Rani Padmini & Alauddin Khilji- What really happened between the two?

Princess Padmini or Padmavati, was the daughter of King Gandharva and Queen Champavati, of Singhal clan. Her father arranged a Swayamvara, a ceremony where all Hindu kings and Rajputs are invited to win the hand of the princess by showing their strength and eligibility. King Rawal Ratan Singh of Chittor, who was married to Queen Nagmati, won Princess Padmini’s hand by defeating a small state king, Malkhan. King Rawal Ratan Singh returned to Chittor along with his very beautiful second wife, Queen Padmini.

The beauty of Rani Padmini was legendary. Very fair and flawless skinned, she was so delicately beautiful that one could literally see water passing by her throat when she drank water, same when she ate betel leaves. Poems of her beauty are written in the epic poem PADMAVAT, by the poet Mallik Mohammed Jayasi in 1540 AD.

Chittor was ruled by the brave and noble Rajput warrior, King Ratan Rawal Singh, who, apart from being a loving husband and a just ruler, was also a patron of the arts. All the artists, dancers, craftsmen, musicians, poets, singers, etc were welcomed and honoured by the king. And among his most talented courtiers, was the musician called Raghav Chetak. But unknown to anybody, Raghav Chetan was also a sorcerer and an ardent black magician. He used his evil talents to run down his rivals and, unfortunately for him, was caught red-handed in his dirty act of arousing evil spirits. On hearing this, King Rawal Ratan Singh was furious and he banished Raghav Chetan from his kingdom after blackening his face and making him ride a donkey. This harsh punishment earned Ratan Singh an uncompromising enemy. Sulking after his humiliation, Raghav Chetan made his way towards Delhi with the aim of trying to incite the Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin Khilji, to attack Chittor.

Raghav chetak was aware of the fact that the Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin, used to come to a forest on the outskirts of Delhi for deer hunting. He settled there in that forest and played flute daily. One day, as luck favoured Raghav Chetak,  the Sultan’s hunt party entering the forest, and he started playing a melodious tone on his flute. When the alluring notes of Raghav Chetan’s flute reached the Sultan’s ears and amongst his soldiers, they were amazed as to who could be playing a flute like a professional with such mastery and excellence in a forest. The Sultan dispatched his soldiers to fetch the person and, when Raghav Chetan was brought before him, Sultan Alauddin Khilji invited him to come to his court at Delhi. The cunning Raghav Chetan grabbed his opportunity to incite the Sultan, and asked the king as to why he wants to have an ordinary musician like himself when there were many other beautiful objects to be had.  Trying to read between the lines and pondering on what exactly the musician meant, Alauddin asked him to clarify.  Raghav Chetak proved himself as a traitor by detailing Rani Padmini’s beauty, the queen of his own motherland.  Alauddin’s lust aroused on hearing this and he was provoked to attack Chittor and win Rani Padmini by force, as he thought that lady of such beauty deserved to be in his harem. He had been planning to conquer Mewar for a long time but his desire to take Padmavati as his mistress proved to be the deciding factor that shifted his immediate focus towards Mewar and the fort of Chittor.

During that time, Mewar was the strongest Rajput kingdom and a bitter opponent of the Delhi Sultanate. The seat of Mewar was the formidable fort of Chittor, the largest fort in the sub continent. The fort had been constructed in the 7th century AD by the Mauryans and had never been sacked in its history. Spread across 700 acres the fort was situated on a hill top and was extremely well fortified. It was January 1303 when Ala-ud-Din marshaled his army, marched south, and laid siege to Chittor. But seeing the fort and realizing that the breaching its defenses would be a near impossible task Ala-ud-Din came up with a devious plan. He sent an emissary to Ratan Singh that he would return to Delhi with his army if allowed a glimpse of the famous beauty of Rani Padmavati. Trying to avoid a war, Ratan Singh agreed, however consented only to allow Ala-ud-Din to look at Padmavati’s reflection in a mirror.

The sultan came with his most trusted and experienced generals who, while they waited keenly examined the fort’s defenses in order to prepare for their attack on Chittor. Meanwhile on seeing Rani Padmavati’s reflection Ala-ud-Din was awed by her beauty and his desire for her increased. On the way back to his camp, he was escorted by Ratan Singh to the gate of the fort. There, Ala-ud-Din’s soldiers ambushed and captured the king. He was taken as a prisoner to the sultan’s camp. The sultan then sent message to Rani Padmavati and the nobles of Mewar demanding Padmavati in exchange of Ratan Singh. Rani Padmavati discussed the proposal with her uncle and his son, Gora and Badal, who were also the leading generals in Ratan Singh’s army. Together they came up with an ingenious plan. A message was sent to Ala-ud-Din that Padmavati, along with her serving maids and her retinue would come to his camp in the morning. When dawn arrived, 200 palanquins left the gates of Chittor. Each palanquin was carried by four men from the Rajput army disguised as palanquin bearers. Inside each palanquin sat four more men carrying swords and other weapons for themselves and their disguised friends. Gora and Badal had handpicked the fiercest warriors and were leading the assault themselves. When the procession reached Ala-ud-Din’s camp the Rajputs jumped out from the palanquins and attacked the sultan’s unsuspecting soldiers. Though the Rajputs suffered heavy losses and both Gora and Badal perished, Rana Ratan Singh was rescued and returned safely to the fort. Ala-ud-Din then lay seize to the fort.


By August, after a long drawn seize, the resources within the fort decreased and Ratan Singh planned an all out suicide attack on the would-be invaders as they could hold out no longer. The womenfolk then resident within that fort decided to collectively committ suicide rather than risk personal dishonor at the hands of the victorious invading army. On 26th August, 1303, a huge pier was lit within the fort and Rani Padmavati, along with other noblewomen belonging to the court committed Jauhar. The Rajput men then wore saffron turbans as a mark of performing saka, rode out to meet Ala-ud-Din’s army in battle and perished to the last man. The first written version of the legend appeared nearly 250 years after the event in a long narrative poem written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi. The epic poem was written in Awadhi around 1540 AD during the rule of Sher Shah Suri.

The story of Alauddin Khilji requesting to see Queen Padmini and Rajputs allowing him to see her through mirror is a shameless myth that originated from Padmavat – a poem by Malik Muhammad Jayasi written 250 years after the event had actually occurred. In the 19th century, during the Swadeshi movement, Padmini became a symbol of Indian patriotism. Indian nationalist writers portrayed her story as an example of a heroic sacrifice, and a number of plays featuring her were staged after 1905. Ireland-born Sister Nivedita (1867-1911), who was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda also visited Chittor and historicized Padmini. Rajkahini by Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951) popularized her as a historical figure among schoolchildren. Later, some history textbooks began to refer to Khilji invading Chittor to obtain Padmini. By the 20th century, some elite Rajput women of Rajasthan characterized Padmini as a historical figure who exemplifies Rajput womanhood. Although there is no historical evidence that Padmini existed, she has become a symbol of valour and sacrifice in Rajput history. Hindu activists have characterised her as a chaste Hindu woman, and her suicide as a heroic act of resistance against the invader Alauddin Khilji.