Hello Reader friends! how are you all ? I hope you all are healthy and happy. Today in this article we are going to know about Maharana Pratap who has written his name in golden letters in Indian History among Ancient Indian Kings:
- who fought many battles carrying lots of weight on his body.
- whose vehicle was faster than the wind.
- who regained the forts taken by the Mughals while staying in the forests.
- despite being a king, he lived in the forest and won battles by eating grass bread.
Let us get some information about the life of a great Maharana Pratap in this article.
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| Maharana Pratap |
Who was Maharana Pratap ?
Maharana Pratap was born on 9 May 1540 in Kumbhalgarh Fort in the Sisodia dynasty of Mewar, Rajasthan. His father's name was Uday Singh and mother's name was Jaivantabai. Maharana Uday Singh had 33 children out of which the eldest son was Maharana Pratap.
At the time when Pratap was born, his eyes were as bright as a hawk's that can detect enemies. Whose body was so strong that it can overwhelm enemies. Maharana Uday Singh was very moved to hear the joy of the child by the maid. So Maharana named the child Pratap after seeing the glow on the child's face.
What was Maharana Pratap's childhood like?
Pratap's mother Jaivantabai used to tell stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata wars from his childhood, so that Pratap becomes heroic, tolerant, fearless from childhood and a kind of passion to defeat enemies is generated in him. Even today people remember the heroism of his grandfather Ranasanga, saying Jaivantabai to Pratap. She says that his great-grandfather Bapa Rawal, whose bravery foreigners did not dare to raise their eyes to the land of India for 400 years.
In due course, Pratap was sent to Gurukul to gain education. In Gurukul, Pratap used to study very hard. There was always an exuberance, enthusiasm for learning in him. He was always trying to learn something new. Whenever Pratap spent time in Gurukul, he used to go out to meet Bhil caste people. Pratap had great feelings for the Bhils. From childhood, Pratap was learning to shoot arrows and spears from Bhils.
People of Bhil caste called baby Pratap as Kika (Kika means son). Seeing Pratap's way of walking and talking, the people of Bhils say that one day Pratap will become a great king. They considered Pratap as a king from his childhood. Pratap also loved going to blacksmiths because he was learning to make weapons from them. If any Mughal army was passing through Mewar, Maharana Pratap used to drive away the Mughals by carrying a small catapult (also known as gulel in hindi) in his childhood.
How much weight do Maharana Pratap wear during the war?
- Maharana Pratap's own weight was 110 kg.
- The weight of his spear is 80 kg,
- Weight of the armor is 72 kg,
- The weight of the shoe is 5 kg, and
- he used to keep 2 swords for fighting.
Maharana Pratap had one special characteristic. If the enemy came forward and the enemy had no weapon, Maharana Pratap would fight with the enemy by giving one of his swords to the enemy. He would never fight an unarmed enemy.
Under what circumstances was the coronation of Maharana Pratap done?
Rani Dhirbai was Pratap's stepmother. The throne is handed over to the eldest son only, but on the advice of Dhirbai, it was decided to make Dhirbai's son Jagmal the king. Out of respect for his father, Pratap agreed to hand over the throne to his younger brother Jagmal but chieftains and people believed Pratap as king.
Maharana Pratap used to rule in the hearts of the people. As time passed, Maharana Uday Singh's health deteriorated and he died. The people of Mewar along with Pratap were present at the funeral of Maharana Uday Singh but Jagmal was not present. Jagmal wanted the throne so at the time of his father's funeral he was preparing his coronation.
The people felt very angry hearing about this. The people refused to recognize Jagmal as king and Pratap was coronated with blood on Gogunda Mountain immediately after Maharana Uday Singh's funeral.
After Pratap was made Rana, Pratap and the chiefs proceeded towards Kumbhalgarh. As soon as Jagmal heard that Pratap was coming to Kumbhalgarh with the army, he left the palace and fled to Akbar. After that Pratap was officially coronated in the palace. Maharana Pratap was the 13th king of Mewar and he was 28 years old at that time.
What did Maharana Pratap pledge?
All the Rajput dynasties including Gogunda and Bundi had accepted Akbar's surrender but Maharana Pratap would never bow down to Akbar. It was Maharana Pratap's dream to free Chitod from the clutches of Akbar. So Maharana Pratap had vowed that until Chittor is back in his possession, he will not stay in the palace but stay in the forests and attack Akbar with the army.
He use to eat in leaves instead of silver plate, He spent his days lying on a stone, eating grass leaves instead of delicious food. In 1568, before Pratap became king, the Mughals captured Chittor, the capital of Mewar. As soon as Maharana Pratap assumed the throne, he called a meeting and started preparations to face Akbar.
Maharana Pratap ordered to burn standing crops so that Akbar's army should not get food. Garbage was thrown in all the wells between Chittor and Udaipur so that the well water would not be fit to drink for the Mughal army.
Who was Chetak?
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| Chetak |
Pratap bought the horse from a merchant of Kathiawar. The horse was tall in appearance, watery bright and blue in color. That horse was very dear to Maharana Pratap. That horse was named Chetak. Pratap loved the horse like his own son.
How did Rajputs fought against Mughal in Battle of Haldighati?
One day the Battle of Haldighati took place and the Rajputs fell heavily on Akbar's army. In the war, only 20 thousand Rajputs of Maharana Pratap faced 80 thousand Mughal soldiers. A very vigorous war was going on between the two. Rajputs had destroyed many enemies in sight. So when the Mughal army started fleeing from the battlefield, the Mughal general Mansingh came and said that Akbar is coming to the field.
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| Battle Of Haldighati |
At that time, Maharana Pratap appeared on the battlefield on horse. Akbar's soldiers had heard the name of Maharana Pratap but saw him for the first time. On the battlefield, the Maharana reached the place where Mansingh was fighting on an elephant, wounding the enemies.
Maharana Pratap approached Mansingh and pulled Chetak's reins to jump on Mansingh's elephant and at the same time the he threw his spear at Mansingh. Mansingh managed to duck down so he was saved but Aerawat (the who controls elephant) was struck by a spear and was killed.
How did Chetak saved life of Maharana Pratap in that Battle of Haldighati ?
Chetak's front leg was cut off by Mansingh's sword tied to his elephant's trunk. There were many wounds on the Maharana's body, his body was bloody and his leg was also injured. So Rana's chief Jhala said that since his leg has been shot, poison will spread in the body, so he need to get medicine.
Chetak was badly injured in the war and was not in a condition to fight further. So he gave the command of the army to Jhala and went to up to the hill. The Mughals went after the Rana to capture the him. Leaving behind the Mughals in pursuit, Chetak ran for 5 kilometers, to cross a big valley, Chetak jumped 22 feet long with all his strength and saved Maharana Pratap.
Injured Chetak was very tired and falls unconscious on the ground. The valley could not be crossed by the Mughals. Seeing Chetak unconscious on the ground, Maharana Pratap's eyes watered. Chetak loses his life there. In the battle of Haldighati, Chetak saved the life of Maharana Pratap by showing loyalty, valor and devotion to his lord. Maharana Pratap was deeply saddened by Chetak's death. As the battle between the Rajputs and the Mughals continued at Haldighati, Mansingh recalled the troops and asked them to march towards Ajmer.
Why Akbar had to forget his dream ?
Maharana Pratap just like a tiger came out of the jungles suddenly attacked the Mughals and regained his forts taken by the them. After getting back he conqured 36 forts like Mewar, Chittorgarh, Kumbalgarh, Udaipur and Gogunda. Maharana Pratap gave independence to Mewar and hoisted the Saffron flag.
Akbar realized that facing Maharana Pratap was very difficult so he went back to Delhi and stopped looking towards Rajasthan. It was Akbar's dream to capture Maharana Pratap, but that dream was not fulfilled as long as Akbar was alive. For 12 years, Maharana Pratap ruled Mewar judiciously, regaining its lost lustre.
Conclusion:
Maharana Pratap won many battles in his life but one day he died while tying a string on his bow while he was out hunting. He died on 19 January 1597 at Chawand in an accident while going hunting at the age of 56 in India. The kings of Mewar used to put leaves under the plate while eating in memory of Maharana Pratap.
In this article we have seen some interesting facts about Maharana Pratap. From his childhood to his death, about his Chetak, about his battles and many more.
So, readers how do you like the story of Maharana Pratap? What more points can be added to this article? What are your thoughts about Maharana Pratap? Share your views in the comment section.
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Thank you for reading this article till the end, we will meet in another article with another great Ancient Indian Kings of Indian History. Until then stay happy be healthy and keep reading our articles.
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