Bappa : Bāppā Rāwal was born Prince Kālbhoj (c.713-810) at Eklingji (q.v.), Mewār. He became the 8th ruler (c.734-53) of the Guhilot or Gehlot Rajput dynasty & founded the Mewār Sāmrājya. After the fall (mid 5th cent.) of Vallabhipur (west Gujarat) the capital of the Maitraka king Shiladitya, his queen took refuge in a cave in the hills where she gave birth to a son Guhā, cave-born, he founded the Guhilot Vamsha. Bāppā’s father, Rāwal Mahindra II (7th scion of the Guhilot dynasty) ruled Idar, Bhomat & Nāgda. His mother was the daughter of a Paramāra Rajput who ruled from Chandrāvati in Mount Ᾱbu – its peak (Guru Shikhar) rises to 1722 metres above sea level. After his father’s assassination (c.716), his mother & he were spirited away by their Bheel attendants to their village in Nāgda. Raised & trained by Bheel warriors who were accomplished archers, he was guided by the priest of their Shiva Eklingji temple. At the age of 18, he won back his father’s kingdom of Idar, then led his mixed army northwards & captured Chittodgadh (see Chitore), then the capital of Mān Mori. From there Bāppā expanded the boundaries of Mewār from Ᾱbu to Jaisalmer & Ajmer. The invasions of Arabs began as an extension of their invasion of Persia. In order to ward off these invasions across the western & northern borders of Rājputāna, Bāppā united the smaller states of Ajmer & Jaisalmer & turned the tide for a while. When Bin Kāsim defeated king Dahir of Sindh, Bāppā rushed there & saved Sindh. Some accounts say that when Kāsim attacked Chitore, Bāppā pursued him through Saurāshtra right into present Baluchistan. He then marched on to Ghazni & defeated the local ruler Salim & after nominating a representative returned to Chitore. After Raja Mori named Bāppā Rāwal his successor & crowned him King of Chitore, Bāppā Rāwal & his armies invaded various kingdoms including Kandahar, Khorasan, Baghdad, Turan, Isfahan, Iran & made them vassals of his kingdom. Thus he not only defended India’s frontiers but for a brief period was able to expand them. Around 753, he abdicated the throne in favour of his son & took up sanyāsa to surrender himself solely to Lord Shiva.
... but, actually, the Rana's minister sees to it that Bappa does the kidnapping! Tie play is full of moves and counter-moves, awakenings and conversions, but it is the romantic love between Bappa and Comol that is the heart of the matter. The quality of the poetry may be illustrated by one or" two passages. Thus the minister in his message to Bappa: Dare greatly and thou shalt be great; despise... to have enlarged the theme in Prince of Edur by making the historically more authentic Bappa "in refuge among the Bheels" take the place of Ajamede. Prince of Edur was written (according to the Bibliographical Note in Vol. 7) "in the very thick of Sri Aurobindo's political activity". Historically, Bappa the hero of the play was the founder of the greatness of Mewar. He had spent his childhood... around Chitor. In Sri Aurobindo's play, Bappa of the Bheels - who is really the Prince of Edur in exile - manages to thwart the designs of all his enemies including the usurper Rana of Edur, and marries his daughter as well. The clash of interests and the heady march of events make for dramatic excitement, but Sri Aurobindo seems also to have visualized Bappa in the prototypical image of patriot and ...
... Kodal. KODAL Bappa, our scouts have come in. The prey is in the toils. Page 866 BAPPA How many are they, Kodal? KODAL Merely ten lances. The servants and women they have sent round by the lower road; the escort with four palanquins come up through the hills. They have run their heads into the noose. We will draw it tight, Bappa, and choke them. BAPPA Is their escape... and catch and crush them in my mailed gauntlet as they buzzed out into the open. SHOUTS OUTSIDE Bappa! Bappa! Ho Sheva Ekling! CAPTAIN ( shouting within ) Lances, lances, Rajpoots! Bearers, to the palanquins! COMOL Bappa! NIRMOL ( laughing ) You'll have that talk with Bappa yet, Comol. COOMOOD Oh, let us flee! They swarm towards us. ISHANY Stand firm! Our gallant... arrows. Exeunt bearers with Comol in the palanquin. Bappa and Prithuraj enter from the other side. BAPPA Now, what's the matter, Kodal? KODAL Why, Bappa, these new servant-girls of yours will not come to heel; they talk proudly. Yet Sungram will not let me teach them manners, because, I think, they are his aunt's cousins. BAPPA They shall be obedient, Kodal. Leave them to me. ...
... projected five Acts were actually written) some sort of political parable. The story is redolent of the romance and heroism enshrined in the pages of James Tod's Annals of Rajasthan. Bappa among the Bheels is really the Gehelote Prince of Edur, and it is his destiny to get the better of all his rivals and enemies —Toraman the Cashmerean, Pratap of Ichalgurh, and Rana Curran the usurper... stranglehold on India? Is Rana Curran the local collaborator, ready to compromise with the enemy on terms however ignoble? Is Pratap the symbol of national self-respect and ineffectual courage? And, is Bappa really the preordained redeemer and 'Man of Destiny'? In Act III, Coomood says: "Tomorrow is the May-feast's crowning day"; and Acts IV and V should unfold tomorrow's crowning purpose, but the play ...
... He was at that time staying at his family's house in Deoghar, Bihar, during a brief respite from his political activities. The plot of The Prince of Edur is based loosely on the life of Bappa Rawal, the eighth-century Rajput hero. The scene, which includes parts of what is now eastern Gujarat, was familiar to Sri Aurobindo, who was posted in the area while serving as a Baroda state officer ...
... plays, they too are unmistakably dyed with purpose. Eric is Norway's unifier, but he sees the wisdom of balancing the claims of Thor and Odin with those of Freya - in other words, of Power and Love. Bappa the Prince of Edur is both liberator and redeemer, and regains his Kingdom as well as wins a bride in Kamal Kumari. In the maturer play, Perseus the Deliverer, Sri Aurobindo projected his dialectical ...
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