women in history

Rani of Jhansi

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A 1901 British sketch of Rani, described as India’s Joan of Arc (Indian Express)

A near-mythical figure in India, Rani of Jhansi is a figure closely associated with the struggle for British independence, and yet she is seldom remembered in the West, beyond perhaps a footnote in the centuries-long occupation of the Indian subcontinent. From her bold defiance towards her country’s traditional gender norms, to her martyrdom at the hands of the British colonizers, her story is one which all draw inspiration can from.

Manikarnika Tambe was born on November 19, 1828, in the city of Varanasi in the Benares State of Northern India. At the time of her upbringing, much of the Indian subcontinent under the control of the British East India Company (EIC), either through direct control, or through the suzerainty of local autonomous kingdoms or states. With a series of trading forts along India’s coastal cities, the EIC began its presence in India as one of the several European trading corporations interested in lucrative commerce with the dominant Mughal Empire. But due to internal weakness within their opponent’s ranks, and the adoption of a clever “divide and conquer” strategy of winning over local lords, the EIC was able to expand its control of India slowly over the course of a century, defeating the otherwise militarily and even technologically superior Mughal Empire. Thus, by the time Manikarnika was growing into a young woman, the banner of the “Company Raj” (the name given to the EIC’s territory) flew over much of India.

Born to an advisor for a local ruler, the status of the Tambe family allowed Manikarnika to receive an education, and have firsthand exposure to the type of strong leader she would aspire to be. In addition to reading and writing, Manikarnika learned marksmanship, horseback riding, and other arts traditionally taught to young men. At the age of 14, she was married to Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the ruler of the independent princely state of Jhansi. Following the Indian female tradition of renaming oneself after marriage, the new bride was now named Rani Lakshimbai. Despite being the official queen consort of Jhansi, Rani was far from the spitting image of femininity during her time. She did not wear a veil over her face, nor did she shy away from public interactions with commoners and officials alike. Rani’s reign, however, was to be short lived, as the issue of succession became salient to her, and others. Under a policy mandated by the EIC called the Doctrine of Lapse, any state without a clear and legitimate heir was to be absorbed into British control. Unfortunately for Rani, she and her husband were unable to produce and heir, and as Rao’s health worsened, the couple adopted a five year old son to serve as heir to the throne. After the death of Rao in 1853, however, Lord Dalhousie, the incumbent British Governor-General of India, rejected the legitimacy of the new heir, and annexed Jhansi into EIC territory anyway. A shocked and betrayed Rani was removed from the Jhansi royal palace, given pension, and was expected to live the rest of her life in relative obscurity.

Rani’s furor and desire for justice rendered the prospect of inaction impossible, and luckily for her, such sentiments were widespread throughout India, especially in the North. British-imposed social reforms, harsh taxes, and an overall opposition to the presence of an colonizing foreign power, all helped ignite the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the largest of its kind since British hegemony began. Rebelling factions included Mughal remanants, mutineers from the EIC’s armies, and the armies of various states, kingdoms, or rulers, including Rani’s own. Alongside the EIC, several jurisdictions, such as Bombay, Madras, and Bengal, provided support against the rebels, while many others remained neutral. Regardless, Rani was determined to restore the rightful ruler of Jhansi to his throne. As fighting raged throughout the subcontinent, and mutineers massacred the British garrison in Jhansi, Rani reassumed control of her state in the summer of 1857, with the intention of holding it until a deal could be made with the British. But when General Hugh Rose and his forces arrived in March 1858, accounts claim that Rani had a change of heart, and refused to surrender the Jhansi fortress to Rose. A massive bombardment and siege ensued, followed by brutal street fighting. While Jhansi troops, led and inspired by their queen, fought valiantly, Rose eventually won the day.

From Alisha Haridasani Gupta of the New York Times:

As the town burned, the queen escaped on horseback with her son, Damodar, tied to her back. Historians have not reached a consensus on how she managed to pull this off. Some contend that her closest aide, Jhalkaribai, disguised herself as the queen to distract the British and buy time for her to get away.

In the end, the British took the town, leaving 3,000 to 5,000 people dead, and hoisted the British flag atop the palace.

After fleeing the Jhansi fort, Rani met with other rebel leaders at the town of Kalpi, where another clash with British forces would take place. A defeat there forced Rani and her allies to flee regroup in nearby Gwalior, where another army would be raised to face the British once more. In what would become one of the final acts of the rebellion, Rani’s forces engaged with British cavalry in June 1858, with Rani herself leading the charge. The force was defeated, with Rani herself being mortally wounded in combat. According to legend, she was leading a charge while dressed in male military garb, when she was struck by enemy fire. Hugh Rose, her longtime military adversary, commented that “The Indian Mutiny had produced but one man, and that man was a woman.” Per Rose’s personal account, Rani was given a burial with full honors. Not long after the defeat at Gwalior and Rani’s death, the rebellion was quelled, and British rule over India would continue for another century under Crown rule, rather than under the EIC.

Though she was unable to secure all of her aims, Rani of Jhansi’s legacy is one of defiance, both in the face of a great colonial power, and of a stringently patriarchal society. Besides being immortalized in Indian history, she has been the inspiration for countless of films, novels, and songs. Curiously enough, she is also the namesake of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, an all-female guerilla force raised by Indian nationalists during WW2 to aid in the Axis fight against the British Raj. As present-day news headlines discuss the controversy of British colonialism, as well as the injustices of the Indian patriarchy, Rani of Jhansi is a captivating figure that may yet serve as a symbol for a new India.

Fatime al-Fihri and the University of al-Qarawiyyin

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University of al-Qarawiyyin in the afternoon (CNN)

Places of higher learning have long been the backbone of history’s most prosperous civilizations. From the Platonic Academy of Athens to England’s University of Oxford, these centers of learning serve not only as a meeting place of different ideas and great thinkers, but as enduring cultural icons for the people they serve. But one university, considered to be the oldest of them all, comes from a seemingly unlikely place, and an even more unlikely person. Nestled in the old walled district of Fes, Morocco, the University of al-Qarawiyyin, in addition to holding Earth’s oldest known library, is considered by many to be longest continuously operated place of higher learning the world. Though the exact period when it began teaching is uncertain, it is generally presumed that instruction began shortly or immediately after its founding as a mosque in 859 CE. Its founder, an ambitious yet benevolent heiress named Fatime al-Fihri, created al-Qarawiyyin as a religious and educational meeting place for Fes’ diverse populace. Today, the university is still an iconic landmark of the former Moroccan capital, and is one of the nation’s most respected academic institutions.

Though few details of her early life are documented, Fatime al-Fihri is considered to have been born at the beginning of the 9th century CE in Tunisia. Her father, Muhammed al-Fihri, was a successful merchant who left a considerable fortune to Fatima and her sister, Maryam. Before his passing, however, the Muhammed al-Fihri and his family moved from their village in Tunisia to the city of Fes in search of a new life. Fes was a bustling city that was a blend of North African, Arab, and European cultures, due to migration being fairly common at the time. As a result, both of the al-Fihri sisters grew up in an environment surrounded with people with vastly differing origins. As the sisters grew older, both realized that the rapid flow of migrants, especially those coming from Spain, were beginning to crowd many of Fes’ mosques. As a result, both used a significant share of the wealth inherited from their father to found mosques that would be open to people of all backgrounds. While Maryam’s al-Andalusiyyin Mosque, also called the Mosque of the Andalusians, is known throughout Fes, Fatime’s al-Qarawiyyin is one the premier sites in all of North Africa. Motivated to create a place of learning in addition to its function as a place of worship, Fatime was thoroughly involved in al-Qarawiyyin’s entire construction process. And, according to some sources, she fasted throughout the 18 year build, further proving her dedication to the project.

Finally, in 859, al-Qarawiyyin opened its doors to the world. Though initially similar to many large mosques at the time, where educational functions were included to supplement the building’s main religious purposes, al-Qarawiyyin soon became a fully fledged educational institution. As the centuries passed, the university’s curriculum broadened, peaking around the 13th and 14th centuries. In addition to its specialization in religious studies and Islamic law, the university expanded its scholarly work into astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and geography. This period, during which Morocco was under the rule of the Marinid Sultanate, was also considered to be near the height of the Islamic Golden Age. The Golden Age, a period of rapid cultural, scientific, and intellectual advancement, was far different from the European Dark Ages often associated with the period in Western history.

Though the Islamic Golden Age applied to the many nations and empires throughout the Muslim world, the University at al-Qarawiyyin is no doubt a large part of the legacy left behind by this bright period of human advancement. Its alumni reflect the success of both the Muslim civilizations at the time, and Fatime’s original goal of making it a place of true cultural and intellectual exchange. Early forms of algebra were first developed at al-Qarawiyyin, and some even claim that Pope Sylvester II first introduced Arabic numerals to Europe after a brief visit the university. Maimonides, who attended the university some time in the 12th century, went on to become of the most renowned Jewish philosophers and Torah scholars of his time. Ibn Khaldun, one of the most accomplished social scientists of the Middle Ages, is one of many prominent Muslim scholars who studied at the university. His careering spanning the latter half of the 14th century, Khaldun made tremendous strides in political science, history, and economics, and continues to gain the recognition of scholars across the globe today. Finally, famed explorer, merchant, and diplomat Leo Africanus grew up in Fes and studied at al-Qarawiyyin as a young man in the early 16th century. Following his time at the university, his many adventures (which included being sold into slavery and later baptized by the Pope himself) culminated in the production and widespread printing of Description of Africa, which remained the most comprehensive work on the subject until the 19th century.

As Fes, Morocco, and the entire Islamic world began to decline from its former glory, al-Qarawiyyin began to show its age. Its collections were greatly reduced, as was the breadth of its teachings. Subjects such as astronomy and medicine were struck down entirely. As Morocco became under French control in 1912, the university continued to suffer, with many of the country’s elite instead being sent to Western-style colleges either elsewhere in Morocco, or to France itself. However, after regaining independence, the Moroccan government added al-Qarawiyyin to its state university system in 1963, giving it adequate support to continue operation as a multi-disciplinary university.

Be it through students walking through the university’s ornately decorated tile hallways, or through distant passersby admiring the mosque’s silhouette on the Fes skyline, the legacy of Fatime al-Fihri lives one through her commitment to advance humanity through connection and learning.