Akbar not 'Great', Rana Pratap was: Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister`Yogi Adityanath raked a controversy by saying that Mughal emperor Akbar was not great. CM Adityanath noted that 16th century Mewar king Maharana Pratap refused to accept Akbar as the king and fought to win his forts back.

"Akbar asked Maharana Pratap to accept him as 'badshah' and that then he won't interfere in his kingdom Mewar. Maharana Pratap said we can't accept a 'vidharmi' and a foreigner as our ruler. Maharana proved it wasn't Akbar, but he who was great, by winning back his forts," CM Adityanath noted.

Adityanath spoke at an RSS gathering to mark the Mewar king’s birth anniversary.

Yogi Adityanath further added that many other kings back then accepted Akbar as the king and compromised their self-respect while Maharana Pratap defied all odds.

Emperor Akbar is also known as Akbar, the great because of his many accomplishments, chiefly for the consolidation of theMughal rule in the Indian subcontinent.