Habba Khatoon

Who is Habba Khatoon?

Habba Khatoon was a 16th-century Kashmiri mystic-poet and ascetic, who is also known as 'Nightingale of Kashmir'. She was born in the small village Chandrahar just outside Samboora in present Jammu and Kashmir state, and was known under the name Zoon because of her immense beauty until her marriage with Yusuf Shah Chak, who later became ruler of Kashmir, after which she was called Habba Khatoon. When her husband was captured by Mughal emperor Akbar taken away to Bengal never to return, she became an ascetic.

Her neglected tomb lies near Athwajan on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.