Bibighar House
Sattichaura Massacre is a known incident when it comes to the history of the 1857 Revolt. Despite the familiarity, the names of the martyrs of the massacre are not yet known to all. After the demise of Peshwa Bajirao II (who was exiled to Bithoor after the Third Anglo-Maratha War) on 28 January 1851, the colonial regime applied the infamous Doctrine of Lapse and refused to recognize Nana Saheb as his heir. The commanding officer of Kanpur, Major General Hugh Wheeler, was confident of his position.
The revolt began in Kanpur on midnight of 4 June 1857. Several Britishers lost their lives. They were caught unaware. The scene turned tragic on 7 June 1857, whence more than 12 British officials were killed. Upon looking at the dead bodies, the city was called the ‘City of Desolation’. Not only did the participants loot the treasury, but they also broke the jail gates and helped free the ones captured by the colonial regime. Government offices were burnt down. Telegraph wires were also disrupted. The local people participated in the revolt and many of those are said to have belonged to the Dalit community of Nawabganj.
On 14 June 1857, the Britishers decided to move to Allahabad via boats. Upon the news of Indians being massacred arriving, nearly 1000 Britishers, including women and children, were killed. Nana Saheb rescued some of them and took them to Savada Kothi, and later moved to cantonment quarters at Bibighar.
As revenge for the incident, an attack was launched by Major General Henry Havelock. They burnt Savada Kothi that including Nana Sahib’s daughter Mainawati. The colonial regime again cemented its control over Kanpur. Nana Sahib was forced to flee, many leaders were hanged and around 144 Indian soldiers were hanged on a massive banyan tree in the Bibighar premises.
On 31 May 1860 Brigadier Jwala Prasad and his allies Samadhan Mallah, Lochan Mallah, and Budhu Chaudhary were hanged at a pipal tree on the banks of Ganga River at the Sattichaura Ghat. They were hanged on the accusation of murder during the First War of Independence.
Contemporary Pictures of the Sattichaura Ghat, and an image of the ghat on the banks of the Ganges River (from 1858)
Thereafter, the Britishers banned the entry of Indians on the ghat and guarded the premises. Thus, the city of Kanpur witnessed violence on a huge scale during the revolt of 1857. This incident itself is less known and the martyrs’ names largely remain lost in history.
Source: Mahavir Prasad Nishad, President, R. Shaheed Smarak Samiti, Satti Chaura, Cantonment, Kanpur, and ‘Revolt of 1857: The Tragedy of Kanpur’s Massacre Ghat’, by Swapnil Tripathi (July, 2020).