India always be the centre of power in the world. About 200 years ago today, India used to be the richest country in the world. That’s why it was called the golden bird that’s the reason India faced many external attacks. Many invaders attacked India, some of which went away by looting but some remained here. Who not only looted India but also made all efforts to destroy India’s culture and tradition. Due to which many big battles were fought in India. One of those big battles was the Battle of Haldighati. Today 446 years of Haldighati war have been completed. The Battle of Haldighati was not an ordinary battle, this battle was fought between a very large army and a small army for self-respect. So let’s read in this blog today about the fight that shook the throne of Delhi.
Whenever we talk about the Battle of Haldighati, the image of yellow soil, horses, elephants and swords colliding with each other comes to our mind. The image of a fight comes to our mind which lasted only 4-5 hours. But that’s not true. This battle is too big from our thinking. This battle was so big that even after many years of the battle, swords, skeletons and other fighting materials continue to be received from Haldighati till today. This battle was the battle of Self – respect fought between Maharana Pratap & Raja Maan Singh ( From the side of Mughal Emperor Akbar). This battle was fought by Raja Man Singh on behalf of Akbar. In this battle, where Man Singh had an army of 80000, Maharana Pratap had only 4000-5000 soldiers of which 1500-2000 were Bhils ( Tribals of Mewar).
This story begins because of Akbar’s hat. Akbar is considered the most powerful king of the Mughal Empire. Akbar had captured almost the entire northern India. He was the king of diplomacy. Due to which he was also successful in establishing a foothold in his biggest enemy Rajputana. He had become very powerful at that time. But still a state situated under Delhi stood free even today. Which Akbar could not tolerate. That state was Mewar. In the year 1567, Akbar was successful in capturing Chittor of Mewar. But he could not spoil anything for the royal family. Udai Singh was the Maharana of Mewar at the time of the battle of Chittor. Who made Udaipur his capital after losing Chittor. Rana Udai Singh died in 1572 and Pratap Singh Sisodia became the Maharana of Mewar after him. Maharana Pratap was a very brave and self-respecting king. After the death of Rana Udai Singh, Akbar tried his best to subdue Udaipur, but Maharana Pratap was a very self-respecting king, he loved his country very much and he did not want to sleep the invaders of his land. Akbar sent many kings to obey them but they did not listen. Akbar also tried his best to lure them but that too failed. Even Akbar agreed to give them half Hindustan in exchange for Mewar, but still he did not accept his offer.
When none of Akbar’s moves was successful, he thought of attacking Udaipur. The responsibility of which was given to Raja Man Singh of Amer. On 18 June 1575, Raja Man Singh from Akbar’s side attacked Udaipur, the capital of Mewar with 80000 soldiers. Maharana Pratap was already aware of this attack and Man Singh’s army was stopped at Haldighati on the border of Udaipur. In this war where Man Singh had brought an army of 80000, Maharana Pratap had only 3000-4000 army in which there were about 1500 Bhils. Bhils played an important role in this war. Although this battle lasted only 4-5 hours, but this battle shook the Mughal Empire. Raja Man Singh thought that he would easily conquer Udaipur, but the opposite happened. Maharana Pratap’s army gave a befitting reply to his army. There came a time when about 70-80% of the Mughal army was exhausted. Everyone was astonished to see the bravery of Maharana Pratap in this war. He cut a commander of the Mughal army in the middle with only one stroke of the sword with horse and armor.
Not only Maharana but his horse Chetak changed the course of this war. With his tapo, he hit Man Singh’s elephant head in the hand of which Man Singh fell down. But his leg was cut off by the dagger in the trunk of the elephant and he was injured. As much as Maharana’s army was engaged, but at the same time Man Singh got help from other kingdoms. Due to Man Singh getting more help, Maharana and his horse Chetak were injured and keeping in mind the future of Mewar, Maharana was expelled from this battle. The commander of Maharana’s army, whose name was Jhala, looked exactly like Maharana, he disguised as Maharana and all the enemy soldiers who came to the battlefield went to Jhala and Maharana Chetak was successful in getting out of it. So that Mewar can be freed back in future. On that day, Chetak jumped a 23-feet drain to save Maharana Pratap & run 5-6 km.
Although Akbar had captured Udaipur, Maharana Pratap was still free and within only 10 years of the battle of Haldighati, Maharana Pratap withdrew everything. In this war neither Akbar won completely nor Maharana Pratap lost. After this war, as soon as Akbar came to know that Maharana Pratap was alive, he moved his capital from Agra to Lahore.
- By
- Vishal Thakur
- vishalthakur.art.blog
Vishal Thakur 