Panna Dai

Who is Panna Dai?

Panna Dhai a 16th-century woman of the gurjar, nursemaid to Udai Singh II, the fourth son of Maharana Sangram Singh. Her name, Panna means emerald, and dai means a wet nurse in Hindi language. She had been given charge of young Udai, breast - feeding him virtually from his birth in 1522, along with her own son Chandan, who was of similar age and Udai's playmate.

However, the second and third decades of the 16th century were troubled times, and events moved rapidly. Sanga died of wounds sustained at the Battle of Khanwa against Mughal emperor Babur. Sanga's eldest son Bhoj Raj had been killed in the battle in 1521. Three of his other sons died during his lifetime. Then his eldest son succeeded to the throne as Maharana Ratan Singh II. However, when he died after ruling only four years, the vile-tempered Vikramaditya succeeded to the throne at the young age of 14.

Vikramaditya took a small force of nobles and their armies into the hills to provide a second attack force; and young Udai Singh was spirited away with a small party that included Panna and her son to safety in Bundi. Chittor was sacked and Bahadur Shah returned to Gujarat. Udai Singh returned to the capital, and Vikramaditya came back to continue his reign. Unfortunately, his temperament had not improved with defeat and, one day in 1536, he physically abused a respected old chieftain at the Court. This proved to be the final straw for the Mewar nobles; they placed Vikramaditya under palace arrest, leaving the object of Panna Dhai's love and loyalty, Udai Singh as heir-elect to the throne.