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.