Maharana Pratap (1540-1597) is one of the great Hindu heroes of medieval India. His valour is still sung in a thousand songs throughout the land, especially his own region of Mewar (in Rajasthan). His life is associated with many legends and heroic tales.

The present volume is a short sized (110 pages) historical biography on this famous King. It was initially written in the 1940's, and was recently republished with a new preface by K. C. Yadav, to fill the need of a short and accurate biography of Maharana Pratap. Unfortunately, Pratap and other Hindu heroes of his genre have been ignored and neglected by the intelligentsia of Independent India, in to their conscious effort to rewrite medieval Indian history with an increased emphasis on the Mughal achievement and an underplaying of Hindu resistance. The idea behind this revisionism is that it will aid 'national integration' between the different religious communities in India. Yet after over half a century later, this policy has not achieved anything of the sort. All it has served to do is create a historical self-forgetfulness amongst Hindus, and done an immense disservice to men like Pratap, whose valour allowed Hindu civilisation to survive very trying times.

The great thing about this book is its strict emphasis on historical facts, using a variety of sources. A. C . Woolner, former Vice Chancellor of Punjab University has praised the book as follows:

In this way, the book goes beyond the romanticised folk legends, and allows a factual account to emerge, which is in fact no less engrossing than the folk tales. A. C. Woolner noted that:

Maharana Pratap was a Rajput ruler of the land of Mewar. He became the king at a time when the talented Moghul Emperor Akbar was forcing the Rajput states to become his underlings. Most of the Rajput states submitted, but Pratap kept up indomitable resistance against very heavy odds. He was forced to live as a fugitive and even lost his entire territory, only to win them back at the soonest chance. If he had submitted to Akbar he would have received a many riches and comforts, but he refused to sacrifice his independence and dignity. The tale of his many battles, his relationship with the ancient Bhil tribals (of Ramayana fame), his charisma as a leader and his ability to create alliances with other potential allies makes for fascinating reading. He died an independent ruler.

So touching was his story of indomitable will, that when he died not only his friends but even his enemies were forced to acknowledge his greatness. Abdur Rahman, a Mughal poet, wrote regarding Pratap's death:

The contemporary bard, Dursa wrote of Pratap:

Any person with an interest in Indian or Hindu history will love this book.

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