Cawnpore
Kanpur is a city in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Ganga river and is an important industrial center. It has an area of over 1000 sq. km. and a population of around 2.4 million in the 1991 census.
Kanpur is home to several educational institutions such as one of the Indian Institutes of Technology.
In the 19th century, it was an important British station for troops, and had barracks for 7,000 soldiers. In the Great Mutiny of 1857, 900 Europeans (about two-thirds of which were women and children) were beseiged in the fortification there for 22 days by the rebels under Nana Sahib. They surrendered on a promise that they should be allowed to go safely to Allahabad, but as soon as they got off the boats to go down the river they were fired upon by cannon. Many were killed and the rest brought back to shore. The prisoners were then killed by their captors, and the corpses were discarded into a deep well. Three days afterwards (July 18), the English under General Havelock entered the city.
A beautiful tomb has since been built over the well, and around it a splendid eight-sided building.
After 1857 it became an important center of the leather and textile industries.
Referenced By
Black Watch | Henry Martyn | Royal Highland Regiment | The Black Watch
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