Padmavat

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"Who is more beautiful, I or Padmavati?, Queen Nagamati asks to her new parrot, and it gives a displeasing reply..."; an illustrated manuscript of Padmavat, c1750
"Who is more beautiful, I or Padmavati?, Queen Nagamati asks to her new parrot, and it gives a displeasing reply..."; an illustrated manuscript of Padmavat, c1750

Padmavat (or Padmawat) is a poem written in 1540 by Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the Awadhi language. The work is dedicated to Sher Shah (1486 – 1545), and is the first important work in Awadhi language [1].

[edit] Theme

This epic poem is based around of the historic seige of Chittor by Alauddin Khilji in 1303 AD, who attacks Chittor after hearing of the beauty of queen Rani Padmini, the wife of King Rawal Ratan Singh [1].

According to Jaisi, "Chitor" stood for “body”, “Raja” for “mind”, “Ceylon” for “heart”, “Padmini” for “wisdom” and “Alauddin” for “lust”.

Jaisi imagined Padmavat as the world and the ruler as desire. The whole story was built around this figment of imagination.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Padmavat The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, v. 2, p. 430.

[edit] External links