Maharana Pratap was the great Hindu ruler of Mewar in India. He was born to Queen Jayawanti and was the eldest son of Maharana Udai Singh. Maharana Pratap grew up as a worthy prince and had mastered the art of using weapons and horse riding. He was destined to be the ruler of Mewar and was given the tile of crown prince.

Maharana Pratap : The First Freedom Fighter

Rana Pratap

Maharana Pratap succeeded Rana Udai Singh and became the king of Mewar. Maharana Pratap fought Akbar throughout his life and never accepted his sovereignty in India. Akbar used diplomacy to make Maharana Pratap his ally but could not succeed. Maharana Pratap did not want to bow down to Akbar or accept his rule over him.

Soon Akbar realized that Maharana Pratap will never submit and decided to use his army against Mewar. Maharana Pratap wanted to reconquer Chittorgarh from the Mughals. Finally, on 21^st of June, 1576, Maharana Pratap and his army met with the armies of Akabr at Haldighati. Haldighati is situated near Gogunda which is a town near Udaipur, Rajasthan. This is where the epic battle of Haldighati was fought.  Although Maharana Pratap’s men were significantly outnumbered by Akbar’s men, but they fought valiantly for their honor and motherland. It is said that in this battle Pratap attacked Man Singh by throwing a lance at him.

Man Singh somehow managed to duck and survived. The battle lasted for four hours and loss was inevitable for Pratap’s army. Pratap’s generals convinced him to flee in order to fight again in the future. One of his trusted men got into his distinctive garments and fought in the battle field as Pratap. Soon he was killed but till then Pratap managed to escape riding his trusted horse Chetak into the hills. Chetak was deeply wounded on his left thigh and collapsed few kilometers away from the battle field. Pratap was being chased by couple of Turk knights, but Shakti Singh seeing his brother’s life in danger followed the Turks and killed them. Both the brothers embraced each other and broke into tears.

Maharana Pratap continued his struggle against Mughals from the wilderness of the Aravallis. He finally died after sustaining injuries in a hunting accident on 29^th January, 1597.