The East India Company refused the Raja of Jhansi's deathbed adoption, took the state, and kept the boy's inheritance in trust for good

Raja Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi had no living son. As he lay dying he adopted a five-year-old relative, Anand Rao, renamed Damodar Rao. On 19 November 1853 he wrote asking the East India Company to recognise the boy as ruler and his wife Lakshmibai as regent. He died on 21 November. Governor-General Dalhousie refused to recognise the adoption, and Jhansi lapsed to the Company in 1854. The Rani was given a pension of 5,000 rupees a month and held liable for her husband's debts. Money left for the boy was kept by the British in trust until he came of age. In 1857 Jhansi rose, and the Rani died fighting the British near Gwalior in June 1858. Damodar Rao fled with a small band of retainers and lived in the forest. He surrendered and reached Indore on 5 May 1860. He was given a pension and a guardian. He petitioned for his rights and for the trust money for the rest of his life and was refused recognition as heir. He died in Indore on 28 May 1906. His descendants use the surname Jhansiwale. A 2022 report found the family had moved from Indore to Nagpur and received no government support.