Bundele harbolon ke muh humne suni kahani thi,

Khoob ladi mardani woh toh Jhansi wali rani thi...

The year was 1828 and the place was Varanasi. Moropant Tambe and Bhagirathi Sapre wer ite blessed with a daughter and what they didn’t know back then was that she was destined to go down in history as one of the bravest women India has ever known.

They named her ‘Manikarnika’ and called her Manu with affection. Soon, however, the name would get lost in the pages of history and their daughter would be remembered as ‘Jhansi wali rani’ who went to battle with her infant tied to her back and two swords in both her hands.

Manikarnika lost her mother at the tender age of four and was raised by her father who worked in the court of Peshwa of Bithoor. The Peshwa was very fond of her and raised Manikarnika like his own daughter.

She had a rather unconventional upbringing for a girl. When most girls were being trained to deal with domestic responsibilities and be good wives, Manikarnika was learning horseback riding, fencing and shooting with her childhood friends, Nana Sahib and Tatya Tope. In fact, she has also imparted education along with her two friends, something that was rare for the women of the time.

In 1842, Manikarnika got married to the Maharaja of Jhansi and after her marriage, she came to be known as Rani Lakshmibai. 1851, Lakshmibai became a mother after the birth of her son. However, she lost her son after four months. The royal couple eventually adopted Maharaja’s cousin’s son and named him Damodar Rao. The adoption, in fact, happened in front of a British official.

Lakshmibai’s marriage was short-lived as the Maharaja died of an illness in the year 1853. This was the moment that changed her life forever.

The then Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, taking advantage of the Maharaja’s death, applied the Doctrine of Lapse. According to this doctrine, a king’s adopted child was not entitled to the throne. While the adopted child of the Maharaja could inherit his private property, he would not be treated as an heir because they didn’t share a blood relation.

Fact or fable, no one knows, but it is said that Rani Lakshmibai cried out when she was told about annexation saying, ‘Main meri Jhansi nahin dungi.’

If this cruelty of snatching away her Jhansi and her son’s right to the throne wasn’t enough, the British went ahead and took away all the state jewels and offered the rani a measly pension of Rs 60, 000. She was asked to leave the fort. She had to move to another fort which is now called Rani Mahal.

And then came the year 1857.

India was turning a new page in its history and was preparing to fight what many call the first war for its freedom.

There were many factors that brought on the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. From policies that oppressed the farmers to new practices that were destroying the traditional businesses, Indians felt crushed under the regime of the British. The last straw was the introduction of cartridges to the army that were allegedly greased with animal fat, both beef, and pork. The soldiers took this as an attempt by the British to defile their religion and that’s when they all joined hands.

They were then joined by the rulers whose royal estates had been annexed. Rani Lakshmibai, however, is said to have been unwilling to go against the British initially. However, when in 1858 Sir Hugh Rose demanded the complete surrender of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai decided to go to war with everything she had.

She rebelled against the British and prepared her own forces. She gave the British a tough fight, carrying her infant on her back to the battlefield. One can only imagine the fierce Lakshmibai on the back of her horse, slaying anyone coming her way with the two swords, one in each hand and her young child strapped on her back. The mere image of it can give goosebumps. 

She first fled to Kalpi and then to Gwalior during the course of the battle. She was eventually martyred and her troops whisked her body away to keep her last wish of not having her body captured by the Britishers.

She was cremated according to her wishes and now, her tomb is at Phool Bagh in Gwalior.