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

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
rise. The Revolutionaries there had another advantage ;
the English could spare no European troops for the pro-
vinces of Nagpur and Jubbulpore at that time. But
soon the Indian regiments from Madras came and the
sparks of Revolution were speedily extinguished. The
Gond king of Jubbulpore, Shankar Singh, and his son
were doing their utmost for the Revolution. When they
were arrested and their palace was searched, a small
paper containing the king's morning-prayers was found
folded in a silk cloth. Its English translation is as
follows :—The king, Shankar Singh, meditating on the
terrible image of the Goddess Chandi says, “Shut the
mouths of slanderers ; trample the sinners ! Shatru-
Samharike ! Killer of enemies !) Listen to the cry of
Religion ; support your slave, Mathaliké ! Kill the Bri-
tish ; exterminate them ; Mata Chandi !” ³ etc. etc.
King Shankar Singh and his son had tried to enlist the
52nd native regiment at Jubbulpore in the cause of the
Revolution. Therefore, the two royal personages were
blown from the mouth of cannon on the 18th of Sep-
tember, 1857. At this news, the 52nd regiment, instead
of being cowed down, was infuriated, rose immediately,
killed an officer, called Mac Gregor, and marched away
to the war.
There were risings in the Dhar state and at Mahidpur,
Goria, and other places, organised by Prince Feroze Shah
of Delhi. We cannot describe the details of all these ris-
ings for want of space.
But, more than all the princes mentioned above, the fate
of the English power in India lay in the hands of the
Nizam of Hyderabad. The new Nizam, Afzul-ud-daulah,
had just come to the throne in May 1857, and the Prime
Ministership was in the hands of a man called Sir Salar
3. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 144.
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