Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi (19 November 1828 – 18 June 1858), born as Manikarnika; pronunciation , was the queen of the Maratha-ruled Jhansi State, situated in the north-central part of India. She was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and became for Indian nationalists a symbol of resistance to the British Raj.
Lakshmibai was born probably on 19 November 1828 in the holy town of Varanasi into a Marathi family. She was named Manikarnika and was nicknamed Manu. Her father was Moropant Tambe and her mother Bhagirathi Sapre (Bhagirathi Bai). Her parents came from Maharashtra. Her mother died when she was four. Her father worked for a court Peshwa of Bithoor district who brought up Manikarnika like his own daughter. The Peshwa called her "Chhabili", which means "playful". She was educated at home and was more independent in her childhood than others of her age; her studies included shooting, horsemanship, and fencing.
Rao or RAO may refer to:
Rao is a fictional star in the DC Comics Universe. It is the red supergiant (in some continuities, red dwarf) that the planet Krypton orbited.
"Rao" is also later written into the Superman mythology as the name of a Kryptonian deity, the personification of their sun, worshipped as a god of light and life. As such the name was sometimes invoked in the comics as a Kryptonian exclamation.
In the early years of Superman comics, the sun of Krypton was unnamed and was given no effect on Superman's powers, which were attributed first to greater evolution, and then to a combination of innate powers and Earth's lower gravity. Starting in 1960, the fact that Earth's sun was yellow while Krypton's was red became the explanation for Superman's powers, with our sunlight fueling them like the charge of a battery. In the standard Silver Age continuity existing up until Crisis on Infinite Earths, Rao's red sun radiation actively suppressed the superhuman abilities of Kryptonians, as their powers only worked in the radiation of a yellow sun. The post-Crisis version created by John Byrne stated that Kryptonians absorbed solar energy, with the dim output of Rao being just enough to sustain them, and a yellow sun producing enough energy to "supercharge" a Kryptonian metabolism to levels of power not seen in their native environment, though it takes years for Clark Kent to build up enough energy to reach the level of power he displays as Superman. The 2004 graphic novel Superman: Birthright corroborates this, although in recent years, other writers have depicted red-sun radiation matching that of Rao as once again actively shutting down Kryptonian powers, for as long as an individual is exposed to it.
Rao (simplified Chinese: 饶; traditional Chinese: 饒; pinyin: Ráo) is a Chinese family name. It can also be spelled as "Jao," "Yow" or "Yaw".
The surname Rao is approximately 2200 years old, and originated in the area near present-day Linfen county in Shanxi province.