Question

The name of the adopted son of Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi was…
(A) Damodar Ra
(B) Sadanand Rao
(C) Shivanand Rao
(D) Paramanand Rao

Answer 1

Hint: Rani Laxmi Bai was an Indian queen of princely State called Jhansi currently present in Jhansi District of Uttar Pradesh, India. She was one of the leading figures of the Indian rebellion of 1857 and became the symbol of resistance to the British raj for the Indian nationalist.

Complete answer:
Damodar Rao was the adopted son of Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi. He was born as Anand Rao from Vasudev Rao Newalkar, the cousin of Raja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar. Gangadhar Rao was the king of Jhansi and husband of Rani Laxmi Bai. Damodar Rao was adopted after the death of their son, as the inheritor of the Jhansi. He was adopted by the Rani Laxmi Bai by converting his name from Anand Rao to Damodar Rao. Instructions were given to the people that they would treat him with respect.
After the death of Gangadhar Rao in November 1853, East India Company applied the doctrine of Lapse, rejecting Damodar Rao's claim on the throne because the company wanted to annex the state.

Note: Doctrine of lapse was an annexation policy of East India Company introduced by Lord Dalhousie in India. According to this doctrine , any Indian princely state under the suzerainty of the British East India Company, would have its princely state abolished, if the ruler was either manifestly incompetent or died without a male heir. Under this doctrine, many pricey states were being annexed such as Kitture (1824), Kullu(1846), Kurnool(1839), Punjab (1849) , Satara (1848), Surat(1842)etc.