Statue of Jhalkaribai

In a small park on Bhagwan Talkies crossing in central Agra stands a bronze statue of Jhalkaribai (1830–1858), the Dalit soldier who served — and according to legend, impersonated and saved — the Rani of Jhansi during the 1857 Indian uprising against the British.

The site is unremarkable as a piece of public art, but it is one of the very few visible memorials to a Dalit woman fighter from the 1857 war. A short stop, more for the story than the spectacle.

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A story
Jhalkaribai was a Dalit woman who served in the army of the Rani of Jhansi during the 1857 uprising. According to tradition, she resembled the Rani so closely that she rode out impersonating her queen to fool the British, allowing the real Rani to escape. She was killed in the action. Her story was largely forgotten until the late twentieth century, when she became an icon for Dalit feminist movements.

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