Impact of the highly improbable – Part 12

Rani reached Kalpi and fought against the British forces with Tatia Tope and Rao Sahib.

The combined forces of Rani were, however, routed by General Rose at the battles of Poonch and Kalpi. Lakshmi Bai then reached Gwalior and established the Peshwa's authority after defeating the Maharaja Sindia. At last, when Rose attacked Gwalior, she fought stubbornly to the finish, sword in both hands and the reins of the horse in her mouth, and died a glorious death in the thick of battle. She was cremated in a nearby garden where a memorial was erected after independence in honour of her martyrdom.

Mahasweti Devi reports the brief remembrances of Damodar who was only a child at the time. One in particular tells of how one 'evening in Gwalior came back to his mind over and over again when a loving glance from a pair of enormous eyes seemed to reach out towards him and then move far off - it was as if his mother was going far away, where one could no longer touch her.'

Understandably the Rani's funeral was carried out very quickly after her death since none could guarantee that she would be dealt with proper respect if they delayed.

Lakshmibai had two 'maids of honour' who accompanied her from Jhansi. Fortunately we know little more than their names, Mandar and Kashi Kumbin. Mandar is said to have been a childhood friend of Lakshmibai and was killed in the same incident in which Lakshmibai was fatally wounded. Kashi had stayed behind to look after Damodar. It was Kashi, according to Devi, who prepared the Rani for her funeral pyre and who with another close attendant of the Rani's looked after Damodar for two years before surrendering him to the British with the promise of safety. She then disappears from history.

One has to be impressed by their loyalty and courage. Their indomitable spirit inspires us. But then there were many such people even more anonymous, their acts unknown to history. We can only acknowledge the deeds of a few, and they must also stand for all these others.

Two days later the rebels left Gwalior making no attempt to continue the fight. The death of Lakshmibai seems to have utterly demoralized them. The 'impregnable' fort of Gwalior was easily retaken by the British.

Rani was thus cheated twice by the British. First was the way in which they annexed Jhansi on the death of her husband, the Raja Gangadhar Rao in 1854. Second, when they unjustly accused her of involvement in the mutiny and massacre that occurred in Jhansi 3 years later. And this of course was Black Swans ignored by the East India Company.

As a result of the actions of the British, and others, she plunged into the Warfield, transforming herself as the leader of an army and the most important personality of the Indian Rebellion. With her death the rebellion was over. It did erupt again but that’s a subject of another post in this series.

Today her name is commonplace throughout India, renowned as a leader of the Rebellion. The Queen, who fought the first war of Indian independence despite the challenges it posed. She inspired many to follow suit.

 But according to me she was more than a martial leader. In her brief time she cast aside many conventions to unite people of all castes and religions in her cause. She put aside purdah, which she only observed with respect to the British in any case, encouraged other women to do the same and trained them to fight and support the army;

 Lakshmibai was not the only Jhansi women to die fighting the British. She cut across the social norms of the time, refusing to accept her fate 'as a woman'. She cared for all her people, and consulted with them at crucial times, and carried them with her.

I would talk in next post what happened to others, why Indians lost the first war of Indian independence and what happened to the East India Company after the rebellion.

But this post is not for that.

I would like to have this post as a tribute to the remarkable women. It does not matter whether you are fighting with sword or with words. If you are fighting for your right while doing your duty then you are indeed a Lakshmi Bai.

In 1942, an all-women regiment of the Indian National Army formed to fight British colonial rule, was named in honour of the Rani of Jhansi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rani_of_Jhansi_Regiment)

Indeed Rani is a symbol of Women empowerment.

Mahasweta Devi in her book Queen of Jhansi writes as follows (a small extract)

“Everywhere in Jhansi, Kalpi and Gwalior – ordinary people will tell you that the Queen will never die. Halfway between Bhandir and Jhansi people will tell you, that even now, Bai Saheba (Rani) sometimes appears at midnight. She is dashing off with her young son in the mare sarangi. In the faint moonlight, Bai Saheba’s pearl necklace and sword can be clearly seen. The ancient man who sells grass would say he has seen Rani Lakshmibai standing still as a painting on the fort wall. Tell them she is dead they would say “You just don’t know that’s all. The Queen hasn’t died! “Baisaheba jarur jinda houni”

Then where is Rani Lakshmibai?

Even today Rani Lakshmi bai is invoked and worshipped daily in Bundelkhand as goddess Durga, as Shakthi.

Is all the reverence people feel towards her just and overflow of emotion? Was there no basis for it? If we want to know that, we will have to go back in time and see the Bundelkhand 100 years ago. English trampled upon the heart of India with their booted feet and India let out a cry of pain from her broken ribs. It erupted as the rebellion

Rani Lakshmibai was an expression of what India felt in those times

Devi says “One truth rises above countless mistakes, flaws weaknesses and defeats of those days and that is of the first conscious rebellion taking place against the stranglehold of the foreign rule. As long as we are aware of that, the name of Rani Lakshmibai will be etched in our memory. No one will forget the Queen, even if there is no worthy memorial raised to her. As long as people insist “Rani margay na houni’ – The queen did not die, the Queen will be alive. It’s true that her body was consigned to flames on 17^th June 1858, but she is immortal. The Queen of Jhansi lives for ever in the heart of her people. In a sense she achieved what she desired; her name and that of Jhansi are inextricably linked, Jhansi will be 'hers' forever.”

If you want to find her, you will have to go to those places and get to know the people who still believe with all their hearts that their Bai Saheba never died. Then, out of the belief of these uneducated, poor, farming men and women, slowly the image of a unique woman will appear – an amazing woman from India’s lost days.

To be continued…

Impact of the highly improbable – Part 11

We saw in the previous post about Jokhan Bagh incident and how British views on Rani became coloured by prejudice post that incident. After the Jokhan Bagh incident the mutineers left Jhansi. Rani then immediately had to deal with a rival claimant to the Raja's throne, and estate. Shortly after the mutineers left Jhansi, Sadasheo Rao Narain attempted a coup, but was easily foiled, and taken prisoner. (He was found in prison by the British and hanged by them after they retook Jhansi.)

Rani then defended Jhansi against attacks by Orchha. The forces of Orchha laid siege to Jhansi between the 3rd and 22nd of October 1857 whilst claiming to be acting for the British. The British as usual ignored her pleas for help in defending Jhansi. But however Rani won these battles.

Post this Rani strengthened the army and defenses. The fort became almost impenetrable. Events were leading to her final confrontation with the British.

By the end of 1857 the British had dealt with the bigger problems of Delhi and Oudh enabling them to turn their attention on the smaller ones, like Jhansi. The Rani had received no further communications from the British

On the 6th of January, a British force under Sir Hugh Rose, accompanied by Hamilton, marched northwards towards Jhansi. Their intension was very clear with the way they behaved on their journey. They simply massacred anyone they thought to be a rebel with or without evidence. They plundered and did not stop to any warnings and objections.

According to British, Rani was 'the Jezebel of India ... the young, energetic, proud, uncompromising Rani, and upon her head rested the blood of the [British] slain, and a punishment as awful awaited her'. (For those who want to know who is Queen Jezebal refer - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jezebel)

Lakshmi Bai was prepared. She raised a force of 14,000 volunteers from the population and 1,500 sepoys, made contact with the rebels, strengthened the defenses and prepared for the arrival of the British. 

Intelligence Report (quoting from Paul) dated the 7th Feb 1858 from Sir Robert Hamilton says that:-

“Although the Rani proposes not to fight the British government yet she makes every hostile arrangement. Six new large guns have been manufactured; carriages for these and old guns are in the course of construction. About 200 mounds of saltpetre being purchased in the Gwalior district had been bought into the fort. Gunpowder is daily made within the fort. Eight gunners from the Moorar rebels were sent from Kalpi and have been taken into service. They superintend the manufacturing of brass balls.”

It should be noted that even without the approaching British force, the Rani had every reason to prepare Jhansi's defenses not against the British, but against Jhansi's more aggressive neighbours, Orchha in particular.

The British forces started its attack on Jhansi. For 10 days they bombarded the fort. And for every attack Rani’s forces fought back with equal vigor.

      Image of Jhansi Fort defended by Rani (Courtesy: Wikipedia)

        

       The Kadak Bijili canon used in the uprising of 1857

       

      

A rebel force under command of Tatya Tope arrived to defend Rani but they were defeated because they were disorganized.

The British bribed the gate keeper of the fort of Jhansi and entered it.

At 3am, the 3rd April 1858, British troops stormed into Jhansi. The fighting is said to have been intense. Rani led it with such a force that British were indeed surprised. She with her women army was often visible to the British. They came face to face with Rani, directing and encouraging the resistance.

Another Brave woman, Jhalkari Korin, is said to have masqueraded as the Rani and was captured as such by the British. She was unmasked only when she was bought before Rose. Her fate is uncertain. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhalkaribai)

       

Equestrian statue of Jhalkaribai in Gwalior

     

      

    

     

At some point Rani decided to escape from Jhansi to get better support and fight back. 

      The famous jumping point at Jhansi 

       From this point, Rani is said to have jumped on her horse to escape.(Source: Wikipedia)

     

Lakshmi Bai escaped to Kalpi, on horseback, with her son tied on her back, to prepare for another encounter in conjunction with Tatya Tope and Rao Sahib. She was given a warm welcome in Kalpi.

In Jhansi, the slaughter continued. The British soldiers "eagerly exceeding their orders'' (Hibbert). A Hindu priest, Vishnu Godse, who was there and wrote of his experiences, 'recalled four days of fire, pillage, murder and looting without distinction' (Fraser). Rose had instructed his troops to 'spare no one over sixteen - except women of course'. Some of those who could not escape threw themselves with their wives and children down the wells of the town.

In the words of Godse:

[After the massacre and looting had finished] In the squares of the city ... hundreds of corpses [were collected] in large heaps and covered with wood, floorboards and anything that came handy and set on fire. Now every square blazed with burning bodies and the city looked like one vast burning ground ... It became difficult to breathe as the air stank with the odour of burning human flesh and the stench of rotting animals in the streets.

What happened to Rani then?

To be continued…

Impact of the highly improbable – Part 10

In the last post we saw how Rani, during the years of retirement was meticulous in her religious observances and she practiced rifle and pistol shooting, horse riding and physical exercise every day.

In the early months of 1857, the tallow greased cartridges triggered the sepoy mutiny.

When news of the mutiny in Meerut reached Jhansi, the Rani asked permission to raise a small bodyguard for her own protection, a measure to which Captain Skene readily agreed. Skene and the other British officers failed to take the Rani's lead to protect themselves against a possible mutiny despite Rani’s warnings.

 During these time British left the Jhansi under the control of Rani. The city was indeed relatively calm in the midst of unrest in the region. Rani even conducted the Haldi kumkum ceremony (The Haldi Kumkum ceremony, is a social gathering in India in which married women exchange haldi (turmeric) and kumkum (vermilion powder), as a symbol of their married status and wishing for their husbands' long lives. Source Wikipedia) with pomp which reassured the people that Jhansi was safe. This was done to assure people that they need not be worried about British or Riots.

      Image of Ganesh Mandir Jhansi (Source: Wikipedia)

In June 1857 a few men of the 12th Bengal Native Infantry seized the fort containing the treasure, and massacred the European officers of the garrison along with their wives and children. (Rani’s forces did not kill any East India Company officials and their wives and children in Jokhan Bagh on 8 June 1857 but she was subsequently accused by the British of that.)

      Image of Jokhan Bagh (Source: Wikipedia)

It is said that the survivors in the Town Fort appealed to the Rani for help.

But with limited military power and having no influence over the mutineers it became obvious that she could not do anything.

Her actual response is unknown, there are several versions. Antonia Fraser's favoured version is 'What can I do? ... If you wish to save yourself, abandon the fort, no-one will injure you'. I assume that at the time the mutineers were not acting against the fort, and that she was stating that the people of Jhansi would not harm them. In this respect she could grant them the implied safe conduct, but whatever she replied they choose to stay put.

On the 7th June, the Town Fort was besieged by the mutineers and the fort surrendered. Safe passage was granted by the mutineers, but just outside Jhansi, in the Jokan Bagh, one of the rebel leaders ordered their deaths.

The mutineers left Jhansi after this incident. She gave mutineers money being threatened by the fact that they could do more damages and commit more atrocities.  (Some British historians, subsequently pushed this further, or at least misinterpreted it, and made her responsible for the mutiny itself.)

Post Jokhan Bagh incident, the mutineers left to Delhi

Rani wrote letters to British explaining the incidents. Major Ellis had reported that she had helped the mutineers with guns, men and money. Despite evidence, other than the Rani's account, that the assistance had been extracted from her under duress, there was a view that she gave willing assistance for the Jokhan Bagh massacre. From that point the official British view of Rani became hostile and coloured by prejudice and preconceived notion.

That is when Rani decided that she should fight against British and she took her famous sword.

Many might say that Rani was forced to take this decision and it does not show her bravery.

Am only reminded of the lines from Harry Potter:

These lines appear when Dumbledore explains and Harry understands the prophesy they he is to fight evil Voldemort.

“He understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew – and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents – that there was all the difference in the world.”

And that’s what I would say of Rani. She chose to walk into the arena with her head held high. And it does make all the difference.

After due deliberation the Rani issued a proclamation: "We fight for independence. In the words of Lord Krishna, we will if we are victorious, enjoy the fruits of victory, if defeated and killed on the field of battle, we shall surely earn eternal glory and salvation."

      What happened after that?

To be continued…