Rani lakshmibai was born on 19 november 1828 in the town of Varanasi into a marathi karhade brahmin family. She was named manikarnika tambe and was nicknamed manu her father was moropant tambe and her mother bhagirathi sapre her parents came from maharashtra. Her mother died when she was four years old. Her father was the commander of the war of kalyanpranth. HEr father worked for peshwa baji Rao2 of bithoor district. The peshwa called her chhabili, which means playful, she was educated at home and was taught to read and write, and was more independent in her childhood than others of her age, her studies included shooting, horsemanship fencing and mallakhmba with her childhood friends nans sahib and Tantia Tope. Rani lakshmibai was accustomed to riding on horseback accompanied by escorts between the palace and the temple, although sometimes she was carried in a palanquin. Her horses included sarangi, pavan and Baadal when escaping from the fort in 1858 her palace, the Rani mahal, has now been converted into a museum. It houses a collection of archaeological remains of the period between the 9th centuries AD. Manikarnika was married to the maharaja of jhansi, gangadhar rao newalkar, in may 1842 and was afterwards called lakshmibai in honour of the Hindu goddess devi lakshmi and according to the maharashtrian