The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen

by Ramya Sreenivasan

  The Siege of Chitor—Despair reigned in Chitor when this fatal event was known, and it was debated whether Padmini should be resigned as a ransom for their defender. Of this she was informed, and expressed her acquiescence. Having provided wherewithal to secure her from dishonor, she communed with two chiefs of her own kin and clan of Ceylon, her uncle Gora, and his nephew Badal, who devised a scheme for the liberation of their prince without hazarding her life or fame. Intimation was dispatched to Ala that on the day he withdrew from his trenches the fair Padmini would be sent, but in a manner befitting her own and his high station, surrounded by her females and handmaids; not only those who would accompany her to Delhi, but many others who desired to pay her this last mark of reverence. Strict commands were to be issued to prevent curiosity from violating the sanctity of female decorum and privacy. No less than seven hundred covered litters proceeded to the royal camp. In each was placed one of the bravest of the defenders of Chitor, borne by six armed soldiers disguised as litter-porters. They reached the camp. The royal tents were enclosed with kanats (walls of cloth); the litters were deposited, and half an hour was granted for a parting interview between the Hindu prince and his bride. They then placed their prince in a litter and returned with him, while the greater number (the supposed damsels) remained to accompany the fair to Delhi. But Ala had no intention to permit Bhimsi’s return, and was becoming jealous of the long interview he enjoyed, when, instead of the prince and Padmini, the devoted band issued from their litters: but Ala was too well guarded. Pursuit was ordered, while these covered the retreat till they perished to a man. A fleet horse was in reserve for Bhimsi, on which he was placed, and in safety ascended the fort, at whose outer gate the host of Ala was encountered. The choicest of the heroes of Chitor met the assault. With Gora and Badal at their head, animated by the noblest sentiments, the deliverance of their chief and the honor of their queen, they devoted themselves to destruction, and few were the survivors of this slaughter of the flower of Mewar. For a time Ala was defeated in his object, and the havoc they had made in his ranks, joined to the dread of their determined resistance, obliged him to desist from the enterprise . . .

  Badal was but a stripling of twelve, but the Rajput expects wonders from this early age. He escaped, though wounded, and a dialogue ensues between him and his uncle’s wife, who desires him to relate how her lord conducted himself ere she joins him. The stripling replies: “He was the reaper of the harvest of battle; I followed his steps as the humble gleaner of his sword. On the gory bed of honor he spread a carpet of the slain; a barbarian prince his pillow, he laid him down, and sleeps surrounded by the foe.” Again she said: “Tell me, Badal, how did my love (piyar) behave?” “Oh! Mother, how further describe his deeds when he left no foe to dread or admire him?” She smiled farewell to the boy, and adding, “My lord will chide my delay,” sprung into the flame.

  Alau-d-din, having recruited his strength, returned to his object, Chitor . . . The poet has found in the disastrous issue of this siege admirable materials for his song. He represents the rana, after an arduous day, stretched on his pallet, and during a night of watchful anxiety, pondering on the means by which he might preserve from the general destruction one at least of his twelve sons; when a voice broke on his solitude, exclaiming, “Main bhukhi ho”; and raising his eyes, he saw, by the dim glare of the chiragh, advancing between the granite columns, the majestic form of the guardian goddess of Chitor. “Not satiated,” exclaimed the rana, “though eight thousand of my kin were late an offering to thee?” “I must have regal victims; and if twelve who wear the diadem bleed not for Chitor, the land will pass from the line.” This said, she vanished.

  On the morn he convened a council of his chiefs, to whom he revealed the vision of the night, which they treated as the dream of a disordered fancy. He commanded their attendance at midnight; when again the form appeared, and repeated the terms on which alone she would remain amongst them. “Though thousands of barbarians strew the earth, what are they to me? On each day enthrone a prince. Let the kirania, the chhatra and the chamara, proclaim his sovereignty, and for three days let his decrees be supreme: on the fourth day let him meet the foe and his fate. Then only may I remain.”

  Whether we have merely the fiction of the poet, or whether the scene was got up to animate the spirit of resistance, matters but little, it is consistent with the belief of the tribe; and that the goddess should openly manifest her wish to retain as her tiara the battlements of Chitor on conditions so congenial to the warlike and superstitious Rajput was a gage readily taken up and fully answering the end. A generous contention arose amongst the brave brothers who should be the first victim to avert the denunciation. Arsi urged his priority of birth: he was proclaimed, the umbrella waved over his head, and on the fourth day he surrendered his short-lived honors and his life. Ajaisi, the next in birth demanded to follow; but he was the favorite son of his father, and at his request he consented to let his brothers precede him. Eleven had fallen in turn, and but one victim remained to the salvation of the city, when the rana, calling his chiefs around him, said, “Now I devote myself for Chitor.”

  The Johar—But another horrible sacrifice was to precede this act of self-devotion in that horrible rite, the Johar, where the females are immolated to preserve them from pollution or captivity. The funeral pyre was lighted within the “great subterranean retreat,”7 in chambers impervious to the light of day, and the defenders of Chitor beheld in procession the queens, their own wives and daughters, to the number of several thousands. The fair Padmini closed the throng, which was augmented by whatever of female beauty or youth could be tainted by Tatar lust. They were conveyed to the cavern, and the opening closed upon them, leaving them to find security from dishonor in the devouring element.

  A contest now arose between the rana and his surviving son; but the father prevailed, and Ajaisi, in obedience to his commands, with a small band passed through the enemy’s lines, and reached Kelwara in safety. The rana, satisfied that his line was not extinct, now prepared to follow his brave sons; and calling around him his devoted clans, for whom life had no longer any charms, they threw open the portals and descended to the plains, and with a reckless despair carried death, or met it, in the crowded ranks of Ala. The Tatar conqueror took possession of an inanimate capital, strewed with brave defenders, the smoke yet issuing from the recesses where lay consumed the once fair object of his desire; and since this devoted day the cavern has been sacred: no eye has penetrated its gloom, and superstition has placed as its guardian a huge serpent, whose “venomous breath” extinguishes the light which might guide intruders to “the place of sacrifice” . . .

  Keshav Bhatt, Ratanasen va Sultan Shah (1849), Brajbhasha

  Keshav Bhatt describes the subject of his narrative as the mutual deceit and battle (juddha kapata paraspara) between Shri Ratansen Chauhan and Sultan Shah Badshah. He clarifies immediately that the sultan is Aladin Patsah, who desired Padmini, and so went and laid siege to the fortress of Chitor. The battle continued every day for ten months; the sultan sighed—neither the Chauhan was captured, nor the fort weakened. Then his advisors counseled that he send an emissary to negotiate. So he sent Vad Khan Pathan, who promised to bring the Chauhan and surrender him at the sultan’s feet, preserve Dilli’s honor (saram dilli ki rakhau), and fulfil the sultan’s desire by uniting him with Padmini.

  Vad Khan Pathan persuades Ratansen’s chief minister (divan) Chandrahans to assist the sultan. Chandrahans urges Ratansen to make peace with the sultan, since the latter merely wanted to keep his word. A truce is negotiated by which Padmini would serve the sultan a meal, the sultan would keep his word of having beheld her, and he would return to Delhi. As Chandrahans argues, why should the two shining lights of the world, Ratansen, the pride of the Hindus and the sultan of Delhi, fight? Ratansen refuses at first; no Shah will enter Chitor. But then Chandrahans persists: to live up to the honor and responsibility of being Ratansen’s divan, he personally will escort the sult
an, accompanied only by his five chief ministers (paanch panch). Ratansen agrees without further discussion, and the divan returns to the sultan; he advises him to befriend Ratansen, and capture him while escorting him out of the fort’s two formidable gates.

  Ratansen then comes and pleads with Padmini to accede to his request—after all the lord of Delhi the sultan has sworn a vow, how can he just return from the gates, battle between the two armies would follow inevitably; the sultan merely wants to be served a meal by Padmini, and then he will return. Padmini’s first response is to warn the Rao of treachery; of the perils of trusting the sultan, a turak without his women; if he is allowed into the household, that household will lose its honor. However, Ratansen refuses to listen and sends a messenger to the sultan inviting him into Chitor. The sultan arrives and is welcomed with due honor: his feet are washed, he is seated on the throne, and Ratansen anoints his forehead. He is then taken into the richly adorned hall (rangmahal) and seated for his meal with his five ministers and with the minister Raghav. A flash of lightning seems to strike; the sultan looks up and beholds Padmini. He falls senseless; when he looks up again, Raghav alerts him that he is being served by a serving woman, not by Padmini herself. Ratansen has such beautiful serving women [the implication is, how much more beautiful his queens must be]. The sultan is distressed, but determined to trick Ratansen. He asks the latter to escort him past the gates of the fortress. Past the first gate, the sultan rewards Ratansen and entices him past the second gate; then he asks the latter to escort him past the third gate, promising him Delhi itself. The Chauhan now gets greedy; past the fourth gate, the sultan grants him Pattan. He thus tricks Ratansen past the seventh gate and captures him. The sultan then promptly rewards the divan Chandrahans with a mansab.

  There is an uproar in Chitor. The ministers seek a solution (rajaniti). They find out that the sultan demands the queen. The ministers agree that whether or not the kingdom has a queen is immaterial; but there is only one Ratansen and he can marry again; so they agree to surrender Padmini. When she hears of the ministers’ decision, she cries out aloud. She goes around Chitor seeking someone who will defend her; they all say there is none in Chitor who will defend you. A servant of hers reaches Gora and his nephew (brother’s son) Vadil. They are not her kin, but they are filled with rage and vow to defend her, defeat the Patsah’s army, and kill him. Meanwhile, Padmini goes to the Shiva temple, and pleads with the deity that she has worshipped him for twelve years; now that this crisis is upon her, there is none in the city to defend her. Shiva speaks, “Go to Gora and Badal. I have granted them a boon; they will not bow their heads before the sultan. They will preserve you, defeat the sultan’s army, and free the raja.” A reassured Padmini gets into her palanquin again and goes straight to Gora’s home; he stands up at once and greets her as mother (mai), whose servant (chakar) he is.

  Padmini praises Gora as the Bhagirath of his lineage; she describes to Badal how the king became greedy and left the fortress, and was captured. The palanquin scheme is hatched and 700 palanquins set out with warriors in them, accompanied by two horsemen each. In Padmini’s mind, Gora and Vadil are now the refuge of the Rao. Vadal’s mother tries to dissuade them, and then his wife. Then Gora’s wife Bhanamati tries to dissuade him in turn, but to no avail: Gora asserts repeatedly that he and Badal are the defenders of Hindu honor (hindu hadda mucchha apani).

  As the sultan hears of the palanquins nearing camp, he prepares for marriage. His soldiers are happy, now they can return home as Chitor has been conquered. When Ratansen hears that the queen is being surrendered, he is despondent: why did the warriors of Chitor not consult among themselves? What were they thinking, surrendering Padmini when he was still alive; his manhood (mucchha) had been destroyed. But when the raja sees Gora and Vadal he is elated; they are like Ram and Lacchman. They free Ratansen and debate who will escort him back, and who will stay to fight the sultan’s army. Finally Gora stays and Vadal returns with Ratansen to the fort. As Gora is besieged by an angry sultan’s army, Shiva asks his spouse Shakti to go to his aid; Parvati assures Shiva that Gora will not lose because he has her flag in his right hand; she assures him that while Gora might give up his body in defending his master, his soul will then find its destination. Shiva then gathers his bull Nandi and his celestial and supernatural followers to watch the battle; with 64 jogins, yakshas, apsaras, and ghouls (preta pisacha)—all to watch the new epic battle, the new Kurukshetra. The narrative ends with the death of Gora and the sati of his wife Bhanamati.

  Rangalal Bandopadhyay’s Padmini Upakhyan (1858)

  Rangalal Bandopadhyay’s verse narrative of twenty-two cantos begins with an unnamed traveler exploring the many provinces of Bharat before reaching Rajputana. Stirred by the glory of the Rajput cities, he reaches Chitor and encounters an old Brahmin who narrates the “wondrous tale” (bichitra katha) of Padmini. Hearing of Padmini’s beauty and chastity, the Yavana king desires her and marches against Chitor. The Upakhyan mentions Padmini’s natal lineage—the Chauhans of Sinhala—and makes Bhimsinha the king’s uncle. The latter’s journey to Sinhala to marry Padmini is omitted. Rangalal describes Alauddin’s first siege of Chitor cursorily, but adds one detail—the death of Alauddin’s son in the battle, that only enrages the Emperor. The stalemate, the display of the queen’s reflection in a mirror and Alauddin’s desire for her are followed by the treacherous capture of Bhimsinha and the palanquin rescue. Rangalal goes on to narrate Gora’s death battling the Yavanas, his wife’s immolation, and Alauddin’s return to besiege Chitor. The goddess’s demand for the sacrifice of twelve royal princes follows, leading to the last battles of the Rajputs. With eleven of his sons dead, Bhimsinha chooses to die himself, sending his surviving son away to preserve the lineage. Before the climactic battle, the women led by Padmini immolate themselves. Rangalal brings back the Brahmin narrator to conclude the Upakhyan with an elegy on the destruction of the Rajputs, and the relentless march of predatory Time. The narrator ends his account by pointing to renewed hope for fallen Bharat, as the light of knowledge brought by the English brings a new awakening.

  Jyotirindranath Tagore, Sarojini ba Chitor Akraman (1875)

  Set in the context of Alauddin’s final attack on Chitor, Sarojini abounds in imaginary characters. When the play opens, Alauddin’s first attack on Chitor has been repulsed and the captive Bhimsinha rescued.8 The play’s action is triggered by Bhairabacharya, the chief priest of Chitor, who is actually a Muslim in disguise. As a ploy to help the enemy Alauddin, the false priest declares that the patron goddess of Chitor requires the ritual sacrifice of Rana Lakshmansinha’s daughter Sarojini. As the rana wavers in agony, he is urged by his commander Randhirsinha to complete the sacrifice and preserve the kingdom. Sarojini’s betrothed, Vijaysinha, has played a key role in repulsing Alauddin’s first attack on Chitor and rescuing Bhimsinha. He returns with two hostages from Alauddin’s camp, the beautiful Roshanara and her maid Moniya. Roshanara is accepted into the rana’s household, befriended by Sarojini and treated honorably. She falls in love with her captor Vijaysinha and turns against her benefactor Sarojini. When the queen (Lakshmansinha’s wife) hears of the impending sacrifice of her daughter, she asks Vijaysinha to defend Sarojini. Meanwhile, the rana anticipates that Vijaysinha will refuse to sacrifice Sarojini and withdraws the marriage proposal to deflect Vijaysinha’s resistance. This alienates Vijaysinha and he defends Sarojini against the Rajput soldiers.

  The false priest thinks he has succeeded in his plan of weakening Chitor by instigating a crisis within. As Alauddin besieges the fort, Bhairabacharya declares that he had misinterpreted the goddess’s utterance about the sacrifice of Sarojini. Another beautiful young woman from the rana’s household can be offered to the goddess instead. Roshanara, who comes to the temple thinking that Sarojini has been killed, is offered up as sacrifice instead. At the moment of her death, the false priest realizes that he has beheaded his own daughter, who had been separated from him as a child and had grown up at the sult
an’s court. The women immolate themselves before the Rajput warriors depart for the final battle against Alauddin. As the victorious Alauddin enters the fort, he sees Sarojini about to jump into the funeral pyre, mistakes her for Padmini and begs her to desist. A scornful Sarojini informs him that Padmini has already immolated herself and follows suit. The play ends with Alauddin’s tribute to the heroism of the Hindu woman, and a choric lament on the fall of Chitor.

  Kshirodprasad Vidyavinod, Padmini (1906)9

  Kshirodprasad’s Padmini begins with Alauddin’s becoming sultan of Delhi after having murdered his uncle; he has already conquered Devgiri, looted its wealth and used it to ease his path to the throne of Delhi. The new sultan tricks Nasiban, the daughter of Jalaluddin’s Vazir, into marrying him, in order to take revenge on her father who had opposed him in the old king’s lifetime. Once they are married, Alauddin threatens Nasiban with her father’s death and throws her out; the Vazir’s life is spared and he is exiled. Nasiban, thinking that her father is dead, swears revenge against Alauddin and finds her way to Chitor. She meets Gora and makes him her brother. As a supplicant of the royal household in Chitor, Nasiban asks that Rana Lakshmansinha grant her a wish. She desires the king of Chitor to defeat Alauddin in battle, and a reluctant Lakshmansinha is forced to grant this supplicant’s wish. Meanwhile Alauddin has set his sights on conquering Gujarat and Chitor.