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

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
should rush in and shoot down the old Emperor like a
rabbit ! ² Since the fall of Delhi, the Revolutionaries had
become even fiercer than before. They did not mind de-
feat now. The first ebullitions due to their victory had
settled down by this time. A stoical calmness had now
come over their hearts. Their one thought was that what-
ever happened they were to go on fighting. Either the
Feringhis or they must be exterminated. They had deter-
mined, once for all, that, so long as neither of these was
accomplished, they would continue the war to the end.
They were quarrelling amongst themselves ; some, for
personal gain, were getting lawless ; but no one was willing
to give up the fight against the English. And, if ever this
determination—never to keep down the sword until either
the Feringhi or themselves had become extinct—appeared
clearer than ever on the firmly set jaws, the contracted
eyebrows, or the stern eye of the Revolutionaries, it was
after the defeat in the Doab. Before the Sepoys who
were captured in battle were hanged, they were usually
questioned by the English why they joined in the war,
and the Revolutionaries would answer clearly and sternly,
“ It is the command of religion that Feringhis should be
killed ! ” And the end ? The extermination of the Eng-
lish and of the Sepoys ! And then ? What God wills,
will be done ! ³
Thus, after the fall of Delhi, the desire of liberty, instead
of dying out, took only more fire. And to avenge Delhi,
they continued the fight in Lucknow and Bareilly. For
when the Doab had fallen to the English, the territories
of Ayodhya and Rohilkhand were under the complete
control of the Revolutionaries. Therefore, Sir Colin's idea
was to conquer Rohilkhand first and then to proceed to
2. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 184.
3. “The slaughter of the English is required by our religion.
The end will be the destruction of all the English and all the
Sepoys,—and then, God knows !”—Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny,
Vol. II, page 242.
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