Write a note on the following events behind war of independence: Meerut, Delhi and Kanpur.

[Arooj Chaudhry]

Meerut
On 6th May, 1857 A.D.i5 out of 90 Indian soldiers at Meerut refused to bite the greased cartridges with thier teeth. These 85 soldiers were court-martailled and imprisoned for 10 years. They were srripped off their uniforms in the presence of the entire Indian crowd. It was too much of a disgrace and this incident sent a wave of indignation. On 10th May, 1857, the Indian soldiers at Meerut broke into revolt. They released their companions and murdered a few European officers. On the night of 10th May, the mutineers marched to Delhi and reached there on 11th May.
Delhi
The revolutionaries reached from Meerut to Delhi on the 11th May, 1857 and the small British garrison at Delhi was not able to resist and consequently fell into their hands within 2 days. The Mughal Emperior Bahadhur Shah Zfar, was proclaimed Emperior of India. In order to regain Delhi, Sir John Lawrence sent a strong British force commanded by John Nicholson. After a long siege of 4 months, the British recovered Delhi in September, 1857A.D. The Mughal Emperior Bhadur Shah Zfar was captured, his two sons and a grandson were shot dead before his eyes and he was sent to Rangoon where he died in the year 1862 A.D.
Kanpur
At Kanpur, the struggle for independence was lead by Nana Sahib Dandu Pant (the adopted son of Be Peshwa Baji Rao-||) . A number of British fell into his hands and he showed great kindness to them. But, when he heard about the inhuman attitude of Gen.O’Neil towards the Indians, he became very furious killed all the British. Gen. Havelock captured Kanpur after defeating Nana Sahib in a hotly contested battle on June 17, 1857. Later on , Nana Sahib with the help of Tantya Topi, recaptured Kanpur in November, 1857 but not for a long time and British defeated them against in a fierce war from December 1 to 6, 1857. Nana Sahib fled towards Nepal, where he probably died, while Tantya Topi migrated to Kalpi.