Liquor was banned by Mewar Royals in 1845!

Udaipur: The sorrow and sufferings that the women folk of Kachabali, Thaneta, Alwar and hundreds of other hamlets across the state are facing today, have been the sad truth of the society since centuries.Even the Royals of Mewar were sensitive towards the issue and realized the ill-effects of alcohol and drug on society to the extent that they had decreed a ban on liquor consumption in 19th century. The addiction to alcohol had ruined a few kingdoms of Rajputana but Mewar remained free of this problem.It is famously recorded that when the Mughal army of Babur was reluctant to fight the valiant force of Maharana Sanga at Khanwa, Babur gave them a pep-talk in name of Jihad. Next day Babur's spies reported that the soldiers were not convinced as they questioned that how can they fight a non-alcohol consuming defender?"They also asked that how could this call of Babur be a Jihad when he himself was addicted to alcohol which is prohibited in Islam," says retired professor and veteran writer Dr Pushpendra Singh Ranawat. Next day, Babur took oath before his army to quit Madira and his stock of alcohol was poured on ground before the shocked soldiers and he distributed the gold and silver vessels of his bar to the army. His biography 'Babarnama' records how he suffered pangs of alcohol.Erstwhile ruler Maharana Swaroop Singh (1842-1861) decreed through a stone inscription of 1845 that the use of alcohol started by Maharana Amar Singh-II (1698-1710) had a great ill-effect on society and should be stopped henceforth."However, its guilt-free acceptance started in early 20th century, which was not just overlooked but partly encouraged by the British for their commercial as well as political reasons," Ranawat narrates in his recent book 'Wah, Udaipur Wah'.Consequently, the use of alcohol commenced in a big way during the British Raj, this deterioration in social fabric reached rock bottom with glorification of alcoholism typically represented in some folk songs like 'daru piyo rang karo aur raata rakho naiyan...' (Drink makes merriment and keep the eyes red).According to historians, Mewar was an important grower and exporter of Opium, mainly to China. It was consumed for medical effects. The untimely demise of young and dynamic ruler Maharana Sajjan Singh in 1884 had a shocking effect on society which vowed to do away with this problem. Maharana Fateh Singh banned its uncontrolled cultivation and consumption in Mewar region through his order of 1913 to curb the reappearance of opium addiction among the public.