|Rani of Jhansi| |Predecessor||Rani Rama Bai| |Consort
to||Jhansi Naresh Maharaj Gangadhar Rao Newalkar| |Royal
House||Maratha Empire| |Children||Damodar Rao, Anand Rao| She
was one of the leaders of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and for
Indian nationalists a symbol of resistance to the rule of the
British East India Company in India. The Rani was born
Manikarnika Tambe into a Marathi family. She married Raja
Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of Jhansi in 1842, and became the
Rani of Jhansi. After her marriage Manu-bai became Lakshmibai
Newalkar. Before her marriage, she was known as Chabeeli because
of her jolly ways. Rani Lakshmibai had a son, Damodar Rao, in
1851, but he died at the age of about four months. On the day
before the raja's death in November 1853 he adopted a son. His
name was Anand, but was renamed Damodar, after their actual son.
The raja wrote a letter to the British government of India
requesting that his widow should be recognised as the ruler of
Jhansi after his death during her lifetime. After