Hadighati is a small village situated at a distance of 44 km from Udaipur. It is a place of great historical relevance where Haldighati war between great Maharana Pratap and Mughal forces took place in antiquity. In this war the great Maharana Pratap and his Brave Rajput warriors showed true valor and courage against the bigger army of Akbar.

Haldighati the thermopile of mewar:

Rana Pratap

Maharana Pratap was declared King of Mewar in 1572. Mughals had captured Dungarpur, Chittorgarh and Ranthambor. He was determined to continue his war against Akbar, who was a Mughal Emperor. All the Rajput kingdoms were forced by Akbar to be bought under his rule, except Mewar. Maharana Pratap did not consider Akbar as the ruler of India and had denied all attempts of Akbar to make peace with him.

Akbar realized that Maharana Pratap will never bow to his wishes and decided to rage war against him. On 18^th of June 1576, the two rival armies clashed with each other in the famous Haldighati war. The Mughal army was commanded by Raja Man Singh of Amber. Maharana Pratap and his men were largely outnumbered by Akbar’s army, but with true will and valor the great Maharana Pratap and his Brave Rajput warriors fought gallantly with their enemies. Maharana Pratap personally attacked Man Singh, but he was somehow able to duck his attempt.

Totally outnumbered and overwhelmed by the number of their enemies, Maharana Pratap and his men were about to loose the battle. Pratap’s general intervened and convinced him to get away to safety so that he can stay alive to continue his struggle against Mughals. One of his loyal officers, a brave Jhala man took the Sun-God banner from Pratap and charged against the enemies. Pratap and his horse Chetak were badly injured. Pratap had till now fainted due to blood loss and Chetak somehow managed to take him to a safer place, but collapsed due to heavy injuries sustained during Haldighati war. Read the rest of this entry »