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

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
against us, if he had once come to believe that we could
be overthrown ! '”⁷
Those whose blood boiled at the very name of foreign
domination, those who had stepped forth into the battle-
field leaving their all to unfurl the honoured flag of
Swaraj, Rajas, Maharajas, Zemindars, and Talukdars had,
be it remembered, one amongst them, at this time, who
was the first in the field to protect the revered throne of
Lucknow and who was, at the same time, the ablest in
the council. This extraordinary man had been for four
months moving here and there with lightning-like activity,
inspiring by his presence both the battle-field and the
council-hall.
Readers, this hero is none other than the Patriot of
Fyzabad, Ahmad Shah Moulvie ! With the burning torch
of the Revolutionary War in his hand, he had been setting
the whole country aflame, when the English authorities
at Lucknow captured him and ordered him to be hanged.
But, before being executed, he was taken to the prison
at Fyzabad and there the storm of 1857 raised him from
his cell in the alien’s prison to the leadership of the Revo-
lution. This national hero, Ahmad Shah Moulvie, was
on the battlefield for the freedom of his country and the
protection of his Dharma. He inspired by his tongue
thousands of his countrymen on the platform and, on the
field of battle, by his valour he earned the admiration of
friends as well as foes.
When Sir Colin went to fight with Tatia, he had left
Outram in Alam Bagh with four thousand troops. Since
that day, the Moulvie was working day and night to take
advantage of this weakening of the enemy’s forces. Many
a time, ere this, had Lucknow been protected by the
7. Sepoy War by Holmes. (Re-translated from the Marathi
translation in the original).
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