It is 4:15 AM on June 20th. I just returned from a trip overseas and awake because of jet lag. For last few weeks I have been reading a book that I finally finished few minutes back. At this time of the day, I felt I should capture my thoughts in this blog before I become lazy by morning.
I have been to the state of Rajasthan in India twice. Each time I have explored different regions. I still have one more trip to make to cover rest of Rajasthan. I have been to Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chitoor, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar, and few other areas. I grew up in India reading Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) comics which were the only source of history of various parts of India. Our history books focused only the major events of Indian history and mostly of Delhi and around. One set of ACK comics that fascinated most Indian kids are the stories of the famed Rajputs of Rajasthan - Rana Sangram Singh, Rana Kumbha, Rana Pratap Singh. They were the cowboys of our wild west. They stood up to all invaders of India from Babur, Akbar, Jahengir, etc and continue to survive to this day. My travel to all their major cities piqued my interest about them more.
Coming to the books I read recently, two of them coincidentally told me the story of Babur and Rana Sanga (Rana Sangram Singh) of Mewar in Rajasthan. The first is titled "Warriors of the North" which is a historical fiction about Babur. How he rose from being boy king of Farghana in central Asia, who lost his kingdom while in pursuit of his ancestral city of Samarkhand, eventually becomes king of Kabul only to be drawn to Hindustan (India). After defeating the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, he wages another battle with the Rajputs under the leadership of Rana Sanga and wins the battle against all odds thus establishing his Mogul empire in India.
The second book I just finished is titled "Cuckold". It is a historical fiction narrated by the eldest and heir apparent of Rana Sanga - Maharaj Kumar (Bhojraj). This book enlightened me about the constant wars and battles between Mewar, the region that Rana Sanga ruled in Rajasthan and the Muslim kingdoms of Gujarat and Malwa. More importantly this book talks about the famous female saint of India - Meera Bai - Bhojraj's wife. For those of you who are not aware of Meera Bai, she was a great devotee of Lord Krishna. She wrote many songs, poems about Lord Krishna and considered him to be her husband. According to ACK, she became so famous that Emperor Akbar (grandson of Babur) and his famous court musician, Tansen, visited her in disguise and listened to her in awe. As a parting gift left a jeweled necklace on her feet. This may be very doubtful because she lived during the times of Babur and very unlikely survived that long to be during the time of Akbar.
This books, narrated by Bhojraj, tells the battles between Mewar and other two warring kingdoms, how Rana Sanga was the last Rajput king to form a coalition of Rajput kings to fight Babur at battle of Khanua. Apparently, if they had moved quickly, they would have grabbed Delhi before Babur could have and may have staved off the invasion and eventual establishing of Islamic Mogul rule in India. They missed the boat and when they tried to dislodge Babur they lose the battle in spite of superior numbers and also the treachery from one of the coalition ruler (so common in our history). More interesting while these historical battles were being fought in North India, Vijayanagar empire in the south was watching cautiously under the rule of Krishnadevaraya. It appears all these Hindu-Muslim rulers watched with caution the coming of Babur from Kabul even though he ruled the puny kingdom of Kabul.
Rana Sanga is a heroic figure in Indian history. He is a one-eyed, battle scarred Rajput hero. Against many odds and betrayal by his brothers he becomes the king of Mewar. His defeat in the hands of Babur eventually leads to his assassination. Mewar falls into the hands of his incompetent son Vikramaditya. In this book, the heir apparent, Bhojraj just disappears but history says the he died in battle.
Even more interesting about this book is that through out the novel, the wife of Bhojraj is referred to as the "little saint" who is in love with Lord Krishna but her name, Meera bai, is never mentioned. Even though I had an inkling that this character sounds and behaved like Meera Bai, I dismissed that thought because I thought Meera Bai belonged to much earlier times.
It is fascinating for me to know that 16th century India (1500s) had some of the most fascinating people, rulers, and events that molded India's future. Babur was able to defeat the Lodis to become the king of North India. It is explained in both these books that Babur had superior technology against the Indians in form of matchlock guns (or rifles) and canons. Rajputs, who are famous for infighting among themselves were united by Rana Sanga but failed to dislodge Babur. Around the same time the Vijayanagara empire, which came into existence to prevent the march of Islamic rule into South India was at its zenith under the rule of the famous Krishnadevaraya but eventually succumbed to the united Muslim army in 1562 in the battle of Tallikota. Meera Bai was singing and composing poetry about Lord Krishna at the same time all these events were happening. Vasco da gama discovered sea route from Europe to India in late 1490s and so at the start of the 1500s the Portuguese were making attempts to establish in India. So, believe it or not, both the Europeans and Moguls started around the same time to establish themselves in India. The later were successful but were soon replaced about 250 years later by the former.
So what did I learn out of this? Fate is a strange thing. I don't know if it is predetermined or not. Given the history of India's constant friction with its Muslim populace, would India been better off had it stopped the first Islamic invasions from Persia and Afghanistan if Prithviraj Chauhan was supported by his father-in-law? Would we have been better off had Rana Sanga captured the tottering Delhi before Babur did?
When I visited Chittor in early 2000s with my family I was shown the palace of Rani Padmini (another legendary beautiful queen of Chittor who committed suicide (Jowhar) rather than be taken prison by a Muslim conqueror who lusted for her), the temple where Mera Bai sang and danced for Lord Krishna, the unscathed Victory Tower built by Rana Kumbha, the first of famous Ranas of Mewar. They showed the location where Rani Padmini and the ladies of palace were supposed to have lit pyre and committed Jowhar. They also told story of Rani Karmavati who, ironically, pleaded for help from the son of Babur, Humayun when Chittor was under siege of Sultan of Malwa. This event did not get my attention until I read "Cuckold" today. Here is the twist of fate and irony.
According to this book, Rani Karmavati, was behind the assassination of her husband Rana Sanga so that her debauched son Vikramaditya can become the king of Mewar. Rana Sanga was supposedly assassinated on his way back to Chittor after the defeat at battle of Khanua. Her son was so incompetent that very soon the vast kingdom of Mewar shrunk in size and the very Sultan who was defeated by Rana Sanga laid siege to Chittor. To save his son and Chittor, Rani Karmavati, request for help from then king of Delhi, Humayun, son of Babur. It is the same Moghuls against whom her husband fought and lost. The tourist guide said that Humayun's help came late and Chittor fell to Malwa. In tradition of the Rajputs, Rani Karmavati committed suicide by Jowhar (jumping into pyre). What a fate for a queen who constantly plotted and assassinated her own husband for her son. According to the history I read, Humayun never responded to her plea.
Indian mothers love for their children is legendary. They go to extent of discarding their parents, siblings, even their spouse for their children. When their children are in danger these once mild mothers turn into tigresses. This should explain the legendary friction between an Indian mothers and their daughters-in-law.
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