Avanti Bai was born on 16 August 1831 in Mankehadi village, Madhya Pradesh. She was born in Lodhi Rajput family and her father's name was Jujhar Singh. She was independent young girl who was well-trained in sword fighting, archery, cavalry, military strategy, diplomacy, and all other subjects of statecraft. She married Raja Vikramaditya of Ramgarh. They had two sons, Amar Singh and Sher Singh. After her husband died, she became reagent or guardian of sons and her kingdom. She was an efficient administrator. But Britishers did not recognize her as the legitimate ruler of Ramgarh. The reason being due to the doctrine of Lapse. The doctrine stated thar if a ruler of a kingdom died without a direct heir, then it would be annexed by the East India Company. Angered by this insulting and unjust decision, the furious queen threw the administrator out and declared a war against the British.

Her next step was sending urgent emissaries to the rulers of the neighboring kingdoms to join her in the war against British Subjugation. In her letter, she stated:

If you think you have a duty towards our enslaved motherland, raise your swords and jump into the war against the British. Otherwise wear these bangles and hide yourself in houses.

Her appeal succeeded in rousing a wave of revolution in the central provinces. By 1857, the entire region had joined the armed rebellion. She herself raised an army of 4,000 and lead from front against the British troops. The first battle took place in the village of Kheri. The British troops were defeated by her masterful battle tactics. Then in second battle, British assembled their full force and launched a massive attack on Ramgarh, burning the citadel. Therefore, the Queen was forced to move with her family to the thickly forested hills of Devharigarh. However, she was not the one who would give up easily. Using guerilla warfare tactics, she attacked the camp of British general Waddington, putting the camp into chaos. Finally, when she was surrounded by British troops, she chose to give up her life rather surrendering herself to the enemy. On March 20, 1858, she killed herself with her own sword.

Her story is almost similar another freedom fighter of that time, Rani Laxmibai – the Queen of Jhansi. But these two fearless legends will stay with the people in the form of folk cuture, even as I go by.