two hundred and forty native troopers of the Oude irregular cavalry,
arrived from Lucknow, and two guns and three hundred men were sent in by
the Rajah of Bithoor.

Nana Sahib was at this time a man of thirty-two years of age, having been
born in the year 1825. He was the son of poor parents, and had at the age
of two years and a half been adopted by the Peishwa, who had no children
of his own. In India adoption is very common, and an adopted son has all
the legal rights of a legitimate offspring. The Peishwa, who was at one
time a powerful prince, was dethroned by us for having on several
occasions joined other princes in waging war against us, but was honorably
treated, and an annuity of eighty thousand pounds a year was assigned to
him and his heirs. In 1851 the Peishwa died, leaving Nana Dhoondu Pant,
for that was the Nana's full name, his heir and successor. The Company
refused to continue the grant to Nana Sahib, and in so doing acted in a
manner at once impolitic and unjust. It was unjust, because they had
allowed the Peishwa and Nana Sahib, up to the death of the former, to
suppose that the Indian law of adoption would be recognized here as in all
other cases; it was impolitic, because as the greater portion of the
Indian princes had adopted heirs, these were all alarmed at the refusal to
recognize the Nana, and felt that a similar blow might be dealt to them.

Thus, at this critical period of our history, the minds of the great
Indian princes were all alienated from us, by what was in their eyes at
once a breach of a solemn engagement, and a menace to every reigning
house. Nana Sahib, however, evinced no hostility to the English rule. He
had inherited the private fortune of the Peishwa, and lived in great state
at Bithoor. He affected greatly the society of the British residents at
Cawnpore, was profuse in his hospitality, and was regarded as a jovial
fellow and a stanch friend of the English. When the mutiny broke out, it