Re: Durgavati or Laxmibai?

[Guest guest]

You are right Anshu,

I have made the correction...

Sorry,

Ravin '82

> Dear Ravin,

>

> <You may have heard

> about the 'Gond' queen " Rani Durgavati " ( " Jhansi ki rani " ). >

>

> If I'm not mistaken, Jhansi ki rani was Laxmibai, not Durgavati.

Her's is a different story. At least that's what I remember from the

Amar Chitra Kathas I read as a kid.

> Correct me if I am wrong.

>

> Anshu

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Anshu,

I was thinking the same and was meaning to ask Ravin.

Ravin,

Amar Chitra Kathas and my central school history books all mention Laxmibai

as Jhansi ki Rani and she was part of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 that the

britishers squashed. She had her infant son tied to her back when she went

to battle.

Rani Durgavati on the other hand was not a Gond by birth. She belonged to a

upper caste but married a Gond prince whom she fell in love with. When her

husband, the Gond king died, she became their queen and ruled for many years

before the Mughals surrounded her kingdom (when one of her minister' turned

treacherous). She died fighting and was never taken alive or raped as far I

know.

Sadhana '85

Durgavati or Laxmibai?

> Dear Ravin,

>

> <You may have heard

> about the 'Gond' queen " Rani Durgavati " ( " Jhansi ki rani " ). >

>

> If I'm not mistaken, Jhansi ki rani was Laxmibai, not Durgavati. Her's is

a different story. At least that's what I remember from the Amar Chitra

Kathas I read as a kid.

> Correct me if I am wrong.

>

> Anshu

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Sadhana, Anshu,

You are both right. It was a mixup on my part.

Laxmibai (Jhansi) and Tatiya Tope were involved in that fight. Most of the

images you see in school textbooks have her child (I think it was a son)

strapped on her back.

I did not know that Rani Durgavati was not a " Gond " . For the simple reason

that she is known as the " Gond Queen " (like I said there is a museum

dedicated to her in Jabalpur.

There are other parts of the story I can't really recollect or remember, for

example it is said that she had sent a written complaint to Jehangir about

some tax-collector who was harassing her. Her message was ignored, and when

this minister came to know about the complaint he decided to finish her off.

She fled with a small army, was surrounded and killed just South of

Jabalpur, where her samadhi lies. It is said, she asked her " mahout " to kill

her with his spear as she feared she would be raped. But the mahout refused,

simply saying he could not do it. So she took the mahout's spear and killed

herself.

As far as the Bundela queen - Rani Laxmibai, like I said earlier, she was

humiliated and killed. Our books do not mention that but most old-timers

(including my 91 year old father) say that her son was beheaded and she was

raped and killed (and this happened during the war in front of the

armies)...

Ravin '82

[Guest guest]

Dear Ravin,

You are right about how Rani Durgavati died- I remember that from my story

books. Re Laxmibai- to think that she went through such inhuman experience

speaks volumes not only about colonising armies but also about inept,

impotent, traitorous residents/citizens. I mean, how could a country as

small as one of our states manage to occupy us for so long?? I often ask

this que but it makes me confront a very uncomfortable emotion in me- that

individual greed came in the way and mattered more than honour, dignity,

love for country to such traitors.

My maternal grandfather (Unnikrishnan Menon) was a renowned freedom fighter

in his " adopted " town Karaikudi. He ran away from home in kerala at 18 yrs

to join the freedom struggle and like many such people he spent most of his

life in Alipore jail, the jails in Pune and Madras. My grand mother used to

tell us how she once went looking for his body after the British army (with

its INDIAN soldiers) went on a stampede and " rode " on these people staging

some protest.

Thankfully, he did not live long enough to see India revert back to her

corrupt, treacherous ways. I mean, how can our politicians, bigwigs etc

plunder their own country and not feel ashamed is beyond my understanding-

maybe I am being harsh in my judgement but I think as a nation we have

forgotten the sacrifices our forefathers/mothers made. What surprises me is

that most of the morally corrupt individuals come from the age group that

actually experienced colonization and the transition to free India.

SAdhana '85

Re: Durgavati or Laxmibai?

> Dear Sadhana, Anshu,

>

> You are both right. It was a mixup on my part.

>

> Laxmibai (Jhansi) and Tatiya Tope were involved in that fight. Most of the

> images you see in school textbooks have her child (I think it was a son)

> strapped on her back.

>

> I did not know that Rani Durgavati was not a " Gond " . For the simple reason

> that she is known as the " Gond Queen " (like I said there is a museum

> dedicated to her in Jabalpur.

>

> There are other parts of the story I can't really recollect or remember,

for

> example it is said that she had sent a written complaint to Jehangir about

> some tax-collector who was harassing her. Her message was ignored, and

when

> this minister came to know about the complaint he decided to finish her

off.

> She fled with a small army, was surrounded and killed just South of

> Jabalpur, where her samadhi lies. It is said, she asked her " mahout " to

kill

> her with his spear as she feared she would be raped. But the mahout

refused,

> simply saying he could not do it. So she took the mahout's spear and

killed

> herself.

>

> As far as the Bundela queen - Rani Laxmibai, like I said earlier, she was

> humiliated and killed. Our books do not mention that but most old-timers

> (including my 91 year old father) say that her son was beheaded and she

was

> raped and killed (and this happened during the war in front of the

> armies)...

>

> Ravin '82

>

>

>

> ------------------------------

> Website: www.mgims.org

> ------------------------------

>