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Jhalkaribai (November 22, 1830 - ) (झलकारीबाई), pronounced ; was a Indian revolutionary who played an important role in Indian Rebellion of 1857 during the battle of Jhansi. She was a soldier in the women's army of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. Born in a poor Koree family, she started her career as an ordinary soldier in Laxmibai's female army, but subsequently rose up to a position to participate and advice the queen in vital decisions. During the mutiny, at the height of the battle at the fort of Jhansi, she disguised herself as the queen and fought on the front to let the queen escape safely out of the fort.

The legend of Jhalkaribai continues to remain in the popular memory of Bundelkhand over centuries. Her life and especially the incident of her fighting with English army on the front in disguise continues to be sung in various Bundeli folklores. Her bravery along with her identity as a dalit has helped significantly in creating a sense of pride in dalits in north India subsequently developing a cultural unity among them.

In the recent years, the name of Jhalkaribai, among with the others, has played a crucial role in the political scenario of North India especially of Uttar Pradesh. Taking advantage of her bright image in masses, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the leading dalit-based party in India, projected Jhalkaribai as one of the symbols of dalit pride and honour. Efforts were taken in research and finding facts about her life as well as propagating them to the masses. Emphasis was given on portraying her as a historical heroine of the bahujans (read masses). This, as a part of overall sociocultural policy of BSP, helped the party to create a wide base among the bahujans later becoming the ruling party in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Life
Jhalkaribai was a daughter of a Kori farmer father Sadovar Singh and Jamuna Devi. She born on November 22, 1830 in Bhojla village near Jhansi. After the death of her mother when she was very young, her father raised her up more like a boy and she was trained in horse-riding and using arms. Consistent with the social conditions of those days, she could not have formal education, but soon became well-trained as a warrior. She was brave and well-trained that she killed a leopard once in the forest with only her stick, which she used to herd her cattle. This incident made her very popular in the area.

During the Rebellion of 1857, General Hugh Rose stormed in Jhansi with large army on April 3, 1858. The queen was in no position to face such big army and was planning on an escape. Jhalkaribai made a suggestion to the queen that she would go to the front in disguise as the queen and the queen should escape out of the fort. . On the night of April 4, the queen escaped from the fort and left for Kalpi. At the same time, Jhalkaribai set out for General Rose's camp in disguise as the queen and declared herself to be the queen Laxmibai.

In historiography
Very few references are found about Jhalkaribai in the contemporary records. Records of General Hugh Rose, who was the general of the company army, and commissioner's gazetteer has no mention of Jhalkaribai. However, Vishnubhat Godse, a contemporary Marathi traveller who travelled in North India during the mutiny and was the court priest during this period mentioned her in his travelogue, though he mentioned her as a maid.

One could find no references of Jhalkaribai or her bravery in early historiography. In pre-independence India, British historiographers like Kaye and Malleson or Thompson and Garratt made no mention of Jhalkaribai. Even the Indian authors did mention her. Sawarkar made no mention of her in his Indian war of independence 1857‎ and Nehru did mention her in his Discovery of India. Majumdar, Raychaudhuri, and Datta made no mention of Jhalkaribai though they noted that the queen Laxmibai escaped out of the Jhansi fort on the night of April 4, 1858 and left for Kalpi as Sir Hugh Rose "stormed" in Jhansi on April 3.

The name of Jhalkaribai started making appearance in the printed history after Independence of India. First reference in this period found in a novel Jhansi ki Rani written in 1951 by B.L. Varma, who created a subplot in his novel about Jhalkaribai for which he interviewed Jhalkaribai's grandson. He addressed Jhalkaribai as Korin and an ordinary soldier in Laxmibai's army. Another novel where we can find mention of Jhalkaribai was written in the same year by Ram Chandra Heran in his Bundeli novel Maati. Heran depicted her as "chivalrous and a valiant martyr." The first biography of Jhalkaribai was written in 1964 by Bhawani Shankar Visharad, a dalit intellectual, with the help of Varma's novel and his research from the oral narratives of the lower caste people living in the vicinity of Jhansi.

As a result of Bahujan Samaj Party's policy of social mobilization, several booklets, dramas, and songs have been composed by dalit activists, politicians, and writers narrating the story of Jhalkaribai. Efforts have been made to rewrite the history and place Jhalkaribai at an equal footing of Laxmibai. Since the 1990s, the story of Jhalkaribai has acquired a political dimension and her image is being reconstructed with the demands of social situation.

Legacy
The image of Jhalkaribai has risen to a significant place in North India in the recent years. The sociopolitical importance of the story of Jhalkaribai to create social awareness and a sense of pride in the dalits has been successfully recognized and used by political parties like BSP. The death anniversary of Jhalkaribai is celebrated as Shahid Diwas (Martyr Day) by various Dalit organizations every year.

The story of Jhalkaribai is utilized not only by the dalits. The movement of demanding a separate Bundelkhand state has also use the myth of Jhalkaribai to create the Bundeli identity. The Government of India's Post and Telegraph department has also issued a postal stamp depicting Jhalkaribai.