Rani Lakshmi Bai Some Myths & Legends

There are any number of myths and legends about and surrounding the Rani. Some are based on fact, some are simply not true.

The Rani was born in 1835. She was 22 when she died.
The Rani's husband, Gangadhar Rao, fought the British.
The Rani went into battle with her son tied to her back.
The Rani fought wielding a sword in each hand and controlling her horse with the reins between her teeth.
The Rani escaped from Jhansi by jumping her horse from the wall of the Fort.
The Rani fought the British to prevent the annexation of Jhansi.
The Rani rebelled to regain Jhansi.

The Rani was born in 1835. She was 22 when she died.

Not true.In all probability she was born round about 1828, making her 30-ish when she died.

The Rani's husband, Gangadhar Rao, fought the British.

Not true. He died in November 1853, three and a half years before the Great Rebellion broke out. In fact he, and his predecessors had cooperated with the British.

The Rani went into battle with her son tied to her back.

What sort of mother is it that would take her 10 year old son into the middle of a battle? What sort of soldier is it that would hamper herself with a 10 year old child tied to her back? The Rani may have had her faults but she was not stupid.

Nonetheless there is a part of truth in this one. When the Rani fled Jhansi she is said to have tied her son to her back for his safety.

The Rani fought wielding a sword in each hand and controlling her horse with the reins between her teeth.

Not true. This sort of extravagant display would only have resulted in an even earlier death. She did practice riding like this. One young man who witnessed this lived to be over 100 and testified to it.

The Rani escaped from Jhansi by jumping her horse from the wall of the Fort.

Not true. The western wall of the fort coincides with the city wall and so someone could escape from Jhansi by that route. However any horse making that jump would have been killed, the landing area is rock and slopes away from the wall very rapidly. Not possible. even if she had a miraculous horse capable of it, what of those who left with her?

At the time of her escape the British had broken through the city wall in the south and were fighting through the city. they had not, and were not able at that time to surround the Fort. She could have left by the gate.

The Rani fought the British to prevent the annexation of Jhansi.

Not true. The annexation of Jhansi and the mutiny and rebellion were entirely separate events over 3 years apart. The mutiny in Jhansi had nothing to do with the annexation other than the simple fact that if there had been no annexation there would have been no British unit in Jhansi to mutiny.

The Rani rebelled to regain Jhansi.

Not true. The Rani did not instigate the mutiny, nor did she support it. She resumed her role as Rani when the mutineers left as there was no other authority in Jhansi. The British initially approved and supported this action. She may well have had hopes regarding Jhansi's future but that is another matter.

Chauri Chaura the Unresolved Confusion

Chauri Chaura a sleepy tehsil town of Gorakhpur,UP. is remembered for the killing of 23 ill fated policemen

On February 4th,1922 on hearing that the sub inspector of Chauri Chaura police-station had assaulted some of the Congress volunteers at Mundera Bazar, an infuriated mob assembled before the police-station demanding explanation from the guilty official. It ultimately resulted in police firing killing 3 persons from crowd and several injured.The outraged mob set fire to the thana in which 23 policemen including the station officer were burnt alive.

Mahatma Gandhi was shaken by the violence of Chauri Chaura and abruptly called off the non-co-operation movement in 1922 when the movement was at its peak. Chauri Chaura, he said, was a 'divine warning' that the masses were not yet prepared for launching a non-violent struggle to gain freedom for the country.

For the Mahatma's critics, the suspension of the movement was a 'Himalayan mistake' at a crucial juncture of the freedom struggle when they felt Swaraj was only 'one inch away'.

Its said that Ghandi was somewhat confused about the eventual impact of Chauri Chaura. In March 1922, he wrote to Mahadev Desai, 'take it from me that Chauri Chaura has saved us from a conflagration and has brought Swaraj miles nearer.' He interpreted the event differently in 1930: 'if the march of nonviolence had not been interrupted by the events in Chauri Chaura, I make bold to say that we would have been today in full possession of Swaraj. The confusion remains unresolved to this day.

On Marriage
Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.