The Maharana Era: Victors, not Victims in Omendra Ratnu's new book

Priding itself on the glorious ancestry of the Maharanas & Sisodiya Rajputs of Mewar and present-day Rajasthan at large, 'Maharanas' by Dr. Omendra Ratnu brings to life the unsung heroes of India from (approx) CE 728 to CE 1680. Dr. Omendra Ratnu minces no words when he dares to write in the preface on page 16, 'Islam came to subjugate us. Our great ancestors didn't let that happen.' What drives the author to be politically incorrect in his choice of words are the stories that follow the challenging campaigns and awe-inspiring bravery of the Kings that ruled Mewar, their Queens and their subjects.

Here's a brief excerpt from the book describing the Jauhar of Queen Padmini of Chittor along with 20,000 women:

"The fair Padmini closed the throng, augmented by every female beauty or youth that could be tainted by the vicious Tatar lust. The glorious women of Mewar entered the cavern, to be devoured by fire, thus saving them from dishonor by the invaders, as they burned in the sacred flames."

With each chapter, a magnificent era of a succeeding Maharana & their legacy unfolds telling the tales collected by the author from folklore, historical writings, research & travels. The author yields to his passionate patriotism towards the Maharanas who were unyielding to the power-hungry Arab, Afghan, Mughal & Turk invaders; this has taken away a larger part of the book, a space that could have been used for more folklore, pictures, and mapping of the many battles fought by the Hindu Kings of Mewar.

Even so, such a passion begets its rightful space in order to challenge the modern Indian mind which is perhaps more familiar, unfortunately, with the names of invaders mentioned in the book than the names of our own Kings. It is to Dr. Ratnu's credibility that despite being a staunch critic of 'Islamic invasion', he calls out and, names and shames the Hindus who were complicit in betraying their own.

After engaging tales of the numerous battles, sacrifices, victories, plunder and saka-jauhars, part 3 of the book gives compelling factual challenges to the set narratives which undermine these brave names, if at all they find a mention in modern Indian literature that is. The book towards its conclusion convincingly shatters motivated narratives like 'Akbar, The Great', 'Hindu slavery under Mughal era', 'Thousand year Mughal era', 'Delhi Sultanate' and so on. Here's another excerpt reflecting the same: There is a saying in Punjabi that mocks the time of a robber from the Sayyad dynasty named Shah Alam. 'Saltanat e Shah Alam, Aaj Delhi ta Palam' meaning what is the extent of the Sultanate of Shah Alam? It is from Delhi to Pala. Palam being a village a few kilometers from Delhi.

The author aims to turn the tide of the narrative for the Hindu civilization from victims to victors. If this assessment is correct, then there is a requirement to add more impactful elements to such writing so that the praises don't seem like an attempt to convince; the author has managed to achieve that in part 3 of the book where he makes some thought-provoking arguments introducing a renewed perspective towards the Indian history. All in all, Maharanas makes for an engaging and encouraging read, prompting some very pertinent questions that we must ask ourselves as a society in search for the truth irrespective of whether or not it favours us as individuals.

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