St John Thackeray , "KITTUR, a village of British India, in the Belgaum district of Bombay; pop. (1901), 4922. It contains a ruined fort, formerly the residence of a Mahratta chief. In connection with a disputed succession to this chiefship in 1824, St John Thackeray, an uncle of the novelist, was killed when approaching the fort under a flag of truce; and a nephew of Sir Thomas Munro, governor of Madras, fell subsequently when the fort was stormed." He spent three years in the Board of Revenue and in the Political Department of the Government. "For that work St. John Thackeray paid the price of his life. The loyal chief of Kittur died in 1824, leaving no issue. The usual family intrigues followed. A deed of adoption was forged; the insurgent party seized the Kittur fort and defied our Government. To save bloodshed St. John Thackeray advanced unguarded with a flag of truce on October 23, 1824, and was killed. His gallantryand self-devotion form an example of that calm civil courage which has acted like a spell in each new province of British India. The Government despatch speaks of his death 'as a public calamity.' In the reduction of the fort another District Officer, the nephew of Sir Thomas Munro, was also slain."
|