Nestled on the banks of the eternal Ganga,
Kanpur stands as one of North India's major industrial centers with its own
historical, religious and commercial importance. Believed to be founded by king
Hindu Singh of the erstwhile state of Sachendi, Kanpur was originally known
as 'Kanhpur'.
Upto the 1st half of the 18th century Kanpur continued to survive as an insignificant
village. Its fate, however, took a new turn soon after. In May 1765, Shuja-ud-daula,
the Nawab Wazir of Awadh, was defeated by the British near Jajmau. It was probably
at this time that strategic importance of the site of Kanpur was realized by
the British. European businessmen had by this time gradually started establishing
themselves in Kanpur. In order to ensure protection to their lives and property
the `Awadh local forces’ were shifted here in 1778. Kanpur passed into
British hands under the treaty of 1801 with Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh.
This forms a turning point in the history of Kanpur. Soon Kanpur became one
of the most important military station of British India. It was declared a district
on 24th March 1803.
Kanpur was soon to become the epicentre of the outbreak of 1857, as some of
the leading luminaries of the War of Independence hailed from her, namely –
Nana Sahib, Tantiya Tope, Azimoolah Khan and Brigadier Jwala Prasad. The three
strategic events of the 1857 war at Kanpur were the fight at `wheeler’s
entrenchment’, the `massacre at Sati Chaura Ghat’ and the `Bibighar
massacre’. Nana Sahib had declared independence on the 7th of June 1857
at Kanpur.
The British under Commander Hugh Wheeler retreated into a shallow earth entrenchment
in the cantonment area, later known in history as `wheeler’s entrenchment’.
The English garrison surrendered in the last week of June 1857 on terms of safe
passage to Allahabad. But when on the morning of 27th June, the soldiers along
with the women and children were about to embark into the boats at Sati Chaura
Ghat, fighting broke out and most of the men were killed. The survivors, women
and children were rescued who were imprisoned into the Savada Kothi and later
shifted to Bibighar in the `cantonment magistrates’ compound.
But when it became clear the relieving forces under General Havelock were nearing
the city and defeat was inevitable, the captives-all women and children, were
massacred and their dismembered bodies buried in the well of the compound on
15th July 1857. The Bibighar was dismantled by the British and reoccupation
of Kanpur and a `memorial railing and a cross’ raised at the site of the
well. The well is now bricked over. Only remains of a circular ridge survive,
which can be still seen at the Nana Rao Park. The Kanpur Memorial Church –
`The all soul cathedral’ was raised in honor of the fallen at the north-east
corner of Wheeler’s entrenchment in 1862 by the British. The marble gothic
screen with famous `mournful seraph’ was transferred to the churchyard
of All Souls church after independence in 1947, and in its place a bust of Tantiya
Tope installed as Nana Rao Park.
After 1857, the development of Kanpur was even more phenomenal. Government Harness
and Saddler Factory was started for supplying leather material for army in 1860,
followed by Cooper Allen & Co. in 1880. The first cotton textile mill, the
Elgin Mills were started in 1862 and Moiré Mills in 1882.
Today besides being the most industrialized region of the state, Kanpur is also
an important educational centre, with institutions like Harcourt Butler Technological
Institute, Agricultural College, Indian Institute of Technology, G.S.V.M. Medical
College, National Sugar Institute and Government Textile Institute being located
here.
Apart from playing a stellar role in the development of the country as a whole,
Kanpur has also been instrumental in making an unforgettable contribution to
the Indian freedom struggle. A favorite centre of activities of stalwarts like
Nanarao Peshwa, Tantiya Tope, Sardar Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad among
others, Kanpur is also the birth place of Shyamlal Gupta `Parshad’, composer
of the famous patriotic ditty `Vijayee Vishwa Tiranga Pyara’.
The propagation and popularization of Hindi also owes much to this city, with
great Hindu literatures like Acharya Mahavir Parasad Dwivedi, Ganesh Shankar
Vidyarthi, Pratap Narain Mishra, Acharya Gaya Prasad Shukla `Sanehi’ and
Balkrishna Sharma `Navin’ having hailed from here.
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