Nana Sahib

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Nana Sahib with his escort.

Nana Sahib , also Naina , Nena Sahib , (born Dhondu Pant ; * 1824 , † after 1857) was a central figure in the Indian uprising of 1857 .

He was the son of a Brahmin in the Deccan and adopted son of Baji Rao II (1775-1851), the last Peshwa of the Marathas . In 1851 the British East India Company ended pension payments to him on the grounds that he was an adopted son. Deeply wounded, he sent an ambassador to Great Britain to discuss the case, to no avail. In the process he lost a considerable part of his fortune, but saved enough to live like a prince in his Bithur residence , near Cawnpore .

After the outbreak of the Sepoy uprising in 1857, he assumed command of the rebellious Sepoy soldiers of Cawnpore. His childhood friend Tantya Tope led part of his troops and after the flight of Nana Sahib continued a guerrilla war against the British. Nana Sahib's greatest military success is the conquest of Kanpur , one of the British garrison cities. He offered the besieged British the prospect of unhindered withdrawal: they should be able to move unhindered to Allahabad in boats along the Ganges . During the ascent of the boats, however, Indian troops opened fire on the retreating British. Almost all of the surviving men were executed on the banks of the Ganges. Around 125 British women and children were returned to Kanpur, where they were locked up in Bibighar along with other British refugees - also mostly women and children . Shortly before the British troops conquered Kanpur by Henry Havelock , these defenseless prisoners were butchered. The direct involvement of Nana Sahib in the massacre on the banks of the Ganges and in the prisoners of Bibighar has not been clarified, but based on what happened it is very likely. He himself fled to Nepal , where he probably also died.

Commemoration

In memory of the victims of the massacre, the British built Nana Rao Park in Kanpur . This memorial to the victims was destroyed after Indian independence. Instead, the statues of the leaders of the uprising stand today: Tatya Tope, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Lala Lajpat Rai, Ajizan Bai and Nana Sahib.

Nana Sahib in literature

  • Sir John Retcliffe : Nena Sahib or: The indignation in India. Historical-political novel from the present by Sir John Retcliffe . Three volumes. English and German original edition. Seventh edition - Berlin: Printing and publishing by Carl Nöhring. 1865.
  • Jules Verne : The steam house (La maison à vapeur) . First edition 1880 in two volumes
  • Rebecca Ryman: "Whoever promises love" novel and "Who sows thorns" novel since 1990 and 1995 with Fischer-Verlag. against the backdrop of the Sepoy Uprising
  • Christoph Erik Ganter : The red lotus blossoms. Novel. Rowohlt, Stuttgart 1941 (also: Gutenberg Book Guild ). (Novel of insurrection)

Web links

Commons : Nana Sahib  - collection of images, videos and audio files