Rawal Ratan Singh aka Ratan Sen

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rawal Ratan Singh

• Ratnasimha aka Rawal Ratan Singh was born to the Guhila Ruler Samarasimha.

• Ratan Singh succeeded his father to become the Guhila ruler of Medapata around 1302 CE.

• Ratan Singh belonged to the Rawal branch of the Guhila Dynasty.

• He ruled from Chitrakut Fort (present-day Chittorgarh).

• Ratan Singh was the last ruler of the Rawal branch of Guhila Dynasty.

• A fictional version of Ratan Singh called Ratan Sen, appears in the 16th-century Sufi-poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic poem “Padmavat.” 

• According to Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s Padmavat, Ratan Singh fell in love with Padmavati after a parrot narrated the beauty of Padmavati in front of him. He decided to marry her and visited the Singhal Kingdom (present-day Sri Lanka) as she was the daughter of the King of Singhal Kingdom. After the Singhal King came to know that Ratan Sen was the King of Chittor, he married his daughter, Padmavati, to Ratan Sen. Sometimes later, a brahmin named Raghav Chetan, who was banished by Ratan Sen, visited the Court of Alauddin Khalji, the Sultan of Delhi, and narrated him the mesmerizing beauty of Padmavati. To obtain Padmavati, Alauddin invaded Chittor and when Ratan Sen refused to give him her wife, Alauddin captured Ratan Sen and imprisoned him in Delhi. Somehow, Padmavati succeeded in the release of Ratan Sen with the help of his two loyal officials Gora and Badal. During his detention in Delhi, a neighbourhood King named Devpal, who was also infatuated with Padmavati, tried to marry her. When Ratan Sen returned to Chittor, he had a single combat with Devpal, and in the fight, both killed each other.

• When Alauddin invaded Chittor once again, realising the defeat against Alauddin all the women of Chittor committed self-immolation, termed as Jauhar.    

• While the siege of Chittor by Alauddin Khalji in 1303 CE is a historical event, the story of Padmini and Ratan Sen has a very little historical basis, and modern chroniclers/historians have rejected its authenticity.