Question

Who led the revolt in Kanpur?
a. Nana Saheb
b. Tantia Tope
c. Azimulla Khan
d. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Kanpur was an important city for the East India Company forces. It was situated on the Grand Trunk Road and it was on the way for other places like Sindh, Punjab and Awadh.

Complete Answer:
Lord Dalhousie, the governor-general of India between the period of 1848-1856 made a policy called The Doctrine of Lapse. The doctrine stated that any state or territory, which was under the direct influence of the British East India Company and whose ruler would be in a state of future incompetency or no direct heir, would be automatically taken over by the British. This doctrine had deprived rulers of a long-established right of choosing a legal heir by themselves. Also, the rules of rulers being incompetent would be decided by the British. The doctrine was obviously regarded as illegitimate and unfair. As per this doctrine, many states like Satara, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Jhansi, etc. were taken over by the company. Thus, discontent spread among the Indians and many forces joined for the rebellion of 1857.
Nana Saheb was an adopted child of Baji Rao II, a Maratha king. After the king died, the British stopped providing pension and other grants to Nana Saheb on the grounds that Nana Saheb was not a natural born heir to the king. Nana Saheb felt offended and decided to plead his case with the Queen of London by sending his envoy named Azimullah Khan. But his case was dismissed and Azimullah Khan returned back from London.
This led Nana Saheb revolt against the British in Kanpur and it is said that he had become the leader of around twelve-fifteen thousand soldiers. There was a major revolt at Kanpur which left thousands of people dead and there were many massacres like the Satichaura massacre, Bibighar massacre and the British had to surrender Kanpur back to the Indians. But the British had recaptured the city again and there was a major fight in search of Nana Saheb who had escaped to an unknown place. His last days and death are still now speculated and there hasn’t been a particular date or reason of his death.
Let us look at the options.
Option (a) Nana Saheb was a Maratha leader who led the revolt of Kanpur in 1857 against the British because of the Doctrine of Lapse. This is the correct answer.
Option (b) Tantia Tope was the Commander in Chief of the Indian troops at Kanpur under the leadership of Nana Saheb. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option (c) Azimullah Khan was an envoy sent by Nana Saheb to London to present the case of discontinuing payment of pension to the latter because of the Doctrine of Lapse. So, this is a wrong answer.
Option (d) All of the above is an incorrect answer as we have only option ‘a’ as the right answer.
Thus, option ‘a. Nana Saheb’ is the correct option.

Note: Nana Saheb was proclaimed to be a Peshwa by Rani Laxmi Bai, Tantia Tope and Rao Saheb in 1858 at Gwalior. Also, after India achieved freedom in 1947, Nana Saheb was hailed as a freedom fighter.