Dussehra Special- Brave Women of India Quiz

Dussehra, a festival traditionally celebrating the female power or the Shakti. Mahishasur, the Demon King was so confident that no women could ever kill him, until he met his Nemesis in the hands of a woman. This Quiz is a tribute to the real life Durgas, the brave Indian women, who showed that when it comes to battle, women are no less inferior to men. So here is celebrating the spirit of Shakti.

1)

She was the daughter of the Hussain Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar, fluent in many languages including Marathi and Kannada and was a sitar player also. Married to Adil Shah of Bijapur, she had a stepwell constructed in her name. After her husband's death, she plotted against the regent Kamal Khan with help of another general Kishavar Khan, and had him executed. In 1591 when Akbar demanded the Bahmani sultanates to surrender, she resisted, and as a regent of the young king, she successfully defended the fort against the Mughal Army in 1595. However her decision to negotiate a truce with Daniyal, made her appear as a traitor, and egged on by treacherous nobles, she was killed by her own troops, and Ahmednagar fell to the Mughal Army.

CHAND BIBI

2)

Born in a small village Kakati in 1778 AD, she was trained in horse riding, archery, sword fighting in her youth. She married Raja Mallasarja of the Desai family, and later adopted Shivalingappa, as the heir to the throne, after her son's death. The British evoked the Doctrine of Lapse against her action, she however resisted it, making her one of the earliest rebels against the British rule, as also the kappa tax. She was however defeated in battle, and imprisoned by the British at Bailhongal fort.

KITTUR RANI CHENAMMA

3) Born to King Ganapati Deva, she was formally designated as a son, owing to the lack of male heirs, and succeded her father at an age of 14. She later married Veerabhadra, an Eastern Chalukyan prince, and as a ruler, she suppressed the revolts within the Kakatiya kingdom, as also defended her kingdom from Chola, Yadava rulers. She also constructed the famous Warangal fort. Name her.

RUDRAMA DEVI

4) During the freedom struggle, Indira Gandhi created, an organization of young Indian boys and girls, as the children's wing of the Indian National Congress. What was it's name?

VANARA SENA

5) According to folklore, when the Rajput ruler hesitated to go into battle, as he was newly married, asked his wife for a memento, that would remind him of her during battle. In reply, she severed her head and asked it to be presented. Her husband, shattered by the sacrifice, fought bravely till his death in the battle. The woman has become a folklore legend in Rajasthan. Name her.

RANI HADI

6) This British general, served with distinction in Syria and later during the Crimean War. When the Mutiny broke out in 1857,he was made in charge of the Poona Division. He recaptured Madanpur and Chanderi, and later his small force of just 1500 was able to defeat Tantya Tope's much larger army of 20,000 soldiers. He is famous for the battle in which Rani of Jhansi died fighting till the end at Kalpi, and he later remarked that she was "the most dangerous of all rebel leaders". Name him.

SIR HUGH ROSE

7)

Her real name was Muhammadi Khanum, and she was a courtesan by profession. She later became one of the royal concubines of the King of Oudh, and got her more famous title from him. When the British annexed Oudh, and expelled her husband Wajid Ali Shah to Kolkata, she took charge of the state. During the Mutiny, she declared her son Birjis Qadra as the ruler of Awadh, and even recaptured Lucknow. Refusing all offers of amnesty after her defeat, she later escaped to Nepal, where she passed away.

BEGUM HAZRAT MAHAL

8) Born in the village of Chondi near Ahmednagar in 1725, her father Mankoji Shinde was a village Patil, and he taught her how to read and write. She later married Khande Rao, and after her husband was killed in battle and later her father in law's death in 1766, she took over as the administration of the Malwa province. She was responsible for the development of Indore from a sleepy village to a prosperous trading center, and her own capital was Maheshwar, on the banks of the Narmada river. She liberally gave grants to many Hindu temples, and dozens of rest houses, sarais, and also a patron of arts and culture. She has often been compared with Catherine The Great and Elizabeth I. Name her.

AHILYABAI HOLKAR

9) Born in the fort of Kalanjar, in 1542 she was married to Dalpat Shah, of the Gond Dynasty. When her husband died in 1550, she took over the reins of the kingdom, as her son Vir Narayan was too young. She later moved the capital to Chauragarh. She successfuly repulsed an attack by Baz Bahadur, and in 1562 Akbar sent his general Majid Asaf Khan, to conquer her kingdom. Refusing to surrender she initially repelled tjhe attack, however pending imminent defeat to the Mughal Army, she stabbed herself to death in 1564. The University of Jabalpur has been renamed in her honor in 1983.

RANI DURGAWATI

10) Born into a Parsi family in 1861, her father, a merchant by profession was an influential figure. When Bombay presidency was hit by plague, she volunteered to provide assistance, and contracted it herself, and in 1901, she left to London for medical treatment. In 1905, she along with Dadabhai Nauroji and Singh Revabai Rana, founded the Indian Home Rule league. In 1907 she attended the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, and unfurled what she called "The flag of Indian independence". She was an outspoken activist for women's equality, and though initially given asylum by France, she later was arrested for sedition during WW1. Name her.

MADAME BHIKAJI CAMA

Scores

Rekha-9
Deepak-6
Kamal-9
Vineet-8
Shuleo-9
Ritwhik-9
Merci-8