Elephant gate at Chanderi Fort

This is one of the strongest gates, it is unlikely that British would attack from this direction.

Even Baber, in 1528 knew not to try to breach the fort from this gate.

Talbehat Fort - 40 miles from Jhansi

A great picture of majestic fort of Tal-be-hat.

It is under siege and it is not clear if it will survive.

Chanderi Fort in it’s full glory

This is such a strong and beautiful fort, it will give us some shelter if the need be.

Rose will have to pass through this one to get to Jhansi, delaying the attack a little bit and that gives the Rani of Jhansi some more time to prepare.

All eyes are on Jhansi.

Chanderi: How memories of 1528 will shape the war against the British

In January 1528, Emperor Baber took Chanderi by storm. Rajputs defended the Chanderi fort till the last drop of their blood, literally.

Bundela Rajputs captured it back in 1586.

The garrison at Chanderi has now sworn to defend it, as it was defended by the Rajputs in 1528.

NEWS FLASH : TATYA TOPE GETS 24 GUNS FROM THE KING OF CHIRKARI

News Flash

This is awesome news! Considering that we have not had any good news in a while, this is a start.

We have heard that Tatiya Tope was able to secure 24 guns from the kingdom of Chirkari.

Let’s say that it took 11 days of persuasion by Tatya Tope for the cowardly king of Chirkari, Rajah Ratan Singh, to give in ( ha ha, he kept waiting for the British to come and save him… like British are his friend..what a fool)

Now at least he has some fire power to help the Jhansi ki Rani.

Of course he is not alone - Nana Sahib is orchestrating many of these moves and Rao Sahib is not too far behind!

Daily account of preparation by Jhansi ki Rani March 9, 1858

Number of troops - about 14,000 from the population. From a small state like Jhansi this is a very high number.

And it also includes the Durga Vahini, the women’s unit.

The queen, the rani of Jhansi, will personally take charge of the troops.

Jhansi Theater March 6, 1858 - Laxmi Bai, Tatya Tope and Hugh Rose locations

Location of players during the Jhansi Run.

Raja of Chirakri = Raja Ratan Singh is a coward and naive

The kingdom of Chirkari is about 800 sq. miles and the king is the Raja Ratan Singh.

Tatya Tope is fighting with him as we speak and Ratan Singh being a loyal puppy to the british, refuses to help the nationalist forces.

Tatya is not looking to take over Chirkari, all Tatya needs is provisions for the troops.

The worst part is that he is no match for Tatya Tope. Tatya has limited number of sepoys with him but unless British send some reinforcements to Chirkari, Ratan Singh is a goner.

Ratan Singh thinks that he has been a good servant of British since June 1857, so British will reward him - what a naive little guy! They don’t care about him. British are after Jhansi and Gwaliror and after that they will annex Chirkari.

Tails British win, Heads, Chirkari and Ratan loses!

Jhansi ki Rani’s Preparations March 6, 1858

As additional information becomes available, we will keep you posted.

Current news:

Six large guns have been constructed and ready for action.

Carriages for these guns are in the course of construction and expected to be completed any day now.

We know that the a significant amount of saltpetre has been ordered from Gwalior.

Breaking news - Fierce Battle at the Madanpir Pass

Fierce battle at the Madanpur pass is taking place as we speak.

We will bring you the current news as they become available.

Hugh Rose has been moving towards Jhansi from that route.

You can see the placement of the Madanpur pass here.

Tatiya Tope on attack at Chirkari

We hear that Tatiya Tope is on attack at Chirkari. It is an important battle, not because we want Chirkari, but we are running out of guns and other resources. Chirkari has horded a lot and we need them.

He has about 1000 sepoys with him and we believe he has four guns and 200 cavalry men.

I don’t have a full understanding of what Nana Sahib and Tatya Tope are doing but we do know that they are vigorously following a grand plan.

I hope it succeeds. - As I have said before

In Tatya Tope we Trust.

Next opportunity to stop Rose is at Malthone Pass

Malthone pass is a formidable one and Rose will have difficulty crossing it.

Some of the nationalist sepoys are concentrating their efforts for a battle at Malthone.

We might be able to stop Hugh Rose in Malthone and give Jhansi ki Rani some extra time to fortify her position.

Hugh Rose is in Madanpur

Rose is very close to Madanpur and it seems that he is making solid strides. At this rate, expect him to be in Jhansi on 5th or 6th March 1858.

Are you ready?

Imagine 1000 Durgas attacking the British

Jhansi ki Rani has a women’s army unit in her army and is appropriately called ‘Durga vahini”. Durga represents the warrior aspect of woman’s spirit and vahini means carrier.

Jhansi Ki Rani appointed Jhalkari Bai to lead the Durga Vahini

The Durga vahini’s bravery is unquestioned and the unit has been as effective as a unit with all men.

I would like to but I am not at liberty to tell you the strength of the Durga Vahini, What I can tell you is that the Rani herself has urged women, many of them are widowed, to take up arms against British rather than sulking in the house.

Jhalkari’s husband Poonam Koree is employed as a canon operator for the front Jhansi gate.

We have not had the good fortune to see Jhansi ki Rani in person or Jhalkari Bai in person for that matter. But it is claimed that they both look alike.

We are happy that the queen is being protected.

Letter from Jhansi ki rani to Raja of Banpur

The letter by Jhansi ki Rani to raja of Banpur.

To Shri Maharaj Kuma, Shri Maharaja Dhiraj, Shri Raaj Mardan Singh Bahadur, Rani Laxmibat says that she wishes that your news is good. The news here is good. And your letter, carried by Dularelal, has arrived and thus I came to know of your state of affairs. You wrote that you are engaged in the preparation of the army/troops. That pleased my heart. Our opinion is that there ought not to be rule of foreigners in Bharat/India. And I have great confidence/trust/faith in you. And we are preparing our troops/forces. It is very important to fight the English. Please write and let us know your news. Date,place.(Samvat 1914, Camp Jhansi).

Why Jhansi ki Rani might succeed against British

All eyes are toward Jhansi!

comparatively it is a small place, it is surrounded by other kingdoms that are, let’s just say, not very friendly, but there is still some hope that Jhansi might be able to beat the British.

Here are some of the reasons:

(i) Rani Laxmi Bai, is a very inspiring leader and people in Jhansi respect her.

(ii) Jhansi has spent almost all of the last decade fighting against either the Orchha or some other neighboring state and has known how to survive long wars.

(iii) Many of the soldiers in Jhasni are mutineers from the last year and they know that surrender means death by canons.

(iv) Jhasni has British rule and there is a great resentment that the British did not follow the traditions and customs of the land.

(v) As a mother, Laxmi Bai knows that this is her last chance to secure a future for her (adopted) son.

We are all praying for her and ready to help her in any way we can.

At this rate, expect the British to reach Jhansi by March 7 or March 9.

Since there are no British to be rescued, chances are they will take their time and reach Jhansi a little after March 12th - that’s my guess.

A letter from Gopal Rao to Major Erskine regarding preparation at Jhansi

A letter from Gopal Rao, record keeper of Jhansi, to major Erskine dated 16 Jan 1858

The most important news is that Nana Saheb has a vakil in Jhansi and the Queen of Jhansi has one in Kalpi as well. The Queen has complete arrangements for the reception of Nana Saheb’s family members in Jhansi. Both the King of Banpur and Nana Saheb have decided Jhansi is their final refuge.

Lala Dulkara, the army commander to the King of Banpur, was feeling solitary and insecure in Sagar. So, the King of Banpur arranged for a portion of the Gwalior Contingent to be sent there. He had already sent over some soldiers to Sagar under the leadership of Sadar Ali and Muhammad Ali. The rest of the Banpur troops, three to four thousand gun-bearing soldiers and two cannons were placed in Jhansi. Only 1300 of them are fully armed.

The Queen of Jhansi is paying the Banpur King 500 rupees a month while he fills up his own treasury by looting the rich moneylenders and shopkeepers. These shopkeepers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the British. The Queen is always incredulous about British advances - whoever has said the British won at Kanpur has been punished by the Queen.

…

Military preparations are being made in Jhansi around the clock.

Describing the Queen Laxmibai - Rani of Jhansi : Smart, beautiful, pretty and witty!

None of us have had the good fortune to actually see the Queen, Rani Laxmi Bai, in person. We hear of her bravery, her intelligence and her bravery.

John Lang, an attorney was traveling in India met with the Rani laxmi Bai in 1854. This is how he described her.

I had heard from the vakeel that the Ranee was a very handsome woman, of about six or seven and twenty years of age, and I was very curious indeed to get a glimpse of her; and whether it was by accident, or by design on the Ranee’s part, I know not, my curiosity was gratified.

The curtain was drawn aside by the little boy (the prince), and I had a good view of the lady. It was only for a moment, it is true still I saw her sufficiently to be able to describe her. She was a woman of about the middle size - rather stout, but not too stout. Her face must have been very handsome when she was younger, and even now had many charms - though, according to my idea of beauty, it was too round.

The expression also was very good, and very intelligent. The eyes were particularly fine, and the nose very delicately shaped. She was not very fair, though she was far from black.

She had no ornaments, strange to say, upon her person, except a pair of gold ear-rings. Her dress was a plain white muslin, so fine in texture, and drawn about her in such a way, and so tightly, that the outline of her figure was plainly discernible - and a remarkably fine figure she had.

What spoilt her was her voice, which was something between a whine and a croak. When the purdah was drawn aside, she was, or affected to be, very much annoyed; I but, presently she laughed, and good-humouredly expressed a hope that, a sight of her had not lessened my sympathy with her sufferings nor prejudiced her cause.

I hope and I pray that one day, she will rule all of India.

Orchha Fort Near Jhansi - Orchha

The capital of Orchha Princely Sate.

This is one of the closest fort to Jhansi and we all know that its future is intertwined with that of Jhansi. If Jhansi falls, so will Orchha.

The king thinks that he is in “good terms” with British - little does he know that there is no such thing as “being in good terms”. You are either a current slave or “future slave to be”.

Once you see how close this fort is to Jhansi, you will know how critically important this fort could be to the Rani.

The saddest part is that the Raani of Jhansi has to protect not just against British but also from the attacks of the King of Orchha!

Fort of Jhansi - secure and strong

here is a map of the fort of Jhansi and the queen’s palace.