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Rani of Jhansi

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Rani of Jhansi
Rani of Jhansi
Rani Lakshmibai (portrayed as a sowar)
PredecessorRani Rama Bai
SuccessorBritish Raj
BornManikarnika
(1828-11-19)19 November 1828
Varanasi, India
Died18 June 1858
Gwalior, India
SpouseJhansi Naresh Maharaj Gangadhar Rao Newalkar
House Maratha Empire
OccupationQueen, General

Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi pronunciationⓘ (19 November 1828 – 18 June 1858)[1][2][3] (Marathi- झाशीची राणी लक्ष्मीबाई) was the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, situated in the north-central part of India. She was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and for Indian nationalists a symbol of resistance to the rule of the British East India Company in the subcontinent.

Biography

Lakshmibai was born probably on 19 November 1828[1][3][4][5] in the holy town of Kāśi (Varanasi) into a Brahmin family. She was named Manikarnika and was nicknamed Manu.[6] Her father was Moropant Tambe and her mother Bhagirathibai Tambe. Her parents came from Maharashtra.[7] Her mother died when she was four. Her father worked for a court Peshwa of Bithoor district who brought Manikarnika up like his own daughter. The Peshwa called her "Chhabili", which means "playful".[citation needed] She was educated at home. She was more independent in her childhood than others of her age; her studies included archery, horsemanship, and self-defence.[citation needed]

Manikarnika was married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Raja Gangadhar Rao, in 1842,[4] and was afterwards called Lakshmibai (or Laxmibai).[8] She gave birth to a boy named Damodar Rao in 1851, but when he was four months old he died. The Raja adopted a child called Anand Rao, the son of Gangadhar Rao's cousin, who was renamed Damodar Rao, on the day before he died. The adoption was in the presence of the British political officer who was given a letter from the raja requesting that the child should be treated with kindness and that the government of Jhansi should be given to his widow for her lifetime. After the death of the raja in November 1853 because Damodar Rao was adopted, the British East India Company, under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, applied the Doctrine of Lapse, rejecting Damodar Rao's claim to the throne and annexing the state to its territories. In March 1854, Lakshmibai was given a pension of Rs. 60,000 and ordered to leave the palace and the fort.[9]

Rani Lakshmibai was accustomed to ride on horseback accompanied by a small escort between the palace and the temple though sometimes she was carried by palanquin.[10] Her horses included Sarangi, Pavan and Badal (see her escape from the fort during the siege, below).

Indian Rebellion of 1857–58

May – July 1857

A rumour that the cartridges supplied by the East India Company to the soldiers in its army contained pork or beef fat began to spread throughout India in the early months of 1857.[11] On 10 May 1857 the Indian Rebellion started in Meerut; when news of this reached Jhansi the Rani asked the British political officer, Captain Alexander Skene, for permission to raise a body of armed men for her own protection and Skene agreed to this.[12] The city was relatively calm in the midst of unrest in the region but the Rani conducted a Haldi Kumkum ceremony with pomp in front of all the women of Jhansi to provide assurance to her subjects,[when?] and to convince them that the British were cowards and not to be afraid of them.[13][14]

Till this point, Lakshmibai was reluctant to rebel against the British. In June 1857 a few men of the 12th Bengal Native Infantry seized the fort containing the treasure and magazine, and massacred the European officers of the garrison along with their wives and children. (Her forces did not kill any East India Company officials and their wives and children in Jokhan Bagh on 8 June 1857 but she was subsequently accused by the British of that.[15]) An army doctor, Thomas Lowe, wrote after the rebellion characterizing her as the "Jezebel of India ... the young rani upon whose head rested the blood of the slain".[16] Four days after the massacre the sepoys left Jhansi having obtained a large sum of money from the Rani, and having threatened to blow up the palace where she lived. Following this as the only source of authority in the city the Rani felt obliged to assume the administration and wrote to Major Erskine, commissioner of the Saugor division explaining the events which had led her to do so.[17] On July 2 Erskine wrote in reply that he requested her to "manage the District for the British Government" until the arrival of a British Superintendent.[18] The Rani's forces defeated an attempt by the mutineers to assert the claim to the throne of a rival prince who was captured and imprisoned. There was then an invasion of Jhansi by the forces of Orchha and Datia (allies of the British); their intention however was to divide Jhansi between them. The Rani appealed to the British for aid but it was now believed by the governor-general that she was responsible for the massacre and no reply was received. She set up a foundry to cast cannon (to be used on the walls of the fort) and assembled forces including some from former feudatories of Jhansi and elements of the mutineers which were able to defeat the invaders in August 1857. Her intention at this time was still to hold Jhansi on behalf of the British.[19]

August 1857 – June 1858

From August 1857 to January 1858 Jhansi under the Rani's rule was at peace. The British had announced that troops would be sent there to maintain control but the fact that none arrived strengthened the position of a party of her advisers who wanted independence from British rule. When the British forces finally arrived in March they found it well defended and the fort had heavy guns which could fire over the town and nearby countryside. Sir Hugh Rose, commanding the British forces, demanded the surrender of the city; if this was refused it would be destroyed.[20] After due deliberation the Rani issued a proclamation: "We fight for independence. In the words of Lord Krishna, we will if we are victorious, enjoy the fruits of victory, if defeated and killed on the field of battle, we shall surely earn eternal glory and salvation."[21] She defended Jhansi against British troops when Sir Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi on 23 March 1858.

Jhansi Fort, 1882

The bombardment began on 24 March but was met by heavy return fire and the damaged defences were repaired. The defenders sent appeals for help to Tatya Tope;[18] an army of more than 20,000, headed by Tatya Tope, was sent to relieve Jhansi but they failed to do so when they fought the British on 31 March. During the battle with Tatya Tope's forces part of the British forces continued the siege and by 2 April it was decided to launch an assault by a breach in the walls. Four columns assaulted the defences at different points and those attempting to scale the walls came under heavy fire. Two other columns had already entered the city and were approaching the palace together. Determined resistance was encountered in every street and in every room of the palace. Street fighting continued into the following day and no quarter was given, even to women and children. "No maudlin clemency was to mark the fall of the city" wrote Thomas Lowe.[22] The Rani withdrew from the palace to the fort and after taking counsel decided that since resistance in the city was useless she must leave and join either Tatya Tope or Rao Sahib (Nana Sahib's nephew).[23]

The place from where Rani Lakshmibai jumped on her horse, Badal[24]

According to tradition with Damodar Rao on her back she jumped on her horse Badal from the fort; they survived but the horse died.[25] The Rani escaped in the night with her son, surrounded by guards.[15]

She decamped to Kalpi with a few guards, where she joined additional rebel forces, including Tatya Tope.[23] They occupied the town of Kalpi and prepared to defend it. On 22 May British forces attacked Kalpi; the Indian forces were commanded by the Rani herself and were again defeated. The leaders (the Rani of Jhansi, Tatya Tope, the Nawab of Banda, and Rao Sahib) fled once more. They came to Gwalior and joined the Indian forces who now held the city (Maharaja Scindia having fled to Agra from the battlefield at Morar). They moved on to Gwalior intending to occupy the strategic Gwalior Fort and the rebel forces occupied the city without opposition. The rebels proclaimed Nana Sahib as Peshwa of a revived Maratha dominion with Rao Sahib as his governor (subedar) in Gwalior. The Rani was unsuccessful in trying to persuade the other rebel leaders to prepare to defend Gwalior against a British attack which she expected would come soon. General Rose's forces took Morar on 16 June and then made a successful attack on the city.[26] On 17 June in Kotah-ki-Serai 26°12′44.26″N 78°10′24.76″E / 26.2122944°N 78.1735444°E / 26.2122944; 78.1735444 near the Phool Bagh of Gwalior, a squadron of the 8th (King's Royal Irish) Hussars, under Captain Heneage, fought the large Indian force commanded by Rani Lakshmibai which was trying to leave the area. The 8th Hussars charged into the Indian force, killing many Indian soldiers, taking two guns and continuing the charge right through the Phool Bagh encampment. In this engagement, according to an eyewitness account, Rani Lakshmibai put on a sowar's uniform and attacked one of the hussars; she was unhorsed, fired at him with a pistol, and also wounded, probably by his sabre, followed by a fatal shot from his carbine.[27][28] According to another tradition Rani Lakshmibai, the Queen of Jhansi, dressed as a cavalry leader, was badly wounded; not wishing the British to capture her body, she told a hermit to burn it. After her death a few local people cremated her body. The British captured the city of Gwalior after three days. In the British report of this battle, Hugh Rose commented that Rani Lakshmibai is "personable, clever and beautiful" and she is "the most dangerous of all Indian leaders".[29][30] Rose reported that she had been buried "with great ceremony under a tamarind tree under the Rock of Gwalior, where I saw her bones and ashes".[31] Her tomb is in the Phool Bagh area of Gwalior.

Cultural depictions

Novels
  • 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.
  • Rani, a 2007 novel in English by Jaishree Misra.
  • Nightrunners of Bengal, a 1951 novel in English by John Masters.
  • Manu and Queen of Glory, (2011 & 2012) by Christopher Nicole, two novels about Lakshmibai from the time of her marriage until her death during the 'Indian Revolt' as seen and experienced by an English woman companion.
Film and television

Historical studies

  • The Queen of Jhansi, by Mahasweta Devi (translated by Sagaree and Mandira Sengupta). This book is a reconstruction of the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai from extensive research of both historical documents (collected mostly by G. C. Tambe, grandson of the Queen) and folk tales, poetry and oral tradition; the original in Bengali was published in 1956; the English translation by Seagull Books, Calcutta, 2000, ISBN 8170461758.

Commemoration

Equestrian statue of Rani Lakshmibai near Shivranjini, Ahmedabad
Statue of Rani Laxmi Bai in Agra

There are statues at Agra (illustrated below right) and near Shivranjini, Ahmedabad (illustrated right). Laxmibai National University of Physical Education in Gwalior and Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi are named after her. The Rani Jhansi Marine National Park is located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. A women's unit of the Indian National Army was named the Rani of Jhansi Regiment.[32]

Patriotic songs have been written about the Rani; one of them includes these lines (translated): "How valiantly like a man fought she, / The Rani of Jhansi / On every parapet a gun she set / Raining fire of hell, / How well like a man fought the Rani of Jhansi / How valiantly and well!"[33]

In 1957 two postage stamps were issued to commemorate the centenary of the rebellion: the 15 n.p. stamp portrayed the Rani on horseback.[34]

The most famous composition of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan is the Hindi poem Jhansi ki Rani, an emotionally charged description of the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmibai Biography (gives birth date of 19 Nov 1835)
  2. ^ Meyer, Karl E. & Brysac, Shareen Blair (1999) Tournament of Shadows. Washington, DC: Counterpoint; p. 138--"The Rani of Jhansi ... known to history as Lakshmi Bai, she was possibly only twelve in 1842 when she married the .. Rajah of Jhansi ..."
  3. ^ a b Though the day of the month is regarded as certain historians disagree about the year: among those suggested are 1827 and 1835.
  4. ^ a b Meyer, Karl E. & Brysac, Shareen Blair (1999) Tournament of Shadows. Washington, DC: Counterpoint; p. 138--"The Rani of Jhansi ... known to history as Lakshmi Bai, she was possibly only twelve in 1842 when she married the .. Rajah of Jhansi ..."
  5. ^ The 177th anniversary of the Rani's birth according to the Hindu calendar was celebrated at Varanasi in November 2012: "Lakshmi Bai birth anniversary celebrated". Times of India. World News. 2012-11-13. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  6. ^ Allen Copsey (2005-09-23). "Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi – Early Life". Copsey-family.org. Retrieved 2012-07-07. (gives date of birth as 19 Nov 1835)
  7. ^ ABOUT JHANSI KI RANI; Zee TV
  8. ^ "Jhansi Lakshmi Bai".
  9. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, pp. 113–14
  10. ^ Godse, Vishnu Bhatt. "Godse's account". Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi. Allen Copsey. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  11. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, pp. 22–23
  12. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, p. 115
  13. ^ David E. Jones, Women Warriors: a History (Brassey’s, 2005), p. 46.
  14. ^ Vishnubhat Godse Maja Pravas
  15. ^ a b Rani of Jhansi, Rebel against will by Rainer Jerosch, published by Aakar Books 2007, chapters 5 and 6
  16. ^ Lowe, Thomas (1860) Central India during the Rebellion, cited in Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, p. 117
  17. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, p. 118
  18. ^ a b Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, p. 119
  19. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, p. 117
  20. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, pp. 117–19
  21. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, p. 119, citing Vishnubhat Godse Majha Pravas, Poona, 1948, in Marathi; p. 67
  22. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, pp. 120–21
  23. ^ a b Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, p. 121
  24. ^ The English version of the notice reads: "Rani Jhansi jumped from this place on horseback with her adopted son"
  25. ^ "Jhansi". Remarkable India. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  26. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, pp. 124–25
  27. ^ David (2006), pp. 351–352
  28. ^ Allen Copsey. "Brigadier M W Smith Jun 25th 1858 to Gen. Hugh Rose". Copsey-family.org. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  29. ^ David, Saul (2003), The Indian Mutiny: 1857, London: Penguin; p. 367
  30. ^ Ashcroft, Nigel (2009), Queen of Jhansi, Mumbai: Hollywood Publishing; p. 1
  31. ^ Meyer Tournament; p. 145
  32. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year: the Indian Rebellion of 1857. London: Sphere; p. 126
  33. ^ Meyer, Karl E. & Brysac, Shareen Blair (1999) Tournament of Shadows. Washington, DC: Counterpoint; p. 145
  34. ^ Stanley Gibbons Ltd. (1959) Stanley Gibbons' Simplified Stamp Catalogue; 24th ed. London: Stanley Gibbons Ltd; p. 709
  • Vishnu Bhatt Godse.Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat (Marathi "My journey: the truth about the 1857 rebellion")
  • Meyer, Karl E. & Brysac, Shareen Blair. Tournament of Shadows Washington D.C.: Counterpoint, 1999; pp. 138–45.
  • Verma, Janki Sharan Amar Balidani
  • Zila Vikas Pustika, 1996–97, Jhansi
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