A Hindu queen, either by marriage to a raja or in her own right.
‘The rajas, ranis, peshwas and nawabs had their own cohorts, extended to include the mutinous sepoys.’
‘The brothers are now working on a view of the cultural scene in a palace - the raja playing the sitar, the rani dancing.’
‘When her fort was under siege by the British, the rani escaped from the besieged fort in disguise, reminiscent of Shivaji's escape from Aurangzeb's imprisonment.’
Origin
From Hindi rānī, Sanskrit rājñī, feminine of rājan ‘king’.
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