Rani laxmi bai photo

Story: I am posting this as it appeared in the New Indian Express, 18th November 2009….i captured the photograph from the newspaper, using my cellphone, and am posting it alongside the write-up.. A freedom fighter from Belgaum claims that he is in possession of the Original photograph of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. “The photograph was taken by Halfman, a British photographer, when the Rani was 15yrs old….”..says Vithal Rao Yalgi, an 86 yr old freedom fighter from Belgaum, Karnataka. Laxmibai was born in the year 1835 and the photograph was taken at the Jhansi palace in 1850. The photograph shows Laxmibai, with her traditional ornaments, which were given to her by Nanasaheb Peshwa of Pune, who also joined her in the freedom struggle against the British.The Rani’s photo was? exhibited in Bhopal on August 19th and the Academicians of the History department of Bhopal University? also agreed that the photograph was indeed of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. Some of the original documents and records preserved by the Madhya Pradesh govt also support that the? picture taken by Halfman is original.Vithalrao Yalgi told Indian Express that he received the photograph from a person called Thakur, whose father and grandfather took part in the freedom struggle. Yalgi said that the photograph would be unveiled at the Swatantrya Yodha Bhavan in Belgaum on November 19th as that was the Birthday of Rani Laxmibai. Jhansi Rani Laxmi Bai Analysis: The story shows a photograph of a woman claiming it to be...

In the almost 150 years since she belatedly committed herself to the revolt known as the Indian Mutiny, Lakshmi Bai, the rani of Jhansi, has been the only leader to be described in positive terms by her adversaries. True, some reviled her as a villainess, but others admired her as a warrior queen. Indian nationalists of the early 20th century were less divided in venerating her as an early symbol of resistance to British rule. The future rani was born to a prominent Brahmin family in Benares (now Varanisi) in northern India on November 19, 1827. Formally named Manikarnika, she was called “Manu” by her parents. Her mother, Bhagirathi, died when she was 4. Under the care of her father, Moropant Tambe, her education included horsemanship, fencing and shooting. In 1842 she became the second wife of Gangadhar Rao Niwalkar, the childless raja of Jhansi, a principality in Bundelkhand. Renamed Lakshmi Bai, the young rani bore one son in 1851, but he died four months later. In 1853, following a serious illness, Gangadhar Rao adopted a distant cousin named Damodar Rao as his son— similarly, Gangadhar and the brother who had preceded him on the throne were adopted heirs. The adoption papers and a will naming the 5-year-old boy as Rao’s heir and the rani as regent were presented to a Major Ellis, who was serving as an assistant political agent at Jhansi on November 20, 1853. Gangadhar Rao died the following day. Ellis forwarded the information to his superior, Major John Malcolm. Elli...