Laxmibai, Rani of Jhansi

Recently I read two fictional biographies of Jhansi Ki Rani (queen), Laxmi Bai.  They are by Vrindavan lal Verma and Mahasweta Devi respectively.   The story is amazing and inspiring.  She was just 22 when she died fighting.

A web-based biographical account can be seen in the website
http://www.copsey-family.org/~allenc/lakshmibai/index.html

Briefly, she was married to Gangadhar Rao, a king of Jhansi.   Gangadhar Rao died in 1853, when Rani was 18.  The kingdom was annexed by the British (Governer General Dulhausi).  Coincidently, in 1857, the revolt broke out, and the mutineers killed the British  soldiers and civilians.  Rani took civilian control of Jhansi after writing to the British officials.   Ironically, soon Jhansi was attacked by neighbouring kingdom Orchha. The attack was repulsed by the newly formed voluntary army of Jhansi.  This speaks greatly of the organizational skills of young Rani.  Her army included soldiers from all castes and religion, with a sizable section of women.  Interestingly, the women in the army were households of the palace, dancers, drama artists, etc.

Very soon the British blamed Rani for the killing of the British in Jhansi, and General Rose attacked Jhansi.  She defended Jhansi for 10 days, but finally had to flee when the enemy entered the fort.   She, Tatiya Tope, and Rao sahib (nephew of Nana sahib)  regrouped at Kalpi, but they were defeated, essentially due to the gross indiscipline of the army.  Contrast this event with  that of courageous defense of  Jhansi,  which was due to the tremendous commitments and loyalty of the people towards their Rani.

After Kalpi defeat, Rani comes up with a master stroke, which could have converted the defeat into a major victory and  changed the direction of history of India, had the leaders capitalized it.   She argued for taking control of the invincible Gwalior fort, arguing that the Indian soldiers of Gwalior would support them.  Sure enough, they got hold of the fort without much effort.  But what follows was the usual disaster!  Rani was sidelined.  The leaders like Rao Sahib were too casual, and the celebrations went on till the Rose's army reached Gwalior.  Rani was requested to defend the lost cause.  She was mortally wounded on the second day of the battle, and was creamed in the PhoolBag of Gwalior.   A small memorial has been erected near this place.  It is also interesting to contrast this small memorial with other lavish populists ones (I do not wish to downgrade others, but Rani's memorial definitely deserves better care).


I am not a historian, so the above events are essentially what a novice would see it as. None can deny the glory in Rani's deeds.   But the tragedy haunts us again and again. The infighting continues till this date,  probably with more vicious intensity.  Lack of organization, which was the major reason of the failure of the 1857 revolt, continues. Vrindavan lal Verma describes that many soldiers fighting the Kalpi battle were intoxicated, and had no central command.   We master this deficiency in all spheres of life including my field, science.   Of course, in such a morose environment, the Rani of Jhansi give us inspiration to carry on!!

I found the following books very fascinating (I have read only these):

1. Jhansi Ki Rani by Vrindavan lal Verma (in Hindi) 
2. Jhansi Ki Rani by Mahasweta Devi (original Bengali, translations in English and Hindi). This happens to be the first book written by Mahasweta Devi
3. Aankho Dekha Gadar by Amritlal Nagar (Hindi translation of Marathi book, Majha Pravas by Vishnu Bhatt Godshe. This is an eye-witness account of Majha Pravas by Vishnu Bhatt Godshe)
4. 1857: The Real Story of the Great Uprising by Neel Mukherjee (English translation of  Majha Pravas by Vishnu Bhatt Godshe)
5. The Rani of Jhansi, Rebel against Will  by Jerosch Rainer