Nana Saheb was adopted by the exiled Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II and was heir to the throne. However, when Baji Rao died, the British East India Company stopped Nana's pension and took over the kingdom using the Doctrine of Lapse. During the 1857 revolt, Nana gained the trust of the British in Cawnpore but then joined the rebellion. He laid siege to the British forces and agreed to let them leave safely, but they were massacred at the Satichaura Ghat. Nana then disappeared and his fate remains unknown, though he came to symbolize the resistance against the British.

1. THE HERO OF 1857 REVOLT

2.  Nana was born on 19 May 1824 as Nana Govind Dhondhu Pant, to
Narayan Bhat and Ganga Bai
 He was adopted by the exiled Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II, of
Bithoor.
 Nana Saheb’s childhood associates who later became famous and
face of revolt:
1. Tatya Tope, who was the fencing master to Nana Saheb and fondly
called as “Tatya Guru”.
2. Azimullah Khan who joined the court of Nana Saheb as secretary,
after the death of Baji Rao in 1851and later became the dewan.
3. Mnikarnika Tambe, his sworn sister fondly called “Chhabili” who
later became Rani Lakshmi Bai, the queen of Jhansi.

3.  Under an annexation policy ,The Doctrine of Lapse devised by Lord
Dalhousie, who was the British Governor-General of India between
1848 and 1856, any princely state or territory under the direct
influence (paramountcy) of the British East India would
automatically be annexed if the ruler was either "manifestly
incompetent or died without a direct heir“
 The company took over the princely states of Satara (1848), Jaitpur
and Sambalpur (1849), Baghat (1850), Nagpur (1853), and Jhansi
(1854) using this doctrine.

4.  Under the Peshwa's will Nana Saheb was, through his adoption,
heir-presumptive to the Maratha's throne, and eligible for his
adoptive father's continuing annual pension of £80,000 from the
East India Company. However, after the death of Baji Rao II, the
Company stopped the pension on the grounds that Nana was not a
natural born heir and that the kingdom no longer existed. The
Nana, while still wealthy, was greatly offended by both the
termination of the pension and by the suspension of various titles
and grants that had been retained by Baji Rao II, in exile.
Accordingly, Nana Saheb sent an envoy (Azimullah Khan) to
England in 1853 to plead his case with the British Government.
However, Azimullah Khan was unable to convince the British to
resume the pension, and he returned to India in 1855.

5.  Nana Saheb won the confidence of Charles Hillersdon, the Collector of Cawnpore.
It was planned that Nana Saheb would assemble a force of 1,500 soldiers to
support the British, in case the rebellion spread to Cawnpore.
 On 6 June 1857, at the time of the rebellion by forces of the East India Company
at Cawnpore, the British contingent had taken refuge at an entrenchment in the
northern part of the town.
 Amid the prevailing chaos in Cawnpore, Nana and his forces entered the British
magazine situated in the northern part of the town. The soldiers of the 53rd
Native Infantry, who were guarding the magazine, thought that Nana had come to
guard the magazine on behalf of the Company. However, once he entered the
magazine, Nana Saheb announced that he was a participant in the rebellion
against the Company, and intended to be a vassal of Bahadur Shah II.

6.  On 5 June 1857, Nana Saheb sent a letter to General Wheeler informing him to
expect an attack next morning at 10 am. On 6 June, his forces (including the rebel
soldiers) attacked the Company entrenchment at 10:30 am .
 As the news of advances over the British garrison spread, more rebel sepoys joined
Nana Saheb. By 10 June, he was believed to be leading around twelve thousand to
fifteen thousand Indian soldiers. The sniper fire and the bombardment continued
until 23 June 1857, the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Plassey.
 On 24 June, he sent a female European prisoner, Rose Greenway, to the
entrenchment to convey their message. In return for a surrender, he promised the
safe passage of the Europeans to the Satichaura Ghat.
 General Wheeler rejected the offer, because it had not been signed, and there was
no guarantee that the offer was made by Nana Saheb himself. on 25 June, Nana
Saheb sent a second note, signed by himself, through another female prisoner,
Mrs.Jacobi. Finally, Wheeler decided to surrender, in return for a safe passage to
Allahabad.

7.  On the morning of the 27 June, a large column led by Wheeler emerged from the
entrenchment. Nana sent a number of carts, dolis and elephants to enable the
women, the children and the sick to proceed to the river banks.
 During their jump, some of the cooking fires were knocked off, setting some of the
boats ablaze. Though controversy surrounds what exactly happened next at the
Satichaura Ghat, and it is unknown who fired the first shot,the departing
European were attacked by the rebel sepoys, and most either killed or captured.
 Although the East India Company later accused Nana of betrayal and murder of
innocent people, no definitive evidence has ever been found to prove that Nana
had pre-planned or ordered the massacre
 The surviving men were killed, while women and children were captured, as
Nana did not approve of their killing. Around 120 women and children were taken
prisoner and escorted to Savada House, Nana Saheb's headquarters during the
siege.

8.  The Company forces reached Cawnpore on 16 July 1857. General Havelock was
informed that Saheb had taken up a position at the Ahirwa village. His forces
launched an attack on Nana's forces, and emerged victorious. Nana then blew up the
Cawnpore magazine, abandoned the place, and retreated to Bithoor.
 On 19 July, General Havelock resumed operations at Bithoor, but Nana Saheb had
already escaped. British forces murdered all the villagers of the Bithoor mercilessly.
 Nana disappeared after the Company's recapture of Cawnpore. His general, Tatya
Tope, tried to recapture Cawnpore in November 1857, after gathering a large army,
mainly consisting of the rebel soldiers from the Gwalior contingent. He managed to
take control of all the routes west and north-west of Cawnpore, but was later defeated
in the Second Battle of Cawnpore.
 In September 1857, Nana was reported to have fallen to malarious fever however, this
is doubtful. Rani Laxmibai, Tatya Tope and Rao Saheb proclaimed Nana Saheb as
their Peshwa in June 1858 at Gwalior.
 By 1859, Nana was reported to have fled to Nepal and his ultimate fate remains
unknown.

9. REVOLUTION
NEVER DIES