History “Re-Written”

The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) has made changes to content related to legendary Rajput queen Padmini in the latest edition of the Board’s Class XII history textbook.

Unlike last year’s textbook, in the 2018 edition of ‘Bharat Ka Itihas’ (History of India) the part dealing with queen Padmini has no mention of an alleged incident when Alauddin Khilji saw her reflection in a mirror.

The new edition of the book, distributed by the Rajasthan State Textbook Board, appeared in the market recently.

The changes come a year after protests against the Hindi film ‘Padmaavat’.

The story of Padmini is mentioned in the chapter ‘Mughal Akraman: Prakar aur Prabhav’ (Mughal invasion: Type an effects) under the section ‘Padmini ki Kahaani’ (story of Padmini).

Rawal Ratan Sinh

“Aath varsh tak ghera daalne ke baad bhi jab Sultan Chittor ko nahi jeet paaya to usne prastav rakha ki yadi ussey Padmini ka pratibimb hi dikha diya jaye to vah Delhi laut jayega (Even after laying siege to Chittor for eight years, when the Sultan couldn’t win, he proposed a that if he is allowed to see the reflection of Padmini, then he will return to Delhi),” the 2017 edition of the book said.

Thereafter, it stated, “Rana ne is prastaav ko swikar kar liya. Darpan me Padmini ka pratibimb dekhkar jab Alauddin wapis laut raha thha, us samay usne Ratan Singh ko qaid kar liye aur rihai ke badle Padmini ki mang ki (The Rana accepted this proposal. When Alauddin was returning after seeing Padmini’s reflection in a mirror, he captured Ratan Singh and asked for Padmini in exchange of his freedom).”

There’s no mention of this incident in the 2018 edition of the textbook.

“Aath varsh tak ghera daalne ke baad bhi jab Sultan Chittor ko nahi jeet paya to usne sandhi prastav ke bahane dhokhe se Ratan Singh ko qaid kar liye aur rihai ke badle Padmini ki mang ki (Even after laying siege to Chittor for eight years, when the Sultan couldn’t win, he captured Ratan Singh on pretext of an offer of truce),” reads the 2018 edition of the book.

In the latest edition, a line is added at the start of the topic, stating that the description of Padmini is according to the book ‘Padmaavat’ written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540.