KANPUR: When the name of Havelock Island in Andaman & Nicobar was renamed, it erased the memory of barbarity connected with that Brigadier General in Kanpur during 1857. Although Kanpur is famous for different features at present yet the fierce fight between Peshwa Nanrao army and the British forces cannot be forgotten. The Massacre Ghat is an open example of the past incident.
A marble inscription was available at the entrance gate of the ghat but it was no longer appearing on the spot. When the rebels burnt and killed the English people that came to be known as Bibighar incident, it agitated the British rulers. They came into a revenge mode. It was only when the East India Company’s Brigadier General Havelock was sent to Kanpur from Bombay in 1857.
The purpose behind him was to crush the rebellions in the city. He was sent to Allahabad and from there moved to Kanpur on July 7, 1957. He reached Fatehpur with his contingent on July 2, 1857, where Major Reynor and Collector Serer also joined him. Peshwa Nana Rao sent his forces led by Jawala Prasad who received a defeat in Fatehpur.
The rebel forces of Peshwa Nanarao had captured Kanpur. Havelock entered into Kanpur on July 16, 1857, and murdered the native army. It was said that Havelock executed six thousand Indians by hanging at the city’s present Meghdoot crossing. Few historians believed Azizan Bai was also killed by Havelock.
Sattichaura Ghat and Bibighar Incident were glaring witnesses of the British tyranny. It was also related that Peshwa Nana Rao held a meeting at Noor Mohd’s residence at Birhana road here. The British brigadier was so hysterical in crushing the rebellion that he ordered burning of the villages falling along the GT Road and hanged the villagers on the trees.
His disdain was so intense that he buried Hindus dead bodies and burnt bodies of the Muslims. Havelock Island in Andaman Nicobar named after him was now changed and there exists a park in memory of Nan Rao Peshwa.
