スバドゥラー・クマーリー・チョウハーン=Subhadra Kumari Chauhan; 「ジャーンシー・キー・ ラーニー」=Jhansi ki Rani; ラクシュミー・バーイー=Lakshmi Bai; インド大反乱=Indian Rebellion of 1857
摘要
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (सुभद्रा कु मारी चौहान) is one of the best-known female Indian poets from the first half of the 20th century. This work presents a Japanese translation of Jhansi ki Rani (झांसी की रानी), “Queen of Jhansi,” which is Chauhan’s most famous poem.
Chauhan was born in Ilahabad (इलाहाबाद) in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (उत्तर प्रदेश) on August 16, 1904. In 1919, after marrying, she moved to Jabalpur (जबलपूर) in Madhya Pradesh (मध्य प्रदेश), a state in central India. During her lifetime, the growing independence movement was gaining momentum; she joined the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921 and was imprisoned in 1923 and 1942. After India’s independence, she was chosen to serve as a member of the state’s legislative assembly. On February 15, 1948, she died in a car accident onher way back to Jabalpur from Nagpur (नागपुर) in Maharashtra (महाराष्ट्र), a state in mid-western India, after attending an assembly session.
Jhansi ki Rani is a poem about a queen who boldly confronted India’s domination by England’s East India Company in the 19th century. Jhansi ki Rani is Chauhan’s most famous poem because it inspired the independence movement of the 20th century.
Jhansi is situated on the southern bank of the Yamuna (यमुना) River in the Bundelkhand (बुंदेलखंड) region on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. It once belonged to the Maratha (मराठा) Confederacy, a former princely state. The poem Jhansi ki Rani recounts the life of Lakshmi Bai (लक्ष्मी बाई), queen of this former princely state. She is one of many brave Indian women, and statues of her can be seen not only in Jhansi but also in many of India’s cities.
