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

OUDH
question arose as to what quarters should be given to us,
an angry servant suggested the horse-stables near by.
Nazim rebuked him for this, but immediately another
broke forth, ‘Why all this trouble? I will just kill these
Feringhi dogs!’ Nazim thundered against them all and
promised us our lives. We hid near the Zenana through
fear of the mutineers. We got good food, clothing, and
rest.” Then, Nazim disguised all these as Indians and
sent them safely to the English camp.
As soon as the English officers left the city of Fyzabad,
the other districts in the province also hoisted the flag of
freedom. Sultanpur rose on the same day, i.e. the 9th
of June. The third district town, Saloni, rose on the 10th.
The officers of the latter place were running for their lives.
The Sirdar Rustom Shah saved some of them, and Raja
Hanumant Singh also saved some. The gallant and brave
princes of Oudh did not rest content merely by sparing
the lives of those who surrendered but also entertained the
English most hospitably. As a matter of fact, the Eng-
lish had inflicted terrible losses on, and offered great
insults to, almost all these Zemindars. Not that the
Zemindars ever forgot that their Swaraj had been des-
troyed and their religion was trodden under foot. Follow-
ed by their Sepoys, they were openly warring against the
English and many had taken oaths never to rest until the
English were out of the country. But, to match this
heroic patriotism and love of freedom, they all showed
equally heroic gallantry. While the common people were
massacring the English in a fit of rage and revenge, they
treated the English women and children hospitably and
showed them clemency! Even those officers who had
but now persecuted them were given their lives, when they
came to surrender! Though the mass of the people
insisted that it was not desirable to leave the officers, for
they might again come to fight—as the officers did in the
latter part of the war—they did not shrink from showing
them generosity! In how many other countries except
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