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Writer's pictureFolkloristan

Shri Badat: The Cannibal King



Nestled in the heart of the mountains in Gilgit, there thrived a mysterious race, the Gayupi, ruled by a monarch named Shri Badat. He was said to be a descendent of the Yatsheyen, gigantic evil spirits that once cast terror upon the world. His castle that stood proudly, guarded by a sprawling Polo field. Owing to his ancestry, ordinary weapons ere of no use against Shri Badat, so no one dared to fight him.


One day, his cook presented a bowl of mutton broth unlike any other he had savoured before. Curious, he had his men investigate why it tasted so different. After he found out that the baby sheep had been suckled by a human mother, for the sheeps mother had died, Shri Badat issued a horrific decree: from now on, he was to be served baby broth alone.


In desperation, the people sought to ease their torment by offering sacrifices, beginning with orphans and children from neighbouring tribes. However, the cannibal king was always hungry for more, and soon, families in Gilgit too were forced to relinquish their beloved children to the tyrant.  


Atop Mount Ko, a day's journey from the village of Doyur, three fairy princes, Khusrau and Shamsher, and Azur Jamshed strolled around, mulling over how they could liberate Gilfit. The youngest, Prince Azur Jamshed, initially wasn't too keen on the idea of taking Shri Badat's throne, however, his brothers, had other plans.


In the prairie, a beautiful brown calf pranced playfully beside its mother. Seizing the moment, the eldest brother called out, "Let us test our marksmanship, my kin!"


Drawing his bow, he sent an arrow flying towards the calf which it missed its mark. The second brother followed suit, his arrow also finding a path astray. Then it was Azur's turn, the youngest. His arrow soared and found its mark.


After their successful hunt, the brothers skillfully roasted the calf, and insisted that Azur eats the first bite. As soon as he had eaten, Khusrau and Shamsher disappeared. Azur Jamshed then realised that he had eaten food forbidden to the fairies, and now, his destiny would be entwined with that of the land forever.


Azur crossed paths with a kind villager, who offered him a place to rest. The next morning, at dawn, Azur climbed to the rooftop of the house, and said loudly, pointing to Mount Ko. "Look!" he exclaimed, "a wild goat rests upon its heights!" The villager became unsure if he had taken in a wandering madman or worse.


Azur shot an arrow, and the villages decided to investigate. They followed the arrow to the mountain, and lo! A wild goat lay slain at their feet. The villagefolk accepted him as their leader. He revealed his intention to liberate Gilgit from Shri Badat, and told them that he would call on them when he needed help. The villagers promised him help, and secrecy. With that, Azur departed from Doyur.


Later on, he crossed paths with a young maiden, Shadroy, the handmaiden of Shri Badat's daughter, when she was out foraging in the vast gardens of the palace. When she went back, she told the princess all about the handsome stranger she had seen in the lawns. Eager to see him for herself, Princess Nur Bakht climbed up the ramparts of the castle, her gaze fixed on the horizon. Shadroy returned to Azur, inviting him to the Polo ground.


As Azur stepped out into the open, he noticed Nur watching him. As their eyes met, they they fell in love with one another. The princess beckoned Azur into her presence.


Azur tried to hold onto his disguise of a common labourer, however, he did not find himself capable of lying to Nur Bakht, so he confessed that he was a prince, and the child of the fairies. 


Nur wasted no time offering him her heart, as well as her hand in marriage. Shri Badat was out for one of his hunting adventures, so she invited Azur Jamshed to the palace. At first, he tried to avoid her questions, but when she pushed him for an answer, he confessed, and said that he would only be with her if they married one another right there and then.


Azur discussed his plan with Nur Bakht at length. Whilst she loved her father, and flatly refused to kill him herself, she loved her people more, so she promised to help Azur. They devised a plan.


When Shri Badat came back, Nur feigned sickness, and did not eat. When her father pressed her for why her behaviour was so strange, she said that she was worried. Should something bad happen, how would she ever know how to protect him? The king tried to brush it off as nonsense, but when Nur insisted on a hunger-strike, he gave in, and confided in his daughter, about where his soul lived.


Now that she knew that his soul was like butter, and lived in the "snow of snows" – and only fire's embrace could threaten him, Nur Bakht was quick to inform her husband. And so, Azur returned to Doyur and the neighbouring villages, summoning his loyal peasants to gather. He instructed them to collect twigs of the fir tree, intertwining them into torches known as "talen" in Gilgiti and "Lome" in Astori. These torches were to illuminate their path and then be used to surround Shri Badat's fortress.


Now, the Chumur Dekhi, Shri Badat’s enchanted steed, breathed fire, and had hooves of iron. Like all horses, it always knew when his master was in trouble, but this one could also cover a mile in a single jump! Whenever Shri Badat left the palace, his steed landed at exactly the same spot in the polo grounds.


Azur Jamshed had arranged for a pit to be dug up at that exact spot, hidden beneath a canopy of green boughs. Once he received word that the torches were prepared, and he commanded the villagers to approach the fortress.


Meanwhile, within the walls of the castle, Shri Badat sat with his daughter by his side. As the torches drew nearer, he felt a gnawing unease claw at his heart. He asked Nur to find out if something was amiss, and she ensured him, that it was nothing. However, the people continued to advance, and Shri Badat felt his chest tighten. He asked Nur Bakht once more, who got up, and dutifully checked the windows. She reassured her father once again.


As the villagers closed in, their circle of light tightening like a noose, Shri Badat cried out "I am dying!”


He rushed to the stables, where his favourite steed awaited, and with a single crack of the whip, the horse leaped, just as it had countless times before. However, this time, Shri Badat and the Chumur Deki both landed into a pit. Before the king could free himself, the villagers swarmed around him. They set him and his horse alight, and ended his tyrannical, cruel reign.


Azur Jamshed was hailed as a hero, rightfully so. And so, after years, happiness returned to Gilgit. Nur Bakht’s marriage to the Fairy Prince was celebrated with great joy, and the two lived happily-ever-after, ruling with wisdom for many years that followed.


 

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Notes:

At the Tumshilling festival, people celebrate by dancing, drumming, and singing to honour their victory over the cruel king. They would throw fire towards Ishkoman, symbolizing their determination to keep Shri Badat's tyranny at bay.


Shri Badat was also known as Agortham, his real name was Chandra Sri Deva Jikramaditya, and he is the last known Patola Shahi King of Gilgit. 749 AD.


The Jataka, a collection of Buddhist stories, features a king who unknowingly develops a taste for human flesh and becomes a tyrant, paralleling Shri Badat's actions. A similar good-triumphs-over-evil theme follows.


The epic of Gesar or Kisar features a heroic prince triumphing over a demon with the assistance of the demon's daughter, echoing Shri Badat's daughter's role.


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