The lessons about Queen Padmini taught in our primaries of school. Her beauty is world famous ,but many people think that it is unreal. But a long poem written by Muhammad Jayasi in Avadhi language proved it right. She was a most beautiful woman of Indian history.
In 12th and 13th centuries King Rawal Ratan Singh was ruler of Chittorgarh (Rajasthan). He was famous for his boldness. Out of his two Queens, Padmavati was one who was famous for her beauty and cleverness.
There was a musician whose name was Raghav Chetan in the king’s court. He was very talented but didn’t use his talent in the right way. One day , King caught him red handed and made to ride a donkey and then expelled him from the Kingdom. Fire of revenge was burning inside the Raghav Chetan and that lead him to meet Ala-ud-din Khilji in Delhi (Very powerful ruler at that time).
He unfolds the beauty of Queen Padmini in front of Ala-ud-din Khilji. A strong sexual desire aroused inside Ala-ud-din Khilji and he ordered his army to attack Chittorgarh. But when they reached Chittorgarh, they saw that security of the fort is very tight. Then he used a trick and sent a message to the king that “ I consider Padmini as sister and want to meet her”. King agreed to it, but Queen Padmini understood the vile intentions of the Muslim king and said that he could only see her in the mirror. Skilled people of the kingdom set many big mirrors so that Ala-ud-din could see her. Those mirrors are there in the Chittorgarh fort today also and many tourist visit there every year.
After seeing Queen Padmini, Ala-ud-din’s desire to get Padmini increased. He attacked on the Chittorgarh fort . King Rawal Ratan Singh had fought till his last breath, but at the end he was killed by the Muslim. When Queen Padmini heard about that, she decided That all the women of Chittorgarh had to commit suicide to save their self esteem. A huge fire was lit and all the lady burn themselves into the fire. Nothing left there except the ash and those women still remembered today for their sacrifice.
This was the story which everyone has been hearing from the childhood but here are some facts about Padmini which no one knows:
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Queen Padmini was a Sri Lankan
The poem Padmavat says about the kingdom of Simhala-dvipa in a very fancy style, where a princess named Padmini lived. Simhala-dvipa falls in a Ceylon in past years and present day it is Sri Lanka. She was a most beautiful woman and even people says that when she drank water, it was visible through her neck.
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Padmini had a talking Parrot
Jayasi wrote in his poem that Padmavati had a talking parrot named Hira-mani who was very close to princess’s heart. Not only Jayasi’s poem, but many epics and poems described about it.
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King Raja Ratan Singh went to Simhala-dvipa and won her
Padmawat explains that the king Raja Ratan Singh, who didn’t know about the existence of the Simhala-dvipa before the parrot told him, went to participate in Svayamvar of Padmini. There he competes with many princes and kings and won Padmini.
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Raghav Chetan was the sorcerer who instigated Khilji
Raghav Chetan was a musician in the King’s court, but apart from it, he was a sorcerer and had better hold on black magic. King came to know about this and insulted Raghav and dispelled him from the Kingdom. To take revenge , he went to Khilji and told him about the beauty of Padmini. After that Khilji attacked on Chittorgarh.
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Padmawati wasn’t the only reason behind Khilji attacking Chittorgarh
A 1990s serial , Bharat – Ek Khoj talks about five ratnas at length, which Khilji want to get. The five ratnas was: A Swan who could sing poems, a Gem filled with nectar, a stone called Paras which could turn anything into gold, one hunter named Shardul who could kill any animal and one royal large bird Lagna who could kill small animals with ease.
