‘Maharana Pratap won battle of Haldighati against Akbar': Rajasthan Deputy CM Diya Kumari at Jaipur event
Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari has said that Mewar king Maharana Pratap won the 16th Century battle of Haldighati against the forces of Mughal emperor Akbar, adding that she was instrumental in the change of plaque in Haldighati to ensure that it 'reflects the truth.'
Speaking at a programme in Jaipur organised by Veer Shiromani Maharana Pratap Sanstha to commemorate the 485th birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap on Thursday, Kumari said: 'The plaque at Haldighati stated that Maharana Pratap lost and Akbar won the battle. In 2021, since I was an MP from there (Rajsamand) – and it is an ASI monument – we tried (to get it changed), including in Delhi with the Minister (of State) for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal as the department was under him. The words on the plaque were changed and if you go to Haldighati today, you will read that Maharana Pratap won the battle. I would like to say that that was the biggest achievement of my tenure (as an MP).'
आज वीर शिरोमणि महाराणा प्रताप जी की 485वीं जयंती के उपलक्ष में वीर शिरोमणि महाराणा प्रताप संस्था, झोटवाड़ा द्वारा आयोजित कार्यक्रम में सम्मिलित होकर गौरव की अनुभूति हुई।
महाराणा प्रताप का जीवन हम सभी के लिए स्वाभिमान, साहस और मातृभूमि के प्रति समर्पण का प्रतीक है। हल्दीघाटी के… pic.twitter.com/cxRpjHQA8S
— Diya Kumari (@KumariDiya) May 29, 2025
While the comments were made Thursday, they went viral Saturday.
She said that since people may not be aware, she decided to share the truth with people from the stage. 'Kyunki log bahut ulti seedhi cheezein bolte hain, sacchai batane ka sabko samay aa chuka hai. Main kum bolti hun, lekin jab bolti hun tab bahut kuch bolti hun (Because people say a lot of wrong things, the time has come to tell the truth to everyone. I speak less, but when I speak, my words mean a lot),' she said.
'We need to think; the true and correct history of Rajasthan should reach people. Not the history written by Mughals. What did the Mughals do? Divide and rule, the same thing which the Britishers did,' she said, adding that the Mughals made Rajputs fight Rajputs, Hindus fight Hindus. She said that it was unfortunate that for a long time, the political parties too pushed the same history.
The ASI had changed the said plaques in 2021. In July 2021, then ASI Jodhpur circle superintendent Bipin Chandra Negi had told The Indian Express that: 'The state government had put up these plaques in Chetak Samadhi, Badshahi Bagh, Rakta Talai and Haldighati in 1975 when Indira Gandhi had visited the area. At that time, these weren't centrally protected monuments. These sites were declared as monuments of national importance in 2003 but the plaques didn't have this information. Over time, they became worn out and also had controversies about date and some other information.'
He had added that he received submissions from scholars and public representatives for the removal of the plaques. 'Following this, I took cognizance of the matter. The old plaques didn't even contain the name of ASI. The Culture Ministry had also raised the issue with our headquarters,' Negi had said.
The plaque at Rakta Talai, which was removed, had said: 'The fight was so deadly that the whole field was strewn with dead bodies. However, circumstances forced the Rajputs to retreat and the struggle ended at mid-day of the 21st June 1576AD.'
Kumari's comments came a day after Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagade claimed that several inaccuracies have been recorded in Indian history due to the early influence of British historians, including the widely cited story of the marriage of Jodha Bai and Mughal emperor Akbar. Speaking at an event in Udaipur, the governor had said that this story is a lie, instead claiming that 'There was a king named Bharmal and he got the daughter of a maid married to Akbar.'
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