Skeletons In The Cupboard: Cawnpur Well Massacre - Two: Nana Saheb II

Nationalists always expose Jallianwala Bagh Massacre as an example of British Cruelties. But acts of cruelties were not new to the Indian subcontinent since the dawn of history. Literary evidence of Aryan cruelties on indigenous tribes is available in Rigveda.  Aryan chief Indra was called dasyuhata meaning the slaughterer of dasa or dasyu the indigenous peoples. Indra was Purandara meaning the destroyer of forts, the fortified cities of Harappan civilization. 

Caste is the fundamental institution of what we now call Hinduism, an exonym evolved through centuries, and put to use in the Census records by the British officials in the course of data compilation, when they were baffled by myraid of castes.  The endonym is Sanatana Dharma.  Its tool of oppression is caste system by which they subjugate people outside the four varnas.

Look at the Kalinga war for wanton brutality.

Later look at the Shunga Brahminical brutalities against Jain and Buddhists.

Leading Players  of the Mutiny 

Nana Saheb: He was the Chief Minister of the province of Pune, the Marathi speaking region of Maharashtra.  Their demographic composition consists of Kunbi, a farming community migrated to modern day Maharashtra. The Peshwa era began in 1713 when Shahu, the grand son of Shivaji appointed Balaji Viswanath as the Peshwa (Chief Minister).

The British had supported Peshwa Reghunath Rao in the First Anglo-Maratha war.  The Maratha Empire at that time was a confederacy of five major chiefs: the Peshwa at the capital city of Pune, the Gakewad  chief of Baroda, the Scindia, chief of Gwalior, Holkar, the chief of Indore, and Bhonsle the chief of Nagpur. They continued their support to Baji, Rao II, the son of deceased Reghunath Rao.  He had one of Yaswant Rao Holkar's relatives killed.

Internal fighting among the members of Maratha confederacy was usual. In such a fight in 1802 the combined forces of Peshwa Baji Rao II and Scindia of Gwalior were defeated by Yaswant Rao Holkar of Indore.  Baji Rao II had fled to British protection.  As a result a pact known as Treaty of Bassein came into existence. It was signed by Baji Rao and East India Company. The treaty led to the Second Anglo Maratha war, which ended with British victory and the restoration of Baji Rao II as Peshwa. The treaty led to the expansion of company rule over the Indian subcontinent.  The terms of the treaty entailed the following:

1. A force of around 6000 company troops were to be stationed with the Peshwa.

2. Any territorial district yeilding 2.6 million rupees were to be ceded to the company.

3. Peshwa could not enter into any other treaty without consulting the company.

4. Peshwa could not declare any war without consulting the company.

5. Any territorial claims by the Peshwa were to be subject to the arbitration of the companyny.

6. The Peshwa had to renounce his claims over the cities of Surat and Baroda.

7. The Peshwa had to exclude all Europeans from his service.

8. Peshwa had to conduct foreign relations in consultation with the Company.

In 1817 the tension with the British resurfaced. The treaty he had already signed with the company was a sell out.  Baji Rao had been looking an opportunity to get out of the treaty. When the British supported Gakewads of Baroda in a revenue dispute Baji Rao II to joined the other Maratha forces in the third Anglo Maratha War fought in 1817-1818.  This was in sheer violation of the treaty between Baji Rao II and the Company.  After a series of defeats Baji Rao II surrendered to the company and agreed to retire.  Under the terms of surrender he was granted an estate at Bithur, near Cawnpur along with a pension. Baji Rao II was entitled to receive an annual pension of eighty thousand to hundred thousand pounds.

Nana Saheb II was the adopted son of Baji Rao II.  He believed that he was entitled to receive a pension from the company.  How ever, he was denied pension under Lord Dalhousie's Doctrine of lapse. According to this doctrine if the ruler of princely state dies without a male heir, his kingdom be directly annexed to British India.  This was the reason why he joined the 1857 rebellion and took charge of the rebels in Kanpur.  He forced the British garrison in Cawnpur to surrender and subsequently ordered the killing of the survivors.  After the British recaptured the city he disappeared.