Originally posted by: Proud-India
Rana Pratap
Born: May 9, 1540
Died January 19, 1597 aged 57
Badshah Akbar
Born 14 October 1542
Death 27 October 1605 aged 63
Age difference between the two - Pratap Two years older
Relationship- Arch Adversaries
Akbar became king in 1556 at age 14
Pratap became king in 1568 aged 28
third Jauhar of Chittorgarh took place in 1567 Pratap was aged 27 then
Pratap and Akabar A history of battle
In 1568, during the reign of Udai Singh II, Chittor was conquered by theMughal Emperor Akbar after the third Jauhar at Chittor. However, Udai Singh and the royal family of Mewar escaped before the capture of the fort and moved to the foothills of the Aravalli Range where Udai Singh founded the city of Udaipur. Rana Udai Singh wanted Jagmal, his favourite son, to succeed him but his senior nobles wanted Pratap, the eldest son, to be their king as was customary. During the coronation ceremony, Jagmal was physically moved out of the palace by the Chundawat Chief and Tomar Ramshah and Pratap was made the King, the Rana of Mewar. Folklore has it that Pratap did not want to go against the wishes of his father but Rajput nobles convinced him that Jagmal was not fit to rule in the troubled times of the day; but it is quite possible that what occurred was a bitterly contested struggle for succession: something characteristic of most South Asian kingdoms of the age.
Though the chief reasons for resentment between Pratap Singh and Akbar, two very visionary rulers is unclear, it is now largely agreed that it had to do with disagreements over the status of Mewar within the Mughal Empire, were it to at all accept Mughal suzerainty. The tensions were further characterised by the fact that Babur and Rana Sanga, grandfathers to Akbar and Pratap respectively, had earlier bitterly contested the control over the Gangetic plains and the Doab. It is evident that there were had been some measures of reconciliation, such as acceptance of ambassadors and representatives between the two courts. However, none of these could ever be taken to any logical end.
Conflict
Chittorgarh (Chittor fort), Pratap's ancestral home, was under Mughal occupation. Living a life on the run, the dream of reconquering Chittor (and thus reclaiming the glory of Mewar) was greatly cherished by Pratap, and his future efforts were bent towards this goal. In essence Pratap remained king of the whole of Rajputana (now Rajasthan) and the lands surrounding it except Chittor.
Nearly all of Pratap's fellow Rajput chiefs had meanwhile entered into the vassalage of the Mughals. Even Pratap's own brothers, Shakti Singh and Sagar Singh, served Akbar. Indeed, many Rajput chiefs, such as Raja Man Singh of Amber (later known as Maharaja of Jaipur) served as army commanders in Akbar's armies and as members of his council. Akbar sent a total of six diplomatic missions to Pratap, seeking to negotiate the same sort of peaceful alliance that he had concluded with the other Rajput chiefs. This is clearly evidential of the ends sought by each of the two rulers: for Akbar, having an independent or semi-independent kingdom, within his otherwise consolidated empire was politically unsound and militarily dangerous; for Pratap Singh, on the other hand, to accept vassalage with little in return was a political suicide, and a steep fall for Mewar in the region's power structure.
Battle of Haldighati and great Chetak
On June 21, 1576 the two armies met at Haldighati, near the town of Gogunda in present-day Rajasthan.
However, the numerical superiority of the Mughal army and their artillery began to tell. Seeing that the battle was favouring Akbar and with the huge amount of death of soldiers on both sides, Pratap's generals prevailed upon him to flee the field so as to be able to fight another day
riding his trusty horse Chetak, Pratap was able to successfully evade captivity and escape to the hills. However, Chetak was critically wounded on his left thigh . hetak was bleeding heavily and he collapsed after jumping over a small brook a few kilometres away from the battle field. A famous couplet narrates this incident of the battle:
Aage nadiya padi apaar, ghoda kaise utare paar Rana ne socha is paar, tab tak chetak tha us paar
Pratap retreated into the hilly wilderness of the Aravallis and continued his struggle. His one attempt at open confrontation having thus failed, Pratap resumed the tactics of guerrilla warfare. Using the hills as his base, Pratap continued small raids and skirmishes against the outlying check-posts, fortresses and encampments of his adversaries; some of whom included the Hindu vassals appointed by the Mughals in the wake of Pratap Singh's defeat.
Maharana Pratap died of injuries sustained in a hunting accident. He died at Chavand, on January 19, 1597, aged fifty-seven. It is said that as he lay dying, Pratap made his son and successor, Amar Singh, swear to maintain eternal conflict against the Mughals. Thus, his strained circumstances did not overpower Pratap even in his declining years. It is said that he also did not sleep on a bed because of a vow he took that until Chittor was freed he would sleep on the floor and live in a hut despite the fact that he had reconquered almost his entire kingdom from Akbar.
Maharana Pratap's son, Amar Singh, fought 17 wars with the Mughals. After Mewar was depleted financially and in manpower he conditionally accepted them as rulers.
A ghazi like Akbar who killed 30,000 civilians in chittor cant be compared to a great person like Maharana Pratap and I don't remember hearing anything about Akbar going in battles and fighting himself while Rana Pratap used to fight not fearing for his life like how he charged towards man singhs elephant and almost killed him. He also cut Bahlol Khan in half this shows his strength. what can a short little man like Akbar do against him 1st war.He defeated Akbar many times
Akbar never fought with Pratap himself , he sent to Man sinh who knew facts of Rajputana & other but Pratap always came himself to fight not like Akbar to be hidden
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