Talk:Mahārāṇā Pratāp, the Lion of Mewār (Ruler from 1572 – 1597 CE)

By Vishal Agarwal

In 1556 CE, at the age of 13 years, Akbar became the third Moghul Emperor of India. He ruled much of Northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan for 49 years. In his long reign, he invaded and defeated numerous Hindu and Muslim kings of the region and kept enlarging his empire. Two Hindu kingdoms that staunchly resisted his invasion were Mewār in Western India, and Gondvāna in Eastern and Central India. The latter was ruled by the brave warrior queen Rāṇī Durgāvatī. The Hindu resistance in Mewār was led by the Rājpūt king Mahārāṇā Pratāp. Even to this day, the people of that area sing poems in praise of the Mahārāṇā and his famed horse – Chetak. It is said that Pratāp was so powerful that with a single stroke of his sword, he could slice into half an enemy soldier and also his horse!

Udai Siṅgh, Mahārāṇā Pratāp’s father, had to leave their capital Chittor and hide in nearby mountains when Akbar’s army invaded several times. Finally in 1568 CE, Akbar occupied the fort of Chittor and slaughtered 30,000 Hindu farmers of the area in cold blood. All the Hindu women in the fort committed suicide by immolating themselves and the Rājpūt soldiers fought till their death. A few years later, Udai Siṅgh died, and Pratāp became Mewār’s new Mahārāṇā (the title of the king of Mewār). Akbar sent several messengers to Mahārāṇā Pratāp, asking him to acknowledge Akbar as his ruler. But each time, Mahārāṇā Pratāp replied, “We Rājpūts will never accept a foreigner as our ruler.”

Angered, Akbar sent a huge army to capture and kill Mahārāṇā Pratāp. This famous battle is known as the Battle of Haldīghātī, because the soil of the valley (ghātī) in which it was fought was yellow as haldī (turmeric). Unfortunately, Mahārāṇā Pratāp was injured while fighting. One of his loyal commanders quickly took his helmet to fool the Moghul soldiers, while Chetak, the horse of Mahārāṇā Pratāp, took his wounded master away from the battlefield. The Moghul soldiers killed the commander wearing the royal helmet thinking him to be Mahārāṇā Pratāp. This gave Chetak some time to flee from the battlefield. When the Moghul soldiers realized their mistake, they tracked down Chetak and Mahārāṇā Pratāp and started chasing them. Unfortunately, a wide and deep ravine lay ahead of Chetak. It was sure that the Moghul soldiers would soon corner them and Mahārāṇā Pratāp would be captured. But as the Moghul soldiers looked in amazement, Chetak took a giant leap across the ravine and landed at the other side. None of the Moghul horses could jump that far. But at the other side of the ravine, Chetak died, as he sustained a fatal injury due to the giant leap. Mahārāṇā Pratāp wept at the death of his beloved horse.

Now, Mahārāṇā Pratāp and his family had to hide in the jungles of the region to avoid capture. They had nothing to eat, except grass and wild berries. Luckily, the chief of the Bhīl tribals of those forests came to the royal family’s rescue and offered all the tribal men as soldiers who would fight the war on the side of Mewār. Bhāmāshāh, a rich merchant of Mewār, also came to Mahārāṇā Pratāp and donated his entire wealth, so that his king could buy weapons, food and horses to prepare for his war against the Moghul empire. Mahārāṇā Pratāp was greatly moved by the patriotism of the Bhīl chief and the merchant. They trained an army of Bhīl tribals, and many other patriotic Rājpūts joined the cause of Mewār.

One after another, Mahārāṇā Pratāp was able to recapture the forts of his kingdom back from the Moghuls. Even though Mewār was a very small kingdom compared to the mighty Moghul empire, Mahārāṇā Pratāp was able to defeat the Moghul armies several times due to his bravery and military skills. Unfortunately, he died before he could recapture Chittor. Nevertheless, his bravery, patriotism and pride was praised even by Emperor Akbar, and continues to inspire the Hindus even today.

Did You Know?

When India obtained independence in 1947 from the British rule, about a third of the country was ruled by Kings and become a part of independent India to celebrate the incidents show that their freedom from have easily accepted because he valued Princes. They were all asked to sign a document stating that henceforth, their kingdom would India. The first King to receive the document for his signature was the King of Mewār. In 1950, adopted a new constitution and a grand procession was taken out in New Delhi on 26 January 1950 event. The procession was led by an elephant that was sent by the ruler of Mewār. Both these the Government of India held the kings of Mewār in great respect because they always fought for foreign rule throughout history even though they had to suffer much. Mahārāṇā Pratāp could Akbar as his ruler and lived the rest of his life in luxury. But instead, he chose a hard life in forest the freedom of his country and self‐respect more than the comforts of own life.