Fact Check: Claim of viral image showing real photograph of Rani of Jhansi is false
Rani Laxmi Bai also known as Rani of Jhansi, the epitome of courage and bravery, was born on November 19, 1835. She
Claim :
Viral image shows a real photograph of Jhansi Rani Lakshmi Bai that was taken 159 years ago by photographer HoffmanFact :
Historians confirm that the viral image does not show the real photograph of Jhansi Laxmi Bai.
Rani Laxmi Bai also known as Rani of Jhansi, the epitome of courage and bravery, was born on November 19, 1835. She played a pivotal role in the Indian revolt of 1857. She is one of the greatest freedom fighters in India. She was married to the Maharaja of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao, but was widowed without bearing a surviving heir to the throne. They adopted a boy before the death of the Maharaj. However, the British government refused to recognize the adopted son as the heir and annexed Jhansi in accordance with the doctrine of lapse but the queen refused to hand over Jhansi to the British. She fought the British with great courage and determination.
An image of a woman is in circulation on social media with the claim that it is the image of the freedom fighter Rani Laxmi bai and it was clicked by a photographer Hoffman 159 years ago. This photo was displayed in the World Photography Exhibition held in Bhopal on August 19.
The image has been viral online for many years.
Fact Check:
The claim is False. According to historians, the viral image is not of Rani Laxmi Bai.
When searching for images taken by photographer Hoffman in India, we found a website named artblart, with the tag Johnston and Hoffman, which displays the works of photographer Hoffman. We could not find the viral image of Rani Laxmi Bai in this collection.
Neither could we find the viral image in the stock images published in Getty and Alamy stock images.
We also found an X post sharing another image captioning it as Jhansi Laxmi Bai, with the caption “c. 1840s: The Only Photo of Rani Lakshmibai (Jhansi Ki Rani) - one of the principal leaders of the Great Uprising of 1857 (India's First War of Independence). This picture was taken by the German photographer Hoffman when she might have been around 19 years of age.”
Taking the cue, we found a YouTube video uploaded by ABP news with the title “Picture of “Jhansi Ki Rani” clicked by Hoffman found.” In the video, we can hear a photographer from Bhopal, Vaman Thakre exhibited a photograph in the photography exhibition, stating that he acquired the photo from his friend Ameet Ambalal who bought it for a sum of Rs 1,50,000. The back of the image has the name of Rani in Devanagari and Urdu.
We also found a report published in India Today in June 2010, which discusses the controversy about the original image of Rani Laxmi Bai. It includes statements from several historians who did extensive research on her. Some argue that no photographs of Jhansi Laxmi Bai were taken. And that the photographs were not the norm in the 1850s.
Upon further research, we also found an article about the book written by John Lang, a lawyer by profession who represented Jhansi Laxmi Bai in London. He got a chance to see and talk to the queen closely once. The article states that John Lang described the queen in his book named ‘Wanderings in India’.
Here we can see the screenshot of the pages of the book where he describes the queen in his words.
We also found a few fact-check organizations published fact-checks debunking the viral image. The claim is False. According to historians, the viral image does not show Jhansi Laxmi Bai.
