If one looks at landmark events in history, it is replete with acts of bravery and inexplicable courage at a personal level. Some of these heroes and heroines find a mention in the pages of history and are thus saved from obscurity. One can only think of the innumerable men and women whose stories were not put down on paper, and are thus forever lost to the generations which followed them. Even among the people who performed deeds over and above what is expected of a ‘normal’ human being, there are some who stand out from the crowd.
There is one such person who comes to my mind. This individual was not a soldier nor an administrator. But this individual might just be among the people who influenced the sub-continent’s destiny almost single-handedly.
The year is 1519. It is to prove pivotal in determining the fate of the coming centuries. A young man named Babur, a descendant of the deadly Timur and Genghis Khan has been recently ousted from his coveted Samarkand. He is looking to get away from the turmoil of the region and turns his attention east towards a land of untold riches. He believes it is his duty to conquer Punjab, since it used to belong to Timur’s empire. North India is ruled by the once powerful Lodi dynasty. Ibrahim Lodi rules a crumbling empire. He has quite a few defectors to contend with and they invite Babur to do for them, which they cannot.
Babur sets out for Lahore in 1524, and aided by victorious skirmishes and fickle loyalties, he brings Punjab within his dominion in just a matter of weeks. If he can only take Delhi, he will be halfway there to controlling the sub-continent. In the eventual decisive war against the numerically superior army of Ibrahim Lodi, it was Babur’s cannons that won the war for him. In what later came to be known as the First Battle of Panipat (April, 1526), Lodi died and Babur took his place. Thus ended the Lodi dynasty and laid the foundations of the Mughal dynasty. But Babur was not out of the woods yet, he still did not have the right to claim sovereignty of India.
In his path stands Rana Sanga (Maharana Sangram Singh), the head of the powerful Hindu Rajput Confederacy. In a bid to oust Babur from the region, Rana Sanga mustered up a coalition which included almost all the other prominent Rajput chiefs and the remaining Lodi loyalists. They met at the Battle of Khanwa(1527), where yet again Babur’s superior generalship won the war. This battle was to be the largest and bloodiest, second only to the Third Battle of Panipat. It not only broke the backbone of the coalition, but also the reputation of the Rana in the region. Rana Sanga narrowly escaped to Chittor, but the damage was done. The Mughal empire was now firmly established in the sub-continent. Rana Sanga died shortly thereafter in 1530.
Fastforward to 1536. The Kingdom of Mewar is in turmoil. Sanga’s successor, Ratan Singh II is the Maharana for only four years before dying, followed by his brother Vikramaditya Singh. Vikramaditya proved to be a unfit ruler, and is placed under house arrest by the Mewar nobles. The heir elect to the throne is 14 year old Udai Singh. The nobles appoint Banvir, to act as regent to Udai Singh. However, as history has shown us only too often, power corrupts. Banvir assassinated the arrested Vikramaditya and moved to remove the only individual who could have challenged his claim to the throne, Udai Singh.
Since childhood, Udai had been raised by a nursemaid called Panna Dhai along with her own son Chandan. On the fateful night when Banvir moved to kill Udai, Panna Dhai had just put the two young boys to sleep. Having received a tip-off of Banvir’s intentions, Panna Dhai had to make a decision fast. She was a loyal servant of the Kingdom of Mewar. But what could she, a powerless maid, have possibly done to stop a seasoned soldier like Banvir?
She asked a servant to take the young prince and move as far away as possible, to safety. Once Udai Singh was on his way to safety, she put her own son on the prince’s bed. Soon enough, as expected Banvir burst into the room and seeing the sleeping form of a young boy, assumed it to be the heir elect to the throne of Mewar. Here was the one person who could stop him from being the undisputed Maharana, the son of Maharana Sanga, who had so wrongfully sent his own father Prithviraj into exile and took the throne for himself. In but a moment, he would kill young Udai, and become the Maharana of the Rajputs.
And so…PANNA WATCHED HER OWN SON BEING MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD IN FRONT OF HER OWN EYES.
A mother, innocent in every way possible, watched her son being killed in front of her, all because of her strong sense of loyalty to the Kingdom of Mewar and Udai Singh. If that is not the ultimate sacrifice, then I have no idea what is. She could have walked away with her son, she could have taken both boys and tried to escape. She showed an understanding of the situation which even seasoned military commanders failed to emulate in wars which led to the fall of many a dynasty. Her actions ensured the continuation of a lineage stretching back a couple of centuries and which would stretch on for a couple more.
EPILOGUE
After the hasty cremation of her son, she joined Udai and the servant at the designated spot. They travelled for many weeks seeking asylum with many chiefs in the region, but to no avail. Their journey finally ended upon reaching Kumbalgarh, where the local governor named Asha Depura Shah, agreed to give them protection. At the age of 18, backed by a combined force from both Marwar and Mewar, Udai Singh defeated the forces of Banvir at Mavli and became the 53rd Maharana of the Mewar dynasty.
With Udai’s victory, Panna Dhai walked out of the pages of history quietly.
This is the Udai Singh who later founded the city of Udaipur. This is the Udai Singh who had 22 wives and more than 70 children. One among these 70 was the great Maharana Pratap Singh.
This is the Pratap Singh who later clashed with Akbar, years after their respective grandfathers had done the same. The result was the same, but one can argue that it was Maharana Pratap who was among the first individuals to stand up to the Mughal Empire, when so many Indian chiefs and rulers were siding with the Mughals. Pratap’s methods were an inspiration for many, including Shivaji. Pratap was and is a hero for all Indians.
And to think it all rested on the decision of a helpless nursemaid. Whew!
Ephemeral but Ethereal 