Jhalkaribai

Jhalkaribai was an Indian woman soldier who played an important role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 during the battle of Jhansi. She was a soldier in the womens army of Queen Laxmibai of Jhansi. Born into a poor Kori family, she started her career as an ordinary soldier in Laxmibais army, but rose to a position of advising the queen and participating in vital decisions. During the rebellion, at the height of the battle of fort of Jhansi, she disguised herself as the queen and fought on the front to let the queen escape safely out of the fort.

Jhalkaribai was daughter of a Sadoba Singh, and Jamuna Devi. She was born on November 22, 1830 in Bhojla village near Jhansi. After the death of her mother, when she was very young, her father raised her like a boy. She was trained in horseriding and using weapons. Consistent with the social conditions of those days, she could not have a formal education, but soon became welltrained as a warrior. She killed a leopard in the forest with a stick she used to herd cattle.

Source: Wikipedia