Nana Sahib
Peshwa of Bithur, Rebel Commander at Kanpur
"We are fighting for our country and our religion."
Biography
Nana Sahib — Dhondu Pant — was the adopted son of the last Peshwa of the Maratha Confederation, whose pension the East India Company discontinued on his adoptive father's death. Like Lakshmibai, he had petitioned London and been refused. He was wealthy, cultivated, and deeply resentful. When the Kanpur garrison was besieged, Nana Sahib commanded the rebel forces. The massacre of women and children in the Bibighar — after his promise of safe passage — made him the most hated figure of the rebellion in Britain. His precise role in ordering the massacre remains contested: some historians argue he tried to prevent it after sepoys refused; others that he authorized it when Havelock's relief column approached. He bore command responsibility. After the rebellion's defeat, Nana Sahib fled north and disappeared — possibly into Nepal. The British never captured him and never confirmed his fate, which fed decades of rumors that he was alive.
Did you know?
Nana Sahib famously entertained British officers at his estate in Bithur before the rebellion — including an elaborate party just months before the siege. His British guests described him as a charming host. The contrast between the sociable host and the Kanpur commander drove the Victorian imagination into increasingly lurid fictional accounts.
Key Battles
Siege and Massacre at Kanpur
Indian Rebels (Sepoys, Princes, Civilian) victoryJune 5 – July 16, 1857 · 650 total casualties
The Bibighar massacre became the defining British image of the rebellion — the justification for ferocious reprisals. 'Remember Cawnpore' became a battle cry that dispensed with any need to examine the rebellion's causes. The atrocity also obscured comparable British massacres of Indian civilians in the punitive response.
Life Journey
Timeline
1824
🌅 Birth
Born at Bithur, near Kanpur
1851
📚 Education
Petitions East India Company for restoration of Peshwa's pension — refused
June–July 1857
⚔️ Battle
Commands rebel forces besieging British garrison at Kanpur
July 15–16, 1857
⚔️ Battle
Bibighar massacre — women and children killed; Havelock's column approaches
1858
🕊️ Postwar
Flees north after rebellion's defeat — disappears, probably into Nepal