Maharana Pratap is one of the warriors of our India. He has not only provided Rajputana but the whole of India an opportunity to be proud. Maharana Pratap was a very brave and majestic ruler. He defeated the Mughals many times in battle. The countrymen always remember him as a defender of sacrifice, sacrifice, constant struggle and freedom. The brave Maharana Pratap, who did not leave his small Mewar princely state in exchange for half India, was such a ruler who never bowed his head in front of anyone. At the time when Akbar ruled the whole of India, the whole of India bowed before him, but there was only one great hero 'Maharana Pratap' who never bowed before Akbar, he swore, - "I will never accept any subjugation" And he remained on his oath and never allowed his kingdom Mewar to be under the Mughals. Let's know about the life of this great hero.
History of Maharana pratap Singh, life journey and biography in details.
Maharana pratap Singh early life:-
Maharana Pratap was born on 9 May 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan. His father's name was 'Rana Udai Singh' and mother's name was 'Jaywanta Bai'. Maharana Pratap was called as Kika in his childhood. Since childhood, Maharana Pratap was courageous, brave, self-respecting and independent. His mother Jaywanti Bai, a devotee of Lord Krishna, gave Pratap the knowledge of the martial arts of Lord Krishna and Mahabharata from the very beginning. His mother used to tell the heroic stories of his grandfather, great-grandfather to Kunwar Pratap. Pratap grew up listening to this past of his dynasty. As Pratap grew up, he was sent to the Gurukul with time, he took great pleasure in the art of making weapons. He had mixed so much with the people there that he was becoming everyone's favorite. His body was stronger than the rest of the children. At a young age, he started speaking in Afghan settlements. Seeing his valor, everyone said that Pratap would become the most mighty warrior.
Pratap's life was full of struggles from the very beginning. His father's second wife, whose name was Dhirbai, wanted to make her own son Jagmal the king of the kingdom, Pratap knew this but he never interfered and behaved like a good son.
Coronation of Pratap:-
His coronation was also full of difficulties. During the period of Pratap Singh, Delhi was ruled by the Mughals. Rana Udai Singh's health started deteriorating in 1570 and his second wife took over his service because she wanted her son Jagmal to replace her father. Rana Uday Sai was very pleased with the service of his wife and decided to declare Jagmal as the heir, although according to the rules, the eldest son sits on his throne after the father. Pratap Singh was older than Jagmal, but Pratap welcomed this decision of his father, but the minister of state and Sardar was not satisfied with this decision of Udai Singh as he knew that Pratap was the most qualified.
Udai Singh died in 1572, his last rites were performed by Pratap, but at the same time his brother Jagmal declared himself the king and called the Samatas for his own coronation. Pratap was not at all interested to sit on the throne, Maharana Pratap, remembering the last words of his father, renounced the right to rule the state and went to the forests. The feudatories and ministers there made it clear that only Pratap Singh could become the officer of this throne and they forced Jagmal to leave the throne. Jagmal was not ready to give up the throne but he did not think it appropriate to make too much noise.
Pratap Singh also accepted the responsibility of leading the people of Mewar, respecting the wishes of all the chieftains and the people. In this way, Maharana Pratap was coronated for the first time in the hills of Gogunda on 28 February 1572, but for the second time on 1 March 1573 his coronation took place in Kumbhalgarh. Thus Pratap became the 54th ruler of Mewar. His younger brother Jagmal got angry with this to take revenge and left Mewar and went to Akbar and joined him.
After becoming their king, Mewar was going through a very difficult situation. Mughal emperor Akbar was an ambitious ruler, he wanted to increase his empire all over India. Many small states had come under him, now his eyes were on Mewar. It was natural to struggle between the expansion of Akbar's empire and the independence of Pratap. Another younger brother of Pratap Singh, Shakti Singh joined Akbar in his army. The Mughal army was full of power and resources, the Rajput army which was running under the leadership of Ma Singh had also joined Akbar. In such a situation, Pratap Singh did not give up courage, with his small army, he set up a front in Haldighati.
Battle of Haldighati :-
This war was fought on 18 June 1576. This was the main link in the history of India. There was a fierce battle between the Mughals and Mewar, it is said that this war also proved to be disastrous like the war of Mahabharata, there is no such holy and great sacrifice in the world. In this war, the Mughal army had to chew gram under the nose, a total of 20,000 Rajputana faced with Akbar's 80000 Mughal army, which was a big deal. Despite facing many difficulties, Pratap Singh did not give up and showed his might. The Mughals could not understand whether to maintain their balance or to use their sword because they had to retreat in the very first round.
Chetak horse :-
Along with the valor of Maharana Pratap, the valor of his horse Chetak is also world famous, it is given an example of devotion. When Rana was a teenager, once Rana Udai Singh called him to the palace and asked him to choose one of the two horses. His brother Shakti Singh also said that I also want a horse. One horse was white and the other horse was blue. Pratap liked the Neil Afghan horse, but he praised the white horse and moved towards it. Seeing him moving forward, his brother Shakti Singh quickly turns towards that white horse and starts riding on it, Udai Singh The white horse is given to Shakti Singh and the blue horse is given to Pratap, whose name was "Chetak".
Among the many heroic stories of Maharana Pratap, the name of Chetak is the highest. With the help of Chetak's agility and bravery, Pratap easily won many battles. Like his son, Pratap Singh loved Chetak. Maharana Pratap was badly injured in the battle of Haldighati, in which Chetak was also injured, his leg was badly hurt, during the war, the Mughal army was behind Pratap Singh, he was surrounded by deception, wounded and injured. Despite this, Chetak had a round about Pratap Singh and crossed the 26 feet long drain, which no cavalryman of the Mughal army could cross. Chetak Veergati was attained by taking his king to a safe place.
People in Rajasthan still respect him as much as they do Maharana Pratap. Pratap himself had performed the last rites of Chetak, even today his samadhi is in Haldighati.
Protection of Pratap by Shakti Singh:-
The Chetak Nala was crossed but its speed slowed down and the sound of Mughal horses could be heard from behind. At the same time, Pratap heard a voice in his native language - "Ho Neela Ghoda Ra Aswar". When Pratap looked back, it was his brother Shakti Singh. Personal conflict with Pratap made him a traitor to Akbar and he was on the side of the Mughals on the battlefield. When he saw the blue horse going towards the mountain without any servant, he followed it silently, to take the two Mughal men who were after Pratap to Yamlok. After killing him, both the brothers hugged for the first time in their lives. After leaving Pratap, Shakti Singh came back riding on the horse of Khurasani soldier. Salim got suspicious of Shakti Singh. Shakti Singh said to Salim- “Pratap not only killed both the soldiers but also snatched my horse, so I had to come riding on the horse of Khurasani soldier. Salim asked him - "If you tell the truth, I will forgive you, tell the truth" then Shakti Singh said - "The responsibility of the entire Mewar state is on my brother's shoulder, without helping him during this crisis. How can I live Salim heard this but he did nothing to Shakti Singh.
Maharana Pratap Singh's Pledge:-
Maharana Pratap had vowed that he would never allow the holy milk of the mother to be tarnished. He fulfilled this promise completely. Sometimes by raiding the plains and destroying the people's places, sometimes running from one mountain to another mountain and during this calamity, feed your family with mountain tuber roots and fruits. His motto behind all this was that the descendant of Bappa Rawal should bow down in front of any enemy, this cannot happen.
It is believed that neither Akbar could win nor Rana lost in the battle of Haldighati. The Mughals had more military power, but the Rana had no shortage of belligerent power.
Maharana Pratap's spear was 81 kg and his chest armor was 72 kg. His spear, armor and shield as well as two swords together weighed 208 kg.
Pratap's commander kept fighting for some time even after beheading. Pratap spent his days eating grass bread in the cave of Myra. Pratap's horse Chetak had put on an elephant mask so that the other army elephant remained confused. Pratap always kept a sword for an unarmed enemy. Akbar had said that if Maharana Pratap and Jaimal Mertiyan were with me, we would have become world champions. Even today, even after so many years of the battle of Haldighati, swords are found in the lands there. Even after trying for 30 years, Akbar could not make Pratap Singh his captive.
Maharana pratap Singh Death :-
This great warrior died on 29 January 1597. Bravery will be respected in this world till the days of victory, for that many days the valor and glory of Rana Pratap will remain in the world with an immovable spirit.