Rani Lakshmi bai
Portrait of Lakshmi Bai
Born: Manikarnika
19 November 1828
Dist. Satara, India
Died: 17 June 1858 (aged 29)
Gwalior, India
Other names : Manu , chhabili
Title : Rani of Jhansi
Early life:
Originally named Manikarnika at birth, she was born to a Maharashtrian Karhade Brahmin family on 19 November 1828 at Dhavadashi Dist. Satara. Manikarnika, a.k.a. Manu lost her mother at the age of four. She was educated at home. Her father Moropant Tambey worked at the court of Peshwa Baji Rao II at Bithur and then travelled 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.[2]
Annexation:
After her marriage, she was given the name Lakshmi Bai. 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.
Rani Lakshmi Bai gave birth to a son in 1851, however 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. 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.
Because Damodar 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 and still is 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 last made small headway, receiving a pension and permission to stay in the palace.
The Great Rebellion:
Even though Raja of Jhansi had a reasonably good relationship with the British, they wanted to take over the kingdom of Jhansi, using a rule called the Doctrine of Lapse. According to this, if an Indian king died without an heir, the kingdom would be governed directly by the British Government. The Queen asked the British if she should continue to rule the kingdom until her son came of age. However, the British did not accept her argument or the adoption of the child, even though it had been done in the presence of British officers, and while the king was still alive. All the appeals of the Queen were ignored. The British wanted her to retire, on a pension and live in a bungalow. Her husband’s property would be taken by the British leaving her with little money; the people of Jhansi would also lose all the jobs and security they had enjoyed. They and their Queen were very upset. But, during all this time the Queen was preparing herself and her people for warfare.
First Indian War of Independence:
While this was happening in Jhansi, on May 10, 1857 the Sepoy (soldier) Mutiny of India started in Meerut. This would become the starting point for the first war of Indian Independence. It began after rumours were put about that the new bullet casings for their Enfield rifles were coated with pork/beef fat, pigs being taboo to Muslims and cows sacred to Hindus and thus forbidden to eat. There is no evidence that this was the case, and British commanders insisted on their use and started to discipline anyone who disobeyed. During this rebellion many British civilians, including women, and children were killed by the people of India. The rebellion spread from Meerut through the Gangetic plain since many Hindu priests and seers had been predicting the end of British rule just 100 years after the Battle of Plassey (1757). The British wanted to end the rebellion quickly.
Meanwhile, unrest began to spread throughout India and in May of 1857, the First War of Indian Independence erupted in numerous pockets across the northern 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, her qualities were repeatedly demonstrated as she was able swiftly and efficiently to lead her troops against skirmishes breaking 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.[3]
Up to this point, she had been hesitant to rebel against the British, and there is still some controversy over her role in the massacre of the British HEIC officials and their wives and children on the 8th June 1857 at Jokhan Bagh[4]. Her hesitation finally ended when British troops arrived under Sir Hugh Rose and laid siege to Jhansi on 23rd March 1858. She rallied her troops around her and fought fiercely against the British. An army of 20,000, headed by the rebel leader Tatya Tope, was sent to relieve Jhansi and to take Lakshmi Bai to freedom. However, the British, though numbering only 1,540 in the field so as not to break the siege, were better trained and disciplined than the “raw recruits,” and these inexperienced soldiers turned and fled shortly after the British began to attack on the 31st March. Lakshmi Bai’s forces could not hold out and three days later the British were able to breach the city walls and capture the city. Yet Lakshmi Bai escaped over the wall at night and fled from her city, surrounded by her guards, many of whom were from her women’s military.[5]
