Real (Hi)Story of Rani Padmavati
In 1540, the Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayisi (1477-1542) published his epic-poem "Padmavati
". It is primarily from his work that references to Padmini Guhilot, the wife of Rawal Ratan Singh who ruled Chittorgarh from 1302 to August 1303, began to find mention in written history. In his "Raaj Kahini" (1905), Abanindranath Tagore refers to 'Rawal Ratan Singh' as 'Maharana Bhim Singh'.
Several historians have now agreed that Padmini Guhilot did not exist at all. However, Rajasthani legends say otherwise. According to one source, Padmini was a so-called 'dark-skinned' princess from Sri Lanka, the daughter of King Gandharva Sen and his queen Champavati. Another source mentions her to be the daughter of Hamir S. Chauhan of Sri Lanka, though how Sri Lanka could have a Rajput ruler at all is a mystery. But local history from Jaisalmer claims that Padmini was a Bhati princess, the daughter of Rawal Punpal, who was on the run when his daughter was born. The Chauhans were her relatives.
Historians are now sure that Sultan Alla-ud-din Khalji never heard of Princess Padmini! He attacked Chittorgarh in 1302-03 not to 'obtain' Padmini, but to secure a safe trade-route for his Pathan traders from Delhi to the port-regions of Gujarat. That is why he paid an extra attention to Ranthambore and Chittorgarh.
Whatever the romantic legends say, no battle was ever fought over a single woman. No sane ruler would kill off thousands of his soldiers merely to satisfy his
own 'lust'. It would be too costly. Even the Trojan War was fought because the European Greeks wanted to colonise the Oriental Turks. Troy was located in the western-most tip of Turkey.
The Rajputs were gradually cropping up friendly relations with the newly-arrived Mughals, and this irritated Alla-ud-din Khalji the most. The position of the Chittor Fort was a potential source of danger to the Pathan traders. Moreover, the area around Chittorgarh was one which was usually used by the invaders from the western part of the Indian subcontinent to enter India by avoiding the desert (at least by a couple of hundreds of kilometres). All these 'ensured' that Chittorgarh would be attacked repeatedly.
No one knows what exactly happened to Rawal Ratan Singh. Some say that he died fighting the invading Sultan. According to another group of historians, Rawal Ratan Singh died duelling King Devpal of Kumbhalgarh when he desired to marry Padmini Guhilot. Padmini did not commit 'sati' immediately, but did so after Chittorgarh Fort was broken into by Khalji's forces following a two-month-long-seige.
But there are some other opinions as well. According to one, Rawal Ratan Singh surrendered to the Sultan against an honourable deal. Some say, in spite of the fact that Alla-ud-din Khalji killed 30,000 inmates of the Chittorgarh Fort, he spared the life of Rawal Ratan Singh. According to another, the Rana escaped from the battlefield.
Whatever might have happened, Rawal Ratan Singh has had been given a permanent place in history through the legend of Queen Padmini Guhilot!
Comments