१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE ERUPTION
Gordon Smith and Revely and, wherever an Englishman
was found, he was killed. The national vengeance
awakened after a century, crushed down men, women,
children, houses, stones, bricks, watches, tables, chairs,
blood, flesh, bones—anything that had any relation with
the English ! In the end, at the strict orders of the Em-
peror, many Englishmen were saved from massacre and
made prisoners in the palace. But such was the popular
fury against the Feringhi despots that, after a struggle of
four or five days, the Emperor was compelled to hand
over the fifty English prisoners to the mob ! On the
16th of May, the fifty Englishmen were taken to a public
maidan. Thousands of citizens, assembled to witness the
scene, burst forth in imprecations against English rule and
the faithlessness of the English. When the order was
given, the Sepoys killed the fifty in a second. If any
Englishman attempted to ward off a Sepoy's sword and
implored for mercy, loud cries of “ Revenge for handcuffs!”,
“ Revenge for slavery ! ”, “ Revenge for the arsenal ! ”,
would rise up, and the bent English head was soon severed
from the body ! The massacre of the English began on
the 11th and ended on the 16th. In the meanwhile hun-
dreds of Englishmen ran away from Delhi to avoid death.
Some blackened their faces and disguised themselves as
“ the despised ” Indians ; some died of heat, while run-
ning away, in the woods and forests ; some learnt by
heart the songs of Kabir and attempted to escape through
the villages in the guise of Sanyasis ; but were killed by
the villagers when the disguise was seen through. Some
were cut by the villagers as “ Feringhis ” when they sat
down under the trees in fatigue after walking long, long
distances ; and a few with the assistance and hospitality
of kindly villagers at last safely reached the English camp
at Meerut. The hatred against English rule was so great
that, at the news of the massacre of Delhi, hundreds of
villages determined never to allow an Englishman to set
foot within their limits. But in none of these villages,
not even in Delhi itself was a single Englishwoman out-
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