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

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
the unconquered and unconquerable faith in the holiness
of their cause in their heart. To die while fighting in a
good cause is the key to the gates of Heaven, that was
their belief ; and they knew that the cause of the freedom
of a people was one of the best causes for the sake of
which one could lay down one's life. So they unsheathed
their swords and dashed like thunderbolt on the English
forces. With green turbans on their head, with a Kum-
merbund girded round their loins, and a silver ring inscrib-
ed with chosen sentences of the Koran in their finger,
these terrible-looking Ghazis rushed up from the right,
holding their head behind their shields, with their swords
shining aloft in the sun, and shouting wildly their war-cry
of “ Din, Din ! ” They closed with the British troops with
a tremendous shock, and, at this desperate attack, though
they were very few, the British soldiers were startled
and confused and swept away ; the 42nd Highlanders
tried to check their onrush—but the death-dealing Ghazis
still advanced, while some of them even succeeded in
reaching to the rear of the British forces ! Not one of
them returned back—all of them fell while fighting and
mowed down the English soldiery like sheaves before the
scythe ! They fell ; they fell like lions, despising even the
thought of retreat or surrender ; one only fell without be-
ing bayoneted by the enemy. Why ? Wait a minute
and the answer comes ; for, there is coming up to this
spot the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces ; nay,
he has come here ! And just then this martyr, who had
been pretending death, jumps up from among the corpses
and falls on the commander, but alas ! a loyal Sikh stand-
ing by the commander scents this danger and cuts the
Ghazi off ! ²
Of the few instances of the immortal bravery of
martyrdom in the history of the world, none can be
greater than this !
2. Russel's Diary.
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