CHAPTER  VI

TATIA TOPE
 

When the army of the * mutineers" had been defeated at
Cawnpore on the 16*^ of July, Shrimant Nana left Cawnpore and
proceeded to Brahmavarta. That night—the 16*^ of July—was
spent by the Nana in his palace there, in deliberation as to his
future plans; and the very next morning saw Nana Sahib ap¬
proaching the boats waiting on the river Ganges with his
youngest brother Bala Sahib, his nephew Rao Sahib, his aide-
de-camp Tatia Tope, with all the ladies belonging to the royal
household, and with his treasure and a few supplies. Nana was
going to Fatehpur in the Lucknow province. Chowdhuri Bhopal
Singh, an intimate friend of Nana Sahib, received them there
very cordially and entertained them in his house. While Have¬
lock with all his army was besieging Cawnpore and was thinking
of pressing on to Lucknow, the Nana also was deliberating in
full Durbar as to the best means of opposing Havelock.

And to find a satisfactory solution to this problem, one person
in this Durbar was eminently fitted by his extraordinary intellect.
His subtle inteUect seemed to be ever on the look-out for difficult
problems which awaited solution. So far, Tatia Tope had done
nothing higher than the work of a clerk; but then, there was
nothing beyond the work of a clerk, so far, to be done at
Nana's Durbar. But one glimpse of the spirit of liberty—and
the Durbar of Nana, too, showed the characteristic intelligence,
alertness, and brilliance of the old Raigarh Durbar. New aspir¬
ations were now struggling for fulfilment, fresh thrones had to
he  established, new armies had to be formed, fresh battle-fields
 

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