Hyderabad: Two 27-foot swords were installed at Maharana Pratap Chowk in Begum Bazar of Hyderabad on Friday, February 28, by Thakur Surender Singh, a youth leader from the Rajput community. The swords were installed right behind the statue of the Rajput king, Maharana Pratap.
According to Singh, the installed swords are the biggest across South India. “This is a matter of pride and happiness for the entire Rajput community of Telangana state,” said a press release by the Maharana Pratap Jagruti Manch organisation.
Last year, on the same day, a 21-foot statue of the Rajput king was installed by the organisation.
Maharana Pratap and the Mughals
Maharana Pratap, a prominent figure in both folk and contemporary Rajasthani culture, was the Rajput ruler of Mewar.
Maharana Pratap is most well known and praised for resisting the Mughals (1526-1857) in the late 16th century. He is particularly praised for resisting Mughal emperor Akbar and his stand during the historically famous battle of Haldighati, which Maharana Pratap lost.
While Hindutva proponents love to paint a Hindu versus Muslim ideas of history, it may be noted that the Mughals also fought other Muslim kings. Case in point are Bijapur and Hyderabad, which were run by the Adil Shahi and Golconda (1518-1687) kingdoms. Both cities were taken over and destroyed by Mughal king Aurangzeb in 1686 and 1687.
