THE HALF SMILE 141as a commander, and he enacts his just rules under the guidance of
Ladi. The corruption at the center of Muslim empire is revealed by the
resistance of the two daughters. Chachnama, forever read as a depic-
tion of a masculine heroic ethos of fslam, is a markedly different text
when seen through the gaze of the noblewomen in the text.
Chachnama's political theory is consistent in its emphasis on
Brahmin women as ethical subjects, on the political expedience of al-
liances with Indic kings, and on the necessity of advisors and minis-
ters for just rule. The text demonstrates structures of power that cross
sectarian lines and provide a political theory that makes that world
possible. It is important to understand Kufi's text as explicating the di-
verse world of thirteenth-century Sind-which is generally-seen as
monopolitical and monotheistic. Chachnama betrays no anxiety over
the marriage of a Muslim Anib commander to a Sindhi Hindu queen.
Nor does it suggest anxiety in presenting a world where women hold
political powers.
It is not only women who are characterized by ethical power in the
text. Chachnama presents numerous other characters who embody
ethical subjecthood and are treated with similar terms of conviction
and praise. These character are prophets, seers, ministers, and advisors,
and their roles range from Brahmin nobility to neighboring kings
who are described through a language of translation. One key example
in Chachnama is of Dahar's son Jaisinha, who flees Aror ahead of Qa-
sim's army, hoping to raise troops from the realm of the raja of Kiraj.
In the text he is given a pedigreed name which highlights not onfy his
bravery but also that of his father, Dahar.
According to the Brahmins of Aror, Jaisinha son of Dahar was l.ln-
paralleled in masculinity and cleverness. The account of his birth
is thus: One day, Raja Dahar took his contingent to the hunting
grounds. Once out of the city, they released the dogs, wolves, and
wildcats on the ground, and the eagles, kites, and hawks in the air.
A lion confronted the hunting party, and everyone scattered-
except for Dahar, who dismounted his horse to face the lion.
Dahar wrapped his hand in a sheet' and plunged it into the lion's
mouth. Then he cut off the lion's front paws with his sword. He
then took his hand out and tore open the stomach of the lion. The
lion died from the wounds.