Jhansi is a city of Uttar Pradesh state, India. Jhansi is a major road and rail junction, and is the administrative seat of a district and division of the same name. The walled city grew up around its stone fort, which crowns a neighboring rock.

Jhansi District

Jhansi District, of which the city of Jhansi is the capital, is bordered on the north by Jalaun district, to the east by Hamirpur and Mahoba districts, to the south by Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh state, to the southwest by Lalitpur district, which is joined to Jhansi district by a narrow corridor, and on the east by the Datia and Bhind districts of Madhya Pradesh. Population 1,746,715 (2001 census). Lalitpur district, which extends into the hill country to the south, was added to Jhansi district in 1891, and made a separate district again in 1974. Several railway lines serve the district. South of Jhansi district lies the hill country of Bundelkhand, which slopes down from the Vindhya Range. The district consists of the level plain of Bundelkhand, distinguished for its deep black soil, known as mar, and admirably adapted for the cultivation of cotton. The district is intersected or bounded by three principal rivers, the Pahuj , Betwa and Dhasan .

Jhansi Division

Jhansi Division is one of 17 divisions of Uttar Pradesh, and includes Jhansi, Jalaun, and Lalitpur districts. The city of Jhansi is the administrative center.

History

In the ninth century, the region of Jhansi came under the rule of the Rajput Chandela dynasty of Khajuraho. The artificial reservoirs and architectural remains of the hilly region probably date from this era. The Chandelas were succeeded by their servants the Khangars, who built the nearby fort of Karar. About the fourteenth century the Bundeli poured down upon the plains from the Vindhya Range, and gradually spread themselves over the whole of the Bundelkhand region which now bears their name. The fortress of Jhansi was built by the ruler of Orchha state in 1610.

The Muslim governors of the Mughal empire were constantly making incursions into the Bundeli country, and in 1732 Chhatar Sal, the Bundeli raja, called in the aid of the Hindu Marathas. They came to his assistance, and were rewarded on the raja's death in 1734 by the bequest of one-third of his dominions. The Maratha general founded the city of Jhansi, and peopled it with inhabitants from Orchha state. In 1806 British protection was promised to the Maratha chief, and in 1817 the Peshwa in Pune ceded all his rights over Bundelkhand to the British East India Company. In 1853 the Raja of Jhansi died childless, and his territory was annexed by the Governor-General of India. The Jhansi state and the Jalaun and Chanderi districts were then formed into a superintendency. The widow of the raja, Rani Lakshmi Bai, protested the annexation because she was not allowed to adopt an heir, and because the slaughter of cattle was permitted in the Jhansi territory. The Revolt of 1857 accordingly found Jhansi ripe for rebellion. In June a few men of the 12th native infantry seized the fort containing the treasure and magazine, and massacred the European officers of the garrison. The rani put herself at the head of the rebels, and died bravely in battle in Gwalior. It was not till November 1858 that Jhansi was brought under British control. Jhansi was given to the Majaraja of Gwalior, but came under British rule in 1886 as the result of a territorial swap. Jhansi was added to the United Provinces, which became the state of Uttar Pradesh after India's Independence in 1947.