Personal Profile
Maharana Pratap was the eldest son among all sons of Maharana Udai Singh II and Rani Jeevant Kanwar. He was born on May 9th 1540 in Kumbhalgarh and after his father, Pratap became the 54th ruler of Mewar. The epitome of fiery Rajput pride and self-respect, Pratap has for centuries exemplified the qualities to which Rajputs aspire.
His Scarify for Father Respect
In 1567 Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar forced the family of Maharana Udai Singh II to leave Chittor. Maharana Pratap was not ready to leave but his family enforced him to do so. At that time, Pratap was 27 years of age only.
Udai Singh set up a temporary government in Gogunda but after few years in 1572 he passed away. Under the influence of his favorite queen Rani Bhatiyani, he willed his son Jagmal to ascend to throne. Maharana Pratap respected his father’s wishes and let his half-brother Jagmal to become the next king. All the Sisodia Rajputs especially the Chundawat Rajputs were against of Jagmal Singh and that forced Jagmal to leave the throne to Maharana Pratap. Jagmal left the throne and to take revenge he joined Akbar armies, where he was offered the town of Jahapur as jagir.
The famous war of Haldighati
In 1572 Maharana became the king of Mewar. Pratap’s wish was to rule chittor which was then controlled by Akbar. As Akbar wanted to rule all over Hindustan so he sent many diplomatic missions to Mewar to get Rana Pratap to agree to the former’s suzerainty. Rana Pratap turned down each one of them.
In 1576, a huge army of 80000 commanded by Raja Man Singh- the brother in law of Akbar attacked on 20000 Rajput soldiers. The battle is known as the battle of Haldighati. Pratap moved his capital to Kumbhalgarh, where he was born. He commanded his subjects to leave for the Aravali mountains and leave behind nothing for the approaching enemy – the war would be fought in a mountain terrain which the Mewar army was used to but not the Mughals.
In the war Maharana Pratap fought like a real Maharana. His army was not defeated but he was surrounded by Mughal soldiers. At that time his brother Shakti Singh, appeared and saved the Rana’s life. Another casualty of this war was Maharana Pratap’s famous, and loyal, horse Chetak, who gave up his life trying to save his Maharana.
Light and life of the Hindu community
Maharana Pratap’s army grew weaker with time and the funds got greatly reduced. The king got badly hurt when his children’s meal – bread made from grass – was stolen by a dog which made him to lose his spirit in fighting Akbar. At that time Bhama Shah offered wealth and army to him. King Pratap was depressed by the condition of his family and army and thus sent a letter to Akbar demanding “a mitigation of his hardship”.
Akbar got rejoiced at his condition and showed the letter to a literate Rajput at his Court. The famous letter of Prince Prithvi (the younger brother of Rai Singh, the ruler of Bikaner) led to Pratap reversing his decision and not submitting to the Mughals.
In 1587 Akbar relinquished his obsessive pursuit of Maharana Pratap and took his battles into Punjab and India’s Northwest Frontier. Thus for the last ten years of his life, Maharana Pratap ruled in relative peace and eventually freed most of Mewar, including Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh, but not Chittor. Maharana Pratap Singh was also called the light and life of the Hindu community.
Final Days
Maharana Pratap was never able to win back Chittor but he never gave up fighting to win it back. In 1597 he was bitterly injured in a hunting accident and died at the age of fifty six. He was really a great hero who stood firmly for his dignity and honour during a dark chapter of Hindu history.
