NANA SAHEB

Who was Nana SahebNana Saheb Peshwa II, also known as Dhondu Pant, was an Indian Peshwa of the Maratha empire, nobleman, and combatant who led the Kanpur (Cawnpore) uprising during the Great Revolt of 1857. Nana Saheb thought he was entitled to a pension from the East India Company as the adopted son of the exiled Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II, but the underlying contractual issues are complex. He joined the rebellion as a result of the Company’s failure to continue his father’s pension after his death, as well as what he saw as oppressive regulations. He forced the British military at Kanpur to surrender, then slaughtered the survivors, capturing Kanpur for a few days.

ABOUT NANA SAHEB

The East India Company had banished Peshwa Baji Rao II to Bithoor (near Kanpur) after the Maratha defeat in the Third Maratha War, where he maintained a huge establishment supported in part by a British pension. 

The British, however, denied Nana’s standing as a “Peshwa,” and therefore the annuity was cancelled. As a result, Nana rose up against the British and began assembling a band of soldiers. During the 1857 uprising in Cawnpore (Kanpur), he led the “sepoys” (British-employed Indian soldiers) and successfully forced the British entrenchment to surrender. Nana eventually took control of the city. A later massacre at the Satichaura Ghat, however, flipped the tables. Nana’s forces were attacked by the British. Nana, along with his family, fled to Nepal after his army was defeated. 

CONTRIBUTION OF NANA SAHEB

Nana Saheb, as a monarch of the Maratha Empire, made significant contributions to the development of Pune. During his reign, Poona was transformed from a village to a city. By building new neighbourhoods, temples, and bridges, he gave the city a new look. In the town of Katraj, he also built a reservoir. In the town of Katraj, he also built a reservoir. Nana Saheb was a multidimensional king and a man with a lot of ambition. After his uncle Chimnaji died in 1741, he returned to Pune from the northern districts and spent a year improving the civil government. The period from 1741 to 1745 was considered a period of tranquility and harmony in the Deccan. He promoted agriculture, provided safety to the locals, and improved the state significantly.

THE BATTLE OF PANIPAT

The Marathas were destroyed by Ahmed Shah Abdali, a famous fighter from Afghanistan, in the third Battle of Panipat in 1761. The Marathas attempted to save Mughal sovereignty and dominance in the north. Sadashiv Rao Bhau (the son of Chimaji Appa) and Nana Saheb’s eldest son, Vishwas Rao, were killed in the conflict. His son’s and cousin’s early deaths came as a shock to him. Nana Saheb did not survive for a long time after it. After his death, his second son, Madhav Rao Peshwa, ascended to the crown.

FAMILY AND REIGN

Nana’s father, a well-educated Deccani Brahmin, had gone from the Western Ghats with his family to work as a court official for the old Peshwa in Bithoor. In 1827, Baji Rao adopted Nana Saheb and his younger brother because he lacked boys. One of the Peshwa’s wives’ sister was the mother of both children. Tatya Tope, Azimullah Khan, and Manikarnika Tambe were among Nana Saheb’s childhood friends.

Nana Saheb ruled the Maratha Empire and was one of the greatest rebels in Indian history who led the Kanpur rebellion movement during the Great Revolt of 1857.

DEATH

Nana vanished when the Company reclaimed Kanpur. In November 1857, his general Tatya Tope attempted to reclaim Kanpur after amassing a sizable army, primarily made up of rebel men from the Gwalior contingent. He was able to seize control of all Kanpur routes to the west and north, but he was defeated in the Second Battle of Kanpur.

Nana was said to have contracted malaria fever in September 1857, but this is disputed. In June 1858 at Gwalior, Rani Laxmibai, Tatya Tope, and Rao Saheb (Nana Saheb’s close confidante) [dubious – discuss] acclaimed Nana Saheb as their Peshwa. Nana himself was said to be living in Nepal’s interior. On September 24, 1859, a tiger attacked him on a hunt in Nepal, according to some early government records, but other sources contradict this. Nana’s final fate was never revealed.

CONCLUSION

In June 1857, he joined the sepoy battalions at Kanpur in revolt after his claim was denied and he was threatened by the sepoys. In a cynical gesture to his erstwhile allies, he had written Sir Hugh Wheeler, commander of British forces at Kanpur, a note warning of the attack. On June 27, Nana Sahib’s promise of safe conduct to the British under General Wheeler was breached, and British ladies and children were massacred at Nana Sahib’s palace. He couldn’t command the mutinous sepoys due to his lack of military experience, but he did get the delight of being declared peshwa by rebel leader Tantia Tope and his troops after the seizure of Gwalior in July 1857.