Rani Lakshmibai and Tatya Tope

Jhansi had been annexed under the doctrine of lapse in 1854, after the Company refused to recognise the son Lakshmibai's husband had adopted. When the garrison mutinied in June 1857 and the Europeans who had taken refuge in the fort were killed, she took over the government; whether she had any part in the killings is disputed. Hugh Rose's Central India Field Force besieged Jhansi from 24 March 1858, beat off Tatya Tope's relief army at the Betwa, and stormed the city in early April. The Rani escaped by night to Kalpi.

With Tatya Tope and Rao Sahib she seized Gwalior from the Company's ally Scindia on 1 June. Rose followed, and she was killed in a cavalry action at Kotah-ki-Serai on 17 or 18 June 1858; the sources differ on the day. Gwalior was retaken on 19 June. The pin is Jhansi fort; Gwalior is about 100 km to the north.

Tatya Tope kept a rebel army moving through Rajputana and central India for ten more months. Betrayed by Man Singh of Narwar, he was captured in April 1859 and hanged at Shivpuri. Claims by his descendants that another man was hanged in his place have never been substantiated.