the.com/rani

means A Hindu queen or princess — the female ruler or consort of a raja, often wielding real power in her own right.

from From Sanskrit 'rajni,' the feminine form of 'raja' (king), both tracing back to the ancient root 'raj-' meaning 'to rule' or 'to shine' — the same root that gives English 'regal' and 'royal' through a shared, far older Indo-European ancestor. The word traveled through Hindi and other South Asian languages largely unchanged, still naming real ruling queens — like the Rani of Jhansi — long before it settled into English as a title of genuine power, not just ornament.