The Real Akbar. - Page 7

Hello there!!, I am just another reader of Akdha Fanfics , this thread caught my attention suddenly while scrolling for some good fanfics, just by the title I guessed it was a debate. Its my bad luck that I saw this when already 3 months have passed. I hope that I don’t sound rude by delivering my comments about a particular part in the debate, this Kiran Devi part because I think it’s important for people to know (I hope I don’t sound like some preachy old stiff). It is my humble request for all of you to read this carefully. Actually, this Kiran Devi stuff caught my eye while reading this entire debate. It has been really informative for me actually, although I knew most of the information @IshqHaiWoEhsaas talked about, but some of them were really new addition to my knowledge, thank you a lot for that!!!! Akbar was one of the most enlightened, unique, man of many talents and so much more!! Not to forget that he singlehandedly changed the nature of politics pursued in India during his time. If one reads his biography or the many chronicles written during his time about him, he would absolutely love the thinking process of this man. As @ IshqHaiWoEhsaas has told, you really can’t fit him in one box. However, every man has faults and mistakes, some of them grave enough to be unforgettable, here at least for me, it is unforgettable that he killed entire 30,000 people in the aftermath of the siege of Chittor. However, considering the great things that he has done later in his life, I am ready to overlook (remember overlook is not the same as forgetting or justifying) this “single and large blot in his reign”, mainly because his positive aspects far outweigh this unjustifiable massacre. Coming back to his vices, I will say that this Kiran Devi stuff is entirely false, and if any person believes it then they are making huge mistake, not because this concerns Akbar, but because they have poor knowledge of history and the legitimacy of its sources (I will explain this in last). We know that there is no ‘original lie’, but let’s suppose for argument’s sake, if so then let us first read the original story(lie) of Kiran Devi- Meena bazaar was only open to women and also run by only women. Kiran devi who is the niece of Maharana Pratap and the daughter of Shakti Singh went to meena bazaar in Agra (why?). This story tells that Akbar used to disguise himself under burkha and spot women in meena bazar from where he would abduct them and rape them (wow, how convincing!!!). On that particular day too, Akbar was out on this business of his, then he spots Kiran devi and tries to molest her, Kiran devi retaliates and in the conclusion of the tussle that follows, Kiran devi stands over Akbar and gets ready to plunge the dagger in her molester. Akbar becomes scaredly cat and pleads for mercy, Kiran Devi agrees finally on the condition that Meena bazaar would never be held again. In this way the story concludes that Meena bazaar was never held again. Now, the story itself sounds very orchestrated, actually it was created by Rajput bards, during 1800s, much time after Akbar’s reign. Firstly, as has been already told by @IshqHaiWoEhsaas, what was Maharana Pratap’s niece doing in Akbar’s kingdom , that too in his capital ? Secondly, as has been already told by @IshqHaiWoEhsaas the concerned painting belongs to 1800s style of local Rajputana style of painting, it is not a contemporary painting. Thirdly, Akbar was emperor, he would never leave with bodyguards outside palace, and it is important to note that all his bodyguards were armed with muskets(guns). What were they doing? Chewing betel leaves perhaps. Fourthy, we know once someone tells a lie, they seldom remember it themselves, so, everytime when the lies are retold, they are dissimilar from each other. Recently due to hindu rightist propagandas, this story started circulating. So, different websites carry different versions of this lie, some say that Akbar invited Kiran Devi treacherously to his palace where he tried to molest her, some say that it happened in the celebrations of Naoroz (do these fools even know what is naoroz in the first place? I suppose they think that Naoroz is some Islamic festival, because it was celebrated by mughals). Fifthly, neither Akbar nor his descendants stopped celebrating Naoroz or meena bazaar, since chroniclers and writers describe the Naoroz and meena bazaar celebrations during times of Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb etc. as well. Now ,the sixth point, MOST IMPORTANT ONE, why did I take this Kiran Devi allegation so seriously? The reason concerns legitimacy of sources, if we consider the broader aspect. Kiran devi is just one of thousands of false stories that aim to overglorify Rajput heroes (AS IF THE MAKERS OF THESE STORIES THOUGHT THAT THE COUNTLESS SACRIFICES AND INSPIRING HEROISM THAT RAJPUTS SHOWED WAS NOT ENOUGH!!!) Actually the reason was little bit different as to why these stories were created. Rajput kings drew their legitimacy to rule from caste supremacy, semi divinity, and the imagery of undefeatable military prowess, however such dreamlike concepts were for removed from the brutal reality they faced. In most of the standing(face to face) battles, ineffective Rajput military systems were defeated many a times by more efficient Turkish/Afghan/Mughal military. The reason why Rajputs held out was because they knew the local terrain, and were masters in gureilla warfare. Why rajputs failed to make grand successes even after winning some battles is elaborated in the following website- https://prepp.in/news/e-492-decline-of-rajputs-medieval-india-history-notes https://scroll.in/article/728636/what-our-textbooks-dont-tell-us-why-the-rajputs-failed-miserably-in-battle-for-centuries So, with the continuous exhausting battles against larger empires as well as internal rivals, most Rajput states became weak slowly, as naturally as a result their military supremacy, caste supremacy, semidivinity which were all interconnected with each other, started being questioned. in order to make sure that the local subjects and the caste members remain loyal, Rajput kings started appointing bards to design superficial stories that would extoll and glorify the Rajput heroism to extremely high levels, and at the same time make sure that local people are always motivated for war. In these stories, Rajput kings, generals are shown as bravehearts who fought valiantly and enemies were shown as cowards, who, even if victorious, only tasted victory because of chance, or by treachery and sometimes the hero got killed/defeated because some god was angry at him (seriously?). These bards used to compose stories, poems, couplets, paintings in local languages and subsequently spread them among masses. These stories overlook the fact that both side armies had powerful and hardy warriors and talented commanders, enemies won because they were strategically better led, unlike rajputs who only knew frontal charge. These stories are extremely supercilious and funny by today’s standards, the way they describe the bravery of rajputs seems as if these guys were aliens on battlefield. The enemies are described as great sinners and are considered incapable of heroism, so that local people hearing these bardic tales always form a negative imagery of the enemy. It is an important point to be noted that these stories were created irrespective of who the enemy was (whether islamic empires or other Rajput kingdoms) Such eulogizing false accounts of battles, encounters, and other aspects of life among rajputs in the form of bardic writings became more and more widespread among the Rajput community with the passage of time and became an important tradition among them, attaining the status of legends among local people. Story of Kiran Devi, Jwalamukhi Devi mandir are such bardic stories, created by bards (presumably Mewar loyalists). That is why they have absolutely zero proofs or historical backings. Whether or not these stories were successful in creating desired results in the times they were written? I can’t really tell, but today, if the historical aspects of these stories are concerned, then they are extremely poor sources of actual history (almost nil). Most of them are 100% false with 0 historical backing. Fact is, both Rajputs and Mughals had their own chronicles and biographies where they have described their authentic history and accounts, 99% of which do not match with these bardic tales. Nowadays there are many youtubers who have started circulating these stories claiming them as historical. It is very important to crosscheck and verify what you read in websites and youtube videos, especially for rajputs. EXTRA FACT 1- Rajputs were not the only people who created false bardic tales, this practice was also seen in other communities people ,for example- some local rulers in bengal also created their bardic tales, ancient south india also had such similar traditions. Tradition of false eulogies and bardic tales overglorifying heroes are very old, existing even before Islam came to India. Its just that some particular communities like Rajputs did it right off the scales. EXTRA FACT 2- all of us know James Todd, he was an officer of the EIC. He was presumably the first person to study Rajput history. He too, fell prey to these bardic stories and added them to his study results. Reading these idealizing bardic stories and accounts without judging their authenticity is one of the reasons why Colonel James Todd was literally obsessed with Rajput idealism. Later on, as more studies were made, colonel Todd’s works were heavily criticized by later historians who started proving most of his works wrong (well, you can’t expect anything else if you start labelling bardic tales as history). So everyone who reads my comments, I wish you good luck to not become the next James Todd!! I hope that I have not sounded rude in my comments, if so, then I am extremely sorry for that. But, it was important for people here to know the difference btw bardic tales and historical chronicles/accounts. Fact is, many of the famous legends throughout India are nothing but bardic tales with 0 history in them. Regards, Thank you