madano, Chaav Myaen Dain Posh |
Habba Khatoon (Kashmiri pronunciation: [habɨ xoːt̪uːn]; born Zoon Rather (Kashmiri pronunciation: [zuːn]) ; sometimes spelt Khatun), also known by the honorary title The Nightingale of Kashmir, was a Kashmiri Muslim poet and ascetic in the 16th century. She was the consort of King Yousuf Shah Chak, but attained immortality as the queen of song.
Habba Khatoon's music pushed her poetry gradually into learned circles and those who had fled on the works of immortals like Firdausi, Omar and Hafez were bound to raise their eyebrows at first. This wobbling of Habba Khatoon under her peculiar compulsions and with her own limitations created the symphony of romantic words running side by side with mystic poetry till it over stripped and outshone it.