Damodar Rao of Jhansi

The adoption was in the presence of the British political officer who was given a letter from the Maharaja instructing that the child be treated with respect and that the government of Jhansi should be given to his widow for her lifetime.

Rani Laxmibai evaded capture, according to tradition, with Damodar Rao on her back jumping on her horse, Sarangi from the fort.

[3][4] After the death of Rani Lakshmibai at Kotah ki Sarai in Gwalior on 18 June 1858, he survived that battle and, lived with his mentors in the jungle, in dire poverty.

According to a memoir purported to be by Damodar Rao, he was among his mother's troops and household at the battle of Gwalior, together with others who had survived the battle (some 60 retainers with 60 camels and 22 horses), he fled from the camp of Rao Sahib of Bithur and as the village people of Bundelkhand dared not aid them for fear of reprisals from the British they were forced to live in the forest and suffer many privations.

Here, Sir Richard Shakespeare, the local political agent, placed him under the guardianship of a Kashmiri teacher, called Munshi Dharmanarayan, to teach Damodar – Urdu, English & Marathi.