Details of Wives & Children of Maharana Pratap | With notes about availability of Rajput Records & Video of Udaipur Museum regarding conservation of artefacts with inputs from present Rana of Udaipur

Hi Everyone

Many of you have requested for details about the personal life of the Rajput warrior Maharana Pratap, seeking reliable information about his wives and children. This article is a culmination of my research into these aspects of the Maharana's life and aims to provide insightful details about his family, culled from various sources.

It is an accepted reality that one cannot easily adopt an objective approach while writing about the personal life of any historical character. One can only strive to consult as many sources as possible, before reaching any conclusions. A prime reason for confusion or simply lack of information in the open domain about the wives and children of historical figures is that eminent historians are usually more concerned with the social, political, religious, and other such aspects associated with the reign of any king. Royal protocol of many kingdoms also prevented detailed mention of the queens in chronicles that could be publicly accessed.

Another reason is that while several historical manuscripts are present in the private collections of the erstwhile ruling houses of Rajasthan, only those that are considered important are taken up for research and translation by eminent scholars. Hence, anyone who really wants to dig up something concrete about the personal lives of their favourite legends would benefit by reading the untranslated manuscripts which lie buried anonymously among thousands of other historical artefacts in these private collections.

I have gone deeply through 8 sources to prepare this article. These sources have been specified in the article, along with scans from them. I must admit, however, that i could not access 10 other sources that could have provided some additional information. This does not in any way imply that the article is lacking in details of any sort, as readers would also observe after a careful study.

The present article, by no means, claims to be a final authority regarding information about the wives and children of Maharana Pratap. My intention in posting this article is only to share the observations from my reading on this topic till now.

I have already stated that i could access only 8 ( out of 18 sources ) that could shed light on this highly personal and hard to procure information. I have provided details of the exact locations / addresses of the places in Rajasthan where such manuscripts are present, so that readers who wish to continue their personal research into this topic may be able to do so. It would be a pleasure if readers could share their research findings here with the rest of us. At the end of this post, a video has been uploaded which shows the wealth of information that may be obtained by a visit to the City Museum of Udaipur. Some points - worth thinking, have also been included at the end of the post, about availability of Rajput records.

Portrait of Maharana Pratap

This is not the original portrait of Maharana Pratap Singh. This portrait is based on a miniature made available from the Udaipur palace to the artist - Raja Ravi Varma Coil Thampuran. The original portrait is still with the Mewar Royals. 

Raja Ravi Varma was a 19th century painter and artist from the princely state of Travancore (present southern Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu). He is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art and his works rank among the best examples of the fusion of Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art.

Overall List of the Wives of Maharana Pratap

Maharana Pratap had 11 wives:

1. Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar - first wife of Maharana Pratap. He married her at the age of 17 in 1557. She was the disciple of Shri Vallabhacharya. See this post : Click Here

2. Rani Pur Bai Solankhini { A Solanki princess }

3. Rani Champa/Chaand Bai Jhali 

4. Rani Jasoda Bai Chauhan

5. Rani Phool Bai Rathore { Phool Kanwarani Ji before marriage, a Rathore princess from an offshoot of the Rajputs of Marwar }

6. Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi { A Hada princess - offshoot of Chauhans; Hadas were the rulers of Kota and Bundi. }

7. Rani Khichan Asha Bai

8. Rani Alamde Bai Chauhan { Another princess from the Chauhan clan. }

9. Rani Ratnawati Bai Parmar { Another Parmar princess after Ajabde Bai Parmar }

10. Rani Amar Bai Rathore { Another Rathore princess }

11. Rani Lakha Bai Rathore { Another Rathore princess }

This record, which can be termed the most authentic, as it is from the personal collection of the royal family of Mewar, has been used to compile the list of the wives and sons of Maharana Pratap. The details are from the manuscripts held in the private collection of the Maharanas of Mewar.

Note:

Maharana Pratap did not have any concubine in his women's residential quarters. He exercised a high degree of morality and followed a strict code of ideals & values in an era when keeping a concubine was considered the norm.
 
Most of his marriages were political alliances. The major exception to this was the first marriage of Maharana Pratap to Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar. Rana Amar Singh who succeeded Maharana Pratap as the ruler of Mewar and carried on his father's struggle against the Mughals was born to this couple.



Overall List of the Children of Maharana Pratap

Maharana Pratap had 17 sons from his 11 wives. No historical record of any daughters^{[see end of this post]} could be found by us. None of his sons entered the Imperial Mughal service personally.

Here is a list of the Maharana's sons along with their estates:

1. Rana Amar Singh Ji 
Mother - Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar

The Maharana’s first son and successor, Rana Amar Singh Ji, was born in 1559. He inherited the estates of Gogunda and Udaipur from his father. When the Maharana was dying, Rana Amar Singh promised him that he would never enter the personal service of Mughal Emperors- a promise he kept lifelong. 

Rana Amar Singh waged continuous wars with the Mughals from 1597 to 1614. He fought in 17 individual battles including the major wars of 1606 and 1610, before the last long-drawn struggle which ended in 1614.

Description from Mewar Records - Birth of Rana Amar Singh on 16th March 1559 - the first son of Maharana Pratap & Ajabde Bai Parmar.  Rana Udai Singh was so happy that he proceeded immediately from Chittor and first went to pray at the Ekling Ji temple & then for hunting, at the village of Aahad. 

Later, Rana Udai Singh ordered a dam to be built on the Berach river to ensure adequate supply of water to Mewar. The Udai Sagar lake was developed as an outcome of this dam, which drains about 479 sq km, and covers an area of 10.5 sq km.

Udai Sagar Lake

Udai Sagar Lake - View from City

Note: 
The Berach river is a major tributary of the Banas river in western Rajasthan. Chittorgarh was situated on the bank of this river. It originates in the Gogunda hills in the Udaipur district. 


Continuing the list of the sons of Maharana Pratap...

2. Kunwar Bhagwaan Das Ji
Mother - Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar
 

3. Kunwar Gopal Singh Ji
Mother - Rani Pur Bai Solankhini


4. Kunwar Sahasa / Sahem / Sahas Mal Ji.  He was granted the Dhariawad estate. His descendants are called Dhariavadwals.
Mother - Rani Pur Bai Solankhini


5. Kunwar Khachro Singh Ji inherited the estate of Jolawas, a place in the Gogunda tehsil of Udaipur district. He served as a deputy in the estate of his eldest brother Rana Amar Singh.
Mother - Rani Champa Bai Jhali
 

6. Kunwar Samwal Das Singh Ji inherited the estate of Jamuda in Salumber, which was the traditional estate of the loyal Chundawat sardars. Remember Rawat Chundawat who died in the battle of Chittor ?
Mother - Rani Champa Bai Jhali

Estates of the Sons of Maharana Pratap.
From : History of Rajputana, Khand 4, Zild 2, Pg-781, Vaidik Granthalaya, Ajmer, Rajasthan

7. Kunwar Durjan Singh Ji
Mother - Rani Champa Bai Jhali


8. Kunwar Kalyan Das Ji . He was granted the estate of Parsad (Parshad) area near Udaipur.
Mother - Rani Jasoda Bai Chauhan
 

9. Kunwar Chaanda Singh Ji, the second son of Maharana Pratap. He was given the estate of Anjana in Dariba tehsil.
Mother - Rani Phool Bai Rathore
 

10. Kunwar Shaikha Singh Ji. He was granted the estates of Bahera, Nana and Bera (Bijapur),  in the Gorawad.
Mother - Rani Phool Bai Rathore
 

11. Kunwar Pura Ji , also known as Thakur Puran Mal Ji. He was granted the estates of Mangrop (in the present Bhilwara district of Udaipur), Gurlam, Gadar-Mala & Singoli. He founded the Purawat offshoot of the Sisodia Rajputs.
Mother - Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi


12. Kunwar Haati Singh . He was granted the estates of Boriyas/Vais, Dantra and Gendlya (Gedalyo).
Mother - Rani Khichan Asha Bai
 

13. Kunwar Ram Singh. He was granted the estate of Mankari and Udaliyawas.
Mother - Rani Khichan Asha Bai


14. Kunwar Jaswant Singh / Jasut Singh Ji who was assigned the estates of Jaloda & Karunda.
Mother - Rani Alamde Bai Chauhan
 

The Sons of Maharana Pratap and Their Estates as per the Manuscript of Ranawali

15. Kunwar Maal Singh
Mother - Rani Ratnawati Bai Parmar


16. Kunwar Natha Singh
Mother -  Rani Amara Bai Rathore


17. Kunwar Rai Bhan Singh
Mother -  Rani Lakha Bai Rathore

Details From Other Rajput Records

Now we come to some other records that were encountered while searching for information about the sons and wives of Maharana Pratap. Listed here are 5 such records. Relevant scans have also been provided from these records. 

Before we begin, let me add that the some sources provided differing information. I have included these details, as i found them from the different sources, so that readers may analyse and draw their own conclusions without being influenced by my views. 


Record - 1

Manuscript - 827 {Hand-Copied}
Leaves : 14 - 11
Rajasthan Prachya Vidhya Pratisthan Library,
Udaipur

The Wives and Sons of Maharana Pratap, as per Manuscript 827

Here is the English translation of the scan:

1. Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar: Name of sons - Amarsingh Rana Ji, Bhagwan Das Ji
2. Rani Pur Bai Solankhini: Name of sons - Sahasa Ji, Gopal Ji
3. Rani Champa Bai Jhali: Name of son - Khachro Ji, Samwal Das Ji, Durjan Singh Ji
4. Rani Jasoda Bai Chauhan: Name of son - Kalyan Ji
5. Rani Phool Bai Rathore: Name of sons: Chaanda Singh Ji, Shaikha Singh Ji
6. Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi: Name of son - Pura Ji
7. Rani Asha Bai Khichan: Name of son - Haathi Singh Ji, Ram Singh Ji
8. Rani Alamde Chauhan: Name of son - Jaswant Singh Ji
9. Rani Ratnawati Bai Parmar: Name of son - Maal Singh Ji
10. Rani Amara Bai Rathore: Name of son - Naatha Singh Ji
11. Rani Lakha Bai Rathore: Name of son - Rai Bhan Singh Ji

 
Record - 2

Manuscript - 828 {Hand-Copied}
Leaves : 65 - 68
Rajasthan Prachya Vidhya Pratisthan Library,
Udaipur 

The Wives and Sons of Maharana Pratap, as per Manuscript 828

This record mentions only 9 wives and 15 sons. The names of Rani Phool Bai Rathore and Rani Amara Bai Rathore have been left out. The names of Bhagwan Das Ji and Chaand Singh Ji have been left out.  

Here is the English translation of the scan:

1. Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar: Name of son - Amarsingh Ji
2. Rani Pur Bai Solankhini: Name of son - Bhagwan Das Ji
3. Rani Champa Bai Jhali: Name of sons - Sahasa Ji, Gopal Ji 
4. Rani Jasoda Bai Chauhan: Name of sons - Khachro Ji, Samwal Das Ji, Durjan Singh Ji 
5. Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi: Name of sons - Kalyan Ji, Shaikha Singh Ji, 
6. Rani Asha Bai Khichan: Name of son - Pura Ji 
7. Rani Alamde Chauhan: Name of sons - Haathi Singh Ji, Ram Singh Ji
8. Rani Ratnawati Bai Parmar: Name of son - Jaswant Singh Ji 
9. Rani Lakha Bai Rathore: Name of son - Naatha Singh Ji, Rai Bhan Singh Ji

As can be seen from the scan, there are contradictions regarding the mothers of the sons of Maharana Pratap. It's almost as if the sons have been assigned to the name of the succeeding queen in the list in many instances. This matches with Record 4 to a great of extent.



Record - 3

Manuscript - 867 {Hand-Copied}
Leaves : 24 - 28/26 {Could not read the number clearly in the photocopy i made, it is either 26 or 28}
Rajasthan Prachya Vidhya Pratisthan Library,
Udaipur 

This record provides the names of the sons only, as can be seen in the scan. It lists only 10 sons, out of which the name of one son (Meg Raj Ji) appears in only 2 of the 5 records posted here.

It leaves out the names of Thakur Bhagwan Das Ji, Thakur Samwal Das Singh Ji, Thakur Durjan Singh Ji, Kunwar Ram Singh, Kunwar Jaswant Singh, Kunwar Rai Bhan Singh, Thakur Gopal Singh Ji, and Kunwar Maal Singh.  

The Sons of Maharana Pratap, as per Manuscript 867

As per this record, the names of the Maharana's sons are:

1. Rana Amar Singh Ji
2. Sosi Ji - Thakur Sahahsa / Sahem / Sahas Mal Ji
3. Pura Ji or Puravat - Thakur Pura Ji
4. Sesho Ji or Seshavat - Thakur Shaikha Singh Ji
5. Yati Ji - Kunwar Haati Singh
6. Kalan Ji - Thakur Kalyan Das Ji
7. Kachro Ji - Thakur Khachro Singh Ji
8. Megraj Ji - Kunwar Meg Raj Ji: This name has not been mentioned in the previous 2 records. It is only mentioned in this record and in Record 5 (see below).
9. Nag Ji - Kunwar Natha Singh
10. Chando Ji - Thakur Chaand Singh Ji
11. Left blank
12. Left blank

 

Record - 4

Manuscript - 872 {Hand-Copied}
Leaves : 136 - 146
Rajasthan Prachya Vidhya Pratisthan Library,
Udaipur

This record again provides the names of the wives and sons of the Maharana. According to it, the Maharana had 10 wives (Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi is left out) and 14 sons. It does not mention the names of the princes: Thakur Chaand Singh Ji, Thakur Shaikha Singh Ji, and Kunwar Haati Singh.

The Wives and Sons of Maharana Pratap, as per Manuscript 872 

As mentioned earlier, this record matches Record 2 to a lot of extent. 

Here is the English translation of the scan:

1. Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar: Name of son - Amarsingh Ji
2. Rani Pur Bai Solankhini: Name of son - Bhagwan Das Ji
3. Rani Champa Bai Jhali: Name of sons - Sahasa Ji, Gopal Ji 
4. Rani Jasoda Bai Chauhan: Name of sons - Khachro Ji, Samwal Das Ji, Durjan Singh Ji 
5. Rani Phool Bai Rathore: Name of sons - Kalyan Ji 
6. Rani Asha Bai Khichan: Name of son - Pura Ji 
7. Rani Alamde Chauhan: Name of sons - Ram Singh Ji
8. Rani Amaravati (same as Ratnawati Bai Parmar): Name of son - Jaswant Singh Ji 
9. Rani Amara Bai Rathore: Name of son - Maal Singh Ji
10. Rani Lakha Bai Rathore: Name of son - Naatha Singh Ji, Rai Bhan Singh Ji



Record - 5

Manuscript Number - 262
Leaves : 21 - 24
Sisod Vanshawali,
Literature Section of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University Library,
Pratap Nagar, Udaipur - 313003, Rajasthan

{Folks staying in Udaipur can visit this University to access this manuscript.}

This record also provides information about the sons of Maharana Pratap. Again, it lists only 10 sons and is similar to Record 3.

The Sons of Maharana Pratap, as per Manuscript 262

It lists the following names:

1. Rana Amar Singh Ji
2. Sosi Ji - Thakur Sahahsa / Sahem / Sahas Mal Ji
3. Pura Ji / Puravat - Thakur Pura Ji , also known as Thakur Puran Mal Ji.
4. Sesho Ji - Thakur Shaikha Singh Ji
5. Haati Ji - Kunwar Haati Singh
6. Kalan Ji - Thakur Kalyan Das Ji
7. Kachro Ji - Thakur Khachro Singh Ji
8. Megraj Ji
9. Nag Ji - Kunwar Natha Singh.
10. Chando Ji - Thakur Chand Singh Ji
11. Left blank
12. Left blank



Conclusion:

The discrepancies found in the lists of family members in the last 5 records are to be expected. This is because these records were made later, without the official sanction of the Mewar royal house. Most of the information in these records may have been compiled based on memory or "commonly known" details. These were not written in Mewar and their author is unknown till now. Research is still going on in this field.

It is possible that the names of the mothers of the royal princes were not clearly known to the common people, especially from later generations, because princes were usually brought up together by all the royal women of the raniwaas, especially the senior queens. We saw that the names of some of the queens and princes have been omitted or left blank, most probably because they were not known to the later generations of chroniclers.

The most important reason for the discrepancies could be an error in copying from the original manuscripts or understanding the sequence of sons and queens in the list. For instance, the most common mistake in these records is that the son of one queen has been assigned to the succeeding queen. This kind of error explains a lot about how the mismatches could have occurred.

However, clear records are present in the private collection of the Maharanas of Mewar, which serve as a reference for historians, and which have been used to compile the overall lists of wives and sons of Maharana Pratap in this article. 

Readers are requested to share any information they may have regarding this topic,  in general interest, because such information is quite rare and hard to gather.


Update on Daughters of Maharana Pratap :

Though, I have personally, not found any information about the daughters of Maharana Pratap. However, a friend has recently provided the following information about the daughters of Maharana Pratap. I am still in a process of going through the records, the details will be updated, as soon as they are obtained. Till then, here is what i have to be shared with my readers :

1. Asha Kunwarni Ji : She was the wife of Raj Rana Jhala Deeda of Sadhri. He died in 1609, fighting the forces of Mughal Emperor Jahangir under Abdullah Khan. (He was the son of Raj Rana Beeda Singh Jhala who died in the Battle of Haldighati, 1576). See the end of this post , point number 4 of Epilogue : Click Here

2. Suk-Kunwarani Ji 

3. Rama Kunwarani Ji

4. Rakmavati Kunwarani Ji

5. Kusumavati Kunwarani Ji

6. Durgavati Kunwarani Ji

*********************************************************************

Miscellaneous Information for Interested Readers

 A Video About the City Museum of Udaipur

Mughal records were accessible to the British 200 years back. Out of an earnest curiosity to learn about the dynasty that had ruled India for centuries before them and the manner in which it had been able to do so, the British started translating Mughal chronicles from Persian to English over the years. As a result, most Mughal records can be read in English today.

The same did not hold true for Rajput records. They remained almost unknown and inaccessible to anyone. Historians strangely neglected this vast reservoir of an alternative POV of history till around the mid-20th century. 

In the 1950s, the Government of India explored means to bring to light the rich history of Rajasthan. In 1953, a fact finding committee was appointed by the Government of India, with a view to preserve & study the public as well as private records in the custody of erstwhile royal families of Rajasthan. The committee submitted its report after 8 years, in 1961, in which it declared that "the cultural heritage of Rajasthan goes back to the remotest period of Indian history and the archival wealth of the area is enormous."

Incredible Depth of Historical Records in Rajasthan: Exploring and Cataloguing Private and Public Manuscripts

Since then, various initiatives have been taken and research into these untranslated records is still under progress. Many special measures were taken in the 1980s.

The following video depicts the recent conservation activities and efforts being undertaken in Udaipur, Rajasthan to make Rajput records more easily available to the common people. It features the present Rana of Udaipur. Even today, many Rajput records are locked in the private collections of erstwhile royal families and many glorious details and several important facts lie hidden from our eyes. In this video, one can see "sealed, age-old trunks" containing various artefacts and historical records, which are in the process of being catalogued and archived systematically. 

The historical records of the Jaipur (erstwhile Amer) and Mewar royal houses are among the richest in our country. The records of Jaipur go to the extent of preserving the details of daily proceedings in the Imperial Court. The collection of Mewar alone contains 35,000+ paintings, which are slowly being brought into the public domain through the palace museum. Last year, the present Maharana had announced the declassification of 13,000 historical artefacts during his lifetime so that common people today could read and understand the rich heritage of Mewar. 

Both the videos are the same. You can watch whichever video streams faster in your browser, to get a glimpse of how this initiative is being nurtured and how time-consuming and expensive the process of archiving these details is. Unfortunately, the government is not providing much financial support for the process.

We hope that just like Mughal and other records are easily available for us to read today, the glorious past of Rajasthan will also be soon available for everyone to discover and appreciate.

Our Facebook Page can also be followed for interesting historical inputs.
www.facebook.com/blog4history


Thanks to Radhika for her contribution to this post.
The article has been posted under the Rajputs section of this history BLOG.