Of Faith and Fate

Series Announcement!

Historical Fictions are special, so here is one, short but special tale close to my heart after a really long time!

This story is a special one because it is completely historical fiction with very little connection to the fan fiction I have written previously. However, I have maintained the sequence of events, reading history books on the context.
This is not a story of a man and a woman, their love and trust. This one is about the tests time often puts people through, forcing them to change.

My protagonists in this one are hence, two princesses of the same age.

Ajabdeh Punwar or Ajbante Kanwar Baisa, as she is locally called is the princess of a very significant district of Bijolia in Mewar. Bijolia lies in the seat of political events, at the border of Bundi and Mewar. Having her lineage from the mighty Chauhans, her forefathers once ruled Mewar. Her father is an officer in the army of Mewar under Rana Udai Singh and she is a lady of principles, mature for her age, eager to learn and serve her people. A marriage full of promises of a bright future as the Maharani to the crown prince is set to change her life completely, in ways she had never imagined.

This is not the first time I will be telling you the tales of these people. Kunwar Pratap of Mewar, his journey from being Rana to Maharana, Maharanisa Ajabdeh Punwar, her faith and support. Their valour, sacrifices and battles. But this is the first time, I decided to omit the drama, and concentrate on who they were and what they stood for. Not much is known about this lady, except that she was the Queen and Mother to the heir. But from Folklores and local stories, Ajabdeh comes alive, as his pillar of strength. In my imagination, she is the perfect reflection of his soul and his mother’s character. Otherwise, he would have never ‘chosen’ to be with her. This is her story.

There are two sides to each story, everyone says. And I agree. We may believe or support one, and discard another. While Rana Pratap’s determination and love for his motherland remains on one, the other side of this coin is the Mighty Timurid Dynasty that struggled to rise to the power of Hind. There is a young thirteen-year-old Prince who suddenly becomes an emperor. Jalaluddin Mohammad becomes Akbar for his people. And amidst the most influential characters in his Haram, is his first wife, Shehzaadi Rukaiya Sultana Begum. Not much has been written about her because she fails to give him an heir. But she remains his chief consort throughout her life. This is her story too.

Rukaiya Sultana Begum, the Princess of the Timurid dynasty has her lineage from Ghengis Khan and Timur the Lame. Babur’s granddaughter from his son Hindal Mirza is all set to become the empress of Hindusthan. She is married to her first cousin. But her innocence is at stake in this dream and power struggle. She is yet to learn how to be politically influential and diplomatic. In her quest for existence, she fears losing herself, or worse, her loved ones. Will she be successful in becoming what her family expected of her or will she be just another forgotten name in the largest harem of Hindustan?

Let's take a short journey through the lives of these two women while their Men made History!

Ps. I will keep adding footnotes of historical references and information throughout the story to keep you updated with the historical events I have used. At the end of the story, I plan to post a chronological table of the chapters as well. Hope that you all will love this tale as much as I do.

Bibliography

The following Books had been consulted while writing this Historical series.

Mewar and The Mughal Emperors by G.N. Sharma
War Strategies of Maharana Pratap by L.P. Mathur
Mughal Empire by R.C. Majumder
Akbar the Great Mogul by Vincent Smith
Daughters of the Sun by Ira Mukhoty
Episodes from the Life of Akbar by Shireen Moosvi
Private Life of the Mughals of India by R. Nath
Maharana Pratap by B.N. Rana
Tuzk E Jahangir translated by Oxford University Press
Shahjahan Nama translated.
Annals and Antiquities of Mewar by Col. James Todd

Index page. Of Faith and Fate

Harsh Truths of Life

Ajbante Kanwar found herself by the Menal waterfall that made enough noise for her to not hear Kunwar Partap approaching with the horses. She was lost in thoughts. After two days of playing host to the royals of Bundi, yesterday the king had informed her father that they would start their journey to Chittorgarh early in the morning. As she snuck out of the palace she saw the pompous procession of elephants decorated with gold ornaments and horses with golden quilts over their seat being led out by the Bundi soldiers. The palace was awake earlier than she anticipated and she had to squeeze in a little time and excuse herself for her “prayers”. But as she sat by the waterfall she was unsure whether he could come. She looked up at the sky clearing into dawn as she sighed and shook her head. He must be preparing to leave. Rajkumari Ajbante Kanwar stood up, brushing her lehenga as she turned to leave. If she wasted more time, Daata would scold her. She had not worn her warrior attire u...

Touch of Reality

“Baisa, there is a letter for you.” Kasturi, Rajkumari Ajbante Kanwar’s personal attendant, had a scroll in her hand as she frowned. The only people who wrote to her were her friend Saubhagyawati and Daata from war. Both of them were in Bijoliya. She took the scroll from Kasturi as a shiver ran down her spine. Rao Ramrakh Punwar attended the celebration of Rajkumari Padmavati's grand wedding. He had come home and told stories of the grandeur. He had received a sweetmeat gift to take back home as well. As the children indulged in it, Ajbante Kanwar had thought that maybe the celebration had caught up with Kunwar Partap and he was unable to write the letter he had promised. But a week had passed since the Bidai entourage had left Bijoliya and she had not heard from him. Ajbante Kanwar cursed her expectations of taking his words literally and found herself in tears one night. She had been scared when she realised that the lack of communication hurt her. She attributed it to he...

Reassuring Gift

“I got these for you.” Rajkumari Ajbante Kanwar had just made her way to the other side of the temple premises, with her dupatta hiding her face, while her guards, attendants and palanquin waited at the other end of the Math premises at Menal. The moment she spotted Kunwar Partap across the temple complex near the forest with Bijli he straightened himself and held out a bundle of glass bangles. Ajbante Kanwar looked perplexed at his reassuring nod. “Me?” She asked, unsure of what she heard. He nodded again. “Bhai Shakti dragged me to the fair yesterday and I brought green bangles for Ranima so I thought…” He cleared his throat looking unsurely at the Magenta bangles on his hand. “Why?” Her question interrupted his chain of thoughts as his smile faded. “Did you not like it?” He looked unsure. He had never bought anything for anyone before except for Ranima. Ranima never disliked anything he chose for her. While Kunwar Partap scanned the shop, looking for a perfect bangle for ...

Towards You

Kunwar Pratap and Ajabde were friends. He didn't feel awkward sharing his plans and thoughts with her anymore. She was more than happy to advise him on everything. She was happy he listened to her advice before taking or discarding them, be it on what to wear to Padmavati's Sagai or how to befriend the revolting Bhils. He loved the way Ajabde always used metaphors from Puranas and Ramayanas to explain the toughest things so easily. She expressed herself so well, so easily that it amazed him. The Afghans were now led by Mehmood Shah. They have made secret territories in the forests and waited to attack. Rawatji and his spies had confirmed the news and Udai Singh had warned Mehmood Shah to withdraw his troops from Mewar in vain. Now, it was time they declared war. Mehmood Shah had limited resources in Mewar. And his spies clearly suggested that in no way could he win, especially with Kunwar Pratap leading his troops. He was having second thoughts about the war. One of his aides...

See You Soon

Kunwar Partap entered the relatively quiet stable premises at the break of dawn checking on Bijli who was asleep, when he heard the sound of anklets near the cow shed. He walked up to the entrance of the stable, from where he could see her, her dupatta placed loosely over her wet hair, devoid of jewellery the way he never saw a royal lady, with a basket of flowers in one hand and a plate of sweets on the other. She was distributing sweets to the cow keepers, veterinarians and everyone who came by on the occasion of Lakshmi giving birth to her calf. “What will you name her, Hukum?” an old man asked. She smiled shyly, pressing her lips together. “Mandakini, Kakasa.” The old man smiled at her suggestion. “Like the kund? Very nice.” Kunwar Partap walked up to Lakshmi’s shed only after most people had dispersed to their work. Ajbante Kanwar heard footsteps behind her and turned with the plate that now had one sweetmeat left. Alarmed at his sight and at the lack of options she could offer fr...

Vows

Pratap was staring at the Havan Kund that was lit up for the wedding as he sat in the mandap doing the Ganesh Puja. Two days and so many rituals he had to do. All he knew was like an obedient and ideal son he had followed every ritual his mothers and the Panditji told him to do. They said he didn't understand the significance of many rituals now, he would later on. He didn't actually care. All he wanted was to get over the wedding really fast so that he could consider the other important things in life. Did I just think others are important? No, the most important. The Turk Invader was surely going to use his diversion for his own profit. Somehow he could read Akbar's mind too well. He had been teased beyond his imagination by Shakti as Chakrapani accidentally told him about the Mandir incident. He swore to make his friend pay once when he was back home. " She is here." Hansa Bai's voice made him look up as people stared to his right. Ajabde's hands and...

Survival

Ye woh dandal hai ke jisse Tu nikalega mujhko Tu hi rakshak Tu hi sathi mera. "Pishima." Prabhavati applied oil on Sadhana Debi's knees as she spoke "I was wondering, now that the Bouma is here to take care of the house, the Roy Chowdhury mansion will no longer miss Didi." She smiled faintly "After her, things would fall apart… if not for Trilochan da…" Sadhana shook her head. "It's been two days. Don't even compare them to Shubhra." She almost snapped. "Especially that girl." Prabhavati looked up. "She acts like she has been caged. She is always interested more in the outside world of men. That's not a good sign." She shook her head. "There is a saying, Khay day Pakhiti boner dike Akhiti ." Sadhana fussed "She is like that." Prabhavati smiled silently. "Mejo Bouma is educated too, isn't she?" Sadhana looked suspicious. "I bet she will also be pushed to it. You know my mo...

Life and You

" Maharanisa! Maharanisa!" The Daasi ran through the quiet Rani Mahal as Jaivanta Bai who was sitting in front of the Lord in her room ever since she was back, rushed out of her room followed by Sajjabai and Veerbai. " What happened?" She asked, her voice calm, but her heart thumping. " Kunwarsa is here... with Kunwarani... She... She...." The Daasi sobbed as Jaivanta Bai rushed to the room. She stood at the door as her eyes couldn't believe what she saw. Kunwar Pratap was soaked in her blood as he laid her down on the bed shouting " Jaldi. Rajvaidya..." His eyes stopped at the door as Jaivanta Bai rushed to be beside the unconscious Ajabde. The Daasis and Sevaks were running about soon enough. SajjaBai gasped at the scene. So much blood. Kunwar Pratap hadn't noticed anything except her calm unconscious face. Now he looked down at his blood-soaked hands, red, he stared at them as though in a trance. " Kunwar Pratap! Tell me what happ...

Anticipation

Rana Udai Singh had managed to upset some local chieftains especially the Bhills and Kunwar Partap had to play mediator between them. It was not until the situations of internal rebellion were dealt with that the marriage of Rajkumar Padmavati was planned. Dheer Bai was right, one extravagant celebration of the win was enough for the gossip to die down especially when Udai Singh openly praised and rewarded his first born with a sword. He was no longer the insecure king but a doting father. How short people’s collective memory was. With that, most of the Rani Mahal had also forgotten about the suspicions on Dheer Bai. All except Rani Jivanta Bai who still did not allow Kunwar Partap anywhere near her. Rani Dheer Bai had entered the inner hallway to find the king with his chief queen and Sajja Bai there. Upon her appearance, Sajja Bai smiled politely asking her to take a seat. “We were just discussing some of the festivities for the wedding. Come, Behena. Sit with us. Ranaji says you mus...

Adolescence

It was three weeks after Ajbante Kanwar turned twelve that she showed the first signs of womanhood. Amid fear and confusion, her mother taught her all the rules she was meant to follow and revealed the secrets of womanhood to her. Hansa Bai looked proudly at her growing daughter who was self-conscious about what she was experiencing. Soon she had called Ajbante’s friends over, especially ones who were married into Bijoliya to reveal to her daughter the details she as a mother could not express. Hansa Bai did not want Ajbante Kanwar to live in darkness especially since she was now of marriageable age and sooner or later she would be wedded. With the secrets that were sprung at her, Ajbante Kanwar learnt to look at her changing body, the pain and strange emotions she was facing with less fear and more intrigue. She would blush at their words but a strange fear loomed in her heart. She was suddenly a woman from the child she was a day ago. Her mother would say she would ask her father to ...

RAABTA

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