Lakshmibai was the Rani or Queen of Jhansi, a small kingdom in 19th century North India. A skilled fighter and active stateswoman, she was known for dressing in a turban and breeches, both masculine practices. When the British annexed her kingdom and ransacked her palace, she responded by joining the Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny. Historians and Indian nationalists alike consider the Rebellion of 1857 the first major Indian uprising against the British empire. The British crushed the Rebellion and killed Lakshmibai, yet her story became a symbol for future revolutionaries. She remains a nationalist symbol. This circa 1890 watercolor of the Rani of Jhansi is part of the Kalighat School of Indian painting. Artists who gathered near Kolkata’s Kalighat temple developed the style. They painted colorful images and sold them to everyday buyers, pilgrims, and tourists. Kalighat paintings depicted both religious and popular themes. This image highlights the role of popular visual culture in South Asian nationalist mythmaking.

Rani Lakshmi Bai was a widow of Raja Gangadhar Rao, the Maharaja of Jhansi, whose state had been annexed by the British. On June 10, 1857, following a massacre of Europeans by local Indian troops, she was proclaimed ruler. One of the first freedom fighters, she resisted the British and was killed in June 1858. She later became a legendary mutiny heroine and an icon for the Indian independence movement. In this image she wears a British crown and has her sword raised.