In this article, essay on Maharana Pratap you will read birth, past life, story, Haldi ghati war, family, achievements, horse Chetak and death history. His name is also Maharana Pratap Singh.
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Essay on Maharana Pratap for Students and Children in 1200 Words
Maharana Pratap Singh was the king of the Shishodia dynasty in Udaipur, Mewar. Because of Pratap’s valor and determination, his name immortalize in the pages of history. He fought with the Mughal Emperor Akbar for many years and also defeated him in battle many times.
He was brave, fearless, self-respecting and loved freedom since childhood.Being a freedom lover, he rejected Akbar’s subjugation. Seeing this, Akbar sent his peace envoys to Maharana Pratap 4 times. The names of King Akbar’s peace envoys were Jalal Khan Korchi, Mansingh, Bhagwan Das and Todarmal.
Birth and Early Life of Maharana Pratap
The birth of Maharana Pratap was on 9 May 1540 AD in Kumbhalgarh, fort of Rajasthan. But we celebrate his birth anniversary on Jyeshtha Shukla Tritiya as per the Hindi date. His father was Maharana Uday Singh and mother Rani Jeevat Kanwar.
He was the grandson of Rana Sanga. In childhood, everyone used to call Maharana Pratap with the name ‘Kika’. Maharana Pratap’s birth anniversary is celebrated on the Shukla Paksha Tritiya of Jyestha month every year, according to the Vikram Samvat calendar.
Story of Maharana Pratap
Maharana Pratap was born on 9 May 1540 in Mewar, North-South India according to today’s calendar. According to Hindi Panchang, this day comes on the Teej of the first month of Shukla Paksha. Even today, Pratap’s birthday is celebrated in Rajasthan. Pratap was the son of Rana Udai Singh of Udaipur and Maharani Jayvanta Bai. The first queen of Maharana Pratap was named Ajabde Punwar. Amar Singh and Bhagwan Das had two sons. Amar Singh later took over the throne.
Apart from Maharani Jayawanta, Rana Udai Singh had other wives, in which Rani Dhir Bai was the beloved wife of Uday Singh. Rani Dheer Bai intended that her son Jagmal Rana should succeed Uday Singh. Apart from this, Rana Udai Singh also had two sons, Shakti Singh and Sagar Singh. They also had the intention of taking over the throne after Rana Udai Singh, but both Praja and Rana Ji considered Pratap as the successor. For this reason, these three brothers hated Pratap.
Taking advantage of this hatred, the Mughals spread their victory over Chittor. Apart from this, many Rajput kings also succumbed to the Mughal ruler Akbar and accepted the suzerainty. This led to the power of Rajputana been given to the Mughals. Here, Pratap fought steadily till his last breath. Still, Rana Udai Singh and Pratap subjugated the Mughals.
Rana Udai Singh and Pratap lost the fort of Chittor because of mutual differences between their feet and family, but for the betterment of their subjects, they both leave the fort. And protect the issues from outside. The entire family and the people go towards Udaipur, towards Aravali. With his hard work and dedication, Pratap makes Udaipur prosperous and protects the subjects. Rajputana was against Pratap:
Because of fear of Akbar or longing to be king, many Rajputs joined hands with Akbar himself. And similarly, Akbar wanted to subdue Rana Uday Singh. Akbar made Raja Man Singh the commander of the army under his flag, besides Todar Mal, Raja Bhagwan Das, all joined and waged war against Pratap and Rana Udai Singh in 1576.
Haldi-Ghati War (18 June 1576)
This was the biggest war in history, in which there was a fierce battle between the Mughals and the Rajputs, in which many Rajputs had left Pratap and accepted Akbar’s subjection.
In 1576, Raja Man Singh led 5000 soldiers on behalf of Akbar and played the bugle of war by deploying 3000 soldiers already at Haldighati. Afghan kings supported Pratap, in which Hakim Khan Sur supported Pratap till his last breath.
This war of Haldighati lasted for several days. The people of Mewar took shelter inside the fort. People and state people started living together. Because of the long war, there was a shortage of even food and water. Women reduced self-food for children and soldiers. Everyone supported Pratap with unity in this war.
Seeing his spirits, Akbar could not stop himself from praising Rajput’s spirits. But Pratap lost this battle because of lack of food. On the last day of the war, all the Rajput women devoted themselves to Agni by adopting the Zohar system. And others fought with the army and got Veergati. The most senior officers had already sent Pratap’s son away from Chittoor along with Rana Udai Singh, Maharani Dheer Bai Ji, and Jagmal.
The day before the war, he secretly drove Pratap and Ajbade out of the fort by giving them drugs of sleep. His thinking behind this was that Pratap’s life is necessary for ultimate protection to put Rajputana back. When Mugula took over the fort, he could not find Pratap anywhere, and Akbar’s dream of catching Pratap could not be fulfilled. After working hard for several days in the forest after the war, Pratap settled an unknown city named Chawand. Akbar tried a lot, but he could not subdue Pratap.
Family of Marana Pratap
He had done 11 marriages during his lifetime. The names of all the 11 wives of Maharana Pratap were – Maharani Azbade Punwar, Amarbai Rathore, Ratnawatibai Parmar, Jasobai Chauhan, Phool Bai Rathore, Shahmatibai Hada, Champabai Jhati, Khichar Asha Bai, Alamdebai Chauhan, Lakhabai, Solankhinipur Bai.
From all these queens Maharana Pratap had 17 sons, named Amar Singh, Bhagwan Das, Sheikh Singh, Kunwar Durjan Singh, Kunwar Ram Singh, Kunwar Raibhana Singh, Chanda Singh, Kunwar Hathi Singh, Kunwar Natha Singh, Kunwar Garbage Singh , Kunwar Kalyan Das, Sahas Mall, Kunwar Jaswant Singh, Kunwar Puran Mall, Kunwar Gopal, Kunwar Sanwal Das Singh, Kunwar Mal Singh.
Achievement
Rana Pratap changed his war policy according to time and circumstances and caused heavy losses to the Mughal army by stopping the traffic of the enemy army and adopting the strategy of guerrilla warfare. It led to the dislocation of the Mughal military. Gradually, Rana Pratap liberated the entire state of Mewar from the Mughal authority except for Chittor, Ajmer, and Mandalgarh.
Rana Pratap fought with the Mughals for over 20 years. During this period he faced difficulties and odd situations. All the forts were out of his hands. He had to wander from one hill to another with his family. Frequently, his family had to calm hunger with wild fruits. Rana Pratap’s firm resolve remained unwavering and unbeatable like the Himalayas.
Horse:
Chetak’s might. The name of Maharana Pratap’s most loved horse was ‘Chetak’. Chetak was a very sensible and quick-witted horse. He had saved Maharana Pratap’s life frequently. During the Haldi valley war, Pratap was riding on his mighty Chetak and going towards the mountain when two Mughal soldiers were behind him. Chetak caught pace, but a mountain stream was flowing on the way.
In the battle, Chetak was hurriedly skipped, but the Mughals could not cross it. The Chetak drain was overrun, but now its speed gradually decreased, and from the back, they heard the hearths of Mughal horses. Pratap looked back and saw only one cavalryman, and that was his brother Shakti Singh.
Personal opposition with Pratap made him a traitor to Akbar, and he was fighting from the Mughal side on the battlefield. When he saw the blue horse going towards the mountain with no servant, Shakti Singh too followed him silently. But Shakti Singh killed both the Mughals.
For the first time in life, they hugged both brothers with love. Meanwhile, Chetak fell to the ground, and when Pratap was opening his saddle and placing it on the horse presented by his brother, Chetak gave up his life. Later a platform was created at that place, which shows the place of his death.
Death
Maharana Pratap is injured because of a wild accident. On 29 January 1597, Pratap gave up his life. By this time, he was only 57 years old. Even today, people celebrate the festival in his memory in Rajasthan.
People offer reverence at his tomb. Pratap’s bravery also impressed Akbar. Akbar looked at Pratap and his subjects with respect. Finally, during the battle of Haldighati, those who received Veergati in their army were given a last farewell with reverence to the Hindu custom.
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