Rani Laxmibai: The Freedom Fighter

Rani Lakshmi bai of Jhansi was born under a different name -- Manikarnika Tambe.

Rani Lakshmi Bai or Jhansi ki Rani, the queen of Jhansi was one of the leading figures of the Rebellion of 1857. For Indian nationalists, she became an icon for the freedom struggle against the British Raj for Indian.

November 19, the birth anniversary of Rani Lakshmi Bai, is celebrated as Martyr's Day in Jhansi to honor the lives lost in the Rebellion of 1857. The East India Company took advantage of the Maharaja's death and applied the Doctrine of Lapse. Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi, the young queen who became an icon against the British Raj.

Much important information about Rani Lakshmi Bai is:

(1) Rani Lakshmi Bai, one of the warriors of India's struggle for Independence, was born as Manikarnika Tambe in 1828 in Varanasi.

(2) She lost her mother at the age of four and was raised in an unconventional way by her father who worked as an advisor in the court of Peshwa.

(3) In 1842, Lakshmi Bai got married to Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the Maharaja of Jhansi and got the name of Rani Lakshmi Bai. Few years after marriage, in 1851, Manikarnika gave birth to a boy but he couldn't survive and died after four months.

(4) Then Lakshmi Bai and Gangadhar Rao adopted Rao's cousin's son, Anand Rao, who was later renamed as Damodar.

(6) Soon after they adopted Anand, Maharaja died due to an illness in 1853. Rani Lakshmi Bai was just 18 at that time.

The fearless queen of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai was one of the leading fighters to become an icon for the freedom struggle against Britishers.

By: Parth Aggarwal

School: S.D. Public School

Class: 8th