Maharana Pratap Singh (9 May 1540 - 29 January 1597) was a Hindu Rajput ruler of Mewar; a region in north-western India in the present day state of Rajasthan. In popular Indian culture; Pratap is considered to exemplify qualities like bravery and chivalry to which Rajputs aspire; especially in context of his opposition to the Mughal emperor Akbar.

The struggle between the Rajput confederacy led by Pratap Singh; and the Mughal Empire under Akbar; has often been characterised as a struggle between Hindus and the invading Muslims; much on the same lines as the struggle between Shivaji and Aurangzeb a little less than a century later.

Maharana Pratap was a Hindu Rajput. He saw the Mughals as foreigners who had invaded India and therefore refused to surrender to them or accept their rule. His father; Udai Singh; had condemned the house of Man Singh for their marriage with unclean foreigners and Pratap Singh said that he would call Akbar only a 'Turk' and not an emperor.