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

THE CONFLAGRATION
khand army, having crossed the bridge of boats, began to
enter the city through the Calcutta gate. We could clearly
see these thousands of Sepoys from the Ridge, entering
the city with perfect discipline and drill, playing martial
tunes, and waving variegated flags and banners." The
only force that was able to unite to some extent these
different regiments in Delhi was that of love of the princi-
ple alone. For, there could grow no organised and com-
pact army from amongst these thousands of Sepoys of
different castes and creeds who had never seen the faces
of each other in their whole life and had been drifted
together by a chance storm. In spite of the utmost efforts
of the Emperor and his councillors to stop looting and
anarchy in the city, no day would pass without some
complaint or other of Sepoy lawlessness, or of looting, or
of blackmail. In this state, the supreme need of the hour
was a leader who could unite these innumerable and
divergent forces into a unifying focus. The city of Delhi,
in spite of the growth of the evil tendencies and vicious
propensities in the men, so natural in an agitated time
as this, had led attack after attack on the English army
and had, at least, held them in fear and check. It was
the ardent desire amongst the soldiery and the citizens to
drive away the foreign foe, that enabled them to do this.
But to ensure ultimate success, it was imperatively neces-
sary that this love of the abstract principle must be united
with, and concentrated in, the ability of a great personality.
It was, therefore, thought to be a Godsend when the brave
Bakht Khan of Rohilkhand entered Delhi with his troops
and treasury. The state of the public mind at Delhi, at
the time of the arrival of Bakht Khan, is well described
in the diary of one who was then living in Delhi. This
extract, though meagre and casual, is taken here not only
to give some account of this particular day but to give
a general idea of the state of Delhi and the course which
events were taking. "The bridge of the Jumna is repair-
ed; for, the arrival of the Rohilkhand troops is expected.
The Emperor with a telescope viewed the approaching
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