Padmavati - reality, legends and myths about the most beautiful Rajput queen
1) Why the protests?
The protests against the film Padmavati are based on the premise that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali intended to depict Alauddin Khilji's fancy for Rani Padmini through a dream sequence, in which she was reciprocating through romantic gestures.
Bhansali later denied any intention to have such a scene. Such a sequence is neither a part of Padmawat, a poem by Malik Muhammad Jayasi who wrote it some two centuries after Khilji's sack of Chittorgarh, nor of any other legend or historical recordings.
Padmini belongs to an era when Rajput history in Mewar was still not well recorded and was a part of oral traditions and ballads.
2) Are Padmawati and Padmini the same?
The late Hari Krishna Devsare, Hindi writer and editor of Parag, once a popular magazine for children which ceased publications, based his novel written for children, Chittor ki Maharani, published half a century ago, on Padmawat, and called the main character Padmini.
But some historians insist that there were a few kings and chieftains by the name of Ratan and Jayasi could have written about one from Uttar Pradesh. But Jayasi's descriptions fit Chittorgarh more. Herman parrots indeed are found in this region. Jayasi, a Muslim poet, made a hero out of Ratan Singh and Padmini but a cruel villain of Khilji.
Why would he do it? Had it been pure fiction, could not he have written it around the love story of a Muslim prince? It could well be that he based his works on a true story of Padmini and Ratan Singh and fictionalised it to convey a certain message - the way his contemporary Tulsidas did to Valmiki's Ramayana.
Col James Tod in the chapter 'Annals of Mewar' in Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan says the title of Padmini was bestowed only on the superlatively fair. Padmini has been one of the four classes Indian women were divided into according to temperament and resemblance, as also mentioned in the erotology Ananga Ranga by Kalyanamalla, but written probably a century or two after Khilji's sack of Chittorgarh. By this account, Padmini lives in Milk-sea, which is one of the seven oceans.
Tod names her husband Rana Bheestie as caretaker ruler of Chittorgarh. Abul Fazl described Padmini as a class of women, extraordinarily beautiful. His contemporary historian from Rajasthan, Muhnot Nainsi, in his book Nain See ki Kyat refers to Padmini.
There are references to an inscription in Kumbhalgarh which refers to Ratan Singh and partially eroded words are interpreted as a reference to Padmini. This inscription also finds place in another documented work.
3) What is the era of Padmini?
There is only a little confusion about when exactly Khilji carried out his siege of Chittorgarh and the later sack of the city. Most believe that the sack that made Padmini commit Jauhar took place in 1303, as per claims of Ferishta, but Tod also quotes annals to say it could be 1290.
Similarly, most historians insist that Khilji attacked Ranthambore two years before Chittorgarh's sack of 1303 but locals insist that Khilji, frustrated after the Jauhar of Padmini, wanted the ruler of Ranthambore to pay a token fine as a sign of surrender; but when he refused, attacked and killed him.
4) Where was Padmini from?
Jayasi and later Tod refer to her as the princess of Sinhaldeep ne Sri Lanka ne Ceylon, but some historians who accept her existence point to her origin near either Chittorgarh or in the desert states of Jaisalmer or Bikaner.
A publication Khyat of Jaisalmer described Padmini as the daughter of Rawal Punpalji of Jaisalmer and the daughter of the Bhati ruler of Pugal region. Women in this region are generally tall, well built, and very fair with sharp features, as are found in Bukhara, Iran, Kashmir and Afghanistan.
They also accuse Jayasi of creating myths around her but none would believe that Ratansee could have gone to Ceylon to bring her. Shyamal Das in Veer Vinod (1900) says Padmini could have been from Sri Lanka as Chittorgarh could have had relations with the country's Suryavanshi rulers.
5) Did Padmini stay in Chittorgarh and commit Jauhar?
It is believed that the maximum number of Jauhars took place in Rajasthan during Khilji's tenure, indicating that he and his soldiers were notorious for raping women. He is reported to have forced the first Jauhar in Jaisalmer (Beny & Matheson, Page 149; Khooni Itihaas, Arya Prakashan Mandi, Bikaner, 1926).
Guides in the fort as also the Archaeological Survey of India refer to three Jauhars in the fort, the first of which was by Padmini. They pinpoint the site where Padmini lived as Padmini Palace, the place where Khilji reportedly saw her in a mirror, though locals reject any idea that Ratansee would have allowed Khilji to glimpse her.
It is believed that Padmini Palace was renovated later, a reference to which is maintained in the archives at City Palace, Udaipur. The tunnel she used to go to a stepwell for a bath as also the chamber she used to commit Jauhar are earmarked.
 |
| Jawaharlal Nehru in The Discovery of India calls Alauddin Khilji "great". |
While questions are raised about why Amir Khusro, Khilji's court historian who accompanied him to the sack of Chittorgarh, did not mention Jauhar - either because it did not happen or because he could not have shown Khilji in a bad light - there is report of him indirectly referring to a beautiful queen about whom he was supposed to bring news to Khilji after the sack, but could not.
Why? Because she was no more. The site where Goura, the uncle of Padmini and Badal, his 12-year-old nephew, fought and laid down their lives to save her honour is also identified. Yet, some historians insist that the references to two warriors were a part of Padmawat and not history.
Veer Vinod also provides dates and refers to Jauhar by Padmini. Gauri Shankar Ojha, a historian, writes in Udaipur Rajya ka Itihaas (1934) that Ferishta described Khilji's invasion of Chittorgarh because of his lust for Ratan Singh's daughter and not wife.
By that time, there were other stories too of Rajput princesses opting for death instead of marrying Muslim invaders. Udaipur Rajya ka Itihaas, published by Bhopal Press, refers to the first Jauhar at Chittorgarh by Padmini.
Col CKM Walter, a resident of Mewar, writes a preface in 1887 to the Abridged History of Rajputana (Tareekh Rajputanah). This manual in a chapter 'Qatl Chittorgarh' (massacre of Chittorgarh) talks about Khilji sacking Chittorgarh to get Padmini, who committed Jauhar.
The Archaeological Survey of India carried out an excavation in the fort in late 1950s but not much is known about its findings. Can scientific analysis of the place where Padmini's Jauhar is said to have taken place reveal evidence?
6) What about the other two Jauhars at Chittorgarh?
The other two Jauhars are well documented. The second took place more than 200 years later. It was led by Karanawati or Karamvati, the widow queen of Rana Sanga who was ruling for her minor son after her husband, defeated by Babar, died a few years later of battle injuries and suspected poisoning in another war.
The third Jauhar was committed when Akbar sacked the fort. Jaimal and Phatta, two warriors who fought against him and died, impressed him so much that he later got their statues installed in one of the forts under him. So Gora-Badal story also could be true.
So if Chittorgarh has documented evidence of the second and third Jauhars, why could not there be more, including Padmini's? Has the documentation not come to anyone's notice so far or could there be no documentation at all?
7) Was Khilji gay or had a lover in a eunuch?
It is said that Khilji fell for Malik Kafur, one of his generals whom he castrated and made a eunuch, or he was a eunuch slave who rose to become his general because of his multiple skills.
8) Other examples of Khilji family's exploits
Khilji is said to have defeated Gujarat's Rak Karan Baghela, kidnapped his wife Kamla Devi and forced her into marriage. Jawaharlal Nehru in The Discovery of India calls Khilji "great" and glorifies him as one who married a Hindu queen. He does not mention how it happened.
9) Who is Karni Sena's Lokendra Singh Kalvi?
The tall, fair-complexioned man is the son of late Kalyan Singh Kalvi, a prominent Rajput leader and former Union minister from Rajasthan who campaigned for sati when many Rajputs and their leaders opposed it, following the one committed by Roop Kanwar.
Kalvi could never make a mark in politics, unlike his father, and began to chalk out a place for himself by working to mobilise different castes against the inclusion of Jats as OBCs. He was for ensuring reservation for those who already had and giving it to the deprived upper castes.
Initially, his agitation got tremendous mass support but gradually fizzled out. He joined the Congress and later formed the Karni Sena, drawing the limelight when he did not let Jodhaa Akbar release in Rajasthan.
His assertion was that the movie wrongly depicted the lineage of Jodha Bai as she never married Akbar but his son Jahangir, a fact agreed to by most historians. In 2014, he joined the BJP.
10) What has happened to the controversy over the film Padmavati?
Last heard, there was a compromise and director Bhansali has assured not to show any romantic scene between Khilji and Padmini.