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Rani of Jhansi

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Template:Infobox revolution biography Lakshmibai, The Rani of Jhansi (c. 1828 – 17 June 1858) (Hindi- झाँसी की रानी Marathi- झाशीची राणी), the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi in North India, was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and a symbol of resistance to British rule in India.

Early life

Originally named Manikarnika at birth, she was born to a Maharashtrian Karhade Brahmin family on November 19th, 1835 at Kashi (Presently known as Varanasi). Manu lost her mother at the age of four. She was educated at home. Her father Moropant Tambey traveled to the court of Raja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the Maharaja of Jhansi, when Manu was thirteen years old.[ambiguous] She married Gangadhar Rao, the Raja of Jhansi, at the age of 14.[1]

Annexation

After her marriage, she was given the name Lakshmi Bai. The Marriage ceremony was performed in Ganesh Mandir, the temple of Lord Ganesha situated in the city of Jhansi. Rani Lakshmi Bai gave birth to a son in 1851, but unfortunately this child died when he was about four months old. After the death of their son, the Raja and Rani of Jhansi adopted Damodar Rao. Her husband, Raja Gangadhar Rao died on 21st November 1853 when the Rani was eighteen years old.

Using the doctine of lapse, the British government under Lord Dalhousie rejected the young Damodar Rao's claim to the throne and annexed the state of Jhansi. In March 1854, the Rani was given a pension of 60,000 rupees and ordered to leave the palace at the Jhansi fort.

After the start of the Indian mutiny, Rani Lakshmi Bai strengthened the defense of Jhansi and assembled a volunteer army of rebels. Women were also given Military training. Rani was accompanied by her brave warriors, some of them were Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost Khan, Khuda Baksh, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Sunder-Mundar, Kashi Bai, Deewan Raghunath singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh. The British attacked Jhansi in March 1858. Rani Jhansi with her faithful warriors decided not to surrender. The fighting continued for about two weeks. Shelling on Jhansi was very fierce. In the Jhansi army women were also carrying ammunition and were supplying food to the soldiers. Rani Lakshmi Bai was very active. She herself was inspecting the defense of the city. However, Jhansi fell to the British forces.

Along with the young Damodar Rao, the Rani decamped to Kalpi along with her forces where she joined hands with other rebel forces, including those of Tantia Tope. The Rani and Tantia Tope moved on to Gwalior. At Gwalior, the combined rebel forces defeated the army of the Maharja of Gwalior when his armies deserted to the rebel forces and they occupied the strategic fort at Gwalior. However on the second day of fighting, on 18 June 1858, the Rani died.

Death

The rani died on June 18, during the battle for Gwalior. She donned warrior's clothes and rode into battle to save Gwalior Fort, about 120 miles west of Lucknow in what is now the state of Madhya Pradesh. There is dispute about the exact circumstances of her death. Either she was cut down by a soldier of the 8th Hussars, or she was first struck by a bullet and then killed by the sword of a Hussar, or she was simply killed by a bullet.[1] Since the British did not learn of her death till two days later, it is not certain if she died fighting. The British captured Gwalior three days later. In the report of the battle for Gwalior, General Sir Hugh Rose commented that the rani had been "the bravest and the best" of the rebels. [citation needed] Because of her bravery, courage, and wisdom and her progressive views on women's empowerment in 19th century India, and due to her sacrifices, she became an icon of Indian independence movement. The rani was memorialized in bronze statues at both Jhansi and Gwalior, both of which portray her in equestrian style.

Her father, Moropant Tambey, was captured and hanged a few days after the fall of Jhansi. Her adopted son, Damodar Rao, was given a pension by the British Raj, although he never received his inheritance.

Influence

Rani Lakshmibai became a national heroine and was seen as the epitome of female bravery in India. When the Indian National Army created its first female unit, it was named after her.

Indian poetess Subhadra Kumari Chauhan wrote a poem in the Veer Ras style about her, which is still recited by children in schools of contemporary India.

In a prophetic statement in the 1878 book The History of the Indian Mutiny, Colonel Malleson said "...her countrymen will always believe that she was driven by ill-treatment into rebellion; that her cause was a righteous cause; ..... To them she will always be a heroine."[2]

In fiction

  • La femme sacrée, in French, by Michel de Grèce. A novel based on the Rani of Jhansi's life in which the author imagines an affair between the Rani and an English lawyer.
  • Nightrunners of Bengal by John Masters provides a fictional account of the relationship between a British officer, Rodney Savage, and a rani based on Lakshmibai. It was the American Literary Guild's Book of the Month on publication in January 1951, but faced some criticism for perceived political views. It is part of a series of historical novels about a fictional British family serving in India.
  • The Queen of Jhansi, the English translation of Jhansir Rani by Mahashweta Devi. This book is fictional reconstruction of life of Rani Lakshmibai and was originally published in Bengali in 1956. ISBN 81-7046-175-8

In film

  • The Tiger and the Flame (1953) was the first technicolor film released in India, directed and produced by Indian filmmaker Sohrab Modi.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sir John Smythe (1966). The Rebellious Rani. London: Fredrick Muller.
  2. ^ Malleson, Colonel (1878), The History of the Mutiny, London: William H Allen & Co., pp. 154–155

Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat (marathi "My journey: the truth about the 1857 rebellion") by Vishnu Bhatt Godse. Amar Balidani by Janki Sharan Verma Zila Vikas Pustika, 1996–97, Jhansi Meyer, Karl E. and Shareen Blair Brysac. Tournament of Shadows. Washington D.C.: Counterpoint, 1999.

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