हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Shivpuri

A forest town south of Gwalior where Tatya Tope, the last great commander of 1857, was tried and hanged on 18 April 1859. The marble chhatris of the Scindias stand in a garden here.

Built: Old Sipri; summer seat of the Scindias of GwaliorWhere: Madhya Pradesh25.42° N, 77.66° E
  1. 7 April 1859
  2. 18 April 1859
Photo: MoniOjha · CC BY-SA 4.0

01The end of Tatya Tope

For ten months after Gwalior fell in June 1858 Tatya Tope kept a small army moving through Rajputana and Malwa, crossing the Narmada and coming back, with British columns always a march behind. In April 1859 Man Singh of Narwar gave away his hiding place in the Paron jungle, and he was taken asleep on 7 April. He was brought to Sipri, tried before a British court martial, and hanged on 18 April 1859. A memorial and statue stand on the site of the execution.

02The Scindia chhatris

The Scindias made Shivpuri their summer retreat, kept the forests around it for hunting, and built here the cenotaphs of their family. The finest are the white marble chhatris of Madhavrao Scindia and of his mother, facing each other across a tank in a Mughal-style garden, with inlay work in coloured stone and shikhara-topped pavilions that mix Rajput, Maratha and Mughal forms. The hunting forest is now Madhav National Park.

The life of this place

  1. 7 April 1859Tatya Tope was captured in the Paron jungle and brought to Sipri.
  2. 18 April 1859Tatya Tope was hanged at Sipri after a court martial.

People

Tatya TopeWarrior
1814 – 18 April 1859

Tatya Tope

General of 1857, ten months a guerrilla

Nearby

Shri Pitambara Peeth, DatiaStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Shri Pitambara Peeth, Datia

An ashram-temple of the Mahavidyas in Datia, founded by a renunciate known simply as Swami ji. Bagalamukhi, the Devi in yellow, is worshipped here for victory over enemies and in lawsuits.

Jhansi FortStanding
Company rule and the war of 1857

Jhansi Fort

The Bundela fort on Bangra hill that became the seat of Rani Lakshmibai, who held it against Sir Hugh Rose’s army in March–April 1858 and broke out when it fell. It is the fort of ‘Khoob ladi mardani’.

Ram Raja Temple, OrchhaStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Ram Raja Temple, Orchha

The only temple where Shri Rama is worshipped as a reigning king. Brought from Ayodhya by a Bundela queen, the murti was set down in her palace and would not be moved; the palace became the temple.

Chaturbhuj Temple, OrchhaStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchha

A towering temple raised on a high plinth at Orchha to house the Rama that Rani Ganesh Kunwari brought from Ayodhya. Rama would not leave the palace, so the temple went to Vishnu.