India@75 Freedom Fighters: Tatya Tope, the general whom the British feared

By Team Newsable | First Published Apr 18, 2022, 11:26 AM IST

In his lifetime, Tatya Tope fought 150 battles against the British and killed 10,000 British soldiers.

Ramchandra Panduranga, Tantia Tope, famously known as Tatya Tope, was the Indian Mutiny leader from 1857 to 1858. Tope had no formal military training; however, he was the finest and most influential rebel general.

Tantia Tope was a Maratha Brahman who worked for the former Maratha confederacy warrior, Peshwa Baji Rao (the ruler) and his adopted son Nana Sahib, a part of the mutiny. He was Nana Sahib's close friend and right-hand man. Tope witnessed Nana Sahib's massacre of the British colony in Kanpur.

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In May 1857, Tope won the war against the East Indian Company at Kanpur. In early November 1857, he took command of the rebel forces of the state of Gwalior, driving Gen. Tope was famous for his guerilla tactics which the Britishers were scared of. On November 27-18, C.A. Windham moved into his Kanpur entrenchments.

On December 6, 1857, Tatya Tope was defeated by Sir Colin Campbell and remained at Kalpi.

In March 1858, he moved to Jhansi to relieve Rani Lakshmi Bai, who was besieged by British forces. Once again, he was defeated; he welcomed the fleeing Rani Lakshmi Bai at Kapil before making a successful dash to Gwalior on June 1. Tatya's childhood playmate was Rani Lakshmi Bai. When a sword killed her, he cremated her body and performed the last rites.

On June 19, his forces were dismantled, but he fought on as a guerilla fighter in the forest until he was betrayed the following April. A former Sardar in the Gwalior army, Man Singh, betrayed Tope's trust by succumbing to the 'Jagir' and the Englishmen's proposals.

On April 18, 1859, Tope was executed by the British in General Meade's camp at Shivpuri. He fought 150 battles against the British and killed 10,000 British soldiers during his lifetime.

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