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.
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.
Statue of Chetak the Brave Horse in the museum
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.
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:
- He was referred to as Cetak in Khumman Raso, the ballad from 18 century.
- The famous book Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India by James Tod mentions the brave horse Chetak in 1829.
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 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
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”
Did you like this travel blog on the most famous horse of India – Chetak Horse?
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(This post was first written on Dec 6th, 2008.)
Indrani 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 Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook to see the wonderful destinations, beautiful offbeat places and get instant updates about them.
Chetak is vary brave horse but maharana pratap had a outstanding man on the earth i proud of maharana pratap because of i am a indian.
Being a animal it has done the outstanding bravery historical work which can't done by human being.
Being a animal it has done the outstanding bravery historical work which can't done by human being.
It was really pity to know that Chetak died. A touching true story.
Thankyou for the useful information.
the post is cool and i was finding things about chetak for a very long time but i couldnt get any and anonymous thanks for your information so it mean that today i got to know a lot
thanx for nice information.its really amazing can u know the famous poem for chetak…………..some thing like…i dont remmber the whole words but last words are……………..samjho to aanso hai na samho to pani………if u know this poem please tell
Oh…really like the horse.
You took us thro’ the history channel, picturising the war.
Am all admiration for Chetak. It’s also a great warrior.
I believe a horse is the noblest of creatures. I grew up with some and have a reverence for them. Thank you for the history lesson, well told.
I always enjoy visiting your blog because you have such interesting posts and photos!
Wow! What an informative and interesting post with great photos!
Nice one.
What an interesting story to read ! thanks !
Those are gorgeous photos! Thank you for sharing them and the story! Some day, I hope to be able to see that in person.
Great photos.
This is my first time on Camera critters.
Have a great week.
Grammy
Such an interesting post.
I loved seeing the statues – they are beautiful!
well told and documented.. good one for this meme
Thank you very much for sharing this…We should remember Maharana Pratap Singh and his horse for good.
Its been one of my favourite stories from rajasthan..I heard there is an annual mela to celebrate the famous horse ..not sure when though :)good yr post reminded me of the meme
Interesting history and great post.
Beautiful photos! I love the horse/elephant thing! 🙂
Indian history is always fascinating and when it is accompanied by such beautiful pictures, it becomes even more interesting.
Your “critter” for today was a noble animal and a good friend. 🙂
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Thank you for this amazing accounting of the history, along with your photos. Those sculptures are incredible works of art. I look forward to your posts.
Beautiful pictures, and a beautiful horse. Thank you for telling us the story.
This is such a cool entry! I loved reading the history and seeing the statues to go with. 🙂 The Mughal empire has such a rich, and fascinating history 🙂
My Camera Critters entry is here
Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
what a very interesting post, thanks for sharing..
I learned a lot today and the progression of pictures – very nice..SAndy
Thank you Dina and Jedediah!
Of course this is a true story. 🙂 Hard to believe, I know.
Interesting post and lovely photos.
Wow, it reads like a legend! But it is all true history??
Yes it is true
Not only was I able to see great pictures, I also learned quite a lot. Thanks for posting.
My critter is posted here. Have a look if you have the time. Thanks!