*~The Adventurous Tale Contest~* || Team Pratap || - Page 14

*Banner- The Afghan War...Pratap's first time in battlefield*

Even since Meera bai left, Mewar had to see bad days. There were consecutive attacks on the people and the invaders armies outnumbered those of Rajputs. One of the most dangerous armies aiming Rajputana, specifically Chittor, was that of Afghans. The heavy army of lakhs arranged in ranks had invaded Mewar while the Mewar army had soldiers in mere thousands to give an answer to their blows. The ultimate Rajput spirit of fighting till the very end was alive in all Mewar soldiers and ministers, and Rana Udai Singh's friend cum minister cum protector, Rawat Chundawat with all the spirit convinced and asked Udai Singh to command the army to fight and that each one of them would be heavy on ten Afghan soldiers. But Udai Singh considered the long term good and surrendered to the Afghans, to keep the last bits of Mewaris alive. Years passed by with parts of Mewar under Afghan rule. And there, the head of the armies, the Afghan ruler, Shams Khan, was waiting for a small mistake by Udai Singh so that he could accuse him and humiliate him by asking for the royal ancestral weapons and horses of Mewar. And he got that chance when Pratap secretly entered the Afghan area to bring some kairies (raw mangoes) for his step mother, Rani Dheer bai Bhatyani, and Pratap's brother Kunwar Shakti gave away their position and presence by hitting the Afghans.

Shams Khan: A vicious snake-like man, Shams Khan was the Afghan ruler. He killed' for the fun of it and the only way he believed in giving punishments was death. Everything, be it a small pradarshan or a full-fledged war, everything was a game of fun for him. He would go to any extent to please his mad desires and rules weren't in his dictionary. He would always think of himself before anyone else. And if anything sparked off his anger, he would forget all his calm. He was an evil strategist, hungry for the stuff his enemy prized the most. His sinister laugh always rang the alarms of something deadly on the way.

To avenge this Shams Khan proceeded to the fort of Chittor, and was almost successful in humiliating the members of the court. He asked them for all of their royal and top quality weapons, best horses and elephants, all of their gold, and most of all, he tried to rob their respect by ordering the prince and the king of Mewar to bow down to him and ask for forgiveness at his feet, because for a Rajput, nothing is more insulting that lowering their heads, their pride, in front of others, especially the enemies. The tall standing pride of Rajputs can only bend in front of parents and teachers. Fortunately, Pratap and Udai Singh tackled this very intelligently, although Shams Khan was left furious. The fury soon took the form of an open challenge and Shams Khan stomped away with all the Mewari possessions, and a small tip by Udai Singh to use the weapons to the fullest; to dip all of them in lemon water two days before use.
To get regular news about Udai Singh and his plans, Shams Khan even kept a spy in his court by the name of ____ . Over the time, he grew very close to Pratap, taking him on his horse, shielding him from the sun, fulfilling his childish desires. But owing to the fact that the royal treasury was empty (because Shams Khan took it all away) and all the ministers and sevaks, everyone who worked in the palace had stopped taking salaries, but still he had some gold in his bag, Pratap grew curious. He tracked him down and when the matter was brought in front of the court, death sentence was passed as a punishment for treachery. But Pratap being a kid, didn't have the heart to look in the eyes of death.
At the same time, rumors about something called Jauhar' were spreading in the palace which reached Pratap's ears. Curious to know what it had to do with his mother who was heading towards the so called Jauhar chowk', Pratap took the help of his best friend Sohm and entered the Jauhar chowk secretly behind his mother, who was very quick at feeling his presence. On being enquired, Jaivantha bai told Pratap about the famous Jauhar of his grandmother, Maharanai Karnavati, and also explained that Jauhar is the pride of Rajput woman, kshatranis. It shows the strength that woman have, they jump in the fire to protect themselves, their pride, their respect from the invader, who would otherwise forcefully take them away after winning the war and misuse them. Getting to know the horrors of Jauhar, Pratap was scared at first, but he took the oath to not let this happen. And once a Rajput has taken the oath, he would go to any extent to fulfill it.
Knowing the power of Shams Khan's army, Udai Singh arranged for his sons to be taken safely to Jaivantha bai's brother, Man Singh Songara's place by giving them the medicine of sleep. But Pratap Singh, with the oath to stop the Jauhar from happening, had already reached far in his planning to avoid the sleep medicine and enter the war to defeat Afghans without attracting attention, cause his parents would never let him do what he was about to. Very cleverly, he dodged all the traps to keep him from participating in the war, and soon, he was standing in Mewar's army which was under Rajrana Bhahdur, who had been appointed to lead the army to victory, owing to his valour and plans in the battlefield which never failed.

Rajrana Bahadur Singh: Rajrana Bahadur was a man of steel. His techniques, plans, valour and strategies on the battlefield were enough to overthrow even the strongest army. He was an excellent army general and his little group of soldiers was well trained and brave like him. He was a fearless man on the battlefield and openly challenged the enemy, while motivated his army to fight bravely till they win or till they die. Strong and muscular with well fed and fit frame, his body bears deep cuts as the marks of all the deadly wars and battles he has engaged in. He was appointed as the general on Rana Udai Singh's army against the war with Afghans. He was Pratap's first teacher on the battlefield and saw his own son in him. Unfortunately, he died while fighting this war but ensured the victory of Mewar. His priceless sacrifice earned him veergati and his funeral reduced everyone to tears as he was one of the bravest warriors ever.