Lt.Col James Tod wrote wrong about Rani Padmini

Every historian and Indian known that Rani Padmini was wife of Rawal Ratan Singh of Chittaur. But Lt.Col James Tod (a highly respected authority on the history of Rajputana) write in his history book “Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan” that Padmini was wife of Bhimsi. As per Lt. Col James Tod – “ Lakumsi was minor when he ascended the gadi in 1274, and Bhimsi, his uncle, acted as regent and protector. Bhimsi had married a Chohan princess, by name Padmini, who was of surpassing beauty . Indeed, if her charms were inferior to those of the heroine of Troy, they were not less fatal in their consequences; for, according to the bard chroniclers, it was the desire to possess this peerless princess, rather than the acquisition of military fame, which prompted Allah-ud-din to attack Chitor”.

B.K.Karkara the writer of “Rani Padmini : The Herione of Chittor” write in his above said book on Lt.Col. James Tod’s view. As per Karkara – “ The question now is as to who occupied this high pedestal of Hinduism when Alauddin left Siri to attack Chittor on 28 January, 1303. There is now hardly and doubt that Rawal Ratan Singh was the ruler of Chittor, he was her husband. However, we find Lt. Col. James Tod (a highly respected authority on the history of Rajputana) talking in terms of one Bhim Singh being the husband of Padmini and Lakshman Singh as the rular of Chittor at the time of the Alauddin’s attack. Obviously, Tod had been fed this information by the bard who often said what cheir patron wanted to hear.

K.R.Qanungo, a modern scholar, has further confounded the confusion by asserting that there were four rulers by the name of Ratan Singh who were in some way or the other involved in the fight against Alauddin. According to him, they are the following:

1. Ratan Singh, son of Rawal samar Singh of Chittor.

2. Ratan Singh, son of Chitrasena and husband of Padmini as per the Padmawat story.

3. rattan Singh, son of the Dhundhar chief, Khema who died protecting the lower town of Chittor.

4. Ratan Singh, son of Hamir Dev Chauhan who moved to Chittor after the fall of Ranthambhor.

The learned historian has suggested that Ratan Singh of Jayasi’s Padmawat was not the ruler of Chitrakuta or Chittor, the capital town of Mewar, but the ruler of a place in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh having the same name. On going through Padmawat a little more carefully would leave nobody in doubt that none other than Rawal Ratan Singh of Mewar fits into the Jayasi’s description of places, persons and event. The ruler of the nondescript Chitrakuta of Uttar Pradesh could hardly be referred to as the leading light of the Hindus, as Jayasi makes out his hero to be. Beside, jayasi’s Chittor is a neighbouring principality of Kumbhalgarh while Banda is hundreds of miles away.