About Maharana Pratap Great Warrior of India (Bharat ka Veer Putra)
Born: May 9, 1540
Died: January 19, 1597
Maharana Pratap was a ruler of Mewar, a state in north-western India. He belonged to the Sisodia clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs.
He was a staunch patriot. He saw Mughals as foreigners who had invaded India and that is why he refused to surrender. His own father Udai Singh had condemned the house of Man Singh for their marriage with unclean foreigners and Pratap Singh himself said that he would call Akbar only a 'Turk' and not an emperor. Also Pratap Singh's dogged resistance, even when he had to wander in the jungles of Aravallis and his persistent refusal to surrender even after being reduced to starvation while pursuing Haldighati, are indicative of an individual with a sacred mission rather than one who fought for power politics. His vow giving up all comforts of palace life till he recaptured his entire kingdom from the Mughals and his lifelong observance of that vow, speak to his steadfast patriotism and determination rather than a lust for power. Further proof of his beliefs is found in his repeated refusal to accept lucrative offers from Akbar in the shape of jagirs and subedaris
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Some Interesting Facts About Maharana Pratap : -
What is weight of maharana pratap is bhala?
weight of Maharana Pratap Bhala - 80 Kg
weight of Maharana Pratap’s Armor- 72 Kg
Sword
A 25 kg weight sword was used by Rana Pratap. Rana Pratap use to carry two swords with him always. Before any fight he used to offer one sword to his opponent if he is not armed. The 2nd sword was to intimidate the enemy. Rana Pratap is known for his ability to be a weight lifter. And fighting with 2×25 Kg swords was a piece of cake for him. His height was around 7.5 feet and had a broad look.
If we add up the weight of Maharana’s Sword , armor, Bhala , Shield , and his two swords the weight becomes 206 kilograms , Ab Sochiye Itne weight Liye Maharana Pratap used fight Months and months ,to kitni taakat hogi .
What is height of maharana pratap ?
7 feet 5 inches
Facts collected from various sources through internet.
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Rana Pratap was born at Kumbhalgarh on Sunday the May 9, 1540 to Maharana Udai Singh II and Maharani Javanta Bai Songara (Chauhan).some historians believe it to be “Juni Kacheri” near Pali District.Pratap was eldest of 25 brothers and 20 sisters.
Maharana Pratap got married to Ajabade(daughter of Rao Ram Rakh Panwar), at the age of 17 and were soon blessed by a son named Amar Singh.
Polygamy and maximum children were social necessity of the period owing to higher female population and high battle casualties. Rana Pratap had 17 sons and five daughters. The male-line descendants of Udai Singh II bear the patronymic "Ranawat". Maharana Pratap was Born in Pali-Marwar. His birth place known as Juni Kacheri.
In 1568, during the reign of Udai Singh II, Chittor was conquered by the Mughal emperor Akbar. The third Jauhar of Chittor transpired, with the ladies of the fort finding "safety from personal dishonour in the devouring element (fire)," while the remaining menfolk sallied forth to certain death in the battlefield
Maharana Udai Singh II died at the early age of 42 in “Gogunda”. Setting aside the established laws of “Primogenitor”, he proclaimed his favorite son “Jagmal” his successor,but his senior nobles wanted Pratap, the eldest son, to be their king.
During the coronation ceremony Jagmal was physically moved out of the palace and Pratap was made the 54th king in the lineage of Sisodia Rajputs. Pratap did not want to go against the wishes of his father but Rajput nobles convinced him that Jagmal was not fit to rule in the troubled times of the day. It was the beginning of a career of struggle and hardship.
Conflict (Mugals with Pratap) :
Though the chief reasons for resentment between Pratap Singh and Akbar, two very visionary rulers is unclear, it is now largely agreed that it had to do with disagreements over the status of Mewar within the Mughal Empire, were it to at all accept Mughal suzerainty. The tensions were further characterised by the fact that Babur and Rana Sanga, grandfathers to Akbar and Pratap respectively, had earlier bitterly contested the control over the Gangetic plains and the Doab. It is evident that there had been some measures of reconciliation, such as acceptance of ambassadors and representatives between the two courts. However, none of these could ever be taken to any logical end.
Chittorgarh (Chittor fort), Pratap's ancestral home, was under Mughal occupation. Living a life on the run, the dream of reconquering Chittor (and thus reclaiming the glory of Mewar) was greatly cherished by Pratap, and his future efforts were bent towards this goal.
Nearly all of Pratap's fellow Rajput chiefs had meanwhile entered into the vassalage of the Mughals. Even Pratap's own brothers, Shakti Singh and Sagar Singh, were serving Akbar. Indeed, many Rajput chiefs, such as Raja Man Singh of Amber (later known as Jaipur) were serving as army commanders in Akbar's armies and members of his council.
Akbar sent a total of six diplomatic missions to Pratap, seeking to negotiate the same sort of peaceful alliance that he had concluded with the other Rajput chiefs. Pratap roundly rebuffed every such attempt.
For the new capital-Udaipur, Maharana Udai Singh constructed a water reservoir–Udai Sagar in 1565. It was on its dam that in June 1573 Kunwar(Prince) Man Singh of Amber, as the emissary of Mughal Emperor Akbar, arrogantly demanded that Maharana Pratap should give up protocol and be present at the feast in his honour.
Pratap and Man Singh were of the same age, both were born on May 9, 1540, but one was king while the other a prince. Pratap, following the protocol, sent his son Kunwar Amar Singh to dine with Kunwar Man Singh Akbar's special envoy.This incident precipitated the Mughal-Mewar conflict.
(Man Singh was a Kunwar, his father Raja Bhagwan Das led another unsuccessful peace mission to Maharana Pratap in October 1573 at which Maharana Pratap was personally present).
Raja Bhagwan Das and Kunwar Man Singh won Kashmir for Mughals in 1586, that is Man Singh was NOT the Raja of Amber, later Jaipur, till 1586. Man Singh was confied the title of Mirza Raja in 1590.
Battle of Haldighati
On June 21, 1576 (June 18 by other calculations), the two armies met at Haldighati, near the town of Gogunda in present-day Rajasthan. While accounts vary as to the exact strength of the two armies, all sources concur that the mughal forces greatly outnumbered Pratap's men.
Pratap Attaking On Man Singh
The battle of Haldighati, a historic event in the annals of Rajputana, lasted only four hours. In this short period, Pratap's men essayed many brave exploits on the field. Folklore has it that Pratap personally attacked Man Singh: his horse Chetak placed its front feet on the trunk of Man Singh's elephant and Pratap threw his sphear; Man Singh hide under hauda, and the elephant driver was killed.
Myths indicate that to facilitate Pratap's escape, one of his lieutenants, a member of the Jhala clan, donned Pratap's distinctive garments and took his place in the battlefield. He was soon killed. Meanwhile, riding his trusty steed Chetak, Pratap was able to successfully evade captivity and escape to the hills.
Chetak was critically wounded on his left thigh by a mardana (Elephant Trunk Sword), with spear of weight 263 kg. while Pratap had attempted to nail down Man Singh. Chetak was bleeding heavily and he collapsed after jumping over a small brook a few kilometres away from the battle field. A famous couplet narrates this incident of the battle:
Aage nadiya padi apaar, ghoda kaise utare paar Rana ne socha is paar, tab tak chetak tha us paar
Lies the boundless river ahead, How will the horse cross it? While Rana was thinking still on this side (of river), Chetak was that side!
Pratap’s younger brother Shaktisingh who was fighting from the Mughal side (he had some disputes with Pratap at the time of Pratap’s coronation; hence he had defected and gone over to Akbar’s court) realized that his own brother was under threat.
It is said that Shakti Singh, Pratap's brother, who was fighting from side of Mughals, came to Pratap's side at this time and gave him his horse Unkar to escape, who also killed two Afghan horse riders, who had followed Pratap to the spot.
The battle of Haldighati has commanded a lasting presence in Rajasthani folklore, and the persona of Pratap Singh is celebrated in a famous folk song “O Neele Ghode re Aswar” (O Rider of the Blue Horse).
A monument to Chetak is at the site of the steed's death.
There is a famous folksong written on his life in Hills. "Are ghaas ri roti hi jad ban bilawdo le bhagyo".
While Pratap’s General donned Pratap’s clothing and armour, it went unnoticed thanks to the chaos of the war but for two Turkic people| Turk knights from the Mughal army. They could not communicate it with others in their group, due to linguistic barrier (the appropriate language would have been Persian, Marwari or Arabi).
Aftermath :
Pratap retreated into the hilly wilderness of the Aravallis and continued his struggle. His one attempt at open confrontation having thus failed, Pratap resumed the tactics of guerrilla warfare. Using the hills as his base, Pratap continued small raids and skirmishes against the outlying check-posts, fortresses and encampments of his adversaries; some of whom included the Hindu vassals appointed by the Mughals in the wake of Pratap Singh's defeat.
During Pratap's exile, he received much assistance from Bhamashah, a trusted general and aide of Pratap, who along with his brother Tarachand looted Mughal territory of Malwa and offered this large booty to Pratap to carry on his fight against Mughal. Bhamashah was promoted to post of Prime Minister after this by Pratap. The Bhil tribals of the Aravalli hills provided Pratap with their support during times of war and their expertise in living off the forests during times of peace.
With the large booty at his disposal, Pratap organized another attack and Battle of Dewar followed in which army of Mewar was victorious and Pratap was able to claim back much of the lost territories of Mewar, except Chittor.
Personal life
Rana Pratap had 11 Ranis and 17 sons and 5 daughters of which Amar Singh was eldest followed by Chanda Singh, Sahas Mal, Shekha Singh and others.[citation needed]
Final days :
Maharana Pratap died of injuries sustained in a hunting accident. He died at Chavand, which served as his capital,on 29 January 1597, aged fifty-seven.A chhatri, commemorating Pratap Singh's funeral, exists in Chavand and is an important tourist attraction today. It is said that as he lay dying, Pratap made his son and successor, Amar Singh, swear to maintain eternal conflict against the Mughals. Rana Pratap's son, Rana Amar Singh, fought 17 wars with the Mughals. After Mewar was depleted financially and in man-power he conditionally accepted them as rulers. The treaty between Amar Singh and Mughal King Jahangir had some obligations that fort of Chittor would not be repaired and Mewar would have to keep a contingent of 1000 horse in the Mughal service. Besides Amar Singh would not have to be present at any of the Mughal Darbars. At this time, many members of Maharana Pratap's family of Sisodias, band of loyal Rajputs became disillusioned by the surrender and left Rajasthan. This group included Rathores, Deora Chauhans, Pariharas, Tanwars, Kacchwaha and Jhalas. They are called Rors and settled mostly in Haryana, with some in Uttar Pradesh. Most notable amongst the migrated Sisodias are Mehtas in Haridwar area. They changed the name from Sisodia to Mehta in late 1700 as the locals honored them with this title due to their feats. The Mehtas uprooted a local nawab of Mohammedpura and renamed the town as Jwalapur.
Legacy
Most important of Pratap Singh's legacy was in the military field – after Haldighati, he increasingly experimented and perfected guerrilla warfare and light horse tactics. His innovative military strategy- use of scorched earth, evacuation of entire populations along potential routes of enemy march, poisoning of wells, use of mountain forts in Aravallis, repeated plunder and devastation of enemy territories along with harassing raids on enemy baggage, communications and supply lines- helped him recapture most of Mewar (except Chittor) by time of his death and enabled him to successfully tackled vastly stronger armies of Akbar. Harassing warfare perfected by Pratap Singh would in due course was adopted by Malik Ambar of Ahmednagar [18] who taught and deployed local Marathas to fight invading Mughal armies, thus preparing them for future warfare against Mughals. Though Pratap Singh failed to overcome Mughals in his lifetime, indirectly and in long run, his military techniques paved way for downfall of Mughal empire.
References : Wikipedia
