Queen of Jhansi - Lakshmi Bai (c.1830-1858)

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Queen of Jhansi - Lakshmi Bai (c.1830-1858)

 

Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of a principality called Jhansi in northern

India, led an uprising against a takeover of her homeland by the

British. She became a heroine and a symbol of resistance to the

British rule.

Lakshmi Bai was born around 1830 into a wealthy, high-caste family.

She was named Manukarnika, which is one of the names of the holy

river Ganges. As a young woman, she learned to read, write and

debate. She also learned to ride horses and use weapons while playing

with her adopted brothers. She accepted the name Lakshmi Bai when she

married Gangadhar Rao, the maharajah of Jhansi and became the Rani

(short for maharani, the wife of maharajah) of Jhansi.

 

Gangadhar Rao was between forty and fifty years of age at the time of

their wedding. This was his second marriage. His first wife died

without producing an heir. The new Rani of Jhansi gave birth to a

son, but he died when he was three months old. Subsequently, Damodar

Rao, Gangadhar's relative, became their adopted son. In 1853,

Gangadhar Rao died.

 

The Governor-General of India, the Marquess of Dalhousie, announced

that since Gangadhar Rao left no heir, the state of Jhansi would be

annexed by the British Government. The British rejected the claim

that Damodar Rao was the legal heir. According to Hindu law, little

Damodar Rao was Gangadhar's heir and successor. In the Hindu

religion, a surviving son, either biological or adopted, had an

obligation to perform certain sacrifices after his father's death to

prevent his father from being condemned to punishment or hell. The

refusal of the British to acknowledge the legitimacy of Rajah's

adopted son caused a serious consternation in the local population.

Rani appealed her case to London, but that appeal was turned down.

 

Not wishing to give up her kingdom, Lakshmi Bai assembled a volunteer

army of 14,000 rebels and ordered that defenses of the city itself be

strengthened. Jhansi was attacked by the British in March 1858.

Shelling of Jhansi was fierce and the British were determined not to

allow any rebels to escape while Rani was determined not to

surrender. The British noted that the Indian soldiers fighting them

showed more vigor than they ever had while following British orders.

Women were also seen working the batteries and carrying ammunition,

food and water to the soldiers. Rani, herself, was seen constantly

active in the defense of the city. Jhansi, however, fell to the

British forces after a two week siege. A priest from Bombay who

witnessed the British victory, said that what followed were four days

of fire, pillage, murder and looting without distinction. He said it

was difficult to breathe due to strong smell of burning flesh.

British historians, on the other hand, suggested that while four to

five thousand people died in battle, the civilians were spared.

 

The Rani managed to escape on horseback under the cover of darkness

and within twenty-four hours rode over one hundred miles to the

fortress of Kalpi. Several other Indian rulers joined the rebel

forces there. It is believed that the Rani was influential in

convincing the others to go on the offensive and seize the fortress

of Gwalior. This maneuver was successful and helped rally the rebel

forces together.

 

It wasn't long, however, before the British forces determined to win

Gwalior back. A fierce battle ensued. Rani was in charge of the

eastern side of defense, however she lost her life on the second day

of fighting. The British won back Gwalior. Rani's body was given a

ceremonial cremation and burial by the faithful servants. Sir Hugh

Rose, the commander of the British force, wrote later, "The Ranee was

remarkable for her bravery, cleverness and perseverance; her

generosity to her Subordinates was unbounded. These qualities,

combined with her rank, rendered her the most dangerous of all the

rebel leaders." A popular Indian ballad said:

 

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!

 

J. Lang, who was the only Britisher who saw her face to face, left

the following description of her: "She was a woman of about the

middle size, rather stout but not too stout. Her face must have been

very handsome when she was younger, and even now it had many

charms... The expression also was very good and very intelligent. The

eyes were particularly fine and the nose very delicately shaped...

Her dress was a plain white muslin, so fine in texture and drawn

about her in such a way and so tightly that the outline of her figure

was plainly discernible, and a remarkably fine figure she had."

 

"Bundelay harbolon ke munh hamne suni kahani thi/khuh lari mardani

woh to Jhansi wali Rain thi" sings the ballad narrating the valiant

struggle of one of the most famous characters of India in recent

history. When Rani Lakshmi Bai rose against the British in I857 AD

she immortalized Jhansi. She has since become a heroine of the Indian

independence movement, a sort of central Indian Joan of Arc.

 

References:

1. The Warrior Queens. The Legends and the Lives of the Women Who

Have Led Their Nations in War by Antonia Fraser, Vintage Books, 1994

2. Herstory. Women Who Changed the World, edited by Ruth Ashby and

Deborah Gore Ohrn, Viking, 1995