A wood saddle with silver-gilt mounts by repute belonging to Nana Sahib (1824-57)

North India, circa 1850

(3)

Footnotes

Provenance
Dhondu Pant, known as Nana Sahib (1824–1857).
Presumably brought back to England by a British officer connected with the Madras Fusiliers.
Acquired by the Roy Butler Collection in the 1960s or 70s.
Displayed in the late Roy Butler's private museum, The Military Heritage Museum in Lewes, Sussex, until the 1980s.

Published
P. A. Cole-King, The Military Heritage Museum, Lewes, Sussex, England: A Museum of Military History from 1660–1914: Comprising the Roy Butler Collection, with an introduction by Roy Butler, Derby, 1978, p. 12 (not illustrated).

Exhibited
The Military Heritage Museum in Lewes, East Sussex, 1977–1980s.

The collection display card accompanying the saddle carries the following caption:

Indian Mutiny 1857.// Saddle used by the Arch Fiend of Bittoor, "Doondoo Punt" Nana Sahib the Monster of Cawnpore.// Half a field battery, three companies of the Madras, now Dublin, Fusiliers, and a regiment of Sikhs, went in pursuit of the Nana as he fled across the Ganges with his Zenana, jewels, and elephants, to Nepal whence he was driven out by Jung Bahadur and the Gorkhas: he left his horses, carriages and possessions beside(?) the river, and this saddle was taken off his charger by the Sikhs [...] valuable ornamentation.

Nana Sahib, originally named Dhondu Pant, was a Maratha aristocrat who was adopted in 1827 by the last Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao II. Before the start of the Indian Mutiny in 1857, Nana Sahib initially declared his allegiance to the British. However, he switched sides at Kanpur (Cawnpore), leading an army of rebels against the British. Following the ambush, the surviving 120 women and children were subsequently murdered on the 15th of July 1857 at Bibighar. The incident became part of the mythology of the British Empire, and the cry of 'Remember Cawnpore!' passed into common parlance as a reflection of British views of Indian perfidy. Having taken control of Kanpur, the East India Company's forces, including the Madras Fusiliers and Sikh soldiers, pursued Nana Sahib who had retreated to Bithoor and made his escape across the River Ganges. They occupied Nana Sahib's palace and seized various items before setting it on fire. The present saddle was reputedly taken from Nana Sahib's charger by the Sikhs.

Further items associated with Nana Sahib sold at auction include a sword, a silk hat and a Qur'an: see Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World, 26 April 2017, lot 189; Sotheby's, Arts of the Islamic World, 7 October 2009, lot 121; and Bonhams, Islamic and Indian Art, 21 April 2015, lot 2.