Indian history influenced by British, Jodha-Akbar marriage story false, claims Rajasthan governor
Jaipur, May 29 (PTI): Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade claimed that several inaccuracies have been recorded in Indian history due to the early influence of British historians, including the widely cited story of the marriage of Jodha Bai and Mughal emperor Akbar.
Speaking at a programme in Udaipur on Wednesday evening, Bagade claimed, there is no mention of Jodha and Akbar's marriage in Akbarnama.
"It is said that Jodha and Akbar got married and a film was also made on this story. History books also say the same thing but it is a lie," he claimed.
"There was a king named Bharmal and he got the daughter of a maid married to Akbar," Bagde further claimed.
The governor’s comments rekindle the debate over the historical account of the marriage between Amer ruler Bharmal's daughter and Akbar in 1569.
Amer or Amber was a Rajput kingdom near present-day Jaipur and ruled by the Kachwaha Rajputs, before Sawai Jai Singh II shifted the capital to Jaipur in 1727.
"The British changed the history of our heroes. They did not write it properly and their version of history was initially accepted. Later, some Indians wrote history but it was still influenced by the British," Bagade said.
He also contested the historical claim that Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap wrote a treaty letter to Akbar, calling it completely misleading.
"Maharana Pratap never compromised with his self-respect. In history, more is taught about Akbar and less about Maharana Pratap,” he claimed.
However, Bagade added that the situation is now improving. "In the new National Education Policy, efforts are being made to prepare the new generation for future challenges while preserving our culture and glorious history," he said.
Bagade praised Maharana Pratap and Chhatrapati Shivaji as symbols of patriotism.
"There is a gap of 90 years between their births. Had they been contemporaries, the country's history would have been different. Both are seen with the same vision of bravery and patriotism," he said.
Bagade also said that an equestrian statue of Maharana Pratap has been installed in Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, in his honour.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
