The Rani of Jhansi
Adoptive Mother, Warrior, Icon.
Image: Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi - Gallery, which that says it is from the British Library's 'Images Online Collection', but the provided link to the Collection is dead.
There is a reason that I always talk about the Rani of Jhansi when I am delivering training on diversity in the curriculum. Role models should delight us, and whenever I read about her, or talk about her, I feel myself lighting up. I tell people that she is often called “the Indian Joan of Arc” and my goodness, what a story she has. She is the epitome of a Great Unrecorded History - so much so that the New York Times published an article about her in its ‘Overlooked’ series, in which they address people whose obituaries they did not publish from 1851 onwards.
Settle in, we might be here for a few moments.
Women in politics, or women with power, as they appear in the curriculum, tend to be white women. We hear about the great queens and their long reigns. We hear about the Suffragettes. But we very rarely hear about South Indian women with power. Indeed, the narrative seems to suggest that South Indian women are but footnotes in history, defined by their supposed submissive natures, subject to patriarchal rule and accepting of it.
The Rani of Jhansi was anything but submissive. She was raised to be an accomplished horse rider, and some sources suggest that she was trained in martial arts and sword fighting, all unusual for a young Brahmin girl. Her given name was Marnikarnika Tambe - as was common in society at the time, she changed her name upon marriage to the Maharaja of Jhansi. She was known to all then as Lakshmibai.
Her birth child died at four months of age. It was imperative that there should be an heir to the fortress kingdom, as the British had asked for the land to be surrendered. In the quest to ensure that Jhansi stayed in the family, the Rani adopted her husband’s nephew and it was requested that the land should stay with Lakshmibai and her son until he was of age.
Inevitably, the British did not adhere to this agreement. The Doctrine of Lapse was applied after the Maharajah’s death and his wife was ordered to surrender Jhansi.
What does a single, widowed mother of an adopted child do in these circumstances?
Join a rebellion, of course.
The Rani put her considerable skills to use. She trained her remaining people to ride and fight as part of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. She fought fiercely against the British and other parties who wished to seize the land. After much to-ing and fro-ing, she was said to have died in battle against the British.
Part of her enduring legend rests on the ambiguity of her ending. Did she ride off wounded on her horse? Was she buried in Gwalior? The story of her life and exploits have become a symbol of resistance. She is remembered a a heroine by some and a “jezebel” by others. She is romanticised perhaps, but she is also a brilliant example of a woman with agency, who used it to defend her place in the world.
Where she might come up:
History - Women and Power
History - Empire and Resistance
English - Non-Fiction Extracts
PSHE - Women and Politics
You might want to read the following to get a sense of who she was: