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|---|---|
 Potrait of Lakshmi Bai | |
| Born | 19 November, 1835 Kashi, India |
| Died | 17 June, 1858 Gwalior, India |
| Other names | Manu, Manikarnika |
| Title | Rani of Jhansi |
Lakshmi Bai, 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. She has gone down in history as a legendary figure, as India's "Joan of Arc."
Early life
Originally named Manikarnika at birth, she was born to a Maharashtrian Karhade Brahmin family on 19 November 1835 at Golghar (Presently known as Varanasi). Manu lost her mother at the age of four. She was educated at home. Her father Moropant Tambey travelled to the court of Raja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the Maharaja of Jhansi, when Manu was thirteen years old. She married Gangadhar Rao, the Raja of jhansi, at the age of 14.
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. Because of her father's influence at court, Rani Lakshmi Bai had more independence than most women, who were normally restricted to the zenana: she studied self defense, horsemanship, archery, and even formed her own army out of her female friends at court. They became her bodyguards.
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 Anand Rao. However, it is said that her husband the Raja never recovered from his son's death, and he died on 21 November 1853 of a broken heart. The Rani was eighteen years old.
Because Anand Rao was adopted and not biologically related to the Raja, the East India Company, under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, was able to install the doctrine of lapse, rejecting Rao's rightful claim to the throne. Dalhousie then annexed Jhansi, saying that the throne had become "lapsed" and thus put Jhansi under his "protection". In March 1854, the Rani was given a pension of 60,000 rupees and ordered to leave the palace at the Jhansi fort. Lakshmi Bai was furious, and she spent the next few years passionately protesting, but she only received the “most perfunctory refusals by British officers.” The second blow came shortly after when the British allowed the slaughtering of cows, which was a vile abomination to Hindu culture. Lakshmi Bai continued to protest, hoping that she would get some compassion from the British, but her efforts remained unsuccessful. When her appeals left her empty-handed, she hired a British attorney to fight for her against the Company’s unjust rule. She at least made small headway, receiving a pension and permission to stay in the palace.
The Great Rebellion
Meanwhile, unrest began to spread throughout India, and in May of 1857, the First War of Indian Independence erupted in numerous pockets across the subcontinent. During this chaotic time, the British were forced to focus their attentions elsewhere, and Lakshmi Bai was essentially left to rule Jhansi alone. During this time, Lakshmi Bai’s qualities were repeatedly demonstrated as she was able to swiftly and efficiently lead her troops against skirmishes that broke out in Jhansi. Through this leadership Lakshmi Bai was able to keep Jhansi relatively calm and peaceful in the midst of the Empire’s unrest. In fact, as turmoil broke loose all over India, even English families retreated to the Jhansi fort for refuge.
Then, rebel forces tricked the English families into leaving the safety of Jhansi's walls, promising them safe passage. Instead, the rebels appallingly massacred the English. All eyes in the East India Company were turned on Rani Lakshmi Bai, blaming her for the deaths. However, Lakshmi Bai appealed to a British officer she knew, explaining her true position as an unwilling participant who had been “forced to supply them with money, guns, and elephants.” Fortunately for the Rani, the British became preoccupied with uprisings all over India, and they left her alone to rule Jhansi. Rani Lakshmi Bai worked to maintain peace in Jhansi. During this time, Rani Lakshmi Bai was able to demonstrate her ability to effectively rule for almost a year before the British sent troops to take over Jhansi and to capture Rani Lakshmi Bai.
Up to this point, Rani Lakshmi Bai had been hesitant to rebel against the British. However, when the troops arrived and laid siege to Jhansi in March 1858, her hesitation vanished. She rallied her troops around her and her army fought passionately against the British. An army of 20,000, headed by the rebel leader Tantia Tope, was sent to relieve Jhansi and to take Lakshmi Bai to freedom. However, the British were better trained and disciplined than the “raw recruits,” and these inexperienced and incapable soldiers turned and fled shortly after the British began to fight them. Lakshmi Bai’s people could not hold out; the British were able to breach the city and were working to break the fort wall. Yet Lakshmi Bai was stubborn and brave: she would not be taken, and much to Indian pride and British dismay, Lakshmi Bai made a fantastic escape over the wall at night and fled from her city, surrounded by her guards, many of whom were from her women’s military.
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 Maharaja 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
Rani died on 17 June,1858 during the . 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. The British captured Gwalior three days later. In the report of the battle for Gwalior, General Sir Hugh Rose commented that the rani "remarkable for her beauty, cleverness and perseverance" had been "the most dangerous of all the rebel leaders".
However, the lack of any corpse to be convincingly identified as Rani convinced Captain Rheese of the so called "bravest" regiment that Rani had not actually perished in the battle for Gwalior, stating publicly that:" Queen of Jhansi is alive!" .
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 Lakshmi Bai 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 Das 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."
In fiction
- Flashman in the Great Game by George MacDonald Fraser, a historical fiction novel about the Indian Revolt describing several meetings between Flashman and the Rani.
- 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 Lakshmi Bai. 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 Lakshmi Bai and was originally published in Bengali in 1956. ISBN 81-7046-175-8
- Flow Red the Ganges, a 1972 novel in English by Norman Partington.
- Rani, a 2007 novel in English by Jaishree Misra.
In film
- The Tiger and the Flame (1953) was the first technicolor film released in India, directed and produced by Indian filmmaker Sohrab Modi.
- The Rebel is a new film by Ketan Mehta, and is a companion piece to his film Mangal Pandey: The Rising. The screenplay is by Farrukh Dhondy from a story by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi. The film is currently in pre-production.
See also
External links
- Timeline of the birth Lakshmibai until her death
- Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi
- John Lang's account of his meeting with the Rani
References
- Barbara N. Ramusack, review of The Rani of Jhansi: A Study in Female Heroism in India, by Joyce Lebra-Chapman, The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 46, no. 2, (May 1987), 437.
- Sir John Smythe (1966). The Rebellious Rani. London: Fredrick Muller.
- Joyce C. Lebra, “Lakshmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi,” The Biographical Dictionary of Greater India, ed. Henry Scholberg, (New Delhi: Promilla and Co., 1998), 140.
- Mia Carter and Barbara Harlow, Archives of Empire: from the East India Company to the Suez Canal (Duke University, 2003), 392.
- Mia Carter and Barbara Harlow, Archives, 399.
- Joyce C. Lebra, “Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi,” 140.
- Ibid., 141.
- Mia Carter and Barbara Harlow, Archives, 399.
- David E Jones, Women Warriors: a History (Brassey’s, 2005), 46.
- Joyce C Lebra, 141.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- David, Saul (2003), The Indian Mutiny: 1857, Penguin, London p367
- Ashcroft, Nigel(2009), Queen of Jhansi, Bollywood publishing ltd, Mumbai p.1
- 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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