Maharana Pratap Singh, the greatest ever ruler of mewar was born on may09 1540 and jan 29 1597.he belonged to the sisodia clan of suryavanshi rajputs.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.
Prior to this calamity, Udai Singh and his family had wisely moved to the safety of the nearby hills. He later moved base to another location in the foothills of the Aravalli Range. This new base gradually became the city of Udaipur, named after him. Rana Udai Singh wanted Jagmal, his favourite son, to succeed him but his senior nobles wanted Pratap, the eldest son, to be their king as was customary. During the coronation ceremony Jagmal was physically moved out of the palace by the Chundawat Chief and Tomar Ramshah and Pratap was made the King, the Rana of Mewar. 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.
Maharana Pratap lived till 29jan1597 and he never accepted Akbar as ruler of India till than, and fought Akbar all his life. Akbar first tried diplomacy to win over Maharana Pratap but nothing worked. Pratap maintained that he had no intention to fight with Akbar but he could not bow down to Akbar and accept him as his suzerain. Some scholars argue that there was some possibility that Maharana could have become friends with Akbar, but in the siege of Chittor Akbar had killed 27,000 civilians. This left a lasting impression on Maharana's mind and he decided he could not bow to such injustice and cruelty.
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 (4:1). 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 lance; Man Singh ducked, and the mahout was killed.
However, the numerical superiority of the Mughal army and their artillery began to tell. Seeing that the battle was lost, Pratap's generals prevailed upon him to flee the field so as to be able to fight another day. 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 made good his escape to the hills.
But Chetak was critically wounded on his left thigh by a Mardana Elephant Trunk Sword while Pratap had attempted to nail down Man Singh. Chetak was bleeding heavily and he collapsed after jumping over a small brook few kilometres away from the battle field. When Pratap’s general donned Pratap’s clothing and armour, it went unnoticed, thanks to the chaos of the war, but for two knights from the Mughal army. They could not communicate it with others in their group, due to the linguistic barrier the appropriate language would have been Persian, Marwari or Arabi, given the composition of the Mughal army. They immediately followed Pratap without wasting time. The moment they started chasing him, 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. Pratap's general's sacrifice had already been discovered by him. He could not help but react against a threat to his own brother. He followed the Turks, engaged them in single combat and killed them. In the meanwhile, Chetak collapsed and Pratap saw his brother Shakti Singh killing the two Mughal riders. Saddened by the loss of his beloved general and horse, he embraced his brother and broke into tears. Shakti Singh also cried and asked for his brother's pardon, for having fought as his enemy. Pratap pardoned him later on he was given a huge estate near Chittor. Shaktisingh then offered him his own horse and requested him to get to a safe place. This incident is famous in Rajasthani folklore, a song “O Neele Ghode re Aswar” (O Rider of the Blue Horse) mentions it.
The impact of the battle on the Mughal army was also significant. In terms of numbers the Mughal army suffered heavier losses. This was also because of the intensive arrow showers by the Bhil tribes of the surrounding mountains who had sided with Pratap. To honour their contribution, a Bhil warrior was placed next to Pratap in the Royal Coat of Arms of Mewar.
The battle of Haldighat is considered to be the first Major breakthrough of Rajputs against the Mughals since the Second Battle of Khanwa in 1527, which was fought between Rana Sanga grandfather of Maharana Pratap, and the Mughal Babur grandfather of Akbar. It is regarded with a degree of significance by many Rajput families.
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ReplyDeleteHistory is always skewed as it is written by the victors according tho their wish. The losers may have fought well and for the right cause, but unfortunately they become the villains. Interesting thing happening in Mewad dynasty at present is that the younger son is almost portrayed as the Maharana , according to customs he is not yet he is already creating history. Perhaps because the rightful Maharana is a loser.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to note, down the line, who remains in the domain of historians!