Just as Akbar began to lay siege around the Chittaur fort Rana Udai Singh left the fort and he retreated into the hills at the advice of his chieftains and commanders. He left behind 8,000 battlers under the command of Jaimal and Fatta Singh to defend the fort. There also were 1000 gunmen of Kalpi to reinforce them. Some historians criticise the act of Udai Singh as a cowardly behaviour while others defend it as a strategic move. As the fall of Chittaur appeared inevitable the loyal chieftains wanted Rana to go to hills along with his family so that the Rajputs continued to benefit from his leadership even after the loss of Chittaur. Rana Udai Singh merely had paid heed to their plea.
In his 1567 Mewar campaign Akbar succeded in capturing only the eastern part of Mewar and the western region had stayed free. After the fall of Chittaur the son of Udai Singh named Pratap Singh spent four years living here and there. In February, 1572 at the death of Udai Singh the chieftains of Mewar got Pratap Singh coronated as the new Rana of Mewar at the then capital Kumbhalgarh.
To gain control of the rest of Mewar the struggle between Akbar and Rana Pratap forms a remarkable chapter of the Indian history. On the one side was a resourceful mighty emperor driven by ambition of expansion of his empire and on the other side was a proud Rajput who was avowed to defend his honour and the motherland.
Maharana Pratap was not ready to make any deal with Akbar although the later made several attempts to strike a peace deal. The emperor put great political pressure on Mewar through Raja Man Singh, Bhagwandas and other loyal chieftains without any success.
Rana Pratap refused to pay Dola, independent status fee or accept nominal dominance of Moghul empire. For Akbar he had only one reply—’We don’t accept any relationship with a malechchh a (a word used by upper caste Hindus for meat eaters).
When all efforts failed Akbar sent a huge force under the command of Raja Man Singh to subdue Rana in April, 1976.
On his part Rana Pratap made all preparations to meet the challenge of the enemy. With his army he reached Lohsingh village some 13 kms away from Haldi Ghati that was only 20 kms away from the Moghul camp.
The battle between Rana Pratap and Moghuls is known as ‘Battle of Haldi Ghati.’
Moghul forces were led by Raja Man Singh assisted by veteran commanders like Sayyad Ahmad Khan Barha, Gazi Khan Badakhshi, Mahta Khan, Jagannath Kachhwaha, Madho Singh Kachhwaha and Asaf Khan.
On the other side, Rana Pratap was supported by Hakim Sur, Ramshah the ex-king of Gwalior and Man Singh Jhala.
On June 18,1576 Rana Pratap initiated battle in the morning. The advance batch of his army attacked from north-east opening of the ravine under the command of Sur. Rana too arrived with the main force. In the initial thrust Rana’s force pushed back Moghuls upto the other bank of the river.
The battle intensified.
Rana Pratap was astride his favourite horse Chetak and Raja Man Singh was atop an elephant. The two were leading their respective forces.
Moghuls were under pressure.
When the Moghuls started falling back Mehta Khan came forward to charge at Rajputs declaring that Akbar was coming to join the battle.
Mehta Khan had led in a fresh contingent. That fact and the news of arrival of Akbar demoralised Rajputs. Moghuls began to fight with a renewed vigour and enthusiasm. The news of the arrival of Akbar had boosted their morale. Rajputs had been fighting since 4 a.m. and were a tiring lot.
Seeing the battle going against Rajputs led Rana Pratap back into the ravine from where he departed for Gogunda.
The battle continued for only a little more time after Rana had fled and then Moghuls sounded horns and kettledrums to announce their victory.
Man Singh did not order the chase of Rana fearing harassment by Rajputs hiding around and above the Haldi Ghati ravine. He did not allow Moghul soldiers to loot and plunder the capital.
Later Man Singh and Asaf Khan were rebuked by Akbar for those decisions. For sometime they were barred from entering the Moghul court. But after sometime things became normal for them.
The reasons for the defeat of Rana were clear.
He shouldn’t have packed his forces in a narrow ravine which was like a natural trap that allowed little scope for manoeuvring. He should have stationed his forces at various stratagically important locations.
When Moghuls fell back Rana’s coming out of the ravine was an unwise move.
Consequently Rana learnt lessons from the defeat of the Haldi Ghati battle and decided not to engage Moghuls in the open confrontation. Guerilla war against the enemy was the only answer. With a small force Rana could harass the enemy that had advantage in man and material.
To take on Akbar, Rana Pratap reorganised and units of defending soldiers were properly stationed at each fort. The soldiers were trained in hit and run battle craft.
Rana Pratap now began guerilla war against the Moghul forces stationed in Rajasthan. For quarter of a century Rana fought against his arch enemies. Whenever Akbar got busy in other matters of the empire Rana Pratap would strike at some strategic point. From the ravines of Aravali Hills his units would emerge and raid the Moghul controlled areas.
When the Moghuls rallied their forces to retaliate Rana and his soldiers would dash back into the safety of the hills and the ravines that were inaccessible to the enemy and were well protected by tribal warrior. Rana Pratap and his band never stayed for long at one place. Rana, his family and associates were living a harsh life of a band on the run. Often they went hungry or fed on roots and berries. The ravines, forests, hills and remote valleys they traversed.
The hardships failed to break the spirit of Rana Pratap. He remained defiant and cocky. He would pay any price for his freedom and honour.
He reinforced and strengthened the forts of Kumbhalner, Gogunda and other hilltop fortresses. Udaipur had become his new capital. His kingdom was about 128 kms long from west Kumbhalner to Rikamnath and in width measured the distance between Meerpur to Sitaula.
Raja Man Singh tried to persuade Rana Pratap to make a compromise instead of being foolhardy. But Rana Pratap treated him like an untouchable and admonished him for being a slave of Akbar. When Raja Man Singh paid a visit to him and was a guest of Rana the latter contemptuously got up from the dinner table when the food was laid out saying he could not eat with a slave of the enemy.
Raja Man Singh felt humiliated. He too rose up without eating, put two grains of rice in his turban and vowed that he would work destruction of Mewar.
In October, 1577 Akbar sent Man Singh, Bhagan Das and Bakshi Shahbaz Khan to battle against Rana. On April 3, 1578 Moghul forces captured Kumbhalgarh. Gogunda and Udaipur also fell to them. But as soon as they returned Rana Pratap again started his guerilla raids. To deal with those raids Akbar sent Jagannath Kachhwaha to Mewar in December 1584. But Rana again gave him a slip.
After 1585 Akbar got busy in north-west frontier area. The danger of alien invasions had arisen and important for the emperor to strengthen the defences there. Akbar found little time to pay attention to Rajasthan. Rana took advantage of the situation. He launched attacks on Mewar areas under Moghul control. Udaipur, Mandalgarh, Kumbhalgarh and several other forts were retaken.
But unfortunately Chittaur was not won by Rana Pratap and he had to make Chavand his new capital.
Rana Pratap who fought relentlessly against Akbar finally breathed his last on January 19, 1597.
Maharana Pratap is still a legend like a phantom of the Aravali Hills and the folks sing songs of his glory and valour. His love for freedom, indomitable spirit and battling character inspires the natives.
After the death of Rana Pratap, his son Amar Singh too refused to accept the slavery of Akbar.
In 1599 and 1603 Akbar sent Saleem to subdue Mewar but he could not accomplish the task.
