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

CHAPTER IX
MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
AFTER the fall of Lucknow, there remained no
powerful nucleus to concentrate the forces of
the Revolutionaries in the provinces of Rohil-
khand and Oudh. The tide of British conquest
that had been sweeping over the Doab and
Behar had driven all the Revolutionaries from
these provinces into the ever-narrowing circle of Oudh and
Rohilkhand. By this irresistible pressure on all sides and
by want of powerful stronghold, the Revolutionaries had
to give up the old system of open warfare and pitched
battles and to take to guerilla tactics. Had they done
so at the very start, the chances of success had been over-
443