Maharana Pratap; A great Indian King

Maharana Pratap (1540–1597), the 13th Indian king of Mewar which is a region in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan. 

Physicality and War Equipment: He was 7’-5” tall and weighed around 110 kgs (243 lbs). The armor he wore for battle weighed 72 kgs (159 lbs). The two swords he carried cumulatively weighed approximately 50 kgs (110 lbs). His swords and armor have been preserved in the Maharana Pratap museum in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Peerless Fighting Skills: He was a mind boggling swordsman and a fighter who had no match. He was able to win most battles and maintain sovereignty till his death. In one of the battles, the Maharana literally sliced Akbar’s commander: 

Unparalleled Determination and Sheer Grit: Maharana Pratap ascended the throne at a time when most Indian Kings had either become vassals to the then Islamic-Mughal king: Akbar or had made alliances with him. The Maharana was the clear underdog and took on a much more powerful adversary, both economically and militarily with sheer grit and determination. It is important to note that he maintained sovereignty till his last breath and only died of injuries sustained during a hunting accident (and not during battle because “the mountain” could never be defeated). Although he did lose parts of his empire to the Mughals after the battle of Haldighati To understand what he was up against, pay attention to the map below wherein the saffron dot represents his kingdom while Akbar’s Mughal empire is depicted in pink.

He had a loyal war horse and war elephant: The valor of Maharana Pratap’s war horse: Chetak is sung in ballads and recorded in manuscripts. It is said that he was a very aggressive horse and only the Maharana was able to tame it. He was so loyal to his master that during his last battle, a war elephant immobilized one of his legs and in spite of this, Chetak was able to make its way to safety with his friend and master Maharana Pratap on it before breathing his last.

The Maharana also had a thunderous war elephant: Ramprasad that killed two other war elephants in his final battle and subsequently died in captivity by refusing to eat in the grief of being separated from its beloved friend and master Maharana Pratap. Ramprasad and Maharana had literally grown up together and elephants are highly emotionally intelligent so it makes me teary eyed when I imagine Ramprasad’s last days in captivity. Attached are pictorial depictions of Maharana Pratap lamenting the death of Chetak and a picture of Ramprasad being a total badass in battle.


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