Bhil Tribals Invented Ratlami Sev 200-Years-Ago And It Has A Mughal Connect
New Delhi: Once the seat of a Kingdom, Ratlam today a town in Madhya Pradesh and has-been commercial hub for sarees, gold and Ratlami sev. In Ratlam, the sev occupies a unique place. Sev, for the unversed, are small, bite-sized noodles made from flour dough and deep-fried so that it turns crispy. Little did one know that this tiny piece of sev would become a sensational snack one day, without which dishes like poha, bhelpuri, chaat would feel incomplete. Today, you’ll find scores of sev with a variety of flavours all over India.
Ratlam-The history
Ratlam, currently a tiny town in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa area, was formerly a princely kingdom with a rich culture and legacy. Formerly known as Ratnapuri, Ratlam is now a major Madhya Pradesh crossroads where most long-distance trains from the west and south of India pass through on their way north.
It was created in 1652 by Raja Ratan Singh Rathore, son of Mahesh Das of Jalore, a great-grandson of Raja Udai Singh of Jodhpur. By defeating the Persians and Uzbeks in Afghanistan, the latter, father and son, had rendered valuable military services to Emperor Shah Jahan. Large lands in the southwestern districts of Rajputana and northern Malwa were given on them as a reward for their services and in honor of their great feats of valor. Ratram, named after Raj Ratan Singh and his first son Ram Singh, became their capital and was eventually translated to Ratlam.
Ratlami Sev and the Mughal connect
The tale dates back to the 19th Century when the Mughals were travelling across the region of Madhya Pradesh. En route their tour, they felt hungry and craved for seviyan (vermicelli). While the sevaiyan is usually made with wheat, there was no availability of this crop in the region at that time.
Since the Bhil tribe occupied the region of Ratlam during that time, the Mughals asked them to prepare the crunchy snack for them. With no wheat, the Bhil tribals used gram flour instead. It is said that the sev was initially named Bhil Sev, given to the creators of the snack. However, later, it attained the name Ratlami Sev. The 200-year-old snack began to be produced in mass quantities only in the 1900s and by 2015, became one of the few GI-tagged items of India.