Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
Jhansi Rani Lakshmi Bai
Lakshmi Bai was born on 19 November 1835 at Kashi (Presently known as
Varanasi). Her father Moropanth was a brahmin and her mother Bhagirathibai was
cultured, intelligent and religious. Born Manikarnika, she was affectionately
called Manu in her family. Manu lost her mother at the age of four, and
responsibility for the young girl fell to her father. She completed her
education and martial training, which included horse riding, fencing and
shooting, when she was still a child.
She married Raja Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of Jhansi in 1842, and became
the Rani of Jhansi. After the marriage she was given the name Lakshmi Bai. The
ceremony of the marriage was perform in Ganesh Mandir, the temple of Lord
Ganesha situated in the old city of Jhansi. Rani Lakshmi Bai gave birth to a son
in 1851, but this child died when he was about four months old. After this, the
couple adopted Damodar Rao as their son. Maharaja Gangadhar Rao also expired on
21 November 1853, when Lakshmi Bai was 18 years old.
At that time Lord Dalhousie was the Governer General of British India. Though
little Damodar Rao, adopted son of late Maharaja Gangadhar Rao and Rani Lakshmi
Bai was Maharaja's heir and successor as per the Hindu tradition, the British
rulers rejected Rani's claim that Damodar Rao was their legal heir. Lord
Dalhousie decided to annex the state of Jhansi under the Doctrine of Lapse.
In March 1854 the British announced an annual pension of Rs. 60,000 for Rani
and also ordered to leave the Jhansi fort. But Rani Lakshmi Bai was determined
to defend Jhansi. She proclaimed her decision with the famous words :'Mai apni
Jhansi nahi doongi' (I will not give up my Jhansi).
Rani Lakshmi Bai started strengthening the defense of Jhansi and she
assembled a volunteer army of patriots. Women were also recruited and given
military training. Rani was accompanied by her generals Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost
Khan, Khuda Baksh, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Sunder-Mundar, Kashi Bai, Deewan
Raghunath Singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh. Many from the local population
volunteered for service in the army ranks, with the popular support for her
cause on the rise.
When the Revolt of 1857 broke out, Jhansi became a center of the rebellion. A
small group of British officials took refuge in Jhansi's fort, and the Rani
negotiated their evacuation. When the British left the fort, they were massacred
by the rebels. Although the massacre probably occurred without the Rani's
consent and she protested her innocence, she stood accused by the British.
In September and October of 1857, the Rani led the successful defense of
Jhansi from the invading armies of the neighboring rajas of Datia and Orchha. In
March of 1858, the British Army advanced on Jhansi, and laid siege to the city.
After two weeks of fighting the British captured the city, but the Rani escaped
the city in the guise of a man,strapping her adopted son Damodar Rao closely on
her back.
She regrouped in the town of Kalpi where Tatia Tope other patriots joined
her. On June 1, she and her allies captured the fortress city of Gwalior from
the Sindhia rulers, who were British allies. She died three weeks later at the
start of the British assault, when she was hit by a spray of bullets while
riding on the fortress ramparts. The British captured Gwalior three days later.
The 22 year-old Rani was cremated nearby.
Rani Lakshmi Bai, the queen of Jhansi, a Maratha-ruled princely state of
northern India, was one of the great nationalist heroes of the Revolt of 1857,
and a symbol of resistance to British rule in India. The Rani earned the respect
of her British enemies for her bravery, and became a nationalist and feminist
hero in India. When the Indian National Army created its first female unit, it
was named after her.
