History has given us a lot of stories about brave kings and queens. Those were the days of extremely tough decisions where self-respect was never compromised upon. We have heard a lot about women fighting bravely in the battle field and going to any limit to safeguard self respect. Hats off to these brave women whose stories have travelled around inspiring females of today. These brave women were also an epitome of beauty…beauty which also resulted in wars between empires.

Rani Padmavati of Chittor

She was the daughter of Sinhala king and queen of Rawal Ratan Singh of Chittor. An extremely beautiful woman, she rules Chittor with her husband. The news of her beauty reached the ears of Allauddin Khilji who got desperate to make her one of his harem women. When his efforts failed by all means, he attacked Chittor. The Queen on understanding his motives committed Jauhar-a system of self immolation, along with her mates to safe guard herself and the other women in the palace so that none could be taken away by Allauddin.

Samyukta

Rani Samyukta was queen of Prithviraj Chauhan of Kannauj. She was known for her determination and was breathtakingly beautiful. She was the daughter of Prithviraj’s enemy Jaichand. The love story of Prithviraj and Samyukta has been heard and told a number of times since then. She had become the centre of attraction for Mohammed Ghouri who had heard tales of a rift between Kannuaj and Delhi. On a later stage when Mohammed Ghouri wanted to capture her and take her away, she killed herself to escape falling in his hands.

Rani Laxmibai

Married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Manikarnika came to be known as Rani of Jhansi Laxmibai. She was extremely brave and also beautiful. During the revolt of 1857, she was declared as one of the greatest fighters of those times. She was skilled in horse riding. She fought like a man bravely and died for her country. “खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वो तो झांसी वाली रानी थी”