“Vishal, is in the critical care unit… and he is almost dead,” Kiran’s inconsolable sobs choked..
Valour personified : Mewar's Lion Maharana Pratap

Introduction : Maharana Pratap Singh, is a name
worth remembering to begin one’s day with. His name is engraved
with gold among the list of valiant kings who protected the Nation,
Dharma, Culture and Freedom of this country by sacrificing his life
! This is a holy remembrance of his valour!
Who does not know the name of the great king of Mewar, Maharana
Pratap Singh? In the history of India, this name has always proved
to be motivating for qualities like valour, bravery, sacrifice and
martyrdom. Many brave warriors like Bappa Rawal, Rana Hamir, Rana
Sang were born unto the Sisodiya family of Mewar and were given the
title of ‘Rana’ but the title of ‘Maharana’ was only bestowed on
Pratap Singh.
Childhood : Maharana Pratap was born in 1540. Rana
Uday Singh, the Second, of Mewar had 33 children. Among them, the
eldest was Pratap Singh. Self-respect and virtuous behaviour were
the main qualities of Pratap Singh. He was bold and brave right
from his childhood and everyone was sure that he was going to be a
very valiant person as he grew up. He was more interested in sports
and learning to wield weapons rather than general education.
Coronation : During Maharana Pratap Singh’s time,
Akbar was the Mughal Ruler in Delhi. His policy was to make use of
the strength of Hindu kings to bring other Hindu Kings under his
control. Many Rajput kings, abandoning their glorious traditions
and fighting spirit, sent their daughters and daughters-in-law to
the harem of Akbar with the purpose of gaining rewards and honour
from Akbar. Uday Singh appointed before his death, Jagammal, the
son of his youngest wife as his heir although Pratap Singh was
elder to Jagammal but he was ready to give up his rights like
Prabhu Ramchandra and go away from Mewar but the chieftains did not
at all agree with their king’s decision. Besides they were of the
opinion that Jagammal did not possess qualities like courage and
self-respect which were essential in a leader and king. Hence it
was collectively decided that Jagammal would have to sacrifice the
throne. Maharana Pratap Singh too gave due respect to the wish of
the chieftains and the people and accepted the responsibility of
leading the people of Mewar.
Unbreakable Oath to free the ‘Motherland’ : The
enemy had surrounded Mewar at all its’ boundaries. Shakti Singh and
Jagammal, the two brothers of Maharana Pratap had joined Akbar. The
first problem was to gather enough soldiers to fight a face-to-face
war which would have required vast money but Maharana Pratap’s
coffers were empty whereas Akbar had a large army, a lot of wealth
and a lot more at his disposal. Maharana Pratap, however, did not
get distracted or lose heart nor did he ever say that he was weak
as compared to Akbar. His only concern was to immediately free his
motherland from the clutches of the Mughals. One day, he called a
meeting of his trusted chieftains and made an appeal to them in his
serious and lustrous speech. He said, “My brave warrior brothers,
our Motherland, this holy land of Mewar, is still under the
clutches of the Mughals. Today, I take an oath in front of all of
you that till Chittod is freed, I will not have food in gold and
silver plates, will not sleep on a soft bed and will not stay in
the palace; instead I will eat food on a leaf-platter, sleep on the
floor and stay in a hut. I will also not shave till Chittod is
freed. My brave warriors, I am sure that you will support me in
every way sacrificing your mind, body and wealth till this oath is
fulfilled.” All the chieftains were inspired with the oath of their
king and they too promised him that till their last drop of blood,
they would help Rana Pratap Singh to free Chittod and join him in
fighting the Mughals; they would not retreat from their goal. They
assured him, “Rana, be sure that we all are with you; waiting only
for your signal and we are ready to sacrifice our life.”
Battle of Haldighat : Akbar tried his best to
bring Rana Pratap under his clutches; but all in vain. Akbar got
angry as no compromise could be arrived at with Rana Pratap and he
declared a war. Rana Pratap also started preparations. He shifted
his capital to Kumbhalgad in the Aravalli range of mountains which
was difficult to access. He recruited tribal people and people
dwelling in forests in his army. These people had no experience of
fighting any war; but he trained them. He appealed to all Rajput
chieftains to come under one flag for Mewar’s independence.
Rana Pratap’s army of 22,000 soldiers met
2,00,000 soldiers of Akbar at Haldighat. Rana Pratap and his
soldiers exhibited great valour in this battle although he had to
retreat but Akbar’s army was not successful in completely defeating
Rana Pratap.
Along with Rana Pratap, his faithful horse named ‘Chetak’ also
became immortal in this battle. ‘Chetak’ was seriously injured in
the battle of Haldighat but to save his master’s life, it jumped
over a big canal. As soon as the canal was crossed, ‘Chetak’ fell
down and died thus it saved Rana Pratap, risking its own life. The
strong Maharana cried like a child over the death of his faithful
horse. Later he constructed a beautiful garden at the place where
Chetak had breathed its last. Then Akbar himself attacked Rana
Pratap but even after 6 months of fighting the battle, Akbar could
not defeat Rana Pratap and went back to Delhi. As a last resort,
Akbar sent another great warrior General Jagannath in the year 1584
with a huge army to Mewar but after trying relentlessly for 2
years, even he could not catch Rana Pratap.
Severe destiny : Wandering in the jungles and
valleys of the mountains, Maharana Pratap used to take even his
family with him. There always used to be the danger of the enemy
attacking at anytime from anywhere. Getting proper food to eat was
an ordeal in the forests. Many times, they had to go without food;
they had to wander from one place to another without food and sleep
in the mountains and forests. They had to leave the food and
immediately proceed to another place on receiving information about
the enemy’s arrival. They were constantly trapped in some
catastrophe or the other. Once the Maharani was roasting ‘bhakris
(Indian bread)’ in the forest; after eating their share, she asked
her daughter to keep the left over ‘bhakri’ for dinner but at that
time, a wild cat attacked and took away the piece of ‘bhakri’ from
her hand leaving the princess crying helplessly. That piece of
‘bhakri’ was also not in her destiny. Rana Pratap felt sorry to see
the daughter in such state; he got angry with his valour, bravery
and self-respect and started thinking whether all his fighting and
bravery was worth it. In such a wavering state of mind, he agreed
to call a truce with Akbar. A poet named Pruthviraj from Akbar’s
court, who was an admirer of Maharana Pratap, wrote a long letter
in the form of a poem to him in Rajasthani language boosting his
morale and dissuading him from calling a truce with Akbar. With
that letter, Rana Pratap felt as if he had acquired the strength of
10,000 soldiers. His mind became calm and stable. He gave up the
thought of surrendering to Akbar, on the contrary, he started
strengthening his army with more intensity and once again immersed
himself in accomplishing his goal.
Devotion of Bhamashah : There was a Rajput
chieftain serving as a minister in the regime of forefathers of
Maharana Pratap. He was very much disturbed with the thought that
his king had to wander in forests and was going through such
hardships. He felt sorry to know about the difficult times Rana
Pratap was going through. He offered a lot of wealth to Maharana
Pratap that would allow him to maintain 25,000 soldiers for 12
years. Rana Pratap was very happy and felt very grateful.
Initially, he refused to accept the wealth offered by Bhamashah but
at his constant insistence, he accepted the offering. After
receiving wealth from Bhamashah, Rana Pratap started receiving
money from other sources. He used all the money to expand his army
and freed Mewar except Chittod which was still under the control of
the Mughals.
Last wish : Maharana Pratap was lying on the bed
made of grass even when he was dying as his oath of freeing Chittod
was not still fulfilled. At the last moment, he took his son Amar
Singh’s hand and handed over the responsibility of freeing Chittod
to his son and died in peace. There is no comparison in history to
his fight with a cruel emperor like Akbar. When almost the whole of
Rajasthan was under the control of the Mughal Emperor Akbar,
Maharana Pratap fought for 12 years to save Mewar. Akbar tried
various means to defeat Maharana but he remained unbeatable till
the end. Besides, he also freed a large portion of land in
Rajasthan from the Mughals. He underwent so much of hardship but he
preserved the name of his family and his Motherland from facing
defeat. His life was so bright that the other name for freedom
could have been ‘Maharana Pratap’. We pay tribute in his
valiant memory!
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