1-150-199 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

'The Accession of the Queen of India', 1858. After the end of the Indian Mutiny, the authority of the East India Company also ended and the Crown, here represented by Queen Victoria, took over the full control of the government of India. The Indian woman shown may well be meant to represent the Rani of Jhansi. She had been one of the foremost rebel leaders, together with Tantia Topi and the Nana Sahib. She had the reputation of fighting like a man, but here, she is brought to her knees before the power and authority of the British Crown. She was killed fighting the British, aged twenty-three. From Punch, or the London Charivari, September 11, 1858.