Tantia Tope, executed on 18 April 1859, aged 45, was a leader of the Indian Mutiny of 1857–58. Although he had no
formal military training, he was probably the best and most effective of the
rebels’ generals.
Tantia Tope was a Maratha Brahman in the service of the
former peshwa (ruler) of the Maratha confederacy, Baji Rao, and of
his adopted son Nana Sahib, who was also prominent in the mutiny. He
was present at Nana Sahib’s massacre of the British colony in Kanpur; in
early November 1857 he had taken command of the rebel forces of the state
of Gwalior and driven Gen. C.A. Windham into his entrenchments at
Kanpur on November 27–28. Tantia Tope was defeated by Sir Colin Campbell
(later Baron Clyde) on December 6 but remained at Kalpi, the scene of his
defeat. In March 1858 he moved to the relief of Jhansi, whose rani
(queen) Lakshmi Bai was besieged by British forces. Again defeated, he
welcomed the escaping rani at Kalpi and then made a successful dash to Gwalior
on June 1. His forces were broken up on June 19, but he continued resistance as
a guerrilla fighter in the jungle until he was betrayed the following April. He
was tried and executed at Shivpuri.
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