The ‘Prince of Edur’ is an inspiring play written by Sri Aurobindo.
The hero of the story is the valiant Bappa Rawal. He lived during the 8th century AD in India and was the founder of the Mewar dynasty of Rajasthan. After Islam was founded in the 7th century, Arabs at the beginning of 8th century wanted to come into India and capture the kingdoms. Bappa Rawal, the brave Hindu Rajpoot soldier could keep the Arabs at bay and also protected “Chittor Fort” from capture by the Arabs. Following the example of his extraordinary bravery, Hindu kings could keep away Arabs from capturing India for the next 300 years. Also the city of Rawalpindi which now exists in Pakistan was established by the mighty Bappa Rawal. This was the background about the king.
The story of the Prince of Edur is a love story between Bappa Rawal and Komal Kumari who was also a Rajpoot princess.
Here is a gist of the story; Rana Curran is the present ruler of Edur (not sure if this is a real city near Rajasthan or just a fictional name). He is from the Rahtore clan. His wife Menadevi is a Chouhan princess. Their daughter is Komal Kumari. When Komal Kumari turns 16 she gets an offer of marriage from the King of Cashmere (Toraman) who is a Scythian. Rana Curran wants his daughter to marry Toraman but Menadevi wants her daughter to marry into Rajput blood and feels Pratap Rao of Ichalgurh who is a Chouhan noble would be a fit husband for her. When her father tells about the marriage proposal to Komal Kumari, she being a Rajpoot prince wants her future husband to win her hand through bravery and not merely a proposal. So she plans a trick. She installs her servant girl in her place at Edur and escapes to the forests of Dongurh with her half-sister Kumud, friend Nirmal and maid/attendant Ishany. She feels that whoever is able to capture her from the forests of Dongurh will be her husband. It so happens that Bappa and his two friends are also Rajpoots (from the Gehelote clan) and have lost their kingdom to the Bheels (The Bheels had killed Bappa’s father in a war) and are living among the Bheel tribes of Dongurh. They hear the news of the princess escaping and successfully capture her. Bappa eventually defeats both the Cashmere army (sent by Toraman) and Pratap Rao. Thus he wins Komal Kumari’s hand through his courage. However, the play is incomplete. It ends just a day before the impending marriage or acceptance of Komal Kumari and Bappa Rawal.
But the story ends with these beautiful words of how “love can dissolve death or even death cannot overcome true love” ——- “A bond that steel cannot divide, nor death Dissever.”
#SriAurobindo #BappaRawal
Saraswathi.org 