Tuesday, April 3, 2012

THE BRAVE QUEEN AVANTI BAI OF RAMGARH ..A MARTYR OF 1857 WAR

THE BRAVE QUEEN AVANTI BAI OF RAMGARH ..A MARTYR OF 1857 WAR

Dr K Prabhakar Rao


Avantibai was the queen of Ramgarh in Mandla District of Madhya Pradesh. She was the wife of Vikramaditya singh a Lodhi Rajput ruler of Ramgarh.Lodhi, Lodha and Lodh Rajputs derived their name from word Yodha meaning warrior.They are spread mostly in North India. He died issueless and she was looking after the affairs of the State. The British took over the administration in 1851 by the doctrine of lapse. She vowed to win back her land, organised the local zamindars ( Land lords) and rulers and raised an army of about four thousand men. In 1857, the Rani led her army and in the first encounter with the British, defeated Wadington, their commander. However, in subsequent engagements, despite her courage and skill, the Rani could not hold out against the large and well-equipped British army.

Faced with the prospect of defeat and surrender, Rani Avantibai chose to sacrifice her life. She joined the ranks of martyrs on 20 March 1858 by killing herself with her own sword.

12 comments:

Virendra said...

An unequalled sacrifice indeed. Even the boldest of men would shudder at the thought of taking their own life. And we say women are weak ...

Dr K Prabhakar Rao said...

Thanks Mr Virendra,

Thanks for the comments.I some time feel ashamed at the poor response of readers. I have also see that blogs that deal sensationalism are most liked. Any how, I am happy that you responded and I thank you again.Most of our youth have different priorities and tastes.They want cine gossip and news about Khans and Bachhans and Rais.They are not keen on Shivaji, Tanaji, Sambhaji etc. Once I asked a youth why younsters are indifferent to these things and memory of our past heroes. The naswer was " Does it get me one Rs more". My head reeled and hung my head in shame. I felt pity on such men.

lokamn said...

Dr K Prabhakar Rao I request you to Let me know some thing more about rani avanthibai and vikramaditya singh. I proud to be Lodha.

lokamn said...

Hi this is Mr. Lokman singh Lodhi from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.I come to know many things About my race. I am grateful to you. I Worship Rani AvanthiBai. I am Lodhi from the same tribal Lodha family, i want to know more about Rani Avanthi Bai and King Vikramadithya singh.

Dr K Prabhakar Rao said...

I am trying to collect more information as requested by you. I shall post it soon. Thanks for showing interest.
Dr K Prabhakar Rao

Dr K Prabhakar Rao said...

Mr Lokman,
I collected some good amount of Data on Lodhs and soon I shall post it.

योगेन्द्र सिंह लोधी 'योगी' said...

Dr. Prabhakar Roa, i am Yogendra Singh Lodhi. I read your post, you have written it very well, but there are few things which are to be corrected.
1. Vikramaditya was not died issue less.
2. In Rigveda 3,53,23 there is word " Lodham"
I recently launched a book named " Bhartiya Up Mahadweepiya Itihas mai Lodhi veeroon ka Swarnim Yogdan (1857 tak) and working on the second book by the same name.

You can contact me- yogendralodhi@rediffmail.com

Santosh said...

Dear Dr. Rao,
What went in your mind to write this blog on Virangana Avanti Bai ?
Just interested to know about motive about writing this blog ..

Dr K Prabhakar Rao said...

Mr Santos's
I wrote this blog on Avantibai the queen of ramgad as I was putting on record many historical events of past. If you go through my blog you will find several reserach articles. I also noticed that very few of 1857. Warriors have been highlighted. Usually people remember rani laxmi bai! TantyaTope tope! nana sahib of 1857 war. Many are forgotten. I found that very little is written about this queen. So I wrote on my blog.

Manjaree said...

Thanks for writing about a forgotten warrior queen who fought bravely against the mighty Britishers.

Unknown said...

Very very thanks to mr.rao this is well known real story of awanti bai lodhi rajput

अपना जहां said...

Thanks for this thread. i am in TISS Mumbai and researching on Lodhi women's status today. there is a recent PHd on Lodhis by Dr BL Lodhi from Allahabad University.
We are an indigenous tribe who has been living along the north indian rivers. We are a sub-caste of Nishad and it is somewhere in central Uttar Pradesh when the distinction happens. The nishads to the west of it are all Lodhs while there are very few lodhs in the east except for the Lodhas of west bengal. There anthropology by PK Bhowmick too clearly indicates a common linkage. the Lodhs of MP, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh are all migrants from the north.
The word Rajput or Kshatriya was added in 1932 in a Lodh Mahasabha. My grandfather was leading the organisation for a long time.
We have mostly lived in single community villages have resisted Brahminism/ Hinduism for long. Many of the customs followed in Lodhi households are still tribal.
While most of the recently assimilated tribals are assert their tribal identity, our community seems to have fallen in the trap of brahmins. Hinduism is the worst religion because of its caste system. Our egalitarian society is slowly turning brahminical which will impact the progress of women, affecting the society as a whole.
I see our growth and progress in freeing ourselves from the clutches of brahminism.