The Myth of Jodha Bai and the “Hindu-Muslim” marriages

In recent times, the “Hindu-Muslim” marriages have raised many questions, though, they are hailed as hallmark of secularism, cross-cultural marriage pattern and so on. The discussion under the caption, “Hindu Muslim Marriages : Finding Balance & Harmony.. How Successful ?” in the website, http://indiafamily.net/talk/messages/12484/1544.html invariably brings out the following facts:

1. Hindu boys married to Muslim girls are asked to convert first.

2. Muslim girls reluctant very much to marry Hindu boys, even they love genuinely, fearing the opposition from her family, however, after conversion, her family invariably agree.

3. Rarely, Muslim girls married to Hindu boys follow the religion of their husbands, unless, they are able to cut away from their family totally.

For another type of mixed marriage, the responses found in the following site are interesting, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/3744263.stm, but they exhibit the same pattern.

The following is today’s news:

Friday, February 15, 2008

‘Marriage of Hindu boy, Muslim girl not unusual’
http://www.expressindia.com/news/print.php?newsid=59736

Here, too, it is not clear what the couple has decided? While Hindus have been liberal in India, it appears, Muslims have been struck to their principles not only in India, but even in advanced society like Malaysia:

Hindu-Muslim marriage ‘illegal’

Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia’s Islamic authorities gave a Hindu man married to a Muslim woman custody of their children on Thursday, in a landmark decision for minority rights, after the couple were forcibly separated because they follow different religions.

However, in a statement to the court, Raimah Bibi said she was born a Muslim and wants to “continue professing the Islamic faith”. Singh said Raimah Bibi “will have absolute access” to her children.

Now comes Jodha Akbar!

>Coinciding with the “Valentine’s day”, obviously, the much-publicized Rs. 60 crores movie “Jodha Akbar” is slated to hit the screens today 15th February 2008. However, the moviw has been plagued with controversies as usual, as the movie-makers tried to mix myth with history.

>Rajputs have objected to the story as Jodha or Jodha Bai was Akbar’s daugter’ in law and not wife or concubine.

>They have also said that Jodhabai was one of the many wives of Jahangir, and not Akbar’s, adding that the fact was misrepresented in K Asif’s Mughal-E-Azam too.

>The movie had earlier run into trouble with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which issued a letter to Gowarikar asking him if he had the permission to use animals in his film. The movie has used over 50 camels, 100 horses and about 80 elephants.

>The myth that Jodha Bai was wife of Akbar has been floated by the local Mohammedans / Muslims, particularly, the guides who used to tell stories to the visiters to Fatepur Sikri and other buildings, where the structures particularly, inside of the magnificent palaces and halls appear as Hindu Temple and prayer hall with pillars carved with a lot of God and Goddesses.

>The Muslim guides always explain away that one Jodha Bai was one of the wives of Shajahan, Akbar even Aurangazeb and so on and they allowed the “Hindu wife” to pursue her own way of Hindu life!

>Thus, the story that Jodha Bai was sister of Udai Singh and she was married to Akbar. After the marriage, Akbar returned all possessions he had seized from Marwar sans Ajmer.

>Original records like Ain – i Akbari and histories of the Amber kings, confirm that in 1562 Akbar married Raja Bharmal’s daughter at Sambhar, 100 kms from modern Jaipur without mentioning any name.

>Maharaja Brajraj Singh of the Kishangarh royal family said, ”Our genealogy, the documents of the royal family are the most authentic records, and in our records different names appear. She is called Hira Nai and Harkan Bai. Some historians call her Jodha, so he took the most popular name for his film.”

>Gowarikar said, ”For me what became important was to get into the research. I read the Rajput history where some called her Harkan Bai, Shahi Bai and Jodha Bai. I also read the history of Jaipur where it mentions Uday Singh the raja who gave his daughter away to Jehangir, but her name was Jodh.”

>Further explaining he said, ”Both Jodha and Jodh are different, I could have called my film Harkan-Akbar or Meera-Akbar but I thought some historians might object to it so I kept the popular name.”

>That historians like Col Todd have called Akbar’s wife Jodha and films like Mughal-e-azam picked up the name and entrenched it in public memory had been only due to popular belief.

>But the Rajput community that’s opposing the film says the time has now come to set the record straight. They claim Jodha was from Jodhpur and she was married not to Akbar but his son Jehangir.

>Prof Khangarot, a historian and spokesperson for the Rajput Sabha said, ”Do you have a right to make your own history or change it. Jodha Bai was the daughter of Mota raja of Jodhpur who wed Salim and became the mother of Shah Jahan.”

>The Rajput Karni Sena has already started burning posters of the film. They say they won’t allow it to be shown in Rajasthan. But the Jaipur royals who support the film say Gowarikar has depicted Rajput culture with sensitivity.

>Thus, historians are of the opinion that the name Jodha does not figure in any original records of the time, infact it is only in the past 200 years that the name begins to appear in historical narratives.

>Thus, there is no definite answer in recorded history. But there are oral traditions, there are legends and myth.

>According to Irfan Habib, there is no mention of Akbar’s Rajput wife anywhere in any Mughal text. Abul Fazal, in his ‘Akbarnama’, does not mention her name as Akbar’s wife. Nor does Jahangir, in his autobiography, ‘Tuzk-e-Jahangiri’, mention Jodha Bai as his mother.

>This is because, according to N R Farooqi, Jodha Bai was not the name of Akbar’s Rajput queen. It was, in fact, the name of Jahangir’s Rajput wife, whose real name was Jagat Gosain. Since she belonged to the royal family of Jodhpur, she was also referred to as Jodha Bai.

>According to Farooqi, she was a very important woman in the royal household. Besides being married to the emperor, she was also the mother of Khurram, who later became Emperor Shah Jahan.

>The myth of Jodha Bai being Akbar’s Rajput wife, says Irfan Habib, probably gained credence during the 19th century when guides at FatehpurSikri gave her the mantle of Akbar’s wife, a perception which is prevalent even today.

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