Avantibai

2021-09-25T10:53:15Z

2402:3A80:1F80:C943:D810:59F:F9C1:1838:

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}

{{Infobox person
|nationality = [[India]]n
|image = Avantibai 2001 stamp of India.jpg
|caption = Avantibai on a 2001 stamp of India
|birth_date = {{birth date|1831|08|16|df=y}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|1858|03|20|1831|08|16|df=y}}}}

'''Avantibai Lodhi''' (or '''Avanti Bai Lodhi'''; died 20 March 1858) was an Indian freedom fighter and the queen of Ramgarh (present-day [[Dindori, Madhya Pradesh|Dindori]]) in [[Madhya Pradesh]]. An opponent of the [[British East India Company]] during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], information concerning her is sparse and mostly comes from folklore. In 21st century, she has been used as an icon in Lodhi politics, she comes from the [[Lodhi (caste)|Lodhi]] [[Caste system in India|Community]].<ref>{{cite journal |title= Rajput 'Viranganas' and Reinvention of 1857 |first=Charu |last=Gupta |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=42 |issue=19 |date=18 May 2007 |page=1742 |jstor=4419579}}</ref>

[[File:Statue of Rani Avanti Bai, in bus stand of Balaghat district , Madhya Pradesh (cropped).jpg|thumb|Statue of Rani Avantibai, Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh]]

== British interference ==
Avantibai Lodhi was born in Lodhi Rajput family on 16 August 1831 in Mankehadi village district Seoni. Her father’s name was Jujhar Singh. She was married to Prince Vikramaditya Singh Lodhi, the son of Raja Laxaman Singh of Ramgarh (present-day Dindori). She had two children Aman Singh and Sher Singh. In 1851 Raja Laxaman Singh died. Raja Vikramditya became King of Ramgarh. As a Queen she efficiently administrated state affairs.
As the guardian of the minor sons, the state power came to the queen. The queen ordered the farmers of the state not to obey the instructions of the British, this reform work increased the popularity of the queen.

== Indian rebellion of 1857 ==
When the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|revolt of 1857]] broke out, Avantibai raised and led an army of 4000.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} Her first battle with the British took place in the village of Kheri near [[Mandla district|Mandla]], where she and her army were able to defeat the British forces. However, stung by the defeat the British came back with vengeance and launched an attack on Ramgarh.   Avantibai moved to the hills of Devharigarh for safety. The British army set fire to Ramgarh, and turned to Devhargarh to attack the queen.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UggIjEuBaAC&pg=PT79|title=Indian Revolutionaries A Comprehensive Study, 1757–1961|volume=1|last=Sarala|first=Śrīkr̥shṇa|date=1999|publisher=Ocean Books|page=79|isbn=81-87100-16-8}}</ref>

Avantibai resorted to guerilla warfare to fend off the British army.<ref name=":0" /> She took the sword from guards sword and pierced it into herself and thus committing suicide on 20 March 1858 when facing almost certain defeat in battle.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

== Legacy ==
After independence, Avantibai has been remembered through performances and folklore.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzF0PgAACAAJ&pg=PA26|title=Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India: Culture, Identity, and Politics|last=Narayan|first=Badri|date=2006|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-8-17829-695-1|pages=26, 48, 79, 86}}</ref> A folk song of the [[Gondi people]], an [[adivasi]] tribe of the region, says:<ref name="pati">{{cite web |title=India 'Mutiny' and 'Revolution,' 1857-1858 |first=Biswamoy |last=Pati |date=29 September 2017 |doi=10.1093/obo/9780199791279-0040 |publisher=Oxford Bibliographies |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791279/obo-9780199791279-0040.xml#obo-9780199791279-0040-bibItem-0065 |accessdate=2019-09-25}}</ref> {{quote|The Rani who is our mother, strikes repeatedly at the British. She is the chief of the jungles. She sent letters and bangles to other (rulers, chieftains) and aligned them to the cause. She vanquished and pushed the Britishers out, in every street she made them panic, so that they ran away wherever they could find their way. Whenever she entered the battleground on horseback,she fought bravely and swords and spears ruled the day. O, she was our Rani mother}}

She is among the viranganas (heroic women) lauded by groups of people involved in the events of 1857, other examples of whom include Rani Laxmi Bai,Asha Devi, [[Jhalkari Bai]], Mahabiri Devi and [[Uda Devi]].

Although little is known of Avantibai except through folklore, her story merited a brief inclusion in the [[National Council of Educational Research and Training]] (NCERT) history textbooks from 2012 as a participant in the 1857 rebellion, after parliamentary protests from the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] and [[Bahujan Samaj Party]] (BSP).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/ncert-bows-to-politicians-includes-avantibai-in-textbooks-102687-2012-05-19 |work=India Today |title=NCERT includes Rani Avantibai Lodhi in school textbooks under political pressure |first=Ritika |last=Chopra |date=19 May 2012 |accessdate=2019-09-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/hess105.pdf |pages=58–59 |publisher=NCERT |chapter=When People Rebel: 1857 and After|title=Our Pasts |volume=III}}</ref> The BSP, in particular, had been using the story of Avantibai, along with accounts of other Dalit folk heroines, as a means to promote the image of [[Mayawati]],<ref name=":4"/> with her biographer, Ajoy Bose, noting that she is cast as their "modern avatar".<ref>{{cite book |title=Behenji: A Political Biography of Mayawati |first=Ajoy |last=Bose |publisher=Penguin UK |year=2009 |isbn=978-8-18475-650-0 |page=290 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3MGWTeMUNMC&pg=PT290}}</ref>

The [[Narmada Valley Development Authority]] named a part of the [[Bargi Dam]] project in [[Jabalpur]] in her honour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nvda.nic.in/salient%20feature/Rani%20Awanti%20Bai%20Sagar.pdf|title=Rani Avanti Bai Sagar|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204253/http://www.nvda.nic.in/salient%20feature/Rani%20Awanti%20Bai%20Sagar.pdf|archivedate=29 October 2013|url-status=dead|accessdate=24 October 2013|publisher=nvda.nic.in}}</ref>

[[File:1137-Rani-Avantibai-India-Stamp-1988.jpg|thumb|First Stamp Of 'Rani Avantibai']]
[[India Post]] has issued two stamps in honour of Avantibai, on 20 March 1988 and on 19 September 2001.<ref>[http://postagestamps.gov.in/Stamps2001.aspx 19 September 2001: A commemorative postage stamp on Rani Avantibai]. postagestamps.gov.in</ref><ref>{{cite web | publisher=iStampGallery.com |url=http://www.istampgallery.com/rani-avantibai/ |title=Rani Avantibai 1988 | date=11 February 2016| accessdate=29 April 2019 }}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[NCERT textbook controversies]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite journal |title=Dalit 'Viranganas' and Reinvention of 1857 |first=Charu |last=Gupta |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=42 |issue=19 |date=May 2007 |pages=1739–1745 |jstor=4419579 |ref=none}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avantibai}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century women rulers]]
[[Category:History of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Indian rebels]]
[[Category:Indian women in war]]
[[Category:Military history of British India]]
[[Category:Women from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:People of British India]]
[[Category:Indian queen consorts]]
[[Category:Regents of India]]
[[Category:Suicides by sharp instrument in India]]
[[Category:Women in 19th-century warfare]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:1850s suicides]]
[[Category:Suicides in India]]

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Avantibai