Meera, Sanga and Mewar: The Remarkable Story of A Brave Rajput Princess and Her Legendary Devotion

Jyoti Jafa

• Publisher: Roli Books
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9788186939857
• eBook ISBN: 9788186939857
• Topic: Historia
• Subtopic: Historia del mundo

Meera Bai, one of India's most well-known mystic poet is also a Rajput princess of the Rathor clan. Married to Mewar's Crown Prince Bhoj Raj, son of Rana Sanga, the most chivalrous and powerful warrior king ruling medieval India's largest and wealthiest Rajput kingdoms, her charmed life revolves around her love for Krishna. Passionate and devoted to her divine consort, this retelling of Meera's story is a celebration of her life as a princess, a brave daughter-in-law of Mewar, a poet, and a seeker of divine union with her God. Steeped in Rajput traditions, customs and folklore, this novel explores the relationship between the physical and the metaphysical.

MEERA,

SANGA

and

MEWAR

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First published in 2021 by

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© Jyoti Jafa, 2021

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‘Not by the Vedas, or an austere life, or gifts to the poor, or ritual offerings, can I be seen as you have seen me. Only by Love can people see me and come to me.’

The Bhagavad Gita

Author’s Note

Some of the Indian subcontinent’s greatest poets, musicians, and mystical saints lived in the sixteenth century CE. Among them was a Rajput princess of the Rathor clan, called Meera Bai. And by attempting to tell her rather incredible story, I was trapped by a self-created dilemma. How was I to create a plausible Meera character out of the fast-moving medley of disorder and divine benediction that was her strange life, while basing it largely on her own unverifiable claims, the legends surrounding her, and themes and incidents that contradicted normal perceptions of reality?

Let me start by saying that I believe in the ‘supernatural’, and the ‘paranormal’ – one strong reason why I was impelled so deeply and mysteriously into researching and writing this story. For me, these phenomena aren’t something beyond scientific and rational explanations. They are the inexplicable elements of our existence altered by forces that are not understood fully, if at all.

The Hindu belief in Hanuman who travelled thousands of miles in a single somersault, or the Christian belief in a virgin’s Immaculate Conception, and the ascension of her child to a place in the sky called heaven, sound equally implausible. But these are important elements in two of the world’s major living religions, and accepted as a testimony of faith by their followers. No Hindu believer in the Krishna cult doubts the honesty and authenticity of Meera Bai’s seances, her poetic utterances, and the strange events of her life. In fact, over the centuries, she has herself emerged as a cult figure in the Krishna Bhakti movement.

But my dilemma as a writer came to the fore when I began the process of fusing together my personal belief in her life story with the actual history of her era. It was necessary to put her in the historical context, when the context was such a solemn, commemorative and celebrative aspect of the Indian Bhakti movement and culture. My book about Meera Bai would seem to demand a ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ as well as judgement. Coleridge had suggested that the writer could infuse ‘human interest and semblance of truth’ into a fantastic tale to help readers suspend judgement concerning the implausibility of any narrative. I have endeavoured to do just that – chapters in this book containing actual historical battles and intrigues are followed by others containing pure fantasy and surrealistic happenings! The historical part of this narrative is interspersed with the life of a person who is totally real in the historic sense. Meera herself, and some of her family members and contemporaries, talked and wrote about the miracles which her personal deity Krishna performed throughout her life.

Meera’s was a charmed life revolving around her great love for Krishna based on recurring past-life memories about their special relationship; and her determination to achieve reunion with this historic Krishna, worshipped in India as a reincarnation of God, moulded her personality and life choices.

Blessed with great beauty, intellect, poetic gifts, and a magical singing voice, Meera lived life on her own terms. But she still managed to secure the support and admiration of her grandfather Rao Duda of Merta, and her father-in-law, Rana Sanga of Mewar, the most chivalrous and powerful warrior king ruling medieval India’s largest and wealthiest Rajput kingdom. Though she believed Krishna to be her divine consort, Meera’s relationship with her truly evolved earthly husband, Crown Prince Bhoj Raj, points to a very poignant and unusual relationship in the annals of history. I have tried to handle this part of the story as deftly and sensitively as I could.

I began this book only because of my own fascination with Meera Bai due to our shared bloodline, my life-long immersion in Rajput history, traditions, customs, and folklore. Personal belief in reincarnation, past-life recall, Karmic requitals, miracles, and divine grace helped me complete it.

But no matter what one believes, Meera’s evocative bhajans and poems have endured, and are still sung after more than five hundred years wherever and whenever people of Indian origin gather to chant the glories of God.

Main Historical Characters

Princess Meera Bai: Grandaughter of Merta’s ruler Duda, daughter of Ruttan Si, wife of Mewar’s Crown Prince Bhoj Raj, and Rana Sanga’s daughter-in-law

Rao Duda Mal Rathor: Fourth son of Marwar’s king Jodha, Merta’s founder and clan patriarch

Biram Deo: Rao Duda’s eldest son and heir

Princess Girija De of Mewar: His third wife and Rana Sanga’s sister

Princess Phool: Their daughter, Rana Sanga’s niece, and wife of Prince Ajay Jhala of Halwad

Prince Pratab: Girija De’s first son, and Rana Sanga’s nephew

Prince Bhanwar: Biram Deo’s eldest son, and Rao Duda’s eldest grandson

Prince Raysal: Rao Duda’s third son

Princess Kusum: His daughter, Meera’s favourite cousin, and wife of Prince Sajay Jhala of Halwad

Prince Ruttan Si of Merta: Rao Duda’s youngest son, and Meera’s father

Sant Beniji: A famous fifteenth-sixteenth century saint, and mystical poet

Rana Sanga of Mewar: Fourth son and heir of Mewar’s king Rai Mull, whose chivalry, valour, and administrative skills made him a living legend

Maharani Jhaliji: Princess of Halwad, and Sanga’s senior consort

Crown Prince Bhoj Raj: Their only son, and Meera Bai’s husband

Maharani Rathoriji: Princess of Marwar, and Sanga’s second wife, mother of their son Ratan Singh, and kinswoman to the Merta princesses

Prince Ratan Singh of Mewar: Sanga’s second son, who succeeded him as Rana

Rani Karnavati: Bundi’s Hada-Chauhan Princess who was Rana Sanga’s third wife, and mother of his daughter Uda, sons Bikramjeet and Udai Singh

Princess Uda: Their daughter, Meera Bai’s sister-in-law, and wife of Edur’s Rathor Prince Raimal

Prince Bikramjeet: Sanga’s third son, who succeeded his half-brother Ratan Singh as Rana

Prince Udai Singh: Sanga’s fourth son, who succeeded his brother Bikramjeet, and through whom Mewar’s ruling Sisodia dynasty descends

Kanhji, the Chundawat Rao Saheb of Salumbar: Mewar’s premier hereditary chief, and Sanga’s closest kinsman and military advisor

The Jhala Princes Ajay and Sajay: Nephews and wards of Maharani Jhaliji, husbands of the Merta Princesses Phool and Kusum. Cousins and friends of Prince Bhoj Raj

Prince Raimal Rathor of Edur: Husband of Princess Uda, and son-in-law of Rana Sanga

Sultan Muzzafar Shah of Gujarat

Sultan Mahmud Khilji of Malwa

The Lodi Afghan Prince Mahmud: Younger brother of Delhi’s Sultan Ibrahim Lodi

Babur: Founder of the Mughal empire in India

One

PRINCESS MEERA BAI HAD DISAPPEARED. A THOROUGH SEARCH by various maids, cousins, and aunts through the Merta fort’s interconnected Rawla apartments, rooftop terraces, garden pavilion, and park had proved futile. The messengers sent to fetch the child from her well-known haunts in the male domain like her grandfather’s private apartments, the music chamber, and book room, had failed to find her.

The burnished saffron sun disk was already low on the desert horizon. And the dusty haze raised by all the horses, camels, and cattle returning from their jungle grazing grounds beyond the small Rajasthani town increased the women’s anxiety. The November days were getting shorter and colder, and the child should have been safely indoors by now. Even the peacocks, parrots, pigeons, and doves were returning to the fort’s trees and kiosks for the night.

Aware that Merta’s ruler Rao Duda expected all his descendants – unless they were far from home or seriously indisposed – to join him for the evening aarti at the family deity Lord Char Bhuja Nath’s temple, his daughters-in-law Princess Girija De of Mewar, and the Neemrana Princess Kalyan Kanwar came to a decision. They would request their husband Prince Biram Deo to locate their niece.

Meera’s nurse Jamna Bai went off to relay their message, murmuring words to ward off the evil eye from her missing charge.

Biram Deo’s statuesque senior wife felt compelled to grumble. “A little discipline would be better for Meera’s own future, instead of too much freedom to do exactly as she likes, just because of her beautiful bhajan singing!”

His gracious third wife Girija De, to whom the child had attached herself since her mother’s recent death, nodded agreement. “We are all a bit over-indulgent towards her. But you’ll agree that Meera does fill the palace with happiness. And ever since her birth, every well dug in Merta has given us sweet water.”

Rao Duda maintained his composure when his heir Biram Deo informed him that his pampered favourite was untraceable.

“She has been forbidden to leave the fort unescorted. And I’ve personally warned every retainer not to let the princess go anywhere near the guesthouse we keep for visiting sadhu–sants and pir–fakirs after yesterday’s embarrassing tamasha! But today, I would have been quite relieved to find her there, listening to their stories,” said Biram Deo, more anxious than he cared to admit about his six-year-old niece’s safety.

This incident made him feel that his you...

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• Meera, Sanga and Mewar