Ram Prasad (''meaning: Gift from Lord Rama'') was an elephant of

Maharana Pratap Pratap Singh I (9 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), popularly known as Maharana Pratap (), was king of the Kingdom of Mewar, in north-western India in the present-day state of Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 1597. He is notable for leadi ...

's army mentioned in the scripts of Al-Qadir Badayuni. Ramprasad was trained in the

Kingdom of Mewar The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent Hindu kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a dominant state in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dynasty, foll ...

and fought the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

army in the

Battle of Haldighati The battle of Haldighati was fought on 18 June 1576 between the Mewar forces led by Maharana Pratap, and the Mughal forces led by Man Singh I of Amber. The Mughals emerged victorious after inflicting significant casualties on Mewari forces, ...

on 18 June 1576.

Life

had a deep love for his horse Chetak and also for an elephant whose name was Ramprasad. Al-Qadir Badayuni says that when

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

attacked the

, he wanted two things to be captured: Maharana Pratap and Ram Prasad. He says that Ramprasad was a brave and smart elephant of the Mewar army. He further says that when the

started, Ramprasad with his mahout and Chieftain ( Pratap Singh Tanwar) started attacking the Mughal army. Ramprasad is said to have killed 13 elephants of the Mughal army, along with their mahouts. However, Ramprasad's mahout was shot with an arrow by the Mughal forces and downed. After Mansingh received news that one elephant was killing his soldiers rapidly, he formed a

Chakravyuh The Padmavyūha () or Chakravyūha () is a military formation used to surround enemies, depicted in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. It resembles a labyrinth of multiple defensive walls. Background The Padmavyūha is a multi-tiered defensive ...

, consisting of seven mightiest royal elephants of the Mughal army, with 14 strong men holding each elephant. The forces surrounded Ramprasad, allowing Mansingh to capture him. Ramprasad was sent to

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

under intense security. In Agra, Ramprasad got huge hospitality and was kept on royal watch by Akbar. Akbar renamed him Peerprasad and offered him sugarcanes, fruits and water, which he refused. Ramprasad died after 18 days without taking the Mughal food and water. Akbar's comment on Ramprasad is also mentioned In the scripts of Al-Qadir Badayuni, Akbar is recorded as saying: "The one's whose elephant didn't bow down in front of me, how would I be able to slain Maharana Pratap.''"'' The mughals were stunned by the loyalty of an animal towards its master.

References

{{Reflist Maharana Pratap Elephants in India Individual Asian elephants War elephants

Life

See also

References