Rani Lakshmibai: The Queen Who Would Not Give Up Her Jhansi

The British annexed her kingdom under a legal technicality. She refused to accept it. What followed was one of the fiercest resistances of 1857, led by a queen who died sword in hand.

Timeline

• 19 November 1828: Manikarnika Tambe is born at Varanasi.
• 1842: She marries Maharaja Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi and takes the name Lakshmibai.
• 1853-54: Gangadhar Rao dies. The British annex Jhansi under the Doctrine of Lapse.
• 24 March-4 April 1858: British forces under Sir Hugh Rose besiege Jhansi. The fort falls.
• 1 June 1858: Lakshmibai, Tantia Tope, and Rao Sahib capture the fortress of Gwalior.
• 17-18 June 1858: She dies fighting British troops near Kotah-ki-Serai, close to Gwalior.

Early Life and the Annexation of Jhansi Need to Know

• She was born Manikarnika Tambe on 19 November 1828, in Varanasi.
• Her father, Moropant Tambe, worked at the court of the exiled Peshwa Baji Rao II in Bithoor.
• As a child, she trained in horse riding, sword fighting, and archery, unusual for a girl at the time.
• In 1842, she married Maharaja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar of Jhansi, and took the name Lakshmibai.
• The couple adopted a son, Damodar Rao, shortly before Gangadhar Rao’s death in November 1853.
• The British East India Company, under the Doctrine of Lapse, refused to recognise Damodar Rao as heir.
• Governor-General Lord Dalhousie annexed Jhansi to British territory in 1854. Lakshmibai was offered a pension, and refused to accept the annexation as final.

The Siege of Jhansi, 1858 Need to Know

• When the revolt of 1857 spread across North India, Lakshmibai took charge of Jhansi and organised its defence.
• British forces under Sir Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi from 24 March to 4 April 1858.
• She raised and trained her own troops, including a women’s regiment, and personally directed the fort’s defence.
• Her aide Jhalkaribai, a soldier in her army, is said to have disguised herself as the Rani to mislead British troops during the siege.
• Despite fierce resistance, the British breached the walls and captured Jhansi on 4 April 1858.

Kalpi and the Fight for Gwalior Good to Know

• As Jhansi fell, Lakshmibai escaped on horseback with Damodar Rao tied to her back.
• She rode through the night with a small cavalry escort, reaching Kalpi the next day.
• At Kalpi, she joined fellow rebel leaders Tantia Tope and Rao Sahib, Nana Sahib’s nephew.
• On 1 June 1858, their combined forces captured the strategically vital fortress of Gwalior.
• British forces under Hugh Rose counter-attacked soon after, to retake the fort and the city.
• Lakshmibai died fighting near Kotah-ki-Serai, close to Gwalior, on 17 or 18 June 1858. Accounts describe her fighting in male military dress, on horseback, to the end.

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Legacy Great to Know

• General Hugh Rose, who fought against her, called her “the bravest and best” of all the rebel leaders.
• He is also reported to have said the revolt “had produced but one man, and that man was a woman.”
• She is remembered today as one of the most prominent leaders of the Revolt of 1857.
• Statues of Lakshmibai, mounted on horseback with a sword raised, stand in Jhansi, Gwalior, and several other Indian cities.
• Her declaration, “Main apni Jhansi nahin doongi” (I shall not give up my Jhansi), remains one of the best-known lines from the 1857 uprising.
• The Rani of Jhansi Regiment, an all-women unit of Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army, was named after her in 1943.