Why is Maharana Pratap “GREAT”?

Maharana Pratap was a king of a small kingdom of Mewar region in present day Southern Rajasthan. When attacked by forces of Mughal emperor Akbar, Maharana was able to muster just 15 to 20 thousand soldier (a rough estimate) along with his allies. He had to make strategic retreat from Battle of Haldighati after 4 hours long fighting. He spent his rest of life by creating a new army and harassing Mughals in the deep jungals of Mewar. So how can such king who almost lost (but later regained most of it) his kingdom to superior forces and lived in jungles become so well known in Indian history?

When I was growing up in 90s, I heard about only two native Indian warriors – Maharana Pratap & Chhatrapati Shivaji. But why these two name came when we had so many great freedom fighters or warriors. These two names are above all other names because they fought for their freedom. They faced extreme difficulties in life but still they continued fighting for freedom. The Battle of Haldighati was not very significant by military standard but it was one the most significant battle of whole Indian history. Here was a small kingdom which faced the full might of Mughal Empire (one of the strongest Empire in whole world by economic & military strength in its prime) but continued to resists. Rajput Kingdoms has started to submit to Akbar after 2^nd battle of Panipat. Even matrimonial alliance was established between Rajput kingdoms and Mughals. Thus kingdoms of Rajputana were able to preserve their state and Mughals got Rajput allies. Later Rajput contingents became backbone of many Mughal arimes and Rajputana generals served at very high posts in Mughal Empire. Almost all states of Rajputana accepted Mughal sovereignty expect one kingdom of Mewar. After negotiations failed, a large Mughal Army under Rajput king Man Singh marched towards Mewar and was confronted by Maharana in the plain of Haldighati. Maharana retreated from the battle and continued fight against Mughals and later personally Akbar came to crush the Maharana Pratap in Mewar but he was not able to fully capture Mewar. Maharana continued to ambush Mughal using guerilla warfare throughout his life. Later Maharana Pratap’s son Amar Singh made a peace treaty with Mughal emperor Jahangir in which several concessions were given to Mewar.

The reason we Indians idealize Maharana is that he never accepted the Mughal lordship. He could have become a Mughal vassal king and would have lived a luxurious king’s life. But he chose to fight a very superior enemy just for sake of freedom. He & his family used to eat bread made out of grass but never accepted Mughal lordship. He was the lone king in Rajputana who resisted Mughal authority with so much determination. He showed us the way how to value freedom. I don’t have any issue with Akbar being called great. After all Akbar had done many great work for India. But we can call Maharana Pratap also great. There have been many instances when both the adversaries have been hailed as great leaders like Aaladin & Richard the Lionheart. We must remember that there was a Muslim contingent also with Maharan’s army also. Maharan Pratap doesn’t belong to a single caste or religion, instead he belong to whole of India. Two leader’s fought in Battle of Haldighati – Maan Singh & Maharana Pratap. Maan Singh went on to become a famous Mughal general and Maharana went on to live in jungles during exile. But Maharana is synonymous with courage, freedom, determination, bravery etc. and Maan Singh is synonymous with betrayals. And India can live with two great leaders Akbar & Maharana Pratap. It is time to correct the history.