Ideologues of all hues, be it the Hindu right wing or Marxist historians, are guilty of manipulating history to serve their political ends. Indian history must stop being reverential, and instead focus on learning from the mistakes of the past. These are grey areas which are missed in our gushing admiration for those we want to glorify in the name of our ideologies. Akbar’s military inquisitions came at a huge human price. All of them were brutal rulers, and we must stop glorifying them. Having said that, our perspective on history must not be based on who is great and who isn’t. The Maharana is known for his bravery, but Akbar had the wisdom and opportunity to go beyond just military inquisitions and wars. Knowing what we know of Akbar and Maharana Pratap, it is unfair to the Maharana to be compared with Akbar. His earlier days, however, were indeed darker. He also decreed that Muslim boys not be circumcised before a particular age. He also attempted to reform society by setting a minimum age for marriage for boys and girls, disapproved of dowry and encouraged widow remarriage. He tried to bring religions together at least at a philosophical level. In the later part of his regime, he was tolerant towards other religions and unorthodox sects within Islam. The efficient Mansabadari system of organizing the army began under his watch. More importantly, Akbar’s contribution to governance, society and religion can be matched perhaps by only one other Indian ruler, Asoka.Īkbar reformed administrative systems. The military inquisitions under his watch were of much bigger scale. Akbar had a real empire, from present day Afghanistan, cutting across the Indian heartland, up to the present day Bihar. For one, Pratap Singh’s kingdom was a small part of what is today Rajasthan. But history is proof that, given the circumstances, Pratap was brave and he deserves to be in the list of the best warriors in Indian history.Īkbar, though, was a ruler of another kind. The skirmishes between Mughals and Mewaris came to an end only when Pratap’s son Amar surrendered to Jahangir, Akbar’s successor. Pratap however escaped to the jungles and fought till the end. Apparently Akbar thought the war with Pratap Singh was not big enough for him. Pratap would have none of it, so he went to war.Īkbar did not lead the army, so he sent one of his generals. But Akbar wanted Pratap to submit to the Mughal throne personally. Initially, he sent his son Amar Singh to the court of Akbar as an act of submission. Pratap Singh was initially inclined to be a Mugal vassal, but on his own terms. He is known to be a great military strategist who fought till the end, and lost. Pratap Singh, son of Udai Singh, was a fearless warrior. The fact is, Maharana Pratap was nearly not as great as Akbar. Never mind the fact that when you call Pratap Singh a "Maharana" you are actually according a higher status to him.īut when you fiddle around with textbooks, then you have to look at facts, and the other side of the argument. So if you want to call him Maharana Pratap Singh the Great, go right ahead. If Akbar can be called great, then so can Asoka. We cannot stop anybody from calling anyone great. He breathed his last on January 19, 1597.In line with the Hindu right-wing’s consistent effort to meddle with history, and the way it is taught, Rajnath Singh of the vedic science fame has come up with another suggestion: if Mughal emperor Akbar is called Akbar the Great, then Maharana Pratap, the ruler of Mewar, a small part of present day Rajasthan, should be called Maharana Pratap the Great.
#Maharana pratap 5th may 2015 tv
TV show Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap showed is based on the life of the ruler and aired its last episode in 2015. King Maharana Pratap is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Indian history and the stories of his fearlessness are told even today.