Rani of Jhansi

Rani of Jhansi

Lakshmi bai, The Rani  of Jhansi (c.19 November 1835 – 17 June 1858), known as Jhansi Ki Rani, the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, was one of the leading figures of the First Indian Struggle for Independence, also known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and a symbol of resistance to British rule in India. She has gone down in Indian history as a legendary figure, the firebrand who began the Indian Revolution against British Colonialism.

Originally named Manikarnika at birth ( nicknamed Manu ) , she was born on 19 November 1835 at Kashi (Varanasi) to a Marathi Karhade Brahmin family from Dhawadshi, District Satara,Maharashtra. She lost her mother at the age of four. She was educated at home. Her father Moropant Tambe worked at the court of Peshwa Baji Rao II at Bithur and then travelled to the court of Raja Bal Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the Maharaja of Jhansi, when Manu was thirteen years old. She was married to Gangadhar Rao, the Raja of Jhansi, at the age of 14.

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 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."