As the legend goes, King Hindu Singh founded ‘Kanhpur’, the modern Kanpur. Kanpur gained strategic importance in 1765 when British defeated the Nawab Wazir of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daula, near Jajmau. A number of businessmen from Europe set up their operations in the town. The ‘Awadh local force’ was entrusted with the job of providing security to these people in 1778.

The treaty of 1801 between British and Nawab Saadat Ali Khan of Awadh gave British full control over Kanpur. British transformed it into one of their major military stations in India. Kanpur was awarded the status of district in March 1803.

In 1857, General Sir Hugh Wheeler was guarding Cawnpore. He refused to accept Nana Sahib’s proposal to protect the English women in the town and rather requested for his support in protecting treasury of Cawnpore which Nana Saheb accepted. But, sepoys protested and opened the jail doors, plundered treasury, ignoring Nana Sahib and his supporters, and marched to Delhi. But surprisingly, Nana Sahib joined them as their leader and seized Cawnpore. Wheeler accepted Nana Sahib’s proposal to move all survivors from with in the European entrenchment to Allahabad. When they actually occupied boats, the British fired at the boatmen who went back to the Ganga’s shores. They had to pay for this grave mistake as Sepoys retaliated and burnt the boats. The river turned blood red. Only one boat could manage to escape this gruesome attack. This very ghat was then nicknamed as “Massacre Ghat’. The British men who escaped the bullets returned in July without their children and women who were slaughtered in their own houses, the Bibi Ghar. This led to an extreme reaction back home in Britain where a law with special protection rights for women and children was passed.

After Mutiny, Kanpur developed rapidly. In 1860, Government Harness and Saddlery Factory was set up to manufacture leather products for army. The Elgin Mills, the first cotton textile mill, was set up in 1862.