| Freedom Fighters |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
TATIA TOPE |
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| To Dispel the
Darkness of Slavery The fall of the Marathas enabled the British to become supreme in India. They adopted all methods, fair or foul, to build up their empire. They paid little heed to the feelings of the people. With the arrival of Lord Dallhouse as the new Governor General, the map of India changed completely. He robbed the Indian Princes of their kingdoms on one pretext or another. Yet his hunger for land was not satisfied. Moreover Christian missionaries had begun to come in large numbers. They’re one aim was to convert the people of India to their own faith, somehow or the other. Backed by their own Government they had none to fear. The British gobbled up quite a number of states. It was not only small states that they grabbed; even the Mogul Emperor was brushed aside. The Nawab of ouch was pulled down and his kingdom forcibly taken away.Refusing to recognize the right of adoption, Dallhouse took over Jhansi also. Then came Nana Saheb's turn.ThePeshwa was to be paid a pension of Rupees 8 lakhs; Dalhousie took it away with the excuse that Nana Saheb was only an adopted son. Nana Saheb was already boiling with rage at the many wrongs done by the arrogant British. Now insult was added to injury. Tatia Tope staked his very life and fought untiringly to the very end, to drive the English out of this land. Why? What had he lost? He had no kingdom to lose and no pension to forfeit. Still he hated the British. Not because he himself had lost anything but because the country he loved had lost her freedom. To him his country was dearer than heaven. Indeed the whole country was burning with discontent. The people were enraged. They were prepared to sacrifice their lives and all for the cause of Swaraj and Swadharma, rather than sit silent in slavery. Not even the armies and the guns of the British frightened them. The country was ripe for a revolution. Nana Saheb Peshwa rose to the occasion. He recognized the fire that raged in the hearts of the people.He sought to translate into action the eagerness of his country men to fight for freedom. Tatia Tope was his right-hand man. The British were strong in India; what was the source of this strength? Of course, army the army in which Indians fought for the British! Nana Saheb and Tatia Tope tried to fill theminds of the Idian soldiers with patriotic ideals. To sow the seeds of the war to come, they got into touch with the regiments. Promi- nent princes were also secretly sounded in order to draw them into the war. The flaming message of the revolution spread. Bahadur Shah of Delhi, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Kunwar Singh of Jagadishpur and many others assumed the leadership of the war. Tatia Tope would be the Commander-in-Chief of the Peshwa. The Sepoys of every regiment were deter- mined to rise in revolt. The hands that once used to salute the foreigner now vied with one another to fire the first shot at the hated oppressor. The vast movement had been organized in strict secrecy. A clear program was drawn up. There was to be an uprising at the same time all over the country on 31st May 1857. If only people all over the country had risen in revolt on one and the same day - is decided, the history of India would have been different. But alas ... |
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| About Tatia Tope | ||||||||||||
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