JHANSI

city, southwestern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, at a major road and rail junction. The main city, which is enclosed by a wall, arose around a fort built in 1613 by the ruler of Orchha. The area fell to the Marathas in 1732 and was acquired by the British in 1853. A massacre of British officers and civilians occurred at Jhansi during the 1857 Indian Mutiny. In 1886 Jhansi came under British rule in exchange for the British evacuation of Gwalior. An agricultural marketplace, the city also has a steel-rolling mill and some manufacturing. Bundelkhand University is located there, as are a railway colony and workshops. Pop. (1991 prelim.) city, 301,304; metropolitan area, 368,580.