Gangadhar Rao

5th raja of Jhansi

Shrimant Maharaja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar Babasaheb

Jhansi Naresh
Maharaja of Jhansi[1]

मराठा झाँसी नरेश श्रीमंत महाराजाधिराज गंगाधरराव नेवाळकर बाबासाहेब

5th Maharaja of Jhansi
Reign| 1843 – 21 November 1853
Predecessor| Raghunath Rao III [2]
Successor| Damodar Rao

Born| 1814
Died| November 21, 1853 (age 39)[3]
Jhansi, Jhansi State (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
Spouse| Ramabai[4]
Lakshmibai
Issue| Damodar Rao, Anand Rao[3]
| Names

Jhansi Naresh Maharaja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar[1][5]
Dynasty| Newalkar
Father| Shiv Rao Bhau[2]
Mother| Padma Bai

Gangadhar Rao Newalkar was the 5th Raja of Jhansi situated in northern India, a vassal of Maratha Empire. He was a Marathi Karhade Brahmin. He was the son of Shiv Rao Bhau and a descendant of Raghunath Hari Newalkar (who was the first governor of Jhansi under Maratha rule).[2]

## Biography

[edit]

The ancestors of Maharaj Gangadhar Rao hailed from a Brahmin family[6] of Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Some of them moved to Khandesh, when Peshwa rule began and served important posts in the Peshwa and Holkar armies. Subhedar Raghunath Haripant Newalkar alis Raghunath Rao II, strengthened Maratha polity in Bundelkhand, however as he grew old, he handed over the reins of Jhansi to his younger brother Raja of Jhansi Shiv Rao Bhau. On the death of Raghunath Rao III son of Shiv Rao Bhau in 1838, the British rulers accepted his brother Gangadhar Rao as the Raja of Jhansi in 1843.[7]

Cenotaph of Raja Gangadhar Rao or Gangadhar Rao ki Chhatri

He was an able administrator and he improved the financial condition of Jhansi, which had deteriorated during his predecessor's rule. He took corrective steps to ensure the growth and development of the town of Jhansi. He controlled an army of around 5,000 men. He possessed wisdom, diplomacy, and was a lover of art and culture;[8] even the British were impressed by his statesmanlike qualities. Maharaj Gangadhar Rao possessed considerable taste and some scholarship; he collected a fine library of Sanskrit manuscripts and enriched the architecture of the town of Jhansi.[9]

He was first married to Ramabai, who died soon after. She never became queen consort of Jhansi as Maharaj Gangadhar Rao started to hold the title of Raja (King) in 1843, after Maharani Ramabai's death. In May 1842, Maharaja Gangadhar Rao married a young girl named Manikarnika Tambe, later renamed as Lakshmibai, who was directly given the title of Rani (Queen Consort) after marriage. She eventually became the Queen of Jhansi and revolted against the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.[3]

Margashirsh Shukla Ekadashi, September 1851, she gave birth to a boy, named Damodar Rao, who died three months after birth. Raja Gangadhar Rao adopted a child called Anand Rao, the son of his cousin Vasudev Newalkar of Parola, who was renamed Damodar Rao, on the day before he died. The adoption was in the presence of the British political officer who was given a letter from the Raja requesting that the child should be treated with kindness and that the government of Jhansi should be given to his widow for her lifetime. After the death of the Raja in 21 November 1853 because Damodar Rao was adopted, the British East India Company, under Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, applied the Doctrine of Lapse, rejecting Damodar Rao's claim to the throne and annexing the state to its territories.[10]

## Family Members

[edit]

Sadashiv Rao Newalkar

Jahagirdar Sadashiv Rao son of Damodarpant Raghunath Hari Newalkar. (Raghunath Rao I). Established of Parola City and Fort in 1726 in Jalgaon, Maharashtra.

Sadashiv Narayan

Shiv Rao Bhau

Raghunath Rao II

Raghunath Rao III

Rani Ramabai

Rani Sakhubai

Rani Jankibai

Rani Lacchobai

Rani Padmabai

## See also

[edit]

* Maratha Empire
* Laxmibai, Queen of Jhansi
* History of India
* Jhansi

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Rana, Bhawan Singh (2005). Rani of Jhansi. Diamond Pocket Books (P). ISBN 9788128808753. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
2. ^ a b c Rana, Bhawan Singh (2005). Rani of Jhansi. Diamond Pocket Books (P). ISBN 9788128808753. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
3. ^ a b c Agarwal, Deepa (8 September 2009). Rani Lakshmibai. Penguin UK. ISBN 9788184758061. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
4. ^ Tapti Roy (2006). Raj of the Rani. Penguin Books India. p. 32\. ISBN 9780143062219.
5. ^ Homans, Margaret; Munich, Adrienne; Beer, Gillian (2 October 1997). Remaking Queen Victoria - Google Books. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521574853. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
6. ^ Rana, Bhawan Singh (2005). Rani of Jhansi. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. ISBN 978-81-288-0875-3.
7. ^ Edwardes Red Year (1975), p. 113
8. ^ Ganguly, Kalpana (January 2009). Jhansi Ki Rani Laxmibai (English) - Kalpana Ganguly - Google Books. Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 9788188322053. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
9. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books; p. 113
10. ^ Edwardes, Michael (1975) Red Year. London: Sphere Books, pp. 113–14

Gangadhar Rao

Newalkar Dynasty

Regnal titles
Preceded by

Raghunath Rao III

|  Maharaja of Jhansi
1838-1853  |  Succeeded by

Abolished taken over by British