Padmavati row: Noted historian claims Rani Padmavati never existed in real

Mumbai: Activists of the Rajput Karni Sena wrecked havoc on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Padmavati’ on Friday by attacking the filmmaker and vandalising the crew’s equipment. The group claims that the director is showcasing wrong facts about Rajput queen Padmavati in the film and is keen to protect the lineage of their ancestors from any misrepresentation.

However, noted historian S Irfan Habib disputes the argument put forward by the activists.

It is said that the story of Rani Padmavati, also known as Padmini, and Alauddin Khilji’s siege of King Rawal Ratan Singh’s Chittor took place in 1303. However, Habib claims that Rani Padmavati was not a historical figure as there is record of her before 1540. According to him, the queen was a fictional figure created in the poem, ‘Padmavat’ written by Malik Mohd Jayasi in 1540.

The poem had famously traced the story of Padmini, Alauddin Khilji and Rawal Ratan Singh, to be played by Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor respectively in the film.

Habib took to Twitter to express his views, also finding similarities with the character Anarkali, shown in films like ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, who he also claims was not a historical character but a fictional one.