Story of Chetak, Horse of Maharana Pratap

Dogs and horses were probably the first animals used in war, and many are still used today in modern military and police tasks. I saw policemen on horses in Madrid, Spain and in Mysore, India. This is the story of Chetak horse, King Maharana Pratap’s horse, etched in golden letters in the chapters of Maharana Pratap history books.

At Rajasmand district of Rajasthan, we visited the mausoleum of Chetak the brave horse of Maharana Pratap Singh who fought valiantly in the Battle of Haldighati. This halt was on our way from Kumbhalgarh Fort to Udaipur in Rajasthan.

The famous battle of Haldighati was between Maharana Pratap Singh leading the forces of Mewar and the Mughal army led by Emperor Akbar’s general Man Singh. It lasted for only four hours on 21st June, 1576; Maharana Pratap Singh was on his favorite, faithful and obedient horse Chetak.

Chetak horse is described as very handsome creature in history books. His physical features like his ears, neck were very attractive. He was submissive only to King Maharana Pratap Singh.

Maharana Pratap on Chetak in front of museum

Sculptures of Maharana Pratap on Chetak horse in front of museum

Chetak Horse

During the war Chetak was made to wear a baby elephant’s mask to confuse the elephants of the enemy. The Mughal army was numerically superior, while Maharana Pratap’s men’s morale was at its peak. It was a fierce battle and in that short period Pratap personally attacked Man Singh.

The folklore has it that Chetak horse placed his hooves on the trunk of Man Singh’s elephant. Pratap threw his lance at Man Singh; unfortunately it missed the mark and killed the elephant driver instead. Man Singh soon retreated from the scene. However Mughal army and their artillery finally succeeded in surrounding Pratap.

Chetak the Brave Horse

Statue of Chetak the Brave Horse in the museum

Maharana Pratap Haldighati Horse wearing mask of baby elephant

Maharana Pratap Haldighati Horse wearing mask of baby elephant to deceive the enemies

The brave horse was injured badly while Pratap was trying to attack Man Singh. He was bleeding profusely, but on sensing his master in danger, rode him to safety.

The Mughal soldiers were chasing them; the brave horse labored on and managed to give the enemies a slip and took a final leap over a small brook few kilometers away from the battlefield. The brave and mighty horse collapsed and breathed his last, his master Maharana Pratap Singh weeping over him.

The date was 8th June 1576.

Paintings in museum

Painting – last moments of Chetak with his beloved King, Maharana

Chetak Samadhi is located at that spot. The memorial in Haldighati reminds us of the spectacular feat achieved by the brave and loyal horse. It is close to Maharana Pratap Museum and Badshah Bagh in Haldighati. It was heart warming to see that the place was tidy and a small flower placed on this great animal war hero’s memorial.

Chetak Horse Story

The bravery and resilience of this stallion is sung in ballads and written in several stories. Mention of Chetak is found in the historical records from 17 century onwards. Popular among them are:

Following is the story exactly as told to us by our guide in Udaipur which left me stunned. It is little different from what we get to read in books.

CHETAK was a pure KATHIAWARI breed horse.

The TRUE story is something like this…. A very small village called KHOD, near present CHOTILA in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state, had tribe of “Danti Charans” living there. They used to travel all over Gujarat and Rajasthan and do business of selling Good Breed Horses to Big Kingdoms.

When they heard of the Maharana Pratap’s fighting with Delhi Sultanate, they had selected Two lovely Colts from KATHIAWAR, both Grey colour one was 1 yr 2 months named “NATAK” and another was 3 months old named “CHETAK”.

They took it to Chittor, and wanted to see Maharana personally to gift him both horses. But somehow they couldn’t. After few days Maharana came to know from his sources that the Danti Charans from Saurashtra region of Gujarat wanted to meet him, and he called them. These Charans explained about the quality of the KATHIAWARI breed horses to him, and Maharana was NOT satisfied with the talks, and he asked them to show some proof…!

They kept NATAK in front of Maharana and put only sand up to Hoofs of the colt…and just gave a sound from behind….to all surprised…NATAK jumped and started running in ground…leaving behind his Hoofs into the Sand pit…!

Maharana was impressed with the KATHIAWARI breeds POWER and STRENGTH…and he accepted the gift of the CHETAK HORSE, as both were from the same mother and father….and rest is History that everyone reads today in India.

Samadhi of Maharana Pratap's horse

Samadhi of Maharana Pratap’s war horse Chetak

Description of Chetak Horse

Chetak was a male horse.
Height of Chetak horse – not very tall, but stout and strong
Weight of Chetak horse – no records mention this
Chetak horse color – blue shiny coat, hence called neela ghoda
Chetak horse breed – Kathiawari breed of Gujarat

Haldighati Museum Udaipur

The name ‘Haldighati’ originated from the turmeric-coloured yellow soil of the area. (Turmeric is haldi in Hindi ). It is a mountain pass in the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan.

The Haldighati Maharana Pratap museum houses many weapons and paintings of the famous battle. It is located at 40 km from Udaipur and worth a visit if you are there.

Tickets: 30INR per person, 10INR for camera
Timings: 7 AM to 7 PM

Chetak Brands in India

The story of Chetak horse is so inspirational that several companies and brands have used the ‘Chetak’ name to boost their image. Chetak scooter is just one among the many. There is Chetak Phenyl, Chetak naphthalene balls, Chetak cement, Chetak bidi and more. Here is a collage of the different brands that use the Chetak name for promoting their products.

Chetak brands in India

Chetak brands in India

Famous poem on Chetak Horse

‘Chetak ki Veerta’ by Shyam Pandey

“रण बीच चौकड़ी भर-भर कर
चेतक बन गया निराला था
राणाप्रताप के घोड़े से
पड़ गया हवा का पाला था
जो तनिक हवा से बाग हिली
लेकर सवार उड़ जाता था
राणा की पुतली फिरी नहीं
तब तक चेतक मुड़ जाता था
गिरता न कभी चेतक तन पर
राणाप्रताप का कोड़ा था
वह दौड़ रहा अरिमस्तक पर
वह आसमान का घोड़ा था
था यहीं रहा अब यहाँ नहीं
वह वहीं रहा था यहाँ नहीं
थी जगह न कोई जहाँ नहीं
किस अरिमस्तक पर कहाँ नहीं
निर्भीक गया वह ढालों में
सरपट दौडा करबालों में
फँस गया शत्रु की चालों में
बढ़ते नद-सा वह लहर गया
फिर गया गया फिर ठहर गया
विकराल वज्रमय बादल-सा
अरि की सेना पर घहर गया
भाला गिर गया गिरा निसंग
हय टापों से खन गया अंग
बैरी समाज रह गया दंग
घोड़े का ऐसा देख रंग”

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Story of Brave Horse Chetak from Rajasthan INDIA
(This post was first written on Dec 6th, 2008.)

About Indrani GhoseIndrani Ghose is an Indian Travel Writer and Blogger based in Bangalore, India. She has written for numerous publications across the globe – including Lonely Planet, The National UAE, Whetstone Asia, Deccan Herald. You can follow her on her social media handles InstagramTwitterPinterest and Facebook to see the wonderful destinations, beautiful offbeat places and get instant updates about them.

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