A Literary Tribute To The Queen of Jhansi

P.V. Laxmiprasad is the author of this critical book on Mahasweta Devi’s “The Queen of Jhansi” for certain subaltern elements. It is originally written by Mahasweta Devi, a prominent novelist in Bengali. “The Queen of Jhansi –A Subaltern Study” deals with one of India’s most important historical figures, a legendary heroine who led her troops against the British in the uprising of 1857, now remembered as the First Indian war of Independence against the British. If history has many hidden facts, this critical volume throws light on an important aspect Subaltern study, as most of Mahasweta Devi’s works normally focus on. It forms an integral part of this critical volume. According to the author , it is a personal history that is converted into a history of bravery, valor, and sheer patriotism. Mahasweta is not only critical of the English authorities but also with the Indian elite who failed to resolve the offence played against the Queen of Jhansi, and the revolt of 1857. Though viewed by scholars as a personal history, it is also looked into from subaltern dimensions.

The author pertinently opines that it was between the ruling class as represented by the British and the working class of Indians for which this critical volume breathes life and spirit. If history repeats history, the Indian Freedom Struggle, as the author observes, has been reclaimed in history books. The novel as claimed by Mahasweta Devi addresses the human element of Laxmi Bai against the backdrop of revolt of 1857. While presenting a novel view point the author finds that it was not a battle between one individual and the East India Company but the battle of supremacy for power and control on the native Indians who were looked down upon in their country. It is a clear reflection of how Indians were treated as Subalterns by the British. The discrimination, the battle the racial domination and the ill treatment made the history of Laxmi Bai a truly historical one. The Subaltern elements as explored with utmost meticulousness serve as a testimony to the century old inhuman treatment at the brutal hands of the barbaric British. Inequality and injustice as explored this critical book is yet another stamp of its author’s caliber as a critic. The battle was fought between the ruler and the ruled. If horrors, oppression, and depression moved the Indians in a pathetic situation, Indians succumbed to the British and became subalterns in the end.

The writer throws light on the British tactics in the forcible implementation of Doctrine of Lapse and how it troubled the Queen of Jhnasi. The crooked politics and the decisive phase have been brilliantly presented through the dialogues that bear the testimony of a true scholarship. It is not merely history but the history of century old oppression in the country. History is not seen as a record of absolute truth that is sacrosanct but as a perspective Hence, location, context, praxis assume as much importance as content.Towards the end the author aptly justifies the inclusion of literary records and documented history. The book concludes with a spectacle of “Corpses everywhere’’ which bear the horrible sights of the battle that Queen of Jhansi fights against the British. A well deserved literary tributes paid to the Queen of Jhansi for her martyrdom.