Padmavat

बोलहु सुआ पियारे-नाहाँ । मोरे रूप कोइ जग माहाँ ?
सुमिरि रूप पदमावति केरा । हँसा सुआ, रानी मुख हेरा ॥
(नागमती-सुवा-संवाद-खंड)
"Who is more beautiful, I or Padmavati?,
Queen Nagamati asks to her new parrot, and it gives a displeasing reply…";

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An illustrated manuscript of Padmavat, c. 1750

Padmavat is an epic poem written in 1540 CE by Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the Awadhi language. It is the first important work in Awadhi.

Theme

This epic poem is a fictionalized version of the historic siege of Chittor by Alauddin Khalji in 1303 CE, who attacks Chittor after hearing of the beauty of Queen Rani Padmini, the wife of king Ratansen.

According to Jayasi, Chitor stood for body, Raja for mind, Ceylon for heart, Padmini for wisdom, Alauddin for lust, and Ashraf Jahangir Semnani as an ideal spiritual guide:

तन चितउर, मन राजा कीन्हा । हिय सिंघल, बुधि पदमिनि चीन्हा ॥
गुरू सुआ जेइ पंथ देखावा । बिनु गुरु जगत को निरगुन पावा ?॥
नागमती यह दुनिया-धंधा । बाँचा सोइ न एहि चित बंधा ॥
राघव दूत सोई सैतानू । माया अलाउदीन सुलतानू ॥
प्रेम-कथा एहि भाँति बिचारहु । बूझि लेहु जौ बूझै पारहु ॥

Some part of the work is dedicated to Sher Shah (1486–1545).

Manuscripts

The earliest extant manuscripts of Padmavat vary considerably in length, and are written in a number of different scripts, including Kaithi, Nagari and Nastaliq (Persian).

The Nastaliq manuscripts form the oldest layer of the text. The earliest extant manuscript of Padmavat is a Nastaliq manuscript copied in 1675 in Amroha, by Muhammad Shakir. It was discovered in Rampur, and contains internlinear Persian translations. Other Persian manuscripts include the ones copied by Rahimdad Khan of Shahjahanpur (1697) and Abdulla Ahmad Khan Muhammad of Gorakhpur (1695).

The Kaithi manuscripts contain a large number of additional verses, and are often incomplete or poorly transcribed.

Mataprasad Gupta published a critical edition of the text, based on five different manuscripts, the earliest of which is from the 17th century.

Translations and adaptions

The earliest known adaption of Padmavat is Prema Nama (1590) of Hansa Dakkani, a court poet of Ibrahm Shah of Bijapur Sultanate.

Twelve adaptions of Padmavat exist in Persian and Urdu. The most famous of these are Rat-Padam and Shama-wa-parwanah. The Rat-Padam (1618) of Mulla Abdul Shakur or Shaikh Shukrullah Bazmi of Gujarat follows the plot of Padmavat closely, but omits the Sufi symbolism for characters and events. The Shama-wa-parwanah (1658) of Aqil Khan Razi (a governor of Delhi under Aurangzeb) retains the Sufi symbolism.

Padmavat is the ultimate source of Albert Roussel's opera Padmâvatî (1923).

Historicity

Several late medieval chroniclers have adapted the Padmavat legend as history, but most modern historians have rejected it as unhistorical. Historian Kishori Saran Lal points out several absurdities in the Padmavat legend. For example, according to historical evidence, Ratnasimha had ascended the throne in 1301, and was defeated by Alauddin in 1303. On the other hand, Padmavat claims that Ratnasimha spent 12 years in quest of Padmini, and then 8 years in conflict with Alauddin.

Padmavat was written 237 years after Alauddin's conquest of Chittor, and no writers contemporary to Alauddin mention Rani Padmini. The later medieval historians such as Firishta and Hajiuddabir adapted the Padmavat legend as history. However, their accounts also suffer from inconsistencies. For example, Firishta states that Alauddin ordered his son Khizr Khan to evacuate Chittor in 1304, and then appointed a nephew of Ratnasimha as its new governor. Historical evidence shows that Khizr Khan left Chittor much after 1304.

Besides the medieval Persian historians, the later Rajput bards also adapted and expanded the legend, without consideration to historical facts. The close resemblances in the various legendary narratives about Padmini indicate that all these accounts are based on Jaisi's Padmavat. Niccolao Manucci also mentions the story in his Storia do Mogor, but places it during the 16th century king Akbar's invasion of Chittor. On the other hand, none of the contemporary 14th century historians, poets and travelers mention this legends. Based on these evidences, Kishori Saran Lal concludes that the only historical facts in the legend are that Alauddin captured Chittor, and that the women of the fort (including a queen of Ratnasimha) died in jauhar. Banarsi Prasad Saksena believes that even the jauhar narrative is a fabrication: the contemporary chronicler Amir Khusrau refers to the jauhar during the earlier conquest of Ranthambore, but does not mention any jauhar at Chittor.

Jaisi himself suggests that Padmavat is meant to be an allegory, not a narration of a historical event. At the end of his book, he mentions that in his narrative, Chittor stands for the body, Raja (Ratnasimha) for the mind, Singhal for the heart, Padmini for wisdom, and Alauddin for lust.

References

Bibliography

• Banarsi Prasad Saksena (1992). "The Khaljis: Alauddin Khalji". In Mohammad Habib and Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (ed.). A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526). Vol. 5 (Second ed.). The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House. OCLC 31870180. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kishori Saran Lal (1950). History of the Khaljis (1290-1320). Allahabad: The Indian Press. OCLC 685167335. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ramya Sreenivasan (2007). The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen: Heroic Pasts in India C. 1500–1900. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-98760-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Satish Chandra (2004). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526) - Part One. Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 978-81-241-1064-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Media related to Chittorgarh at Wikimedia Commons