Historian Irfan Habib Says Rani Padmavati Is Not A Historical Character, Her Existence Was Debatable

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati has been in the pool of controversies since a long time and trouble doesn’t seem to end anytime soon.

And now, reacting to the recent series of protests and demands seeking ban on this historical drama, an eminent historian and professor emeritus in Aligarh Muslim University Prof Irfan Habib has stated that Rani Padmavati is not historical but an imaginary character. Also, her existence has always been debatable.

He said, “Though Alauddin Khilji had won Chittor, during that period there is no mention of any character as Padmavati in history.”

The film is constantly facing opposition for allegedly distorting the historical facts. Also, they are alleging of having a romantic scene between Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.

Further elaborating, the historian said that after 250 years of the Chittor incident, Malik Mohammad Jayasi for the first time mentioned Padmavati in his creation Padmavat. “But Jayasi has mentioned that the princess of Singhaldeep (presently Sri Lanka) Padmavati was married to Raja Ratan Singh of Mewar. Padmavat is a long poetry collection and is an integral part of our literature. Official historian of Mewar darbar Shayamal Das has described Padmavati but in some other context.”

Prof Habib further expressed his views over the allegations of distorting facts in the movie and said, “If any film producer makes movie on historical facts, he will fail in entertaining the audience.”

President of Kshatriya Sanghtan (Aligarh) Satish Singh told a leading web portal, “Rani Padmavati was a Kshatriya. Her character has been presented in film by twisting facts which is an insult to the entire community. We will oppose the release of the film and will not allow it to be screened in cinema halls. A massive demonstration will be held at those cinema halls where the film will be released.”

Social analyst N Jamal Ansari said, “It does not matter if Rani Padmavati was a historical character or not. It is just a film and no one should be allowed to stop its screening. Presently myths are being presented as history which is a dangerous trend.”