Maharana Pratap was 16th century King who ruled Mewar, a state in north-western India. He was born on 9th May 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan. His father was Maharana Udai Singh II and mother was Rani Jeevant Kanwa.
He was the eldest among 25 brothers and 20 sisters and was the 54th ruler of Mewar. He belonged to the Sisodiya Rajput clean.Maharana Pratap fought the famous Battle of Haldighati with MughalEmperor Akbar. His birth anniversary (Maharana Pratap Jayanti) is celebrated as full fledged festival every year on 3rd day of Jyestha Shukla phase. The date of Pratap Jayanti in 2012 may 24.
Maharana faced many struggles in his career. He kept on fighting with Akbar all his life. Akbar tried several ways to win over Maharana Pratap but he was always a failure.
Maharana could not forget when Akbar killed 30,000 unarmed residents of Chittor only because they refused to convert to Islam. This made Maharana revolt against Akbar and he followed strict codes of Kshatriyas to fight with Akbar.
The battle of Haldighat was fought on 21 June, 1576. The Maharana had originally taken his position in the ghati which could be reached by a narrow and rugged path about a mile and a half long. Man Singh waited for him in the plain below, and in the morning of 21 June the Maharana came out and attacked the Mughal army.
As Man Singh had arranged his army in battle array, it is evident that the Maharana’s attack had lost the element of surprise. Still, in the first flush of attack, his army practically broke though the Mughal army, but the rout was stopped by Man Singh and a few intrepid officers.
There was a personal encounter between the Maharana and Man Singh. But while Man Singh, on an elephant, ducked and avoided the Maharana’s javelin, Pratap’s famous horse, Chetak, which had placed its forelegs on Man Singh’s elephant, was struck by the sword which the huge beast carried in its trunk. Chetak immediately turned and fled, and with his last breath carried his master out of danger.
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