Jaishree Misra has written a fictional biography of the Rani. Normally I'd have added it to the bibliography with a short opinion, but this book is different, it has been banned in the Indian state that includes Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

I have read the book, Jasihree Misra gave me a copy as she had used this web site during her research and mentions it in her reference, and find it difficult to see quite what is objectionable in it. Misra writes of the Rani as a child and as a woman. The child who dutifully agrees to her father's wishes that she marry some old man, the dutiful wife who tries to please her husband, the dutiful Queen caring for her people. She also writes of the child who plays and is irritated with her friends, puzzled by the world, a woman with the desire to be a mother, and, this must be where Misra fell foul of the censors, she portrayed a woman with sexual desires.

One article, in The Daily Pioneer which is no longer available online, sums up the whole sorry mess. It start with the claim that the Rani is "Potrayed (sic) as a lover of adultery..." which is both mistyped and entirely false. There is no adultery, the love between the Rani and Ellis happens after Gangadhar Rao's death and is unrequited. The Daily Pioneer stretches the concept of adultery to the point of meaningless.

In my opinion, the true reason for the banning has more to do with a minor politician seeking some publicity for himself. The sort of second rate political chicanery that is all too common in India and which it could do well without. One can only hope that the people stop voting for such non-entities.

• Statement by Jaishree Misra
• An NDTV article on the banning.
• An opinion piece by Vir Sanghvi on this and the utterly ludicrous problems surrounding the film Jodhaa Akbar.
• Jaishree Misra's Official Site