Rani arrived Kalpi, racing her horse miles hundred,
too tired was the horse to stay up, it collapsed dead.
Rani alone, enemies galore, the swords flashed,
Walker fled with wounds, alas.! Rani was surrounded.
To us Bundel story tellers revealed the story,
fought like man, but it was Rani of Jhansi.
The above lines are from a popular poem written on the battling queen of Jhansi, Laxmibai which make one bow one’s head to her heroic spirit. In the 1857 uprising of against the British East India Company she was the last one to sacrifice her life for the freedom of the country. Hindi poetess Smt. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan wrote the epic saga of heroics of Laxmibai in battle against the British earned laurels for herself and made the Rani a legend. The epic written in lyrical form crafted in folksy words became popular like a nursery rhyme. And the tale of Laxmibai’s valiant deeds touched every heart and reached everyone’s knowledge. She became the icon of the feminine bravery. Laxmibai inspired the later day Indian freedom fighters to a very large extent especially the women who wished to follow her example.
The childhood name of Laxmibai was ‘Manu’. She was no princess but a daughter of a courtier named Moropant, a confidant of Peshwas. Her mother was Bhagirathibai. Manu was born on November 19, 1835, a day before Diwali in the city of Benaras. By that period India was totally under the control of the British. Peshwas were no more in power. Peshwa Bajirao-II was living in Bittoor on a Rs. 8 lac a year privy purse being given by the British.
The great grandpa Krishnarao Tambe, the grandpa Balwantrao and the father Moropant of Manu had been in the service of Peshwas in high positions. They had become like a family. Manu was treated in the household of Peshwas as a member of the family. She was very pretty girl. Peshwa Bajirao used to call her lovingly ‘Chhabili’ which literally meant ‘The dazzler’.
The name ‘Laxmibai’ was given to her by the groom side at the time of the marriage. Her mother Bhagirathibai had died when Manu was yet a four year old child. The father Moropant did not marry again and she was his only child. Manu always remained tagged to her father.
Peshwa Bajirao-II had no child of his own. He had adopted a boy called Nana Saheb. Nana Saheb, his brother Rao Saheb and Manu were a team. Bajirao treated all these as his own children. Nana Saheb and Rao Saheb were older in age than Manu. But alongside them she learnt horseriding, swordery and battlecraft. Sometimes she would outwit her seniors in battle games.
With Nana and Rao, little Manu also trained in the use of spears, bow-arrow, dagger and shield. They played games of defence, attack and raiding forts. She took part in hunting. An eleven year old Manu had become more skilled horse rider than Nana Saheb and Rao Saheb, her seniors. Manu was interested in other physical exercises like wrestling etc.
She showed keen interest in learning letters. She had read most of the popular holy books. A good host she was. Manu had amazing self confidence and courage.
Once when Manu was only 9 years old she defeated Nana Saheb and Rao Saheb in sword combat. The two boys were miffed and carried a grudge.
One day the two boy’s sat atop an elephant and set out on an excursion. Manu too wanted to go but the boys were in revengeful mood. They refused to give her the ride. Manu insisted.
Moropant tried to reason, “Child, don’t be adamant. They are princes. You are not born for an elephant ride.”
Manu confidently predicted, “I am destined to have ten elephants in my service, not one.” Then she announced, “I will go on my horse and tease their elephant.”
Moropant said, “Manu! If you tease their elephant it may turn rogue. You won’t suffer but those two boys may get badly hurt.”
Manu was angry but she considered Nana and Rao like her own brothers. So, she let the matter rest.
Manu had learnt use of weapons and battle craft. She often encouraged women folk, “Don’t consider yourself weak. Do exercise and have strong bodies. Learn use of weapons and battling. We have enemies all around us.”
A lot of people begun to talk about the talented girl who lived in Bittoor. Even royal families of Uttar Pradesh had become interested in the brave girl of Bittoor.
King Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi sent a proposal to Moropant to marry Manu. Moropant had no objection to his daughter Manu’s going into a royal family. 16 year old Manu was married to the king of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao. ‘Manu’ of the family, ‘Chhabili’ of Bajirao had become Laxmibai and now she was the Queen of Jhansi.
Two years after marriage Laxmibai gave birth to a son. Entire Jhansi celebrated birth of the prince. But only three months later the child died. The royal family grieved. Most sad was Raja Gangadhar Rao who could not recover from the shock. He fell sick. His biggest worry was the possible take over of his kingdom by British. That time British used to take over the kingdoms of the rulers who died without legal heir. It was their new ploy to usurp kingdoms to extend their colonial rule. Governor General Lord Dalhousie had passed a law to that effect. Raja Gangadhar Rao had no other child. He discussed the matter with his queen and a child carrying the family blood was adopted and named Damodar Rao. He was to be the heir to the Jhansi throne.
The fate was perhaps just waiting for this. As soon as the adoption rituals got completed, Raja Gangadhar Rao passed away. It was another tragedy for Laxmibai shortly after the death of her infant son. She cried at the double tragedy. Very soon she controlled her grief bravely as her conscience reminded her of her duty. Her adopted son was yet a child and the state had to be run. She took charge of the reins of the state and began to rule on behalf of the minor heir Damodar Rao.
But the evil eye of the colonial British Rule had already fallen on Jhansi. Lord Dalhousie had begun moves to usurp the princely state of Jhansi. Those moves aggravated the situation which led to the uprising of 1857 or India’s First Independence Struggle against the colonial rule.
In all sections of Indian society the dissatisfaction and anger against the exploitation of the natives by the British East India Company had spread fast. A country- wide mood of rebellion was building up. Every greedy move of the British was fuelling the public ire. Their policies had been hitting the princely states, the rights of the native royalty, farmers, workers, labourers, artisans and traders. Native sepoys were feeling hurt by the unsensitiveness of the white officers. All sections were seething in anger inwardly but none had the courage to rebel openly. Rani Laxmibai was running the affairs of Jhansi. Some soldiers of Jhansi had killed British officers. Women and Children were not touched. The surviving British officers, women and children took refuge in Jhansi fort where Laxmibai gave them full protection.
Meanwhile mutiny by native sepoys had broken out all over military garrisons. It started from Meerut cantonment. The British had supplied cartridges to army that required a covering bitten off with teeth before use. The coverings were laced with lard, cow and pig fat. It hurt the religious sentiments of Hindu and Muslim sepoys. The soldiers mutinied. The uprising spread out to rulers and other angry sections of the society. The bloodshed was taking place all over north India.
But ironically the British were safe in the fort of Jhansi under the protection of Laxmibai.
Rani Laxmibai had thought that British would appreciate her role and let Jhansi remain independent by accepting her adopted son Damodar Rao as the valid king of the state in gratitude. The protected British in the fort assured her that Lord Dalhousie would do her justice. But Dalhousie did not oblige. Infact, he accused that the British had not received the kind of protection they needed. It was a subterfuge. The soldiers of Jhansi who had killed the British officers had the connivance of Rani Laxmibai, it was alleged. On the pretext Lord Dalhousie sent a huge force under Commander Hurose to seize Jhansi in March, 1858. British resident Ellis delivered a message to Rani that if she agreed to the merger of her kingdom in British empire she would get a pension of Rs. 5,000/- a month and a palace in Jhansi for the residence of her family. Rani Laxmibai rejected the offer and declared war against the British rule.
Laxmibai regrouped her army. To her friends Sundri, Mundri and Kashibai she gave the charge of the task of raising women battalions for the battle.
A couple of days later Hurose launched an attack on Jhansi fort.
For 12 days Rani Laxmibai did not allow the British to enter her fort. She held them at bay. But how long could her small force hold? She and her men were tiring out. Then, Laxmibai decided to draw the British force away from the fort to save her citizens from the oppression of the British and unnecessary bloodshed. She tied her adopted son Damodar Rao to her back like a back-pack, rode her horse and sped out of the fort brandishing her sword. With a small band of her daredevil soldiers Laxmibai cut through the enemy line like a streak of lightning.
Rani kept on battling exchanging charges with the enemy. The rivers and streams she crossed on horseback and reached Kalpi with her band. There Tatya Tope and Rao Saheb joined her with a big force. Hurose trailing her also reached Kalpi with his army. The two sides engaged in a bloody battle. She was battling with her son as her back-pack. She was charging with swords in both of her hands. In teeth she held the reins of her horse. But Hurose had a large force and he had modern artillery. His cannons were firing shells. Rani Laxmibai and Rao Saheb had to flee to Gwalior.
The royal family of Gwalior was loyal to British. But Tatya Tope had won over most of the soldiers of the Gwalior army in the prevailing anti-British mood. After a little fight Gwalior fort was in the possession of Laxmibai and her allies. Hurose was still in the chase. He laid a siege of Gwalior fort. For two days Laxmibai held the fort and battled on. On the third day she came out with her soldiers and fought fiercely.
At that point of time Rao Saheb and Tatya Tope were battling on other fronts some distance away. Rani wanted to join her forces with one of them and fight the enemy with combined force with telling effect. Three of them together could put the enemy on the back foot.
She tried to cut through the enemy lines but some British soldiers blocked her path and surrounded her. A hand to hand battle broke out. Her soldiers were getting cut down. Only a few remained. Then, her horse sped away with her. The white soldiers followed her. The horse was by now very tired. At a rivulet gorge it stopped. It was too tired to leap over it.
Rani Jhansi pushed her horse for a last attempt but the exhausted horse could not respond. The enemy had by now caught up with her. A British soldier hit Rani Laxmibai on the head with his sword. It inflicted a deep wound to her head and an eye. A Jhansi soldier who had managed to reach there did not waste time in beheading that white soldier. Then a few more of her soldiers also caught up with them and looked at Rani with grave concern.
Rani said to them, “See to it that the enemy does not touch my body.”
The soldiers carried Rani Laxmibai to a nearby hut of a sadhu. There she passed away soon after. The soldiers included a Muslim called Gul Mohammad. He took the royal insignia off the dead Rani and put it in the neck of five year old Damodar Rao. A Maratha soldier tied the boy on his back as pack and slipped away to safety. There was no time for preparing a funeral pyre. The soldiers of Rani Jhansi, Laxmibai and her forever friend Mundri who had stuck close to her all the time were placed side by side. The soldiers made their last obeisance and the hut was put on fire to give funeral to the martyrs.
The soldiers departed but not the faithful Gul Mohammad. He stayed there the night and kept the fire burning by feeding it wood lying about. Before dawn he covered the mound of ashes with soil and stones to give it a shape of a tomb.
The next day, British soldiers arrived there and asked, “Whose grave is this?”
Gul Mohammad said, “It is mazaar of our great peer. A mighty one the peer was. Bow your heads to it and get blessed.”
That spot at desolate place now has no grand monument but the passersby bow their heads in reverence because the one who died there made legendary monument in every Indian heart.
