Padmavat
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
13th–14th century India | |
Published | 1540 |
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Text | Padmavat at Wikisource |
Padmavat (or Padmawat) is an
Plot
Inspired by the parrot's description of Padmavati's beauty, Ratansen decides to visit the Singhal kingdom. Joined by his 16,000 vassals and princes, and with the parrot as his guide, he reaches Singhal after crossing the seven seas. There, he tries to win Padmavati by performing
Disguised as ascetics, Ratansen and his followers attack the fortress, but are captured by Gandharvsen. As Ratansen is about to be executed, his bard reveals his identity. Gandharvsen then marries Padmavati to Ratansen, and also arranges 16,000 padmini women for his companions.[9] (Padmini is best among the four types of women, typically found only in Singhal.)[10]
As Padmavati and Ratansen consummate their marriage in Singhal, Ratansen's first wife Nagmati longs for him in Chittor. She uses a bird to send a message to Singhal, following which Ratansen decides to return to Chittor. Ratansen has excessive pride in being married to the most beautiful woman on the earth, for which he is punished by a sea storm during the return journey. He and Padmavati are rescued by the Ocean, but all their followers die in the storm. Lakshmi, the daughter of the Ocean, tests Ratansen's love for Padmavati by appearing before him disguised as Padmavati. Ratansen passes the test, and is rewarded with gifts by the Ocean and Lakshmi. With these gifts, he recruits a new entourage at Puri, and returns to Chittor.[9]
In Chittor, Padmavati and Nagmati vie for Ratansen's attention. Initially, he placates them by spending nights with them alternately, but then establishes peace by reprimanding them. Meanwhile, he banishes the Brahmin courtier Raghav Chetan for fraudulently winning a contest. Padmavati gifts Raghav her bangle in order to placate him.[9]
Raghav goes to the court of
Padmavati asks Gora and Badal to help her free Ratansen. The two men and their followers enter the fortress of Delhi, disguised as Padmavati and her companions. They free Ratansen, but Gora is killed fighting during the escape, while Badal takes Ratansen to Chittor.[10]
During Ratansen's absence, the Kumbhalner ruler Devpal proposes marriage to Padmavati. On his return, Ratansen learns about this insult, and decides to punish Devpal. In the ensuing single combat, Ratansen and Devpal kill each other. Meanwhile, Alauddin's army reaches Chittor. Facing a certain defeat, Nagmati and Padmavati along with other women of the fort commit suicide by jauhar (mass self-immolation), while the men fight to death. Alauddin captures an empty fortress, thus denied his prize.[10]
Alauddin reflects on his Pyrrhic victory, and the nature of insatiable desire. He picks up the ashes of Ratansen and his wives Padmavati and Nagmati, lamenting that he "wanted to avoid this". Alauddin continues, "Desire is insatiable, permanent / but this world is illusory and transient / Insatiable desire man continues to have / Till life is over and he reaches his grave."[11]
Manuscripts
The earliest extant manuscripts of Padmavat vary considerably in length, and are written in a number of different scripts, including
The Nastaʿlīq 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 interlinear Persian translations.[4] Other Persian manuscripts include the ones copied by Rahimdad Khan of Shahjahanpur (1697) and Abdulla Ahmad Khan Muhammad of Gorakhpur (1695).[12]
The Kaithi manuscripts contain a large number of additional verses, and are often incomplete or poorly transcribed.[4]
Mataprasad Gupta published a
Translations and adaptations
The earliest known adaptation of Padmavat is Prem Nama (1590) of Hansa Dakkani, a court poet of
Twelve adaptations 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
The Bengali epic Padmavati written in the 17th century by Alaol was influenced by this. It inspired a number of novels, plays and poems in 19th-century Bengali literature.[11] It also had Bengali adaptations by Kshirode Prasad Vidyavinode in 1906 and Abanindranath Tagore in 1909.[14]
Padmavat is the ultimate source of Albert Roussel's opera Padmâvatî (1923).
One of the famous Burmese literatures, မင်းကုသနှင့်ပပဝတီ (Minkutha & Papawati) is a loose adaptation of the Padmavati story, being adapted into several versions of theater plays and books.
Early cinematic adaptations include the
Historicity
The late medieval Persian historians such as Firishta and Hajiuddabir adapted the Padmavat legend as history, but their accounts suffer from inconsistencies.[17] The later Rajput bards also adapted and expanded the legend, without consideration to historical facts.[18] Hemratan's Gora Badal Padmini Chaupai (c. 1589 CE) became the first popular Rajput adaptation of the legend. Between 16th and 18th centuries, more Rajput versions of the Padmavati legend were compiled in present-day Rajasthan, under the patronage of the Rajput chiefs.[19] Most medieval histories written after Firishta (16th century), including the 18th century Bahrulamvaj, mention the Padmavati episode. The close resemblances in the various legendary narratives about Padmavati indicate that all these accounts are based on Jaisi's Padmavat.[20] Niccolao Manucci also mentions the story in his Storia do Mogor, but places it during the 16th century king Akbar's invasion of Chittor.[21]
Historian
The poem Padmavat ends with Jayasi's own words, "I have made up the story and related it."[26] According to Jawaharlal Nehru University historian Aditya Mukherjee, in "the contemporary period, there is no mention of this event, no accounts of Padmavati by Amir Khusrau, a prolific writer of the era and a courtier of Alauddin Khilji." He states that there "is no historical evidence of this Padmavati event - this story is a poet's imagination".[27]
Regarding the historicity of Padmini's (Padmavati) story, historian S. Roy wrote in
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ "Absurdity of epic proportions: Are people aware of the content in Jayasi's Padmavat?".
- ^ Padmavati isn’t history, so what’s all the fuss about?
- ^ a b "Padmavati trailer: Sanjay Leela Bhansali's new film looks grand, spellbinding and very expensive!". Business Today. 9 October 2017.
- ^ a b c d Ramya Sreenivasan 2007, p. 30.
- ^ Meyer, William Stevenson; Burn, Richard; Cotton, James Sutherland; Risley, Herbert Hope (1909). "Vernacular Literature". The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. pp. 430–431. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ "'Padmavat' reminds us that a major casualty of the gory Rajput conflicts were Rajput women".
- ISBN 9780521809047.
- ^ a b Ramya Sreenivasan 2007, p. 207.
- ^ a b c d e Ramya Sreenivasan 2007, p. 208.
- ^ a b c d Ramya Sreenivasan 2007, p. 209.
- ^ a b "Absurdity of epic proportions: Are people aware of the content in Jayasis Padmavat?". India Today. 23 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Ramya Sreenivasan 2007, p. 32.
- ^ Ramya Sreenivasan 2007, p. 29.
- ^ a b "Padmavati has been a part of Indian theatre & cinema for 111 years, and nobody protested". The Print. 20 November 2017.
- ^ "9 Path Breaking Films Of Shahid Kapoor That Changed The Face Of Cinema". Times Internet. 10 May 2017. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017.
- ^ "CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi: No comment on 'Padmavati'". The Times of India. 24 November 2017.
- ^ Kishori Saran Lal 1950, pp. 123–126.
- ^ Banarsi Prasad Saksena 1992, pp. 370–371.
- ^ Ramya Sreenivasan 2007, p. 3.
- ^ Kishori Saran Lal 1950, p. 127.
- ^ a b Kishori Saran Lal 1950, p. 130.
- ^ Kishori Saran Lal 1950, p. 125.
- ^ Kishori Saran Lal 1950, p. 126.
- ^ Kishori Saran Lal 1950, pp. 127–128.
- ^ Banarsi Prasad Saksena 1992, p. 368.
- ^ "Padmavati controversy: History is at risk of being trapped between Left, Right interpretations of the past". Firstpost. 24 November 2017.
- ^ "Bollywood film Padmavati faces protests from Karni Sena". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ R. C. Majumdar; A. D. Pusalker; A. K. Majumdar, eds. (1967). History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume 06,The Delhi Sultanate. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 26–27. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
Bibliography
- OCLC 31870180.
- OCLC 685167335.
- ISBN 978-0-295-98760-6.
- ISBN 978-81-241-1064-5.
External links
- The Padumawati of Malik Muammad Jaisi, English translation G. A. Grierson and Sudhakara Dvivedi
- Padmavat in Devanagari script