History of Bengali Language and Literature c10.47

c10.47

The poem Padmāvati deals with a well-known episode in Indian history. The Emperor Alāuddin of Delhi had heard of the wonderful beauty of Padmāvati, queen of the Rājā of Chitore, and demanded her for her harem. Bhim Sen, the Rājā, who is called Ratnasen in the Bengali poem, treated this request with the contempt which it deserved, and the result was that for twelve years the Emperor laid siege to Chitore. Bhima Sen was eventually defeated, and his queen sought death on the funeral pyre,—true to the traditions of Rajput women. This story had formed the subject of a poem by Mir Mahomed in Hindi which contains about 10,000 lines. The Bengali Padmāvati by Alāol has about 10,500 lines.