Rani Lakshmi Bai

Rani Lakshmi Bai was the queen of the princely state of Jhansi in North India and a leader of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. She was born as Manikarnika Tambe in a Brahmin family in Kashi, where she received education in martial arts, horse riding, and fencing. She married Gangadhar Rao, the maharaja of Jhansi, in 1842 and became the rani of Jhansi. She adopted a son, Damodar Rao, as her heir after the death of her biological son and her husband. However, the British East India Company refused to recognize the adoption and annexed Jhansi under the Doctrine of Lapse in 1853. The rani resisted the British attempts to take over her state and joined the rebellion of 1857, which broke out in Meerut. She became the regent of Jhansi and mobilized her troops to fight against the British. She defended Jhansi from the siege of the British forces led by Sir Hugh Rose in March 1858, but had to flee the fort when the British breached the walls. She escaped to Kalpi, where she joined other rebel leaders like Nana Sahib and Tantia Tope. She then moved to Gwalior, where she captured the fort and proclaimed Nana Sahib as the peshwa of the Maratha Empire. She died on 18 June 1858, while fighting against the British troops at the Battle of Kotah-ki-Serai near Gwalior. She was wounded by a sabre and shot by a carbine. She asked a hermit to burn her body, so that the British could not capture it. She was cremated at Phool Bagh in Gwalior. She is remembered as one of the bravest and most inspirational women in Indian history, who fought for her rights and her country's freedom with courage and valour.