Rani Lakshmibai

In News 

• Recently, the Prime Minister of India has paid tributes to Rani Lakshmibai on her Jayanti.

About Rani Lakshmi Bai

• Lakshmi Bai was born on November 19, 1835, in Kashi, India. 

• Early Life: Brought up in the household of the Peshwa (ruler) Baji Rao II.                                                                                                       
  • She grew up with the boys in the Peshwa’s court and was trained in martial arts and became proficient in sword fighting and riding. 
• Marriage: She married the Maharaja of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao, but was widowed without bearing a surviving heir to the throne. 
• The Maharaja adopted a boy as his heir just before his death,
• Lord Dalhousie, the British governor-general of India, refused to recognize the adopted heir and annexed Jhansi in accordance with the Doctrine of Lapse.

• Uprising against the British: 
  • She refused to cede Jhansi to the British. Shortly after the beginning of the mutiny in 1857, which broke out in Meerut.
  • She was proclaimed the regent of Jhansi, and she ruled on behalf of the minor heir. 
  • Under Gen. Hugh Rose, the East India Company’s forces had begun their counteroffensive in Bundelkhand by January 1858. 
    • Advancing from Mhow, Rose captured Saugor (now Sagar) in February and then turned toward Jhansi in March. 
  • She offered stiff resistance to the invading forces and the rescuing army of Tantia Tope, another rebel leader, was defeated at the Battle of Betwa.
  • Tantia Tope and Lakshmi Bai then mounted a successful assault on the city-fortress of Gwalior. 
    • The treasury and the arsenal were seized, and Nana Sahib, a prominent leader, was proclaimed as the Peshwa (ruler).  
• Death: After taking Gwalior, Lakshmi Bai marched east to Morar to confront a British counterattack led by Rose.
  •  She fought a fierce battle and was killed in combat on June 17, 1858, near Gwalior.

Source: PIB