Maharana Pratap: A Warrior (Story in English)

Maharana Pratap was a great Rajput king. He was the ruler of Mewar in 1572. He was a fearless warrior. He fought many battles against the Mughals. At that time, Akbar was the Mughal emperor. He respected the Rajputs and wanted to occupy their kingdoms with friendship rather than war.

However, Maharana Pratap wanted to be independent. He did not like the Rajputs bowing before the Mughals. Thus he became the enemy of the Mughals. He fought against them with great skill and bravery.

Maharana Pratap had a beautiful white Arabian horse. Its name was 'Chetak'. Chetak was very faithful to Maharana Pratap. Maharana Pratap fought many battles riding on Chetak. This horse was as brave as his master. There was a great understanding between them.

In the year 1576, Maharana Pratap was fighting a war with the armies of the great Mughal emperor, Akbar.

At Haldighati, a terrible battle took place between the two armies. The Rajputs fought very courageously. Many soldiers were killed and Maharana Pratap was about to be captured by the Mughal army.

Maharana Pratap was surrounded on three sides and on the fourth side there was a deep gorge.

During the battle of Haldighati, Maharana Pratap was injured but continued to fight. He would rather die fighting than surrender to the Mughals. At last, he fainted on Chetak's back. Chetak came to know that his master was injured. Even though Chetak himself was injured, he galloped off away from the sight of the Mughal army.

Mughal army followed Chetak to capture the king. The Mughal general was sure that Chetak would not be able to get away because of the deep gorge ahead. However, when Chetak came near the gorge it did not stop, instead with his king on his back, he jumped over the gorge, leaving the Mughal army behind.

Chetak brought the king safe to the camp. Thus Chetak saved Maharana Pratap's life. Since Chetak was badly injured, he could not recover and died within a few days.

Maharana Pratap could not forget his brave and faithful friend. In the fond memory of daring Chetak, he built a beautiful statue of his horse Chetak on a hillock in Udaipur city. Even today this statue attracts many tourists.