RAVI ( THE LION ): 2009

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

REAL HERO

HELLO FRIENDS!!! CHECK THIS OUT....AND KNOW ABOUT OUR REAL HEROES....WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES FOR US....THEY HAD GREAT COURAGE IN THEM SO THEY COULD FIGHT AGAINST THE "MUGHALS" BRAVELY....

HI..... I AM RAVI DADHANIYA HERE..... FROM V.V.P ENGG. RAJKOT

MAHARANA PRATAP

Early life and background
Pratap, eldest of 25 brothers and 29 sisters, was born at Kumbhalgarh to Maharana Udai Singh II and Maharani Javanta Bai Songara . Maharana Pratap was born in Pali-Marwar. His birthplace is known as Juni Kacheri. rr
Detailed history of Pratap and his ancestors can be obtained from "Maharana Pratapancha Rajvansh" , a marathi book by Shri.Ashok D.Kulkarni(ashokakulkarni@yahoo.com) This book covers history from Bappa Raval to Maharan Bhimsinh , who surrendered to British rule in 1818. Pratap's relatives'information is also available in this book.

[edit] Accession
In 1568, during the reign of Udai Singh II, Chittor was conquered by the Mughal emperor Akbar. The third Jauhar of Chittor transpired, with the ladies of the fort finding "safety from personal dishonour in the devouring element (fire)," while the remaining menfolk sallied forth to certain death in the battlefield.
Prior to this calamity, Udai Singh and his family had wisely moved to the safety of the nearby hills. He later moved base to another location in the foothills of the Aravalli Range. This new base gradually became the city of Udaipur, named after him. Udai Singh wanted Jagmal, his favourite son, to succeed him 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 king. 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.
Maharana Pratap never accepted Akbar as ruler of India, and fought Akbar all his life. Akbar first tried diplomacy to win over Maharana Pratap but nothing worked. Pratap maintained that he had no intention to fight with Akbar but he could not bow down to Akbar and accept him as the ruler. Some scholars argue that there was some possibility that Maharana could have become friends with Akbar, but in the siege of Chittor Akbar had killed 270,000 civilian, unarmed residents of Chittor, because they refused to convert to Islam[1]. This left a lasting impression on Maharana's mind and he decided he could not bow to such an injustice and cruelty. (The Hindu warrior code was to refrain from attacking a non-combatant or a person who has laid down his weapons.)
Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan relates that Pratap stopped the marriage etiquette of Rajputs who had been giving their daughters to Mughals and his supporting Rajputs instead:
With such examples as Marwar and Amber (of giving their daughters to Mughals), and with less power to resist the temptation, the minor chiefs of Rajasthan, with a brave and numerous vassalage, were transformed into satraps of Delhi.
But these were fearful odds against Pratap. The arms of his country turned upon him, derived additional force from their self-degradation, which kindled into jealousy and hatred against the magnanimous resolution they lacked the virtue to imitate. When Hindu prejudice was thus violated by every prince in Rajasthan, the Rana renounced all matrimonial alliance with those who were thus degraded. To the eternal honour of Pratap and his issue be it told that, to the very close of the monarchy of the Moguls, they refused such alliances not only with the throne, but even with their brother princes of Marwar and Ambar. It is a proud triumph of virtue to be able to record from the autograph letters of the most powerful of the Rajput princes, Bukhet Singh and Sawai Jai Singh, that whilst they had risen to greatness by the surrender of principle, as Mewar had decayed from her adherence to it, they should solicit, and that humbly, to be readmitted to the honour of matrimonial intercourse and "to be purified," " to be regenerated," " to be made Rajputs" and that this favour was granted only on condition of their abjuring the contaminating practice (of giving daughters to Mughals) which, for more than a century, had disunited them.[2]

[edit] Conflict
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.
For the new capital-Udaipur, Maharana Udai Singh constructed a water reservoir–Udai Sagar in 1565. It was on its dam that in June 1573 Kunwar(Prince) Man Singh of Amber, as the emissary of Mughal Emperor Akbar, arrogantly demanded that Maharana Pratap should give up protocol and be present at the feast in his honour. Pratap and Man Singh were of the same generation, Kunwar Man Singh was born on Sunday the December 21, 1550, but Pratap was king while Man Singh was a prince. Pratap, following the protocol, sent his son Kunwar Amar Singh to dine with Kunwar Man Singh, Akbar's special envoy. This incident precipitated the Mughal-Mewar conflict.
Since Man Singh was a Kunwar, his father Raja Bhagwan Das led another unsuccessful peace mission to Maharana Pratap in October 1573 at which Maharana Pratap was personally present.

[edit] Battle of Haldighati
Main article: Battle of Haldighati
On June 21, 1576 (June 18 by other calculations), the two armies met at Haldighati, near the town of Gogunda in present-day Rajasthan. While accounts vary as to the exact strength of the two armies, all sources concur that the Mughal forces greatly outnumbered Pratap's men(1:4). The battle of Haldighati, a historic event in the annals of Rajputana, lasted only four hours. In this short period, Pratap's men essayed many brave exploits on the field. Folklore has it that Pratap personally attacked Man Singh: his horse Chetak placed its front feet on the trunk of Man Singh's elephant and Pratap threw his lance; Man Singh ducked, and the mahout was killed.
However, the numerical superiority of the Mughal army and their artillery began to tell. Seeing that the battle was lost, Pratap's generals prevailed upon him to flee the field so as to be able to fight another day. To facilitate Pratap's escape, one of his lieutenants, a member of the Jhala clan, donned Pratap's distinctive garments and took his place in the battlefield. He was soon killed. Meanwhile, riding his trusty steed Chetak, Pratap made good his escape to the hills.
But Chetak was critically wounded on his left thigh by a Mardana (Elephant Trunk Sword) while Pratap had attempted to nail down Man Singh. Chetak was bleeding heavily and he collapsed after jumping over a small brook few kilometres away from the battle field. While Pratap’s General donned Pratap’s clothing and armour, it went unnoticed thanks to the chaos of the war but for two Turk knights from the Mughal army. They could not communicate it with others in their group, due to linguistic barrier (the appropriate language would have been Persian, Marwari or Arabi). They immediately followed Pratap without wasting time. The moment they started chasing him Pratap’s younger brother Shaktisingh who was fighting from the Mughal side (he had some disputes with Pratap at the time of Pratap’s coronation; hence he had defected and gone over to Akbar’s court) realized that his own brother was under threat. Prataps' general's sacrifice had already been discovered by him. He could not help but react against a threat to his own brother. He followed the Turks, engaged them in single combat and killed them. In the meanwhile,Chetak collapsed and Pratap saw his brother Shaktisingh killing the two Mughal riders. Saddned by the loss of his beloved general and horse, he embraced his brother and broke into tears. Shaktisingh also cried and asked for his brother's pardon, for having fought as his enemy. Pratap pardoned him (later on he was given a huge estate near Chittor). Shaktisingh then offered him his own horse and requested him to get to a safe place. This incident is famous in Rajasthani folklore, a song “O Neele Ghode re Aswar” (O Rider of the Blue Horse) mentions it.
A mausoleum to Chetak is at the site of the steed's death.
The impact of the battle on the Mughal army was also significant. In terms of numbers the Mughal army suffered heavier losses. This was also because of the intensive arrow showers by the Bhil tribes of the surrounding mountains who had aided with Pratap. To honour their contribution, a Bhil warrior was placed next to Pratap in the Royal Coat of Arms of Mewar.
The battle of Haldighat is considered to be the first Major breakthrough of Rajputs against the Mughals since the Second Battle of Khanwa in 1527, which was fought between Rana Sanga grandfather of Maharana Pratap, and the Mughal Babur grandfather of Akbar. It is regarded with a degree of significance by many Rajput families.

PESHVA BAJIRAO 2

Baji Rao II, also known as palputta Bajirao, (1775 – 1851) was the last Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy, and governed from 1796 to 1818. His reign was marked by confrontations with the British.
Baji Rao was the son of Peshwa Raghunathrao and Anandibai. Raghunathrao defected to the English and caused the First Anglo Maratha war that the English lost. Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao committed suicide in 1796, and died without an heir, and with the assistance of Daulatrao Scindia and Nana Phadnavis, Baji Rao became Peshwa. Writes Manohar Malgonkar, the versatile English novelist of India in his book The Devil's Wind : "Only someone perversely gifted could have succeeded in squandering so vast an inheritance in so short time or disgraced a noble name so thoroughly. He was mean, cruel, vindictive, avaricious but surprisingly well-read and shrewd in financial dealings. He was above all a moral and physical coward, the only Peshwa held in contempt by his subjects. A popular song about him ran as follows:
We emptied the wellAnd drained the land dry,To grow a tree of thorns,"Running" Baji Rao.
Continues Malgonkar "As a Peshwa he made a deplorable overlord, a man delighted in humiliating his feudatories, seizing their estates on flimsiest of pretexts and what worse, someone imagined that their womenfolk too belonged to him".
After the death of Phadnavis in 1800, the Maratha leaders Yashwantrao Holkar of Indore and Daulat Rao Sindhia of Gwalior contested for control of the empire; their rivalry made its way to Pune, seat of the Peshwa. Holkar ultimately triumphed, and Baji Rao fled west to Bombay in September 1802 to seek the willing hands of the British who were waiting for this opportunity with great patience. There, he concluded the Treaty of Bassein in December 1802, in which the British agreed to reinstate Baji Rao in return for the Marathas allowing British troops in Maratha territory and paying for their maintenance, and acceptance of a British political agent (Resident) at Pune. Holkar and Sindhia resisted the British intrusion on Maratha affairs, which resulted in the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803-1805. The British triumphed, and the Marathas were forced to accept losses of territory. The raids of the Pindaris, irregular horsemen who resided in the Maratha territories, into British territory ultimately led to the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817-1818 which ended in the defeat of the Scindhias and other maratha feudatories. On Nov 5, 1817 on the day of Diwali or Festival of Lights, the British Resident at Pune maintained and paid by Baji Rao for his 'protection' attacked Baji Rao's personal guard. Baji Rao, true to his character ran away and watched the battle that ensued between his forces and the British from a hill now called Parvati. This battle is referred to as Battle of Khadki. He fled from there too when the sound of the gunfire came too close. Five British columns set out after him in full cry, slavering at the thought of the "Prize money" that lay at the end of the chase. After running for five months from one fort to another, Baji Rao surrendered to Sir John Malcolm. Much to the chagrin of the Company's Governor-General Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, ( No relation to Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India ), Malcolm was prepared to keep him a life-long prince, retain his personal fortune and pay him a pension of a hundred thousand pounds every year. In return Baji Rao would have to live in a place assigned by the British along with his retainers on the condition that he would never return to his homeland at Pune. He would also have to forsake all his claims to his heritage and can not style himself as Peshwa but there was no objection to call himself as 'Maharaja'. The only reason why 1st Marquess of Hastings ratified the treaty made by Malcolm was his conviction that Baji Rao would not live long given his sexual excesses. He was already above 40 and many of his ancestors did not live much beyond that age.
To keep Baji Rao under watchful eyes, the British selected a small village on the right bank of Ganges at a place called Bithur near Kanpur where they had one of their biggest military establishments. The place selected was exactly six square miles in area and in it, together with his relatives and others who moved from Pune along with him in 1818, there were about 15000 inhabitants. He had once ruled 50 millions!!. There Baji Rao added 5 more wives and led an empty life, spending the day time in religion and the nights in sexual orgies. Contrary to the Company's wishes, he lived for another 33 years . He died in 1851 at Bithur.
There were many stories making rounds in the Court of Gwalior about Baji Rao, where Malgoankar’s grandfather P.Baburao was a minister (1). One such story was about the ghost of slain Peshwa, Narain Rao, haunting Baji Rao through out his life that was widely known to many people due to Baji Rao’s unceasing efforts to exorcise the ghost. Narain Rao was the fifth Peshwa who was allegedly murdered with the connivance Baji Rao’s parents. In order to get rid of the ghost, Baji Rao set the priests of Pandharpur, a temple town of Maharashtra on the banks of a local river. Initially the priests succeeded in driving away the ghost and in gratitude, Baji Rao ordered the building of a riverside embankment in Pandharpur, which still bears his name. However when Baji Rao was exiled to Bithur the ghost re-appeared and started haunting again. Since he was forbidden to visit his homeland, he performed religious penances prescribed by the priests of Benares and was extravagant in distributing alms to Brahmins, built temples, bathing ghats, performed endless poojas (religious prayers), underwent countless stringent fasts, fell at the feet of sadhus and soothsayers etc but the ghost wouldn’t leave him. It stayed with him till end warning him that his line will end with his successor, his house will burn to ashes and his clan will perish. Much later in July 1857 during Indian Rebellion of 1857, after successful re-capture of Kanpur, the British forces burnt down Bithur, including the residence of Baji Rao (wada) where many members of his extended family except his adopted son, Nana Sahib, were hiding.

BAJI PRABHU DESHPANDE

Baji Prabhu Deshpande (Marathi: बाजी प्रभू देशपांडे) (died 1660) was one of the lieutenants (also known as sardar) of Chattrapati Shivaji, founder of the Maratha empire. The well celebrated legend of Baji Prabhu is intricately linked with an important rear guard battle enabling Shivaji's escape from Panhala fort, he was the hero who sacrificed his life for his king and country.
After defeating Afzal Khan and the rout of the Bijapuri army at Pratapgad, Shivaji continued to push deep into Bijapuri territory. Within a few days, the Marathas captured Panhala (near the city of Kolhapur). Meanwhile another Maratha force, led by Netaji Palkar, pushed straight on towards Bijapur. Bijapur repulsed this attack, forcing Shivaji and few of his sardars to retreat to Panhala Gad (fort).
The Bijapuri force was led by Siddhi Johar, an Abyssinian general. Discovering Shivaji's location, Johar laid siege to Panhala. Netaji Palkar made repeated attempts to break the Bijapuri siege from outside, but these failed.
Finally a very audacious and high risk plan was hatched and put in to action: Shivaji, Baji Prabhu Deshpande with a select band of troops would attempt to break through the siege at the night, and make for Vishalgadh. In order to deceive the Bijapuri forces, who would give a chase once they found that Shivaji had broken the siege, Shiva Nhavi, who had an uncanny physical resemblance to Shivaji, volunteered to dress like the king and let himself be captured.
On a stormy full moon's night (night of Guru Pournima, Ashadh Vadya Paurnima) a band of 600 select men, led by Baji Prabhu and Shivaji, broke through the siege. They were hotly pursued by the Bijapuri force. As planned, Shiva Nhavi allowed himself to be captured and taken back to the Bijapuri camp, fully comprehending that he would be put to death once the charade was discovered. This sacrifice, however gave the fleeing Maratha force some breathing space.
As soon as the Bijapuri force realized their mistake, the chase was on again, led by Siddhi Masood, the son-in-law of Siddhi Johar. Near the pass of Ghodkhind (Horse's Pass), the Marathas made a final stand. Shivaji and half of the Maratha force pushed for Vishalgadh, while Bajiprabhu and the remaining Bandal Sena of about 300 men blocked the pass.
Tradition and legend describe feats of valour displayed by the Marathas during this rear guard action. Through the entire battle, Bajiparbhu, even though grievously injured, continued fighting, inspiring his men to fight on until Shivaji's safe journey to Vishalgadh was signaled by the firing of three cannon volleys.
The Khind (Pass) was subsequently named Pavan Khind (Holy Pass) by Shivaji, in honor of the sacrifice of Baji Prabhu and his troops. Shivaji also gave "manache pahile paan" ("Honor of the Court") to Baji Prabhu's family.
Baji Prabhu Deshpande belonged to Chandraseniya Kaysatha Prabhu Community. A street is named after him in Thane City, India, and a film of his story was made in 1939.
Baji Prabh desh pande hanya Manaca Mujara....

TANAJI MALSURE

Tanaji Malusare (Marathi: तानाजी मालुसरे), also known as Simha (Lion), was a renowned warrior and military leader in the army of Chatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonslé, founder of the Maratha Empire in 17th century India. Tanaji was one of Shivaji's closest friends; the two had known each other since childhood.[citation needed]
Tanaji is famously known for the battle of Sinhagad in 1670. At Shivaji's request, he pledged to recapture the fortress of Kondana near Pune. According to many accounts, he received the summons at his son's wedding, and immediately left the festivities. Tanaji Malusare used a monitor with ropes attached for climbing the walls of the Sinhagad fort in the Battle of Sinhagad. He and his men valiantly recaptured the fort from Udaybhan Rathod, fortkeeper of Jai Singh I. A fierce combat took place between Tanaji and Udaybhan. Udaybhan managed to rid Tanaji of his shield, still Tanaji fought Udaybhan by tying a cloth over one of his hands and using it to ward off Udaybhan's sword attacks. Tanaji managed to overcome Udaybhan and kill him. However, Tanaji also lost his life in the battle, and Shivaji renamed the fort from Kondana to Sinhagad in his honor.
When Tanaji was in midst the festivities of his son's wedding and he was summoned to fight and recapture the fort of Kondana. All the guests persuaded him not to leave until the wedding of his son was over, but he was determined to fight back and he said the following words in Marathi," Aadhi lagin Kondanyache, mag lagin Raibache", (Marathi: आधी लगीन कोंढाण्याचे, मग लगीन रायबाचे) which means"First the marriage of Kondana(Fort) and then the marriage of Raiba(his son). By the statement, what he meant to say was that first priority was to recapture the Kondana Fort and then attend the wedding of his son Raiba. Due to his bravery and courage and his selfless devotion towards Swarajya and Shivaji, was he able to leave his son's marriage and die a martyr's life for the Maratha kingdom. So deeply moved was Shivaji by his devotion, that Shivaji himself quoted, "Gadh aala pan sinh gela", (Marathi: गड आला पण सिंह गेला) which means,"The fort is ours but we lost a lion".

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

REAL HERO

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