The land of Rajasthan is full of forts, stories and stories of valor. This is the earth from where on one side found a king like Sher Shah Suri in the battlefield, on the other hand a queen kept distance from her husband for her self -respect. This is the story of Marwar’s illustrious king Rao Maldev and his wife Rani Umade (Ruthi Rani), which is mentioned in Premchand’s historical novel Rukhi Rani.

When the struggle of power between the Mughals, Afghans and the Rajputs was intensified, Rao Maldev not only organized Marwar but also stopped the strategy of a strategy to the strategic ruler like Sher Shah Suri, but in his personal life, there was a stigma that never allowed his marital life to be complete.

Rao Maldev’s rise
After the Battle of Panipat of 1526, Babur laid the foundation of Mughalia Sultanate in Delhi. Rao Maldev, son of Rao Ganga Singh Rathore, who fought with Rana Sanga in the battle of Khanwa, became the ruler of Marwar at the age of 20 in 1531. He mixed Jalore, Nagaur, Ajmer, Bikaner and Merta in Marwar in a short time. Rao Maldev’s expansion was so widespread that he began to be counted among the most powerful rulers of Rajputs. Historians James Tod and VS Bhargava writes that his strategy was so accurate that a warrior like Sher Shah Suri also had to take his step back in front of him.

Story of Ruthi Rani Umade
Rao Maldev was married to Rani Umade (Umadevi Bhatiadi), the daughter of Ludification, the ruler of Jaisalmer. This marriage was also a political treaty, which strengthened the relations between the two states, but an incident in the early days of marriage changed the relationship forever. Maldev formed a relationship with his wife’s friend Bharmali on the night of the honeymoon. Rani Umade came to know about this and she refused to accept Maldev as a husband for a lifetime. Umade confined herself to the title of Rani, but never became a part of married life. That is why she came to be called Ruthi Rani.

Sher Shah Suri and Marwar clash
When Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun in 1540, Humayun asked for shelter from Rao Maldev. Maldev allowed him to stay in his kingdom for some time with diplomacy, but did not meet personal. After this Sher Shah started moving towards Marwar. By coming to Ajmer, the army of 80,000 soldiers collided with about 12,000 Rathore army of Rao Maldev. In the battle of Sugargiri, the Rathoras showed tremendous valor. Sher Shah won this battle, but he too was forced to say that if I had a handful of millet, I would have lost the reign of India. This statement testifies to Maldev’s strategy and Rathore valor.

Ruthi queen and her sacrifice
Rani Umade was adamant on her life throughout her life. Once when there was an attempt to bring him back to Jodhpur, the courtiers called a couplet in front of him

“If you keep the lamp, then the pivas, the piva kept the taja,
Do not give gayand na bandhi, O to Khambhu Tha. “

Meaning, just as two elephants cannot bind with a khut, both respect and husband cannot live together. The queen heard this and never crossed the threshold of Jodhpur again. When Rao Maldev died in 1562, the message with his turban reached the queen. At that time, Rani Umade ended her life with the same turban and ended her life.

Also read: What did Switzerland say? India washed fiercely in UNHRC, also lashed Pakistan, he said- we do not listen to anything