• Rani Lakshmibai, one of the warriors of India's struggle for Independence, was born as Manikarnika Tambe in 1828 in Varanasi.
• She lost her mother at the age of four and was raised in an unconventional way by her father who worked as an advisor in the court of Peshwa.
• He supported her in learning horsemanship, archery, self-defense, and shooting.
• In 1842, Lakshmibai got married to Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the Maharaja of Jhansi and got the name of Rani Lakshmibai. Few years after marriage, in 1851, Manikarnika gave birth to a boy but he couldn't survive and died after four months.
• Then Lakshmibai and Gangadhar Rao adopted Rao's cousin's son, Anand Rao, who was later renamed as Damodar.
• Soon after they adopted Anand, Maharaja died due to an illness in 1853. Rani Lakshmibai was just 18 at that time.