Manikarnika the queen of jhansi

Manikarnika  married  the Maharaja of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, in May 1842 and was later named Lakshmibai (or Laxmibai) after the Hindu goddess Devi Lakshmi and in accordance with the Maharashtrian tradition of giving a new name to women on marriage. In September 1851, she gave birth to a boy named Damodar Rao, who died of a chronic illness four months after birth. The Maharajah adopted a boy named Anand Rao, the son of Gangadhar Rao's cousin, who was renamed Damodar Rao in 

, the day before the Maharajah's death. The adoption took place in the presence of the British political officer, who was handed a letter from the Maharaja instructing him to treat the child  with respect and to hand over the Jhansi government  to his widow for life.Since Damodar Rao (née Anand Rao) was an adopted son, after the Maharaja's death in November 1853, under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, the British East India Company applied the doctrine of decay, denied Damodar Rao's claim to the throne and annexed the state to its territories . When informed of this, he shouted "Main apni jhansi nahi doongi" (I will not give out my jhansi). In March 1854, Rani Lakshmibai received an annual pension of 60,000 rupees and was ordered to leave the 

 palace and  fort.[20][21]According to Vishnu Bhatt Godse, the Rani did weightlifting, wrestling and steeplechase before breakfast. An intelligent and simply dressed woman, she ruled professionally.[22]