It is an undeniable fact that warriors and people of almost every state in British India fought tooth and nail against the oppression, injustice and brutality of foreign rulers, right from the time they wanted to impose their draconian rule on the native population. But our prejudiced textbooks don’t mention the brave feats of many of our ancestors who laid down their lives fighting foreign aggression. At the national level, while only a selected few are glorified, many a name has remained in oblivion even in regional history textbooks. As we are again warming up to celebrate the Independence Day this month, we may remember one such name whose courageous saga does not make it to the mainstream narrative, yet whose inspiring story lives through local folklore, theatre performances and written records that chronicled the events of the time.

Steadfast in her loyalty to her people and her throne, she is an icon of rebellion, sacrifice and martyrdom in a long and glowing history of fighting colonial rule. She is Avantibai, the queen of Ramgarh and one of the grittiest women in the history of Indian freedom struggle. Avantibai raised an army of 4,000 soldiers, trained them and herself led them in a battlefield against the British in 1857.While most of us are aware of the heroic feats of Rani Laxmibai, not many know the bravery of Avantibai Lodhi who was the wife of Maharaja Vikramaditya Singh, the ruler of Ramgarh estate of the present day Madhya Pradesh. Immortalised in history for her unflagging courage, resilience and indomitable spirit, Rani Avantibai is one of the few Indian rulers who won a battle against the British in 1857. After their defeat, the British attacked her kingdom with additional forces and destroyed many a standing structure besides killing many.

went in hiding in the dense forests on the hills of Devharigarh and started resorting to guerrilla warfare techniques in several successful attempts until she was surrounded by enemy troops. As she felt that her defeat was imminent and capture certain, she struck herself with her sword and attained martyrdom. Until death she did not let the British capture or touch her. On 20 March 1858, as she fell upon her sword, her last words are said to have been: “Our Durgavati vowed to never let the enemy get their hands on her while she lived. Don’t forget this.” In 2011, the HRD ministry made a suggestion to the NCERT to consider the inclusion of Rani Avantibai in school textbooks. The move came in the wake of an uproar made by some MPs in the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session of Parliament.

Following this, the NCERT decided to enter her name in the Class VIII Social Science textbook in the chapter titled ‘When People Rebel…” It is unfortunate that not much information is available about Avantibai’s early life. She was born on 16 August 1831 to a Lodhi-Rajput family of Madhya Pradesh. Since her childhood she was known to have been extremely independent and she took her training in archery, horse-riding and wielding a sword. Her political and combat education was strong enough to make her suitable for being a ruler. Blessed with a charismatic personality, she was married at a young age to Raja Vikramaditya Singh of Ramgarh.

When Vikramaditya Singh fell seriously ill, Avantibai in her early twenties took over the reins of Ramgarh and started ruling the state wisely. The eyes of the British rulers fell on Ramgarh when they heard that the king was bed-ridden for several days. They declared him unfit as a ruler and tried forcefully to annex Ramgarh applying the notorious Doctrine of Lapse policy introduced by Lord Dalhousie. The policy permitted the East India Company to establish its authority in any princely state of India if the ruler was incompetent or died without a male heir, thus taking away Indian rulers’ rights to appoint successors. When the British appointed an administrator for Ramgarh, Avantibai took charge of the administration throwing out the administrator. One of the defining moments of Avantibai’s leadership came with the tragic death of her husband. Rather than succumbing to grief and despair, Rani Avantibai channeled her sorrow into a fierce determination to continue the fight against the British. Although the British forcefully employed officials in her territory, she did not let them enter Dindori Ramgarh fort.

In the meantime, the Sepoy Mutiny started in 1857 and in Meerut cantonment on May 10 Indian sepoys with the help of local civilians killed 50 Britishers. The news inspired all freedom fighters to rise in revolt against the British rulers. Avantibai too joined the movement with the objective of throwing the colonial rulers out of Ramgarh and Indian soil. She raised an army of 4,000 warriors with the help of neighbouring rulers and local zamindars. Seeking to infuse patriotism and to unite people, emissaries (who carried bangles and hand-written notes) were sent to neighbouring kingdoms with a strong-worded message to them: “If you think you have a duty towards our enslaved motherland, raise your swords and jump into the war against the British, otherwise wear these bangles and hide yourself in your house.” Her appeal aroused a wave of revolt in the central provinces.

In association with many Thakurs and Malguzars of the area, she first forced the British officers to leave Ramgarh and occupied the treasury on 26 September 1857. The infuriated British attacked Avantibai’s citadel with a huge force. The first encounter between the queen and the British took place in the village of Kheri near Mandla in Ramgarh. She led her troops with valour and skill, defeating the British in the battlefield. It was a rare victory against the mighty British by any Indian ruler in the Indian War of Independence in 1857. Enraged by the humiliating defeat at the hands of Avantibai, the British came back with vengeance and launched a vicious attack on Ramgarh after a few days. Unwilling to fall prey to the British onslaught, Rani Avanti moved to the hills of Devharigarh for safety. Failing to catch Avantibai, the British forces set fire to the city of Ramgarh besides destroying crops, buildings and other assets of the kingdom.

From the hilly forests, Rani Avanti then embarked on guerrilla warfare involving hit-and-run tactics, sabotage and quick raids as face-to-face battle was a difficult choice given the superiority of the British in terms of military strength and ammunition at that time. Applying such a strategy she attacked the camp of General Waddington and dispersed his army. But when she was surrounded on all sides by British forces and was asked to surrender, she would not let the enemy capture her. She attained martyrdom. At that time she was only 27. The saga of Avantibai had been blanked out of history textbooks till the other day. But it is not surprising given the fact that patriots like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Bose and countless other bravehearts have been cold-shouldered by the blinkered narratives of our freedom struggle carefully engineered by a select few who are hellbent on demeaning the role of armed revolutionaries in our quest for freedom from British rule.

As for Avantibai, some steps have been taken in the last few years to pay tribute to her scintillating role in the freedom struggle. To pay homage to her indomitable spirit and valour, the Narmada Valley Development Authority has decided to name a dam in Jabalpur after her. Now called the Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi Sagar, it is a multi-purpose irrigation and hydro-electric project across the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. Both the Maharashtra Government and the Department of Posts brought out stamps in her honour. While ignored by mainstream historians for decades, Avantibai’s legacy lives on in public memory and folklore as a testament to the fearless spirit of freedom and courage. Her bravery in the face of the powerful British challenge and her supreme sacrifice will continue to instill hope and pride in the minds of Indians for generations to come.

(The writer, a Ph D in English from Calcutta University and a freelance writer, teaches English at the Govt.-sponsored Sailendra Sircar Vidyalaya, Shyambazar, Kolkata.)