top of page
Personalities
Our Image Collection
View All By
Years
and
Era
Our Image Collection
Animals & Plants
(Number of images - 131)
View All By
Years
and
Era
(Number of images - 1153)
Our Image Collection
Architecture &
Building
(Number of images - 428)
View All By
Years
and
Era
Our Image Collection
Religion &
Festival
(Number of images - 80)
View All By
Years
and
Era
Our Image Collection
Military









![This modest monument marks the hallowed spot where the Rani of Jhansi was cremated on 17 June 1858. Her last rites were hurriedly performed by her followers so that her dead body might not fall into the hands of the enemy. Early life A miniature portrait of Rani Lakshmibai 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 (Bhagirathi Bai). 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 Rao II of Bithoor district. The Peshwa called her "Chhabili", which means "playful". She was educated at home, able to read and write, and was more independent in her childhood than others of her age; her studies included shooting, horsemanship, fencing and mallakhamba with her childhood friends Nana Sahib and Tatya Tope. [dubious – discuss] Rani Lakshmibai contrasted many of the patriarchal cultural expectations for women in India's society at this time. 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; according to historians she rode 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 and 12th centuries AD. History of Jhansi, 1842 - May 1857 Manikarnika was married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, in May 1842 and was afterwards called Lakshmibai (or Laxmibai) in honour of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi and according to the Maharashtrian tradition of women being given a new name after marriage. In September 1851, she gave birth to a boy, later named Damodar Rao, who died four months after birth. The Maharaja adopted a child called Anand Rao, the son of Gangadhar Rao's cousin, who was renamed Damodar Rao, on the day before the Maharaja died. The adoption was in the presence of the British political officer who was given a letter from the Maharaja instructing that the child be treated with respect and that the government of Jhansi should be given to his widow for her lifetime. After the death of the Maharaja in November 1853, because Damodar Rao (born Anand Rao) was an adopted son, 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. When she was informed of this she cried out "Main apni Jhansi nahi doongi" (I shall not surrender my Jhansi). In March 1854, Rani Lakshmibai was given an annual pension of Rs. 60,000 and ordered to leave the palace and the fort. According to Vishnu Bhatt Godse the Rani would exercise at weightlifting, wrestling and steeplechasing before breakfast. An intelligent and simply-dressed woman, she ruled in a business-like manner. Indian Rebellion of 1857 Beginning of the Rebellion On 10 May 1857 the Indian Rebellion started in Meerut. When news of the fighting reached Jhansi, the Rani asked the British political officer, Captain Alexander Skene, for permission to raise a body of armed men for her own protection; Skene agreed to this. The city was relatively calm in the midst of the regional unrest, but the Rani conducted a Haldi Kumkum ceremony with pomp in front of all the women of Jhansi to provide assurance to her subjects, in the summer of 1857 and to convince them that the British were cowards and not to be afraid of them. Until this point, Lakshmibai was reluctant to rebel against the British. In June 1857, rebels of the 12th Bengal Native Infantry seized the Star Fort of Jhansi containing the treasure and magazine, and after persuading the British to lay down their arms by promising them no harm, broke their word and massacred 40 to 60 European officers of the garrison along with their wives and children. The Rani's involvement in this massacre is still a subject of debate. An army doctor, Thomas Lowe, wrote after the rebellion characterizing her as the "Jezebel of India . the young rani upon whose head rested the blood of the slain". The Rani of Jhansi's seal Four days after the massacre the sepoys left Jhansi, having obtained a large sum of money from the Rani, and having threatened to blow up the palace where she lived. Following this, as the only source of authority in the city the Rani felt obliged to assume the administration and wrote to Major Erskine, commissioner of the Saugor division explaining the events which had led her to do so. On 2 July, Erskine wrote in reply, requesting her to "manage the District for the British Government" until the arrival of a British Superintendent. The Rani's forces defeated an attempt by the mutineers to assert the claim to the throne of a rival prince Sadashiv Rao (nephew of Maharaja Gangadhar Rao) who was captured and imprisoned. There was then an invasion of Jhansi by the forces of Company allies Orchha and Datia; their intention however was to divide Jhansi between themselves. The Rani appealed to the British for aid but it was now believed by the governor-general that she was responsible for the massacre and no reply was received. She set up a foundry to cast cannon to be used on the walls of the fort and assembled forces including some from former feudatories of Jhansi and elements of the mutineers which were able to defeat the invaders in August 1857. Her intention at this time was still to hold Jhansi on behalf of the British. Siege of Jhansi The storming of Jhansi - Lieutenant Bonus Jhansi Fort, 1882 From August 1857 to January 1858 Jhansi under the Rani's rule was at peace. The British had announced that troops would be sent there to maintain control but the fact that none arrived strengthened the position of a party of her advisers who wanted independence from British rule. When the British forces finally arrived in March they found it well-defended and the fort had heavy guns which could fire over the town and nearby countryside. According to one source Hugh Rose, commanding the British forces, demanded the surrender of the city; if this was refused it would be destroyed. The same source claims that after due deliberation the Rani issued a proclamation: "We fight for independence. In the words of Lord Krishna, we will if we are victorious, enjoy the fruits of victory, if defeated and killed on the field of battle, we shall surely earn eternal glory and salvation." Other sources, for example, have no mention of a demand for surrender. She defended Jhansi against British troops when Sir Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi on 23 March 1858. The bombardment of Jhansi began on 24 March but was met by heavy return fire and the damaged defences were repaired. The defenders sent appeals for help to Tatya Tope; an army of more than 20,000, headed by Tatya Tope, was sent to relieve Jhansi but they failed to do so when they fought the British on 31 March. During the battle with Tatya Tope's forces part of the British forces continued the siege and by 2 April it was decided to launch an assault by a breach in the walls. Four columns assaulted the defences at different points and those attempting to scale the walls came under heavy fire. Two other columns had already entered the city and were approaching the palace together. Determined resistance was encountered in every street and in every room of the palace. Street fighting continued into the following day and no quarter was given, even to women and children. "No maudlin clemency was to mark the fall of the city" wrote Thomas Lowe. The Rani withdrew from the palace to the fort and after taking counsel decided that since resistance in the city was useless she must leave and join either Tatya Tope or Rao Sahib (Nana Sahib's nephew). The place from where Rani Lakshmibai jumped on her horse. According to tradition with Damodar Rao on her back she jumped on her horse Badal from the fort; they survived but the horse died.[38] The Rani escaped in the night with her son, surrounded by guards.[39] The escort included the warriors Khuda Bakhsh Basharat Ali (commandant), Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost Khan, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Sunder-Mundar, Kashi Bai, Deewan Raghunath Singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh.[citation needed] She decamped to Kalpi with a few guards, where she joined additional rebel forces, including Tatya Tope. They occupied the town of Kalpi and prepared to defend it. On 22 May British forces attacked Kalpi; the forces were commanded by the Rani herself and were again defeated. Flight to Gwalior The leaders (the Rani of Jhansi, Tatya Tope, the Nawab of Banda, and Rao Sahib) fled once more. They came to Gwalior and joined the Indian forces who now held the city (Maharaja Scindia having fled to Agra from the battlefield at Morar). They moved on to Gwalior intending to occupy the strategic Gwalior Fort and the rebel forces occupied the city without opposition. The rebels proclaimed Nana Sahib as Peshwa of a revived Maratha dominion with Rao Sahib as his governor (subedar) in Gwalior. The Rani was unsuccessful in trying to persuade the other rebel leaders to prepare to defend Gwalior against a British attack which she expected would come soon. General Rose's forces took Morar on 16 June and then made a successful attack on the city. Death and burial On 17 June in Kotah-ki-Serai near the Phool Bagh of Gwalior, a squadron of the 8th (King's Royal Irish) Hussars, under Captain Heneage, fought the large Indian force commanded by Rani Lakshmibai, who was trying to leave the area. The 8th Hussars charged into the Indian force, slaughtering 5,000 Indian soldiers, including any Indian "over the age of 16". They took two guns and continued the charge right through the Phool Bagh encampment. In this engagement, according to an eyewitness account, Rani Lakshmibai put on a sowar's uniform and attacked one of the hussars; she was unhorsed and also wounded, probably by his sabre. Shortly afterwards, as she sat bleeding by the roadside, she recognised the soldier and fired at him with a pistol, whereupon he "dispatched the young lady with his carbine". According to another tradition Rani Lakshmibai, the Queen of Jhansi, dressed as a cavalry leader, was badly wounded; not wishing the British to capture her body, she told a hermit to burn it. After her death a few local people cremated her body. The British captured the city of Gwalior after three days. In the British report of this battle, Hugh Rose commented that Rani Lakshmibai is "personable, clever and beautiful" and she is "the most dangerous of all Indian leaders". Rose reported that she had been buried "with great ceremony under a tamarind tree under the Rock of Gwalior, where I saw her bones and ashes". Her tomb is in the Phool Bagh area of Gwalior. Twenty years after her death Colonel Malleson wrote in the History of the Indian Mutiny; vol. 3; London, 1878- Whatever her faults in British eyes may have been, her countrymen will ever remember that she was driven by ill-treatment into rebellion, and that she lived and died for her country, We cannot forget her contribution for India.' — Colonel Malleson Descendant According to a memoir purporting to be by 'Damodar Rao', the young prince was among his mother's troops and household at the battle of Gwalior. Together with others who had survived the battle (some 60 retainers with 60 camels and 22 horses) he fled from the camp of Rao Sahib of Bithur and as the village people of Bundelkhand dared not aid them for fear of reprisals from the British, they were forced to live in the forest and suffer many privations. After two years there were about 12 survivors and these, together with another group of 24 they encountered, sought the city of Jhalrapatan where there were yet more refugees from Jhansi. Damodar Rao of Jhansi surrendered himself to a British official and his memoir ends in May 1860. He was then allowed a pension of Rs. 10,000, seven retainers, and was in the guardianship of Munshi Dharmanarayan. The whole memoir was published in Marathi in Kelkar, Y. N. (1959) Itihasachyaaa Sahali ("Voyages in History"). It is likely that this text is a written version based on tales of the prince's life in oral circulation and that what actually happened to him remains unknown.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/95504a_2fd848bf36374c1da3abd25dd68908a9~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_181,h_140,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/95504a_2fd848bf36374c1da3abd25dd68908a9~mv2.jpg)

![Headings Photographic prints. Notes - Published as halftone in Harper's Weekly, 1895, p. 938. - Photographic print made by LC from Jackson's vintage film negative. - Gift; Colorado Historical Society; 1949. - Forms part of: Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942. World's Transportation Commission photograph collection (Library of Congress). Medium 1 photographic print : gelatin silver ; 8 x 10 in. or smaller. Call Number/Physical Location LOT 11948, no. 522 [P&P] Source Collection Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942. World's Transportation Commission photograph collection (Library of Congress) Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA Digital Id wtc 4a02636 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/wtc.4a02636 cph 3b25931 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b25931 Library of Congress Control Number 2004707372 Reproduction Number LC-USZ62-78846 (b&w film copy neg.) Rights Advisory No known restrictions on publication. Online Format image LCCN Permalink https://lccn.loc.gov/2004707372 Additional Metadata Formats MARCXML Record MODS Record Dublin Core Record](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/95504a_3d8950180c21439dbe1bf7c5bbdadbe5~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_181,h_140,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/95504a_3d8950180c21439dbe1bf7c5bbdadbe5~mv2.jpg)
![Headings Photographic prints--1900-1910. Stereographs--1900-1910. Genre Photographic prints--1900-1910 Stereographs--1900-1910 Notes - No. 2. - Title from item. Medium 1 photograph : print ; mount 9 x 18 cm (stereograph format) Call Number/Physical Location STEREO FOREIGN GEOG FILE - India--N [item] [P&P] Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Digital Id stereo 1s27012 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/stereo.1s27012 Library of Congress Control Number 2020681749 Reproduction Number LC-DIG-stereo-1s27012 (digital file from original) Rights Advisory No known restrictions on publication. Online Format image LCCN Permalink https://lccn.loc.gov/2020681749 Additional Metadata Formats MARCXML Record MODS Record Dublin Core Record](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/95504a_e340b6712b0f41debee1ae43e4a3780c~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_181,h_95,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/95504a_e340b6712b0f41debee1ae43e4a3780c~mv2.jpg)
![Headings Photographic prints--1900-1910. Stereographs--1900-1910. Genre Photographic prints--1900-1910 Stereographs--1900-1910 Notes - Title from item. Medium 1 photograph : print ; mount 9 x 18 cm (stereograph format) Call Number/Physical Location STEREO FOREIGN GEOG FILE - India--Bombay [item] [P&P] Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Digital Id stereo 1s26602 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/stereo.1s26602 Library of Congress Control Number 2020681361 Reproduction Number LC-DIG-stereo-1s26602 (digital file from original) Rights Advisory No known restrictions on publication. Online Format image LCCN Permalink https://lccn.loc.gov/2020681361 Additional Metadata Formats MARCXML Record MODS Record Dublin Core Record](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/95504a_afc8b06b36fa4c7b8ff6c575b4569b4f~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_181,h_93,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/95504a_afc8b06b36fa4c7b8ff6c575b4569b4f~mv2.jpg)
![Headings Photographic prints--1900-1910. Stereographs--1900-1910. Genre Photographic prints--1900-1910 Stereographs--1900-1910 Notes - No. 14107. - Title from item. Medium 1 photograph : print ; mount 9 x 18 cm (stereograph format) Call Number/Physical Location STEREO FOREIGN GEOG FILE - India--Jaipur [item] [P&P] Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Digital Id stereo 1s26898 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/stereo.1s26898 Library of Congress Control Number 2020681639 Reproduction Number LC-DIG-stereo-1s26898 (digital file from original) Rights Advisory No known restrictions on publication. Online Format image LCCN Permalink https://lccn.loc.gov/2020681639 Additional Metadata Formats MARCXML Record MODS Record Dublin Core Record](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/95504a_99ae37c5c9b142b58c8a74e5d2e2d2c1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_181,h_94,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/95504a_99ae37c5c9b142b58c8a74e5d2e2d2c1~mv2.jpg)




![The Süleymaniye Mosque (Turkish: Süleymaniye Camii, pronounced [sylejˈmaːnije]) is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An inscription specifies the foundation date as 1550 and the inauguration date as 1557. Behind the qibla wall of the mosque is an enclosure containing the separate octagonal mausoleums of Suleiman the Magnificent and that of his wife Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana). For 462 years, the Süleymaniye Mosque was the largest mosque in the city, until it was surpassed by the Çamlıca Mosque in 2019. The Süleymaniye Mosque is one of the best-known sights of Istanbul, and from its location on the Third Hill, it commands an extensive view of the city around the Golden Horn. History The Süleymaniye Mosque, was built on the order of Sultan Süleyman (Süleyman the Magnificent), and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. The Arabic foundation inscription above the north portal of the mosque is carved in thuluth script on three marble panels. It gives a foundation date of 1550 and an inauguration date of 1557. In reality the planning of the mosque began before 1550 and parts of the complex were not completed until after 1557. The design of the Süleymaniye also plays on Süleyman's self-conscious representation of himself as a 'second Solomon.' It references the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the site of the Temple of Solomon, as well as Justinian's boast upon the completion of the Hagia Sophia: "Solomon, I have surpassed thee!" The Süleymaniye, similar in magnificence to the preceding structures, asserts Süleyman's historical importance. The structure is nevertheless smaller in size than its older archetype, the Hagia Sophia. The Süleymaniye was damaged in the great fire of 1660 and was restored by Sultan Mehmed IV. Part of the dome collapsed during the earthquake of 1766. Subsequent repairs damaged what was left of the original decoration of Sinan (recent cleaning has shown that Sinan experimented first with blue, before making red the dominant color of the dome). During World War I the courtyard was used as a weapons depot, and when some of the ammunition ignited, the mosque suffered another fire. Not until 1956 was it fully restored again. ARCHITECTURE Exterior Like the other imperial mosques in Istanbul, the entrance to the mosque itself is preceded by a forecourt with a central fountain. The courtyard is of exceptional grandeur with a colonnaded peristyle with columns of marble, granite and porphyry. The northwest facade of the mosque is decorated with rectangular Iznik tile window lunettes. The mosque is the first building where the Iznik tiles include the brightly coloured tomato red clay under the glaze. At the four corners of the courtyard are the four minarets. The two taller minarets have three galleries (serifes) and rise to a high of 63.8 m (209 ft) without their lead caps and 76 m (249 ft) including the caps. Four minarets were used for mosques endowed by a sultan (princes and princesses could construct two minarets; others only one). The minarets have a total of 10 galleries, which by tradition indicates that Suleiman I was the 10th Ottoman sultan. The main dome is 53 metres (174 feet) high and has a diameter of 26.5 metres (86.9 feet) which is exactly half the height. At the time it was built, the dome was the highest in the Ottoman Empire, when measured from sea level, but still lower from its base and smaller in diameter than that of Hagia Sophia. Interior The interior of the mosque is almost a square, 59 metres (194 feet) in length and 58 metres (190 feet) in width, forming a single vast space. The dome is flanked by semi-domes, and to the north and south arches with tympana-filled windows, supported by enormous porphyry monoliths. Sinan decided to make a radical architectural innovation to mask the huge north-south buttresses needed to support these central piers. He incorporated the buttresses into the walls of the building, with half projecting inside and half projecting outside, and then hid the projections by building colonnaded galleries. There is a single gallery inside the structure, and a two-story gallery outside. The interior decoration is restrained with stained-glass windows restricted to the qibla wall. Iznik tile revetments are only used around the mihrab. The repeating rectangular tiles have a stencil-like floral pattern on a white ground. The flowers are mainly blue with turquoise, red and black but green is not used. On either side of the mihrab are large Iznik tile calligraphic roundels with text from the Al-Fatiha surah of the Quran (1:1–7). The white marble mihrab and mimbar are also simple in design, and woodwork is restrained, with simple designs in ivory and mother of pearl. Maosoleums In the walled enclosure behind the qibla wall of the mosque are the separate mausoleums (türbe) of Sultan Suleiman I and his wife Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana). Hurrem Sultan's octagonal mausoleum is dated 1558, the year of her death. The 16 sided interior is decorated with Iznik tiles. The seven rectangular windows are surmounted by tiled lunettes and epigraphic panels. Between the windows are eight mihrab-like hooded niches. The ceiling is now whitewashed but was probably once painted in bright colours. The much larger octagonal mausoleum of Suleiman the Magnificent bears the date of 1566, the year of his death, but it was probably not completed until the following year. The mausoleum is surrounded by a peristyle with a roof supported by 24 columns and has the entrance facing east rather than the usual north. Under the portico on either side of the entrance are Iznik tiled panels. These are the earliest tiles that are decorated with the bright emerald green colour that would become a common feature of Iznik ceramics. The interior has a false dome supported on eight columns within the outer shell. There are 14 windows set at ground level and an additional 24 windows with stained glass set in the tympana under the arches. The walls and the pendentives are covered with polychrome Iznik tiles. Around the room above the windows is a band of inscriptive tiled panels. The text quotes the Throne verse and the following two verses from the Quran (2:255-58). In addition to the tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent, the mausoleum houses the tombs of his daughter Mihrimah Sultan and those of two later sultans: Suleiman II (ruled 1687–1691) and Ahmed II (ruled 1691–1695). Complex As with other imperial mosques in Istanbul, the Süleymaniye Mosque was designed as a külliye, or complex with adjacent structures to service both religious and cultural needs. The original complex consisted of the mosque itself, a hospital (darüşşifa), primary school, public baths (hamam), a caravanserai, four Qur'an schools (medrese), a specialized school for the learning of hadith, a medical college, and a public kitchen (imaret) which served food to the poor. Many of these structures are still in existence, and the former imaret is now a noted restaurant. The former hospital is now a printing factory owned by the Turkish Army. Just outside the mosque walls, to the north is the tomb of architect Sinan. It was completely restored in 1922.
Mughal-Library](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/95504a_0c96e47f820b4bfcb28519838c71efc1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_181,h_121,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/95504a_0c96e47f820b4bfcb28519838c71efc1~mv2.jpg)


