There were others around him who agreed for far less but not Pratap. The conciliatory offers he received from Akbar were lucrative and beyond precendent, in terms of jagirs and subedaris, but within the Mughal suzerainty. He remained true lifelong to his vow of not indulging in the comforts of palace life till he had recaptured his entire kingdom from the Mughals. In perspective, Maharana Pratap’s was a sacred mission rather than a wager for power. Pratap’s resistance did not falter upon his army’s defeat in the Battle of Haldighati when, on the run, he had to wander in the hilly woods of Aravalis and his family was reduced to starvation. His own father, Udai Singh, had condemned the house of Man Singh for their marriage with unclean foreigners and Pratap Singh continued to address Akbar as ‘Turk’ and not an emperor. Maharana Pratap perceived Mughals as foreigners who had invaded India and, though smaller in resource, he refused to surrender to guile, entreaty or threat even in his defeat. His was a Hindu nationalist’s crusade against relentless Muslim aggression, much in the mould of Prithviraj Chauhan, brothers Harihar and Bukka, and later of Guru Gobind Singh, Chhatrapati Shivaji and Chhatrasal Bundela’s against powerful armies of the same religious, cultural and administrative enemy. The battles he fought against the might of Mughal emperor, Akbar, through victory and defeat, are the stuff of inspiring legend ever since they happened some 500 years ago.īorn May 9, 1540, patriotic Pratap exemplifies bravery, chivalry and sacrifice through the struggle between the Rajput confederacy he led and the invading alien hordes. He was a braveheart who never gave up fighting for his freedom and independence of the State of Mewar.
Statue of Maharana Pratap of Mewar, commemorating the Battle of Haldighati, City Palace, Udaipur.
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