On the occasion of Maharana Pratap's 486th Birth Anniversary, here is an article I have been meaning to write for a long time. While some of it is personal, other parts are researched. Some parts of this article (art subsection) are reproduced from another article written by me for UPAJ India's magazine Manthan in 2022. Ideally, this was supposed to be two parts, but I did not wish to make it so.
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| Cenotaph at Chawand |
Veer Shiromoni Hinduja Suraj Maharana Pratap Singh Sisodiya, as he is officially called, the thirteenth Custodian of the royal house of Mewar, a land that now lies in the south-western fringes of the Aravallis of Rajasthan, has been, for the longest time in Indian History, regarded as the first freedom fighter. Resisting invasion into his state, holding his post as king, his life and career had been scrutinised time and again, narratives changed according to popularity rather than evidence. His idea of independence inspired many; his strategy of guerrilla warfare was learned by kings who came after him. Do the pioneer ideas set him apart, or is it his iconography that does, in the history of the Indian Subcontinent?
It was August 2025, when I was watching the Discovery Plus Documentary series "Ek Tha Raja: Bharat ke Rakshak", hosted by Akul Tripathi (my favourite history host), and its feature was Maharana Pratap rebuilding his career after Haldighati, the most difficult part of his life, often ignored by modern historians and discussions. It was during an interview in this documentary that the current Custodian of the Royal House of Mewar, Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, described the modern iconisation of Maharana Pratap as:
This made me wonder about all the art, literature and popular culture that represents the greatness of Maharana Pratap and why he suddenly turned from an inspiration of freedom to the likes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose or Bhagat Singh and mentioned by Nobel Laurette Rabindranath Tagore as a symbol of the undying soul of the spirit of this nation ( in his writing "Mewar-er-Itihas" an essay on the history of Mewar) to this sudden politicised icon today. Some of the popular internet myths about his life need to be scrutinised to understand this journey better. But first, I must travel back in time, a decade to when I visited his land, a decade more, when I first heard of him, retracing every piece of art, music and literature that he inspired and I encountered on my path to discover who Maharana Pratap truly was, stripped of the modern political iconisation of his life.
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| Moti Magri, Udaipur |
A Traveller’s brush with Folklore:
A visit to Mewar for a traveller like me had two simple reasons: one was, of course, witnessing its history come alive in front of my eyes, and the other was appreciating its art forms that have remained mostly unaltered in the last five centuries. There is no nook or corner of this land, no city or town here that does not have a statue of Maharana Pratap or tell tales of his bravery as if he were a family member. From the borders of Bhimlat waterfalls, where the quiet town of Bijoliya narrates a tale of love and rebellion, to the soot-smear walls of Chittorgarh that speak of bravery, to the reconstructed walls of Kumbhalgarh that regained hope of a future, the yellow soil of Haldighati red with sacrifice, and the peaceful lake of Badroli, where a cenotaph lies neglected, each and every corner of this land speaks of a man and his legends. One simply cannot miss it.
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| Kumbhalgarh, Birth Place |
A popular lyric of a local song in Mewar most rightly says, “Yeh Pratap ka hi Pratap, Mewar khada Mardaani se.” meaning “It is because of the bravery of Pratap that Mewar stands with pride.” (This song is called Maharana Pratap Ki Gaurav Gatha and was officially the song of Maharana Pratap Gaurav Kendra, Udaipur). Along with others like Meera Bai, Rani Padmavati or Rana Sanga, Maharana Pratap played the most active role in bringing the state of Mewar into prominence in the subcontinent by putting up a brave and sometimes even interpreted as egoistic resistance against the strongest Timurid emperor, Padshah Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar. Nationally recognised as one of the first rebels in Medieval India, this Sisodiya Rajput king today stands as more than just an icon of Hindutva, as Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar rightly said. He is still the inspiration behind Mewar’s famous folklore, dance presentations, puppet shows and of course, its very own internationally recognised miniature paintings.
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| Miniature at Udaipur Museum |
The most fascinating literature from Rajasthan is its folklore. Woven in historical backgrounds, with moral messages and many interpretations, these stories have been a part of the popular culture of Mewar as well as other parts of Rajputana since time immemorial. A fragment of these folklores has been taken up by researchers to be matched with historical events and characters, while the others form a rich part of Rajasthan’s heritage and culture. Iconic folklores have lived through time, told and retold by grandmothers in traditional households across the nation, before being finally put to words on paper. Writers like Rima Hooja in her book “Rajasthani Stories Retold” and Dharmender Kanwar in her book “Chittorgarh: The Land of Bravehearts” give massive importance to the folklore in connection to the real places, iconic figures and wars. The most famous folklore on Maharana Pratap has also found a place in history books today. Stories of his might, growing up with Bhils, finding a queen and even fighting a tiger can be heard from the mouth of the locals in Mewar even today. Fascinating as it may sound, they still talk of him in the present tense and do not take his name as if he were still their ruler. I encountered such a gentleman by sheer luck at Bijoliya, which falls on the Bundi Chittor Shortway. He claimed to be a hundred years old, and said that it was the very spot where the young prince Kunwar Pratap found his horse Chetak in a fair by the side of a lake they called “Badi Tilla”. True or not, his eyes did light up, narrating the story. Such stories are part of Mewar’s everyday life. Once you are in Mewar, most of the books found in every nook and corner of the place emphasise folklore on his life. I found a book by M.P. Kamal, titled Maharana Pratap, outside the Kumbha Shyam Temple at Chittorgarh. It has portrayed the life of the king based on various folklore about him rather than historical facts. It narrates stories of sibling rivalry with Shakti, impulsive choices and even the popular ones I will discuss in a while. Travelling through Mewar means carrying these stories back home with you.
Growing up with Bengali Literature on Maharana Pratap:
Miniature from Mewar
"বিলাসের লালসায়, দাসত্বের শৃঙ্খলে আত্মবিক্রয় করিতে প্রতাপ জন্মে নাই।" ~ দ্বিজেন্দ্রলাল রায়।
"Pratap was not born to sell his soul in the shackles of slavery for the sake of luxury and desire." ~ Dwijendralal Ray
As a Bengali, my first brush with the iconic king was through popular poet and playwright Dwijendra Lal Ray’s “Rana Protap Singho”, first published in 1905 CE, when the independence movement against the British Raj was gaining momentum. This recognised historical fiction writer left no stone unturned to portray the life and difficulties of the mighty king, his dilemmas, relationships and of course the famous battle of Haldighati. However, due to a lack of resources, a lot of it remains historically incorrect and is just an imagination of the bard. He took the liberty to name the Maharana’s wife Laxmi Bai and his daughter as Ira, both names finding no place in history. However, it remains one of the most famous plays on the King even today, enacted in different schools and stages and translated into many other languages for the same purpose. Rabindranath Tagore’s Protinidhi as well as Amar Protigya (My vow) poems in his collection Katha - O- Kahini, speaks of the Maharana as an inspiration to other king.
Needless to say, Tagore sought deep inspiration from the king for his essays on freedom. The following are excerpts from some of his “Mewar er Itihas” that mention the Maharana.
"রানা প্রতাপ কেবল মেবারের নহেন, তিনি ভারতের সেই অপরাজেয় শক্তির প্রতীক যাহা কোনোদিন বাহিরের কোনো শৃঙ্খলকে স্বীকার করে নাই।"
"Rana Pratap belongs not only to Mewar; he is the symbol of that invincible power of India which has never accepted any external chains."
"হলদিঘাটের সেই রক্তস্নাত ধূলি আজও সাক্ষ্য দেয় যে, মেবারের রানা পরাজিত হইয়াও বিজয়ী।"
"The blood-soaked dust of Haldighati still bears witness that the Rana of Mewar, even in defeat, was the victor."
"প্রতাপের সেই তৃণের শয্যা ও বন্য ফলমূলের আহার বিলাসিতার সিংহাসন অপেক্ষা অনেক বেশি মহিমান্বিত। কারণ সেখানে মাথা নত হয় নাই।"
"Pratap’s bed of grass and his meal of wild fruits are far more majestic than a throne of luxury. For there, the head was never bowed."
"আরাবল্লীর গিরিগুহায় প্রতাপ সিংহ যখন পথহীন বনবাসে ফিরিতেছিলেন, তখন তাঁহার সঙ্গে কোনো রাজছত্র ছিল না, কিন্তু তাঁহার মাথার উপরে ধর্ম্মের ছত্র ধরাই ছিল।"
"When Pratap Singh was wandering through the pathless forests in the caves of the Aravallis, he had no royal umbrella (Chhatra) over him; yet, the umbrella of Righteousness (Dharma) was held firmly over his head."
As you can see, the young Bengali bookworm in me, reading these at an impressionable age of thirteen or fourteen, was deeply intrigued by the man and the legend of Chetak. And that brings me to another iconic poem, Kumud Ranjan Mallick’s Chetak, which was famous for its rhythm that mimicked the sound of galloping hooves.
"হলদিঘাটের বীরত্বগাথা পাষাণে রয়েছে লেখা,
তাহারই পাতায় স্বর্ণাক্ষরে চেতক তোমার দেখা।
প্রভুর ললাটে ঘামটি মুছাতে তুমি দিতে নিজ প্রাণ,
মরু-বাতাসের বেগেতে ছুটিয়া গাহিতে সাম্য-গান।"
"The saga of Haldighati is carved upon the stones,
And on those pages, in letters of gold, your name, Chetak, is known.
To wipe the sweat from your master's brow, you would give your very life,
Charging like the desert wind, singing of freedom through the strife."
His other poem on the Battle of Haldighati is popularised as a Charan and a folk song with the following lyrics:
"হলদিঘাটের রক্তমাখা মাটি, মাখবো আমরা কপালেতে টিপ—
সেখানে জ্বলে স্বাধীনতার চিরন্তন এক প্রদীপ।"
"We shall wear the blood-stained earth of Haldighati as a mark on our foreheads;
For there burns the eternal lamp of freedom."
Recently I was reading Sree Parabat's Arabolli Theke Agra (Aravallis to Agra) a historical fiction based in Mewar 1568CE, where Maharana Pratap appears as a side character, Prince Kika. He is described from the eyes of the subjects as their hope after Chittorgarh seige.
The other piece of Bengali Literature whose mention completes this segment will be Abanindranath Tagore, in the chapter Pratap Singho in his famous book “Rajkahini” where he narrates a description of the man:
"মহারানা প্রতাপ—মাথায় বড় পাগড়ি, গায়ে লোহার বর্ম, হাতে সুদীর্ঘ বল্লম। বিলাসের ছায়া নেই, শুধু আছে কর্তব্যের কঠোরতা।"
"Maharana Pratap—a large turban on his head, iron armour on his body, and a long spear in his hand. There is no shadow of luxury here, only the sternness of duty."
These stories, poems and plays shaped our childhood as we often imagined what it would look like when a broad shouldered man with thick moustache and a tilak on his forehead rode the white horse into battlefields.
From The Land of the Rana:
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| 18th-century painting of the Battle of Haldighati |
An iconic literary, as well as artistic representation of the life of this king through folklore retold, is by India’s very famous comic strip “Amar Chitra Katha” which brings out the depictions of his life for children, as does the lines from the very popular song "Ao Baccho Tumhe Dikhayein" which has a dedicated paragraph on the man. Popular media mostly cover the folklores mentioned in Col. James Todd’s commissioned work Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, whose chapter on Mewar he claims to have written with folklores from the mouths of the royals themselves. Vir Vinod, another 19th-century commissioned Hindi work by Kaviraj Shyamal Das, mentions some of the stories Todd recorded with more narratives and historical accuracy than Todd’s.
The incident of how his brother Shakti Singh aided him with a spear, or helped him with his own horse, Unkarro, to escape the Haldighati Pass, has been dismissed as folklore by historians like G.H. Ojha, G.N. Sharma and Raghubir Sinh Sitamau, who claim the story to have become popular since Rana Raj Singh, four generations after the Maharana, commissioned this story in his Raj Prasasti in the late seventeenth century. Where Akbarnama, Abul Fazl’s biography of Emperor Akbar, does not mention any such incidents, and neither do the contemporary accounts of Badauni ever mention the Rana’s closest brother Shakti as a Mughal aide, Vir Vinod backs the story as authentic and Shakti and Sagar Singh, two of Rana’s half-brothers, as part of the Mughal troops. Col. Todd, who was a guest at the royal palace of Udaipur, emphasised every such folklore as bits of history. It is, however, countered by many others, like B.N. Rana, one of the earliest historians to write a biography on Maharana Pratap, that such stories were unknown to the likes of Badauni or Abul Fazl because they were on the enemy side. Manoshi Bhattacharya, in her book The Royal Rajputs: Strange Tales and Stranger Truths, chose to narrate this incident with dialogues like folklore but did not dismiss it completely as untrue. The very famous attributed vows of the Maharana to sleep in beds of straw, eat in dirt and leaves, and not stay in palaces have also been part of popular folklore in Mewar. However, the palaces of Chawand, his capital for the last twelve years, although small, have another story to tell. It has an outer fortified wall, arched gateways, a temple, a palace, and every sign of a king’s true capital. The sacrifice and greatness of this hero have been further iconised in stories like “Hari Ghas Ri Roti” or Rotis of Green Grass, “Champawati ki Balidan” or Sacrifice of Champawati, “The Chapatti and the Wildcat”, “Neela Ghoda Ra Sawar” or the Rider of the Blue Horse and others.
Reflecting mostly upon the stories of his turmoil in the forest, these stories also mention the Maharani Ajabdeh Punwar, though unnamed in the stories as per traditions of the Royals, his daughter Champawati, son Amar Singh and aides like Bhahma Shah, Bhil Punja, Jhalla Maan Singh or Krishnadas Chundawat. Some folklore, apart from these, does have historical significance and finds mention in the documentation of contemporary writers as well as the Timurids.
The most famous one of these is the tale of Champawati’s death, resulting in a devastated Rana deciding to surrender to the Padshah Akbar. When the spies came with the information to the court at Agra, the rest of the Rajputs, allies to the Timurids, were shocked. One of them was a cousin of the Rana, from his maternal side of Jallore, Raja Prithviraj of Bikaner. He was one of the nine gems at Padshah Akbar’s court and a famous poet. A famous letter exchange between the two men has been immortalised in Mewar’s literature.
Patal Sunn Badshah, Bole Mukh Hunta Bayan.
Mihir Picham Dis Mann, Ughe Kasabh Rao Uth,
Patakun Munchiyan Paan, Ke Patakun Nijh Taan Karad,
Dije Likh Deewan, Inn Do Mahali Baak Ikh.
The mouth of Patta (Pratap) has begun to say Badshah,
Oh, Rao, has the sun started rising in the west as well?
Should I keep my hand over my moustache or
Should my body fall with my own hands?
O Deewan, write an answer and choose between the two.
On receiving the letter, the Maharana had realised that the people who had allied with the Timurids, fearing their might, also looked up to him and his bravery. He changed his mind and wrote to his cousin, the lines, which perhaps made the later historians see him as a poet as well as a warrior:
Turak kahasi Turakado, Inn Mukh Sunn Ikling,
Uga jiya hi Ugasi, Prach Bichh Patang.
Khushi hunn Pithal Kamadh, Patako Muchiyaan Paan,
Jete Hai Pachatan Patto, Kilama sirr Kewaan.
Lord Ekling will always make me call him a Turk,
The Sun will always rise in the east.
Be happy and put your hand on your moustache,
Till Patta (Pratap) stands on his feet,
His sword will keep hovering over the invaders.
Not only does the poetry appear in multiple versions of the folklore, but it also finds a place in every history book attributed to the king, thus making it a historical statement. Apart from this, there is the very famous folklore where the crown prince Kunwar Amar had arrested the ladies of the harem of Khan e Khana Abdul Rahim (son of Bairam Khan) and had been badly rebuked for his behaviour. The incident finds a place in the tales of Timurid versions, too, when the Maharana, being a man of honour, sent the ladies back with an apology. Being impressed by this gesture, Abdul Rahim, the later poet Rahim Das, wrote a poem on the Rana,
Dharm Rahsi, Rahsi Dhara,
Khas Jaro Khursan,
Amar Visambhar Uparon,
Rako Naho Jo Rann.
All is Unstable in this world,
Land and wealth will disappear
But the virtue of the great name lives forever.
Patta (Pratap) abandoned wealth and land
But never bowed the head
Alone of all the princes of Hind,
He preserved the honour of his race.
In most of this folklore, he is either addressed as Kika (Beloved boy for the Bhils) or Patta (short for Pratap, often used by his family and friends). The Raj Ratnakar, by Shudashero Bhutt, and Jai Vilas, written during the reign of Rana Jai Singh, mentions these incidents as history. True or not, these folklores became literary masterpieces of Mewar, being adopted for storytelling, one-act plays, dramas, audio dramas and much more. Poems composed by later poets on these folklores have been taken up as lyrics to popular folksongs of Mewar as well.
According to Rima Hooja’s book “Maharana Pratap: The Invincible Warrior”, when the news of Pratap’s demise reached Akbar’s court at Lahore, the Charan poet Dursa Adha from Marwar, one of Mewar’s rival states, wrote a final goodbye in poetic lines to the “Noble Guhilot Rana.”
Guhilot Rana Jeeti Gayo, Dashnaa moond rasna disi,
Nisaas mook bhariya nayan, toh mrit Shah Pratap si.
As leego unnamigo, nishaan mook bhariya nayan,
Jeeti gayo mrit Pratap si, nirmal jash leego Navan.
Pratap Si(ngh) on hearing of your passing
The Shah (Akbar) has bitten his tongue
[Symbolising inability to utter words in a state of sheer shock and sorrow]
And let out his breath slowly, while tears are welling up in his eyes.
Behold your victory, O Guhilot Rana,
Indeed, you have won the ultimate round.
In Rima Hooja’s words, “ Rajasthan sources claim that Akbar’s response to these verses was to generously reward the poet. This was, perhaps, Pratap’s final victory.”
Most of the Mewari Folksongs attributed to Maharana Pratap have been sung and recreated since time immemorial; many of those are even believed to have been composed during his reign as praises for the brave heart. Some of these popular folksongs are “Neele Ghode re Sawar” or Rider of the Blue Horse, glorifying Chetak saving his master and attributing him as the blue horse, most probably because the white fur looked blue while running through the Aravallis, “Maye Thado woh put Kathe”, a praise song for the king and “Hari Ghas Ki Roti” reflecting on his struggles in the forest. These stories not only show us an emotional humane side of history but also explores the possibility of men like him being human being with flaws and mistakes.
On the Screen:
With the popular phrases such as “Flying horse” often attributed to Chetak, the iconic movie of 1961, Jai Chittod, starring Jairaj and Nirupa Roy, had Bharat Vyas penning the lines “Pavan begh se urne wale Ghode” for Chetak, sung by the nightingale Lata Mangeshkar, a song still popularly used for the horse’s story of valour and sacrifice. The movie depicted the life of the Rana after he became king until his death, and although shot mostly in the studio, it provides the very first (and only) on-location glimpse of Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh and Chawand’s cenotaph in Bollywood.
More recently, the unreleased Rajasthani movie Maharana Pratap: The First Freedom Fighter in 2012 had folksongs like “Rana Dheer Dharam Rakhwala” alongside new additions “Veer Pratap ke Jeevan ki dekho yeh amar kahani hai.” Sung by Roopkumar Rathore and “Yeh lahu rote huye sham” by the late Jagjit Singh, and “Har Har Mahadev” reflecting on the fighting spirit of Mewar. Although the movie ended in a legal dispute with the royals, who were not pleased with the historical inaccuracies, the songs provide a glimpse into his life.
The popular show Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap, which aired on Sony Entertainment from 2013 to 2015, where the role was played by Faisal Khan and Sharad Malhotra, also paid attention to praise songs and iconography with its title track “Veer Tu, Prachand Tu” and “Rakht Tu Ubal Sa” with a spine-chilling song “Jauhar Phir Se Hai Aaya” but failed to maintain historical accuracy despite its popularity. Maharana Pratap has also been part of Zee’s popular presentation “Jodha Akbar” (played by Anurag Sharma), Amazon Prime’s original short movie “Bhama Shah” (played by Mrityunjay Pandey), as well as the children’s animation movie “Chetak”, all of which were historically inaccurate but managed to gain some attention from the masses. Eternal Mewar, the official website of the Udaipur Royals, has documentary representations of iconic folklore, songs and historical facts on the life of the Maharana as well. These songs and imagery are used by many dance dramas, puppet shows and enactments across several schools, cultural fests, and Tourism shows at Bagore Ki Haveli, Udaipur and at the City Palace Museum, Udaipur.
Art and Sculptures:
Raja Ravi Varma's Painting of Maharana Pratap
Mewar is best known for its miniature art, something borrowed and adopted by the Timurids since the time of Akbar. Miniature paintings are attributed to the Mewar School of Art and often depict scenes from the lives of kings, royal women, wars, festivals like Gangaur and the everyday lifestyle of commoners. Though Mewar’s miniatures capture many historical events and icons, most of the paintings on Maharana Pratap and the iconic battle of Haldighati had been commissioned much after his time. The interesting thing to note is that Raja Ravi Verma was the first to paint a likeness of the king apart from the Mewari Miniatures, according to the description of his appearance in Vir Vinod, and a miniature provided by the royals in 1901. The reason behind no contemporary paintings of the king existing was quite simple. In his rebellion against the Timurids, the Maharana had lost much of his wealth and prosperity, and to him, commissioning artists to record or glorify his life was an unnecessary luxury he could not afford. Hence, he did not even have a historian, unlike many dynasties of those times. His reign is first recorded in Mewar in 1615, eighteen years after his death, by his son Amar Singh I, in his court accounts, Amar Kavya.
Ram Sharma, in his book Maharana Pratap, has described the Maharana’s physical appearance as a majestic figure, with a high forehead and bright eyes, with a prominent moustache. He also mentions that no official portrait of the king was commissioned during his lifetime. His descendants, most probably Rana Raj Singh or later Ranas who took an interest in documenting the history of their dynasty, had his paintings commissioned in miniatures at least a hundred years after his death, if not more. It would mean he was probably imagined to look the way he does in popular culture. Vir Vinod probably takes the description from such miniature paintings.
One popular story involving Chatrapati Shivaji, often regarded as the successor to Maharana’s ideologies, says that the Chatrapati had met Rana Raj Singh, who extended his helping hand to the founder of the Maratha Empire and gifted him a portrait of Rana Pratap Singh as requested by the Maratha leader. If so, such paintings have not been found in the possession of the Bhosle family. (whose other resources were otherwise well-reserved, including the iconic paintings of Shivaji Maharaj and Saibai Nimbalker kept in the British Museum even today.) The popular image of the Rana, true or not, spread far and wide and also became the inspiration for sculptures and statues. An iconic life-size statue of the Rana stands today, mounted on Chetak, at Moti Magri in Udaipur and was commissioned by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. A similar statue can be found at Haldighati, atop Chetak. His capital, Chawand, has a citadel claiming to have a life-size statue of the Rana, standing seven feet tall, spear in hand, looking across the land to Mewar.
Busting myths:
Maharana Pratap Statue in Chavand.
As we discuss the popular culture, one must realise that in none of these iconographies is Maharana Pratap’s core belief, his secularism or his ideologies for freedom compromised. The disturbingly absurd ideas of warfare and strength that are now popular on the internet are fairly recent events with no source materials that have led to a new iconisation of the Rajput king.
Through 25 years of his reign and five more as crown prince, the major battles he fought himself were those of the Battle of Chittorgarh against Afghans in 1555CE, the Battle of Dungarpur in 1556CE for his father’s army, the Battle of Harmada in January 1557CE, which ended in a treaty, the Siege of Chittorgarh in 1568CE by Akbar when he was posted at Kelwara which was under attack, the Battle of Haldighati in June of 1576CE, the Battle of Dewair in Dussera 1581CE, and reclaiming Kumbhalgarh in 1582CE, in all of which his participation is recorded. There were eighteen Mughal outposts across Mewar, seventeen of which were recaptured through Guerilla warfare by his troops led by Prince Amar Singh and Bhils.
Among the artefacts found to be his is a double-chained full helmet and armour, including arm bands, which weigh 45 kg, a standard weight of those times; his spear, also kept there, weighs around 80 Kg, the swords (he used double swords and myth says he could use them with both hands) with the scabbard 25 Kg, and the shield weighs 12 Kg. All the artefacts are kept in the city palace museum in Udaipur. It must be noted by anyone reading that all those were never worn or used together at the same time. While Vir Vinod and other popular tales mention a 7.5 feet height as cited by many, one should know that in folklore, heights are symbolic to statures of a human and their contribution to history. Historians estimated from artefacts (Angrakha and Chest Armour) that he was indeed tall, around 6ft 2 inches.
The other myth that people often think to be true is that of his vows in the forest, another story that gained popularity from Vir Vinod. Primary accounts from which it was composed only have these verses:
"Turak kahu ke Turkado, mukh se kahu na 'Peer',
Jab tak jiyu, Pratap kahe, rahu swatantra sharir."
“I shall never call the Turk (Mughal) my master, nor shall I utter 'Peer' (a sign of submission) from my mouth. As long as I live, Pratap says, my body and soul shall remain independent."
Though this vow is popularised in contemporary history and primary records and even mentioned by Mughal sources, the folklore that gives rise to the vows of Hari ghas ki Roti and others is often symbolic. Those vows, in detail, appear as local Charans and are noted first in the Vir Vinod in the 19th Century. The vow mentioned is as follows.
जब लग चित्तौड़ अपणो न होय,
Until Chittor becomes Ours,
तब लग पातल पर जीमणा,
To eat on a leaf plate,
घास की सैया पर सोणा,
To sleep on a bed of grass,
अर किवाड़ मूँद कर नीं बसणा।
And not to live behind closed doors.
The historical records of Mewar during the reign of Maharana Pratap agree with the initial statement and vow, but do not provide evidence with the later ones. While Maharana Pratap and his family lived under extreme hardship in the forest, unlike the royals around them, fighting guerrilla warfare, one must understand that they were not destitutes. While the story of his child dying due to the consumption of poison fruit might be true, it can also be due to a mistake or negligence, but the story of starvation in the forest is not true. The same Vir Vinod records the ration arriving from fellow Mewaris for troops and the royal treasury being used for the same, in odd contrast. It was perhaps practical enough to use disposable leaves for food, but nowhere in history is “Hari Ghas ki Roti” mentioned. Historians believe it is a strong symbolism towards Maharana Pratap’s struggle towards the soil. Symbolisms like this were very popular during those times in Khyats Kavita. He has also been recorded by artefact and evidence to have found shelters in huts, caves and homes of his trusted noblemen, including forts that were not under the Mughals, until he founded the capital at Chawand, where his palace still stands. The not sleeping in a bed vow, as referred to in many popular contemporary stories, is again a symbol of his struggle in the forest. Practically, in a war situation, while on the move, they did not take any furniture along, but there was evidence of their livelihood in the forest, parts of which are still preserved in the Amar Mahal of the City Palace in Udaipur.
One of the most interesting stories to share, when speaking about Pratap’s vows, known popularly as Pratap Pratigya, is the story of the Gaduliya Lohar community of tribes, who are descendants of a blacksmith of the Chittorgarh fort. This tribe derives its name from “cart” because they are vagabonds who had to leave Chittorgarh during its siege and vowed never to return there until it is freed, not to live in houses, light lamps in the night, not to sleep on beds, or keep ropes for drawing water. This tribe had been following these traditions diligently until recent years. Their nomadic lifestyle made the other vows of not living in houses and having beds make sense, while their forefathers did not light lamps in the darkness of the Aravallis to avoid being found by the enemy soldiers. Their main livelihood was to travel from village to village, making these carts their workshops and crafting tools for agriculture. In 1955, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had pleaded with the tribe to settle down as India was free and so was Chittor and urged them to be enrolled in a rehabilitation programme. While most of the community did settle down, some still maintain the vagabond lifestyle, telling tales of their forefathers in Chittorgarh. In popular media, this tribe’s story is often wrongly associated with Pratap’s vows instead of the deserved credit the tribe should have for their own history of sacrifices.
Many popular YouTube and Instagram History channels often misinterpret word meanings in the context of medieval times as well. The Mewar Royal House has a symbol of the Sun on their emblem as they claim to be descendants of the Sun god, Surya and hence Suryavanshi. So one of the titles they hold, as is mentioned in an inscription in the Laxmi Narayan Temple in the premises of Charbhunath Temple, Kharsan, that refers to Maharana Pratap as Hinduja Suraj Shiromoni, which translates to the gem of the Hindu (his religion) Suraj (His dynasty) and not as “saviour of Hindus” as is wrongly misinterpreted. The same has been clarified by the royal dynasty as well.
Parting Words:
Maharana Pratap stood apart from many during his time for his determination, willpower and strong leadership. Rightly, as he is often portrayed, his ego drove him to never bow in front of the mighty Timurids, in a good way. For a later generation of freedom fighters struggling to give India its rightful independence from the British Raj, he became an inspiration and idol, a symbol of perseverance. It is thus not surprising that his fifty-seven years of life have been the muse of many folklores, myths, poems, pieces, songs, paintings and art in many forms, including in discussions of history reels and memes of today. Unfortunately, most of these information pages on digital platforms provide unverified information, while memes, like those of history pages, are often frowned upon or taken offence at, generating hate, instead of seeing history objectively. This comes from a strange idea of a past hero being a flawless human being, nothing even Mewar’s own literature claims. Seeing a person as a godly, above-human, perfect figure often diminishes their sacrifices and deeds and the hyper-masculine idol-worshipping iconography that has now come into being, ignoring a man's emotional side that comes out not only in history but in folklore, is proof of that. The iconography relies on myths and not history, and if one is to point out historical inaccuracies, the people worshipping the idea of a human being in a godlike manner, discarding their shortcomings, failures or even human nature, are often offended. But it is also interesting to note that despite these recent changes in the image of a man, the topic of conversation remains, even today, among youth, even if misinformation is a hindrance. In the imagination of the artists, bards and historians, inspired by his historical significance and often by mistaken political identities, Maharana Pratap manages to stay alive, four hundred odd years after his demise, perhaps immortal in a true sense.
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| Armour and weapons of Maharana Pratap |
