Maharana Pratap

Maharana Pratap had 11 wives; among them his first and favorite wife was Maharani Ajabde Punwar. He had 17 sons and five daughters.

He sustained injuries in a hunting accident and died on 29 January 1597, aged 57. Upon his death his son Amar Singh succeeded him. On his death bed, Pratap told his son never to submit to the Mughals and to win Chittor back. But Amar Singh eventually submitted in 1614 to Emperor Jahangir, son of Akbar.

Udai Singh passed away in 1572, and Prince Pratap ascended the throne as Maharana Pratap, the 54th ruler of Mewar in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs. His brother Jagmal Singh had been nominated as the Crown Prince by their father in his last days. But since Jagmal was weak, inefficient and had a drinking habit, the seniors in the royal court preferred Pratap to be their king. Jagmal swore revenge and left for Ajmer, to join the armies of Akbar, and obtained a jagir - the town of Jahazpur - in return for his help.

After the Rajputs had left Chittor, the Mughals had taken control of the city. However, they were unable to annex the kingdom of Mewar. Akbar wanted to rule all over Hindustan by himself and sent several emissaries to Pratap to negotiate an alliance.

In 1573 alone, Akbar sent six diplomatic missions to Mewar but Maharana Pratap turned down each one of them. The last of these missions was headed by Raja Man Singh, the brother-in-law of Akbar himself. The failure of efforts to negotiate a peace treaty angered Akbar who resorted to war to lay his claim on Mewar.

Akbar deputed Man Singh and Asaf Khan I to lead a force against Maharana Pratap in 1576. The Mughal forces numbered 80,000 men while the Rajput army had 20,000 soldiers, commanded by Gwalior's Ram Shah Tanwar and his three sons, Rawat Krishnadasji Chundawat, Maan Singhji Jhala and Chandrasenji Rathore of Marwar.

The Battle of Haldighati was a very fierce one following which the whole of Mewar except some of the Aravallis fell in Mughal hands. The Mughals were, however, unable to kill or capture Pratap who never ceased in his efforts to reclaim the kingdom.

In 1576, Maharana Pratap fought the fierce Battle of Haldighati against the Mughal forces. Even though his army was greatly outnumbered by that of the Mughals, the Rajputs fought valiantly. The Rajput army faced heavy causalities, including the loss of the Maharana’s favorite horse Chetak, but the Mughals were not able to kill or capture the Maharana himself.