Gangadhar Rao, Raja of Jhansi, decided to adopt a son as he had no surviving child by his wife, Laxmibai, who is known to history as the Rani of Jhansi. On November 20, 1853, he died.


Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of India, did not recognize the adopted son as the legitimate heir and ordered the annexation of Jhansi to the East India Company’s dominions in India. The debate as to the rights and wrongs of this move are lengthy and complex; suffice it to say that Lord Dalhousie was only conforming to the wishes of his masters in London. And since the Crown determined the EIC’s political policies, he was also indirectly conforming to the wishes of the British government.


Using the Doctrine of Lapse, Lord Dalhousie also annexed several other kingdoms, and the Doctrine became the root cause of the 1857 Mutiny.


Indian queens had no independent authority of their own. In fact, had the British not outlawed the barbarous custom of Sati, Laxmibai would have been expected to follow her husband in Death by immolating herself on his funeral pyre.


Also in fact, Laxmibai of Jhansi originally continued to serve her British overlords, with fidelity and honesty, even as she continued arguing her son’s case for secession.


When the Mutiny erupted and Jhansi sepoys of the East India Company took up arms against the British, she continued to remain loyal. She aided the rebels only at the point of their guns, and immediately informed the British of events.


The British appointed her as their agent and gave her full authority to govern, which she did without wavering in her duty despite the foul blow dealt her infant son by the British.


The British, however, did not trust her and soon it became evident to Laxmibai that when law and order was restored in Central India, which included Bundelkhand, which in turn included Jhansi, they would come for her to arrest her as a traitor.


Faced with the imminent likelihood of execution, Laxmibai then – and only then – revolted against the British.

The Rani of Jhansi

• 1835 She is born. Some sources say her birth date lies in 1830.
• 1842 She is married to the King of Jhansi.
• 1851 Rani Lakshmi Bai gave birth to a son.
• 1853 She is widowed, and her adopted son deprived of his kingdom by the British