Rana Pratap was born at Kumbhalgarh on Sunday the May 9, 1540 to Maharana Udai Singh II and Maharani Javanta Bai Songara (Chauhan).some historians believe it to be Juni Kacheri near Pali District.Pratap was eldest of 25 brothers and 20 sisters.
Maharana Pratap got married to Ajabade(daughter of Rao Ram Rakh Panwar), at the age of 17 and were soon blessed by a son named Amar Singh.Rana Pratap had 17 sons and five daughters.
Maharana Udai Singh II died at the early age of 42, leaving behind twenty-five sons. Setting aside the established laws of Primogenitor, he proclaimed his favorite son Jagmal; his successor,but his senior nobles wanted Pratap, the eldest son, to be their king.
During the coronation ceremony Jagmal was physically moved out of the palace and Pratap was made the 54th king in the lineage of Sisodia Rajputs. Pratap did not want to go against the wishes of his father but Rajput nobles convinced him that Jagmal was not fit to rule in the troubled times of the day. It was the beginning of a career of struggle and hardship.
Chittorgarh (Chittor fort), Pratap's ancestral home, was under Mughal occupation. Living a life on the run, the dream of reconquering Chittor (and thus reclaiming the glory of Mewar) was greatly cherished by Pratap, and his future efforts were bent towards this goal.
Nearly all of Pratap's fellow Rajput chiefs had meanwhile entered into the vassalage of the Mughals. Even Pratap's own brothers, Shakti Singh and Sagar Singh, were serving Akbar. Indeed, many Rajput chiefs, such as Raja Man Singh of Amber (later known as Jaipur) were serving as army commanders in Akbar's armies and members of his council.
Akbar sent a total of six diplomatic missions to Pratap, seeking to negotiate the same sort of peaceful alliance that he had concluded with the other Rajput chiefs. Pratap roundly rebuffed every such attempt.
Most important of Pratap Singh's legacy was in the military field – after Haldighati, he increasingly experimented and perfected guerrilla warfare and light horse tactics. His innovative military strategy- use of scorched earth, evacuation of entire populations along potential routes of enemy march, poisoning of wells, use of mountain forts in Aravallis, repeated plunder and devastation of enemy territories along with harassing raids on enemy baggage, communications and supply lines- helped him recapture most of Mewar by time of his death and enabled him to successfully tackled vastly stronger armies of Akbar.
While reading about Maharana pratap how can someone miss mentioning 'Chetak'. In a war that was fought between the army of Man Singh and Rana Pratap, the leg of Rana Pratap’s horse was broken. Its name was Chetak. Even in that condition it carries King Rana Pratap and runs to a safer place by crossing a river. It dies afterwards.
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