Author: Vaandu Mama
Translator: Derpitron
The date May 9, 1540 is an important date in the history of India. It was the day on which a great king of this nation was born. He was born to protect the honour of his kingdom Mewar and to cherish the valour of its capital Chithore. That king’s name is Maharana Pratap.
His grandfather Sangram Singh also known as Rana Sanga was a great ruler who ruled Mewar very efficiently. But his son Uday Singh was totally opposite to this. He was a cowardly and lazy ruler who was interested only in merrymaking. He neglected the duties of a king but only enjoyed the privileges. Due to this, Mewar lost its glory and even lost some of its territorial lands to the Mughals. Uday Singh had several children through many of his wives. Among them, Pratap Singh, Sakthi Singh and Jagmal were important ones. When it came to talent and bravery Pratap was excellent. Sakthi was a brave warrior. Jagmal was relatively less talented in comparison to others. However, since Jagmal was the son of Uday Singh’s favourite wife, he got the chance to the throne even though Pratap was better.
Pratap was a brave and valorous person yet he was also very affectionate to his siblings. There’s one incident in his life which shows this. When Sakthi was a small boy, then king of Mewar Uday Singh had made an arrangement to test a sword. A rope was tied from two ends and it was to be cut by the sword to check if the sword is sharp and efficient. However, the young boy Sakthi took the sword and cut his little finger and said that the sword is indeed sharp and added that this is how a sword has to be tested. But the king Uday Singh instead of admiring his son’s courage, got angry at his son for disrespecting him. He immediately ordered Sakthi to be killed. But the king of Chalumpara province was also present there. Since he was childless, he interfered and requested Uday Singh to exile Sakthi Singh. He said that he would take Sakthi Singh with him to Chalumpara. Uday Singh agreed and Sakthi Singh was taken away. But Pratap who had been seeing all of this, couldn’t help but feel sorry for Sakthi. However he had Sakthi in his mind. In due course of time, Pratap became the ruler of Mewar and in the meantime Chalumpara king also had a son of his own. So he felt Sakthi Singh to be an unnecessary competitor for the throne. So Maharana Pratap asked the Chalumpara king to send back his brother Sakthi Singh. Pratap’s affection towards his brother was so deep.
But it’s also sad that the same Pratap would later also depose this very brother and exile him. Once Pratap and Sakthi went hunting. They both shot their arrows at a pig. Pratap’s arrow struck the pig first but Sakthis ‘ arrow only killed it. So they argued about to whom that pig belonged. Soon there was an intense debate between them. However one of Pratap’s teachers who was also present in the scene, tried to pacify Pratap and make him understand that they shouldn’t fight over such a trivial matter. However Pratap and Sakthi were unstoppable. Their argument intensified and they took out their swords and started fighting each other. In order to stop them, that teacher finally got in the way of Sakthi Singh’s sword and thereby lost his life. Pratap being angered by this, immediately exiled Sakthi and said that he’s excusing Sakthi Singh and thus sparing his life but stated that he should be out of his sight. Sakthi Singh also replied that he’ll remember these bitter words and duly return the favour. After saying this, Sakthi left the place and went and joined with Mughal king Akbar.
Pratap was a great king and this was evident from his early days itself. He declared that he would renounce palatial life and would live his life in the forests until he reclaimed Chithore from the Mughals. The mountains became his castle, caves became his royal chamber, rocks were his pillows, leaves were his dining plates, sky was his roof. Like this, he lived resolutely to get back Chithore from the clutches of the enemies. The ancient region of modern day Rajasthan was ruled by the Rajput kings. They were known for their uncompromising valour. But during Pratap’s time, many rajputs had sided with the Mughals, some of them even made marital alliances, some of them remained loyal vassal states. All of this to save their lives. But Pratap Singh did not like this mentality. Till the end, he loathed the idea of being subdued by a foreign Mughal ruler. As a result he also hated his own kinsmen, those rajputs, who were loyal to the Mughals. He didn’t even want to meet or talk with such people.
There’s an incident which also proves that Pratap was so contemptuous of those rajputs who sided with the Mughals. Once there was a war won by Mughals at Solapur. It was won under the commander Man Singh who was a rajput loyal to the Mughals. Being intoxicated by his association with the Mughals, he came to Pratap and talked about the benefits of being in the good books of Mughals. He also said that Mughals were becoming tolerant. They agreed to marriage according to Hindu customs, they abolished Jizya (a tax imposed on non-Islamic communities) and were also contemplating a ban on cow slaughter. But Pratap was not someone who would be delighted about this. But since he can’t treat his guest in a rude manner, he welcomed Man Singh for lunch and left. Later at the lunch session, Man Singh was received by Pratap’s son Amar Singh. But Man Singh enquired about Pratap. Amar informed that Pratap was ill and had a headache. Man Singh understood Pratap’s intention and sarcastically asked what was the reason for this sudden headache. This was communicated to Pratap through messengers. To that, Pratap had replied that he had no business with those who admired Mughals and also added that he hated to even see such people. Man Singh was infuriated by this. He said that Pratap has made a blunder by insulting him and the Mughals on behalf of whom he came there. So he threatened that Pratap would face the consequences and left the place.
The Mughals planned an attack on Mewar. They had a very large army when compared to what Mewar had. However, Pratap was devising a strategy for fighting the Mughals. He asked everyone to evacuate the low-lying plains and hide in the midst of hills and valleys. When the Mughals arrived in their plains, they would be confused on seeing no one. At that time, the soldiers should make a surprise attack. Accordingly the Mughals also came with a huge army under the leadership of Prince Salim. Upon arriving at the plains, they were also perplexed and scared about the situation. Pratap was waiting for the entire Mughal army to enter the plains of Mewar. Once they entered, the soldiers would roll down boulders and launch spears, arrows and javelins into the plains. These plains were eighty miles wide and that was the only way into Mewar. So the entire Mughal army would’ve been decimated. But Man Singh, who knew the terrain of Mewar, played spoilsport. He hurried towards the plains from his city of Jaipur in order to alert the Mughals.
When Pratap saw Man Singh he was very furious about how a native man is cheap enough to side with an invader like the Mughals in order to hunt down his own kinsmen. With all this rage, Pratap ordered a full scale attack on the Mughals. It didn’t get along as planned but still the soldiers of Mewar fought very valiantly. Pratap moved swiftly on his horse Chetak and attacked the soldiers surrounding the Mughal prince. He killed all the soldiers around. The prince was seated on an elephant and Pratap even hurled a javelin at him. The javelin missed Salim by just a few inches and that’s how that prince survived on to become the next Mughal king Jehangir. The ferocious battle pursued but since Mewar soldiers were outnumbered, it was an unfavourable position for them. Meanwhile, the Mewar king had a flag and umbrella next to him. So it was easy to spot him on the battlefield. This was both an advantage and a disadvantage. And it was a disadvantage since Mewar soldiers were outnumbered and the flag gave away Pratap’s location evidently to the enemies. So a commander named Manav Singh went near Pratap and asked his servants to hold the flag and umbrella for him. Pratap understood the cue and tried to move away. The Mughals were thinking Manav Singh to be the king of Mewar and pursued him vigorously. Meanwhile, though Pratap didn’t like the idea of giving up, he retreated since he didn’t want to lose the remaining army. So he informed his army to back out and started to leave the battlefield. During this time, Manav was bravely fighting the Mughals relentlessly and at one point he got killed. That’s when the Mughals were celebrating that they had killed the king of Mewar. Pratap realised what had happened and shed some tears as he pulled off his horse to make an escape. However, Salim spotted Pratap riding away and he sought Man Singh’s help to confirm if that was indeed Pratap. When Man Singh also confirmed it, Salim ordered four of his horsemen to follow Pratap. As Pratap escaped, he was being tailed by the Mughal horsemen and they were getting closer. Pratap was already severely injured and was at the end of his energy level and so was his horse Chetak. However Chetak put in all of his energy and ran at his best. Upon reaching the village Balicha in the region of Haldi gadi, there was a stream in between. Since wading through the stream would slowen them down drastically, Pratap thought of jumping it over with his horse. So he signalled his horse to alight a nearby mound and jump off towards the opposite bank. Chetak took one last breath, made a jump and successfully landed on the other bank but sadly, he died due to the impact. Pratap was very sorrowful about Chetak’s loss. He embraced him one last time and started to move away when he heard a voice. It was his long lost brother Sakthi Singh. He offered his horse and let Pratap escape. Sakthi Singh tailed those four horsemen as though assisting them. Prince Salim also thought Sakthi was trying to exact his revenge against his brother. However Sakthi Singh was moved by the bravery Pratap had displayed on the field and moreover Pratap was his brother. So he decided to help him. He killed those three horsemen and gave his horse to his brother and returned to the Mughals. When Salim enquired about what has happened he said that he helped his brave brother. Saying thus, Sakthi Singh escaped from the place with his men into the jungle.
Later Sakthi Singh fought the Mughals and reclaimed a city named Vainasam from them and offered it to Pratap. This made Pratap happy and proud of his brother. But he offered Vainasam to Sakthi Singh itself. However then onwards Pratap and Sakthi joined together in combating the Mughals. The battle at Haldi gadi had been nearing its end. There was a constant threat from the Mughals and due to their persistent attacks, some Mewar soldiers would get killed and thus their strength dwindled.
Pratap fought his war from the forts of Kumbamedu. The Mughals besieged the fort and tried to attack it in vain. But later they came up with a plan to force the inhabitants out of the fort. They poisoned the water sources and bombarded the walls of the fort with cannons. Thus Pratap and his people made a secret escape and hid in the jungles to evade the Mughals. It was such a tough situation full of uncertainties. For instance, they would settle down to have a meal and suddenly they would sense enemies and have to leave the place. They would go elsewhere and would be about to start eating their food and enemies would close on. So they’ll leave from there too. Like this, there were times when they would not have food for several days together.
Meanwhile Man Singh along with the Mughals, started conquering all the cities of Mewar. But Pratap and his men stayed in jungles and kept fighting. This stalemate extended to around 27 years. It had become a casual habit for these people to live in the jungle. Everyone including Pratap’s wife and children had faced this hard situation. Pratap’s wife Prabhamayi would generally prepare rice rotis for their meal. They would eat one roti for the day and save up one for the night. One day, Pratap’s three year old daughter came to Pratap as she cried. She had complained that the roti saved up for eating later was snatched away by a jungle cat. She was sad that she felt hungry but had nothing to eat. Upon hearing these words of her daughter, Pratap became disheartened.
At that time, he felt tormented that there were several fathers like this in his kingdom who had spent years together in this futile war. Pratap felt shaken by the kind of life they had lived in till then. So he sent a letter to Akbar stating that he can sustain his entire life in the jungle but he can no longer bear the sufferings of his people. Akbar felt elated upon receiving this letter. He was relieved that this stalemate of several years had come to an ultimate end. However, at that time, there was a Hindu courtesan poet named Prithvirai at Akbar’s court. He was a staunch Hindu who had helplessly been serving the Mughals. He had high reverence for Pratap and his ideals. He didn’t want such a valourous king to surrender to the Mughals. So he intercepted and declared that he knew Pratap’s handwriting and that the etter wasn’t from Pratap. He claimed that this was a forged letter sent by someone else in order to confuse the Mughals. Upon hearing this, Akbar’s delight came to an end.
Later Prithvirai secretly sent a letter to Pratap prasied Pratap that he is the only protector of Hindus in the nation at that time. Even when all other Rajputs were siding with the Mughals, Pratap had been steadfast. The Mughals tried to buy the kings with their power and money. But neither of them worked with Pratap. Having praised thus, Prithvi asked as to why Pratap had changed his mind suddenly. Finally he requested that whatever be the reason, Pratap shouldn’t surrender to the Mughals. When Pratap read Prithivi’s letter his courage and valour started to surge again and he became confident of fighting the Mughals. So he wrote a reply to Prithvi that his detailed reply to Prithvi’s words would come through his sword and not his pen.
Pratap then started to gather his people and train them for the battle with the help of his new-found energy and spirit. He also included several forest tribe members in his army against the Mughals. His minister Bamashah and brother Sakthi Singh offered help in the form of wealth. Even some of his Rajput relatives who were earlier indifferent, now started to help Pratap through wealth and weapons. On the other hand, Mughal forces were lax that Pratap had become powerless. So Pratap was able to launch several successful attacks and he started to retrieve several cities that belonged to his kingdom. Even Akbar was surprised by his valour and power and at one point decided not to get involved with Pratap. Meanwhile Pratap recalled all the cheap actions of Man Singh. So he invaded his kingdom Jaipur and exacted his revenge.
Even in war, Maharana Pratap was a man of principles. Once his son Amar Singh besieged a camp of the Mughal army which was led by Rahim Khan khana. The Mughals had been in a drunken state. Amar Singh fought and killed all of them. Later he captured Rahim’s wife Zinad. When Pratap saw this, he got infuriated with his son. He asked as to why he did such a grave, sinful act of capturing a woman. Only then Amar repented and said that he did like that because several of their women were captured like that by the Mughals. Later Zinad was respectfully sent back to Rahim as per Pratap’s order.
Slowly and steadily, Pratap had reclaimed all of his kingdom from the Mughals. He had around 32 forts in his control at that time. It’s just the Chithore fort alone that remains. So Pratap was planning to get it back in a year’s time. Though he had everything planned well, Pratap fell severely ill. The impact of the past thirty year struggle took a serious toll on his health. The doctors had declared that there’s nothing that they could do then onwards. So Pratap was in the brink of his end.
While in his death bed Pratap’s face seemed like he was being troubled by some thought. One of his commanders noticed this and said that they have almost accomplished their dream of reclaiming Mewar. He also added that Chithore was pending and assured that they would capture that too. To these words, Pratap replied feebly that he was concerned whether his successors would be steadfast like him. In this regard, he narrated an incident from his son Amar Singh’s childhood. While they stayed in the forests, once a piece of straw fell from the hut onto Amar’s head. So he mumbled as to why he had to live in such a place. This left a lasting impact on Maharana Pratap. He felt concerned that his son would get accustomed to royal pleasures rather than safeguarding the kingdom. Once the commanders heard this reply of Pratap, they assured that they wouldn’t let Amar deviateAmar to deviate from the welfare of the kingdom and would constantly engage him towards fighting for sovereignty of Mewar kingdom. So they requested Pratap to stay at peace. Thus, it’s clear that Maharana Pratap is a brave son of this country who thought about the nation’s welfare even in the brink of his death.