Tatya tope-( ancient james bond or james bond is modern tatya tope?)

                                                    

                                                                    Tatya tope-a hero

Tantya Tope: Was he really hanged?

Tantya or Tatya Tope (1813 - 1859?) was one of the great freedom fighters, who took part in the war of independence in 1857. A nightmare for the British, his fame as a freedom fighter became
celebrated all over the country and hence British used all their means -- foul-and-fair -- to eliminate him. Thus he had become a legend. He was born to a family of Deshastha Brahmins from Poona and his name was Ramachandra. His father was in the service of Peshwa Baji Rao. As he had no children, he adopted Nanasaheb as his son.

A rebel:

To grant the wealth and power of local Maharajas, British had brought in a law where the royalty would lapse to the British if the Maharaja had no son. Under this pretext, the British did not recognise Nana Saheb as the heir to Maratha Kingdom. Hence Nana began to hate British. Tantya became a friend of Nana and both worked against the British. Taking help from Nana, Tantya planned to rebel against British. He became a leader of the disgruntled group against the British. Many more people joined him and Tantya's men swelled into a
strong army capable of attacking the British.

                                                             

War against British:

In 1857 he gathered more than 20,000 heroic soldiers and fought against British at Kanpur. British were defeated and they ran away from the battle field. This became a big news all over India and even in London. But the British did not keep quiet. They made strong preparations and attacked Tantya's forces again at Kanpur and this time Tantya was defeated. Tantya went to Jhansi and requested Lakshmi Bai for help. She readily agreed to give him all assistance as she had been deprived of Jhansi by the British. Both of them together invaded Gwalior and King Sindhe ran away towards Agra. Tantya occupied Gwalior and declared himself as the Peshwa (King). The British were surprised by the move of Tantya and appointed Sir Hugh Rose as the Commander of British forces. He used all foul means, bribed some soldiers and collected some secret information and attacked Gwalior fort. Tantya was defeated; he fled the battle field and went underground to the disappointment of the British.

Tantya was a specialist in guerilla war and naturally he indulged in this type of warfare in Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Vindhya and Aravali mountain ranges. As the British soldiers were not trained in this type of warfare, they used to be mute spectators and helpless. The top brass in London used to rebuke the local British army officers as inefficient. For about ten months from June 1858 to April 1859, more than half of the British army in India chased a single man Tantya in terrains combing about 2000 square miles. But still they were not able to catch him.

Tantya was camping at Chambal Valley and by accident met Mansingh. They exchanged notes and Mansingh agreed to help Tantya. This came to the knowledge of Rose. He immediately called Mansingh and promised to return him the Scindia kingdom and also reward him with great wealth if he helped to trace Tantya. Mansingh agreed and took the British army to the place where Tantya was sleeping. British soldiers fell on him swiftly and took him as a prisoner. He was taken to Sipri,British army camp. British found him guilty and hanged him on 18th, April 1859 at Sipri military camp. This is what history books have
been telling us all these days.

                                                    Rare visual of Tatya tope

The mystery starts:

Some research has been made with new war records and other evidences which show that Tantya was not hanged in 1859 April. Tantya Tope Commemoration Society discovered a box containing hundreds of letters written by Tantya and others written to Tantya. Edward Thomson has published a book from London which also throws light on this problem.The British were unable to catch Tantya and this caused great resentment in the British circles. Hence they enacted a mock court martial and brought another freedom fighter Narayana Rao Bhagawat.His grandson still has a portrait of this man in his puja room. He states that Narayana Rao sacrificed himself so that Tantya could continue his work against the British. This is narrated in another book published by the Indore University.

The book "Letters of 1857 Revolutionaries" is now kept in the memorial museum at Bhopal. In this collections are found some of the letters written by Tantya dated 1917 and 1918. This shows that he was alive on these days. The photograph of the person at the gallows at the Sipri military camp on 1859 April 18th, has been identified as that of Narayana Rao Bhagawat and not that of Tantya Tope.

Another evidence has now come to light. The records of Maharaja of Gwalior which had come to light also throw some light on this problem. The Scindia who was a sympathiser of Tantya requested his Prime Minister to device a plan to save Tantya. Dinkar Rao Rajwade, the Prime Minister, brought one of his family members to the gallows and he was executed. It is said that Tantya disguised as a monk was wandering in Marathawada region and was organising freedom fighters against the British in 1898.

Tantya in guise of monk:

It is also believed that Ambaji Temple was built by Tantya in the guise of a monk and even today one can see a portrait of this monk in this temple. People have seen him as a gardener in this temple. The family members of Tantya have confirmed that the photograph of the person at the British gallows of April 1859 was not that of Tantya Tope. Even the signature of Tantya found in the army records is forged.

The whole thing appears to be hog-wash of the British just to save their own face and prestige. They selected another freedom fighter and put him into the gallows and painted themselves as great.

Such things do happen in wars. Of course, more research is required to be conducted on this topic to contradict the already accepted opinion of Tantya's death in 1859. Till then we have to put a question mark on the hanging of Tantya Tope.