May 9 days in the
country's 476 birth anniversary is being celebrated Maharana Pratap. Pratap was
a warrior, who never bowed forward to the Mughals. Their struggle is immortalized
in history. Every child in India grew by reading about them. Nevertheless,
there are certain things about them which seems impossible to hear, but in
reality are true.
One the greatest
warriors of Indian history, Maharana Pratap died on January 29 in the year
1597. Maharana Pratap was the ruler of Mewar, a province in modern day
Rajasthan in North West India.
Pratap was the
eldest son of Uday Singh II, founder of Udaipur, and Maharani Jaiwanta Bai.
Renowned as a fearsome warrior and an excellent combat strategist, Pratap
protected the Mewar region against the repeated onslaughts of the Mughals.
On his 419th
death anniversary, we bring to you nine facts about Maharana Pratap:
1. Maharana
Pratap is revered as one of the strongest warriors India has ever seen.
Standing at 7 feet 5 inches, he would carry a 80-kilogram spear and two swords
weighing around 208 kilograms in total. He would also wear an armour weighing
72 kilogram.
2. Pratap's
ascension to the throne was dicey. Rani Dheer Bai, Pratap's stepmother, wanted
Kunwar Jagmal to be the king after Udai Singh's defeat at the hands of Mughal
emperor Akbar. In 1568, Akbar had captured the Chittorgarh Fort and the Mewar
royalty took shelter in Udaipur. After long conflict and debate, Pratap was made
the king as the court saw Jagmal to be an unfit ruler.
3. Before
fighting the Mughals, Pratap had to face the wrath of his domestic adversaries.
By the time of his reign, almost all Rajput dynasties had surrendered to Akbar
and had become members of his council. Akbar sent six diplomatic missions to
Pratap to create a peaceful alliance between the two mighty rulers.
4. After the
fifth diplomatic mission, Pratap had sent his son Amar Singh to the Mughal
court to deny Akbar's proposal of peace. As he did not present himself before
the Mughal emperor, it was not a fair sight. Due to his act of defiance, Akbar
decided to march on Pratap.
5. Pratap's
prowess in fights was proved at the Battle of Haldighati in 1576. Mughal
emperor Akbar ordered Man Singh I, one of his Rajput army commanders, and Asaf
Khan I to attack Pratap. Man Singh and Asaf Khan had gathered an army almost
half the size of the Mughal military force and held position at Haldighati, a
mountain pass around 40 kilometres from Udaipur.
6. On the other
hand, Pratap had gathered Gwalior's Ram Shah Tanwar and his three sons- Rawat
Krishnadasji Chundawat, Maan Singhji Jhala and Chandrasenji Rathore of Marwar,
the Afghan leader Hakim Khan Sur and a small army of people from the Bhil tribe
led by Rao Poonja.
7. The battle
took place on June 18, 1576 for four hours. The Mughal army found a traitor in
Pratap's brother Shakti Singh who told them about the secret pass.
The Mughal
cavalry was led by Man Singh I but was outfought at first by the Rajput
soldiers. Pratap decided to kill Man Singh on his own and rode his war horse
Chetak against Man Singh's elephant. Both Chetak and Pratap were injured by
Man's elephant. Seeing this the Mewari contingent lost hope. However, Pratap
chieftain Man Singh Jhala exchanged armours with Pratap to confuse the Mughal
army. Chetak tried to escape via Haldighati pass with a single long leap, for
which it is famous, but was killed by Mughal archers.
Pratap was
devastated to know about his horse's death. Realising his fault, Shakti Singh
offered his own horse to Pratap, so that the latter could escape.
8. After the
battle, the Mughal forces, personally led by Akbar, continued to conquer the
entire Mewar region including Chittor, Gogunda, Kumbhalgarh (Pratap's temporary
capital) and Udaipur. All Rajput dynasties including that of Bundi surrendered
to Akbar, leaving Pratap completely alone.
9. After 1579,
following rebellions in Bengal, Bihar and Punjab, Akbar loosed the noose on
Mewar. Pratap took advantage of the situation and gathered an army using the
money given by Dan Shiromani Bhamashah, who later became one of Pratap's
ministers. Pratap recovered most of his turf-- Kumbhalgarh and the areas around
Chittor. He gathered an army of 40,000 soldiers and conquered Gogunda,
Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore and Udaipur from Mughal ally Jagannath Kachhawa.
10. Pratap had
rebuilt his capital in the city of Chavand, around 60 kilometres south of
Udaipur and spent the rest of his life there. Because of his fight for freedom
against the Mughals, Maharana Pratap is widely regarded as India's first
freedom fighter.
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