Maharana Pratap Birth Anniversary: Born on 9th May 1545, Maharana Pratap is celebrated as the first native freedom fighter of our nation. He is remembered for his defiance of Akbar and the bravery of his loyal horse named Chetak. Maharana Pratap fought against the Mughal Empire when others had accepted the supremacy of Akbar.
On the occasion of Maharana Pratap Jayanti, let us take a look at lesser-known facts about Maharana Pratap.
- Maharana Pratap was born on 9th May 1545 as Pratap Singh I to Uday Singh II, the founder of Udaipur city, and his first wife, Jaivantabai Songara.
- Maharana Pratap was 32-year-old when his father passed away. Uday Singh’s favorite wife Dheerbai Bhattiyani tried to make her son Jagmal ascend the throne, but royal courtiers opposed her and crowned Pratap as the successor of Uday Singh II.
- Akbar sent several diplomatic missions to convince Maharana Pratap to accept Mughal supremacy, but Pratap refused it. As a result, the Haldighati battle was fought on 18th June 1576 at Haldighati mountain pass, Aravalli Range, Rajasthan. Despite defeating Pratap, Akbar failed to kill or capture the latter or his family members
- Chetak was the loyal horse of Rana Pratap with whom he shared a very deep bond. During the Battle of Haldighati, Pratap, who was riding on Chetak, was attacking Mughal army leader Man Singh I of Amber, who was on an elephant. Chetak caused fatal injury to that elephant. Chetak galloped away from the battlefield to save the life of wounded Pratap. He crossed two miles and after jumping across a stream of approximately 22 feet wide, collapsed and died.
- Maharana Pratap recaptured many of the Mewar territories captured by the Mughal Empire but failed to win back the Chittor. Pratap’s son Amar Singh I accepted Mughal supremacy and was allowed to Chittor.
