She had clenched the reins of her horse between her teeth. She was wielding swords with both hands and striking blows on both sides at once.
Before him, another Englishman, John Lang, had also seen Rani Lakshmibai closely — but not on the battlefield, rather inside her residence.
When the British declared the adoption of Damodar Rao illegal, Rani Lakshmibai had to leave her palace in Jhansi.
She took refuge in a simple three-storey house called Rani Mahal.
Rani had hired the services of lawyer John Lang, who had recently won a case against the British government. Lang was born in Australia and used to publish a newspaper called Mofussilite in Meerut.
About his meeting with the Rani, Lang wrote:
“Rani Lakshmibai was sitting behind a curtain in a corner of the tent. Suddenly her adopted son Damodar removed the curtain.
The Rani was a strongly built woman of medium height. In her youth her face must have been very beautiful, but even now the charm had not faded. One thing I didn’t like much — her face was a little too round.
Yes, her eyes were very beautiful, and her nose quite delicate. Her complexion was not very fair.
She wore no jewellery except gold earrings. She had draped a white muslin sari, whose softness outlined the shape of her body clearly.”
Meanwhile, Captain Roderick Briggs decided that he would personally try to attack the Rani.
But each time he attempted so, the Rani’s horsemen surrounded him and attacked, trying their best to distract him.
After injuring and killing some men, Roderick spurred his horse and advanced toward the Rani.
At the same moment, from behind Roderick, General Rose’s highly skilled camel regiment made its entry. Rose had kept this unit in reserve.
He intended to use it for a counterattack. The sudden arrival of this unit revived the British morale. The Rani sensed this instantly.
John Henry Sylvester, who fought in that battle, wrote in his book Recollections of the Campaign in Malwa and Central India:
“Suddenly the Rani shouted loudly, ‘Follow me!’ A group of fifteen horsemen followed her.
She withdrew from the battlefield so quickly that it took the British soldiers a few seconds just to realise what was happening.
Suddenly Roderick shouted to his men, ‘That’s the Rani of Jhansi, catch her!’”
The Rani and her companions had barely travelled a mile when Captain Briggs’ horsemen caught up with them at a place called Kota ki Sarai.
A new battle began. For every one of the Rani’s soldiers, there were two British soldiers fighting.
Suddenly the Rani was struck in the chest by a bayonet. She turned swiftly and attacked the man who had struck her.
The wound was not very deep, but it was bleeding heavily. As she galloped ahead, a small stream came before her.
She thought she would make the horse leap across it. Then no one could catch her.
She urged the horse, but instead of jumping it stopped so abruptly that she nearly toppled over its neck.
She tried again, but the horse refused to move even an inch. Just then she felt a sharp blow on the left side of her waist.
She had been shot.
The sword in her left hand fell to the ground. She pressed her waist with that hand to stem the blood.
Antonia Fraser writes in her book The Warrior Queen:
“By then a British soldier had reached the side of her horse. He raised his sword to strike her.
The Rani too lifted her sword to block the blow.
His sword struck her head so violently that her forehead split open and she became nearly blind from the blood flowing into her eyes.”
Even then, the Rani used all her strength to strike back. But she only managed to wound the soldier’s shoulder.
She fell from the horse.
One of her soldiers jumped down, lifted her in his arms, and carried her to a nearby temple. The Rani was still alive.
The temple priest moistened her dried lips with drops of Ganga water from a small bottle. She was in a terrible state, slowly losing consciousness.
Outside the temple courtyard, firing continued. After killing the last of the defenders, the British soldiers assumed the job was done.
But Roderick shouted:
“They have gone inside the temple. Attack! The Rani is still alive!”
Inside, priests had begun the final prayers for her.
One of the Rani’s eyes was closed due to the cut caused by the British soldier’s dagger.
She opened her other eye with great difficulty. Everything looked blurred. She spoke with great effort:
“...Damodar... I leave him in your... care... take him to the cantonment... hurry, take him...”
She tried to remove the pearl necklace from her neck but couldn’t. She fainted again.
The priest removed the necklace and placed it in the hands of a bodyguard:
“Keep it... for Damodar.”
The Rani’s breathing became rapid. Blood from her wounds was entering her lungs. Slowly she began to drown.
Suddenly life surged back into her for a moment. She said:
“The British must not get my body.”
Her head tilted to the side. There was one final movement of breath — and then silence.
The Rani of Jhansi had passed away.
Her bodyguards quickly collected some firewood, placed her body on it, and set it aflame.
All around, the sound of rifle fire grew louder. Hundreds of British soldiers had reached the temple.
Inside, only three rifles were still firing back. First one fell silent… then the second… then the third.
When the British entered the temple, everything was silent. Roderick Briggs entered first.
Dozens of blood-soaked bodies of soldiers and priests lay around. Not a single man was alive.
They were looking for only one body.
Then they saw a funeral pyre whose flames were dying. Roderick stamped on it to extinguish it.
He saw the charred remains of a human body. The Rani’s bones were almost entirely reduced to ash.
Captain Clement Walker Henny, who fought in that battle, later wrote about the Rani’s final moments:
“Our resistance had ended. Surrounded by a few soldiers, a weapon-wielding woman was trying to inspire her men with gestures and loud commands, but to little effect.
Within minutes we overpowered her too.
A soldier’s dagger struck her head — and it was all over.
Later we learned the woman was none other than the Rani of Jhansi.”
Rani Lakshmibai’s son Damodar was safely taken away from the battlefield.
Ira Mukhoty writes in her book Heroines:
“Damodar surrendered to the British in 1860, two years later.
He was given a pension.
He died at the age of 58, completely impoverished.
His descendants still live in Indore and call themselves ‘Jhansiwale’.”
Two days later, Jayajirao Scindia hosted a feast in Gwalior to honour General Rose and Sir Robert Hamilton for their victory.
With the Rani’s death, the rebels’ courage was broken, and Gwalior fell to the British.
Nana Saheb escaped once again, but his trusted friend betrayed Tatya Tope.
Tatya Tope was captured and hanged from a tree near Shivpuri.
