Gallant Acts of the Comely Ladies and their Legendary Jauhars

 

Rani Padmini

Rani Padmini, a beautiful queen and second wife of King Ratan Singh. Her ravishing looks created a buzz all across. Captivated by her beauty Alauddin Khilji attacked Chittorgarh with his army to seize upon the city. The first Jauhar took place when the queen along with the other women folk committed a mass suicide by jumping into the flames of burnt pyre while the men folk dressed in saffron robes and turbans performed Saka, a ritual to fight till death.

The second Jauhar took place when a widowed queen, Rani Karnavati, performed Jauhar after Bahadur Shah along with his troops besieged Chittor. This Jauhar witnessed a historic event in Rajasthani history by bringing together the custodians of the two religions, Hinduism and Muslim, by means of a thread known as rakhi and the tradition is known as Raksha Bandhan. In Raksha Bandhan, sisters tie a thread, rakhi, on brother's wrist as a symbol of well-being of brother's life, in turn, brothers' pledge to protect their sister's life. Rani Karnavati sent a rakhi to emperor Humayun to protect her city from the invasion of Bahadur Shah. Humayun touched by her act, set off his army to defeat Bahadur Shah but arrived late and failed to protect the queen from Jauhar. Humayun soon after his arrival evicted the Sultan of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, from Chittor and made Vikramjit Singh, a son of the queen, as an heir to the throne.

The third one took place when emperor Akbar captured Chittor after the death of Jaimal Rathore. The ladies of the city resorted to Jauhar to preclude the lecherous advances.



 

Panna Dai, a Gurjar maid sacrificed her son to save the life of infant heir to the throne of Chittorgarh and a son of Rana Sangaram Singh, Udai Singh. She replaced the young prince with her own son in the cradle only to be killed by Banbir, a cousin of Rana Sanga.

                         Rani Padmini sat at the entrance of this palace to show her reflection to Khilji 

 

Jharokha, the window used to show the reflection of Rani Padmini                 Ruins of Chittor Fort