Ratnasimha

Ascension

Ratnasimha succeeded his father Samarasimha as the Guhila ruler of Medapata around 1302 CE. He belonged to the Rawal branch of the family, which ruled from Chitrakuta fort (now known as Chittorgarh).

Ratnasimha is attested by the 1302 CE Dariba temple inscription. A few coins issued by him have also been discovered.

Defeat against Alauddin Khilji

In 1303, Alauddin Khilji, the Muslim ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, defeated Ratnasimha.

Contemporary Muslim accounts

The earliest records of the 1303 siege of Chittor are by the Muslim chroniclers Amir Khusrau and Barani. Khusrau accompanied Alauddin during the campaign, and described it in his Khaza'in ul-Futuh, which was written sometime after 1310 CE. According to Khusrau, on 28 January 1303, Sultan Alauddin Khilji left the Siri Fort to capture Chittor. After reaching the foot of the Chittor hill, two wings of his army attacked the fort from two different sides. After two months of unsuccessful siege, the attackers pelted stones on the fort using minjaniqs (mangonels), but still failed to capture the fort. Finally, on 26 August 1303, the invaders managed to enter the fort. The Rai (the ruler of Chittor) came out of the fort, and surrendered. Alauddin conferred "royal mercy" upon him, but ordered all other Hindus to be "cut down like dry grass": 30,000 Hindus were killed in a day as a result of this order.

Amir Khusrau does not mention the name of the defending ruler, simply using the title "Rai" (ruler) to refer to him. However, modern historians identify this "Rai" with Ratnasimha. This theory is based on the 1460 CE Kumbhalgarh inscription (see below), according to which Ratnasimha left the battlefield, after which Lakshmasimha died defending the fort.

Barani, another contemporary writer, describes the event in his Tarikh-i-Firuz-Shahi (1357 CE). Barani and another chronicler Isami both state that Alauddin returned to Delhi after forgiving the enemy ruler and his family.

Hindu and Jain accounts

According to Nabhinandana-Jinoddhara-Prabandha (1336 CE) by the Jain writer Kakka Suri, Alauddin took away the wealth of the ruler of Chitrakuta, and "made him move like a monkey from one city to another".

The earliest Hindu account of the event is the Kumbhalgarh prashasti (eulogistic inscription) of 1460 CE. This inscription was issued by Kumbhakarna of the Guhila family's Rana branch, who were a rival of Ratnasimha's Rawal branch. The inscription states:

The word "departed" (tasmin gate in Sanskrit) in this verse has been variously interpreted as "died" or "deserted the defenders". Historian Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha interpreted this verse to suggest that Ratnasimha bravely fought till death. Other scholars such as Kalika Ranjan Qanungo and R. B. Haldar also accepted Ojha's translation.

However, according to other historians such as Akshay Kirti Vyas and R. C. Majumdar, the verse means that Ratnasimha cowardly fled from the battlefield. Subimal Chandra Datta points out that while describing the death of Lakshmasimha, the inscription states that he "departed for heaven". But while describing Ratnasimha's departure, it simply mentions that he "departed". This, combined with the surrender of the "Rai" described in the Muslim accounts, suggests that Ratnasimha departed from the battlefield and surrendered to Alauddin.

The legend of Padmini

A legendary account of Ratan Singh (as Ratan Sen) appears in Malik Muhammad Jayasi's 16th century epic poem Padmavat. According to this account, he married the Sinhala princess Padmini after a quest. Alauddin Khilji invaded Chittor to obtain Padmini, after hearing of her beauty. Ratan Sen was captured by the Delhi forces, but his Rajput warriors rescued him on Padmini's request. While he was in captivity, his Rajput neighbour - Devpal of Kumbhalner - sent a marriage proposal to Padmini. Ratan Sen fought with Devpal to avenge this insult, and the two Rajput kings killed each other in a single combat. Alauddin then invaded Chittor, but before he could capture the fort, Padmini and other women immolated themselves.

Several adaptions of the Padmavat legend appeared in the later years. The 16th century historians Firishta and Haji-ud-Dabir were among the earliest writers to mention Padmini as a historical figure, but their accounts differ with each other and with that of Jayasi. For example, according to Firishta, Padmini was a daughter (not wife) of Ratan Sen. Some other medieval legends written under Rajput patronage state that the contemporary ruler of Chittor was Lakhamsi (Lakshmasimha), and Ratan Sen (Ratnasimha) was his younger brother. Another version, compiled by James Tod, states that Padmini was the wife of Lakhamsi's uncle Bhimsi (Bhimasimha); this version does not mention Ratan Sen at all.

Historicity

Historian Kalika Ranjan Qanungo , in his A Critical Analysis of the Padmini Legend (1960), proposed that there were actually four distinct people with similar names. The medieval bards confused and linked these four individuals:

1. Ratnasimha, the Guhila ruler mentioned in the Kumbhalgarh inscription
2. Ratnasen, mentioned as Ratan Sen in Padmavat; he was actually a ruler of Chitrakoot in modern Uttar Pradesh, not Chittor in Rajasthan
3. Ratna, the son of Kshema; he and another warrior named Bhimasimha were killed in a battle at the foot of the Chittor hill
4. Ratnasimha, the son of the Chahamana ruler Hammira. Lakshmasimha, the ruler of Chittor, gave him shelter at Chittor, prompting Alauddin to attack Chittor

Other historians, such as Jogendra Prasad Singh (1964) and Ram Vallabh Somani have criticized Qanungo's theory based on the following points:

Most modern historians have rejected the authenticity of the Padmini legend.