Phoolan Devi: The Bandit Queen Who Refused to Be Broken

Celebrating Women's History Month with a badass a day.

Phoolan Devi is one of those women who, as I read her story, just left my jaw on the floor. Badass almost feels like a bit of an understatement.

A young girl, born into poverty in rural India, her life already marked by struggle. By the time she was a teenager, she had been married off, abused, and cast aside. But Phoolan Devi wasn’t about to let her story end there. She became a rebel, a bandit, and eventually, a symbol of resistance for millions. And you all know how I love my symbols of resistance.

Phoolan’s early life was a series of injustices. Born in 1963 in Uttar Pradesh, she was married off at 11 to a man more than twice her age. When she fled the abusive marriage, her family rejected her, and she was left to fend for herself. By 16, she had been kidnapped by a gang of bandits. But Phoolan didn’t just survive—she adapted. She learned to wield a rifle, to lead, and to fight back.

She became known as the “Bandit Queen,” a title that captured both her notoriety and her defiance. P…