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

ADDING FUEL TO FIRE
And this idea the Christian missionaries began to streng-
then themselves. In their street preachings at various
places, they used to say openly that India would soon be
Christianised. The Sirkar had already begun to pass one
law after another to destroy the foundations of the Hindu
and Mahomedan religions. Railways had already been
constructed, and carriages had been built in such a way as
to offend the caste prejudices of the Hindus. The larger
mission schools were being helped with huge grants from
the Sirkar. Lord Canning himself distributed thousands of
Rupees to every mission, and from this fact it is clear that
the wish was strong in the heart of Lord Canning that all
India should be Christian. Why, if the would-be converts
are afraid that they would lose their property by conver-
sion, a law shall at once be passed to prevent this !
Hardly had the missionaries exhausted their sermons
and lectures, when news came that a law had been passed
that all the rights and privileges of converts to the property
of their unconverted relatives should remain intact even
after conversion. Another fact also came to light, that
huge salaries were to be paid to the bishops and even
archbishops from the Indian treasury. The insistence of
every Englishman, from the highest officer in the Govern-
ment to the commonest missionary of the towns, had
reached such a pitch that the white superior in Govern-
ment offices began to insist on all the “ black ” clerks
under him to become Christian ! While the officers were
ready to lay the axe at the root of India's religions, at the
expense of India's money, themselves living on the fat
of India—the Government did not move at all in the
matter. For, what was the Government but Lord Canning
and his councillors ? And, this Canning and this Council
had surpassed all other officers in their holy zeal for
conversion and were feeding the missionaries with lakhs
of Rupees—those missionaries who defiled the people and
heaped unrestrained abuse on their sacred religions. Under
such circumstances, the people were reasonably afraid that
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THE VOLCANO
a greater danger was in store for their religion under the
British Raj. The English missionaries tried to allay the
terrible unrest by an attempt to christianise the sepoys,
the chief strength of the people of India, believing that
the disaffection of the ordinary people would be no danger
to them at all. That the low cunning of this trick was
plainly understood by the people will be seen unmistak-
ably from the proclamations of the "Mutineers". That
the complaints and grievances mentioned in these procla-
mations are literally true can be collected even from the
reluctant confessions of the English historians themselves.
Except in the time of actual warfare, all days were days
of leisure to the Sepoys. How were these days of leisure
utilised by colonels and captains and other officers in the
English army ? Why, in constantly poisoning the ears of
the Sepoys with talks on Christianity ! Do you think
even this preaching was conducted in simple and decorous
language ? Not at all. Abuse, unrestrained filthy abuse,
was heaped on the name of Rama Chandra, the sacred
name, the mere mention of which makes the heart of
every Hindu fill with love and with devotion, and on the
name of Mahomed, the very mention of whose name fills
all Moslems with reverence and awe. The Koran and
the Vedas were openly defiled and images were desecrat-
ed ! If any Sepoy retaliated on these fiendish Feringhis
and returned abuse for abuse, the poor Sepoy's roti and
ghee would be taken away by the authority of the mis-
sionary colonels. Why, very soon things came to such a
pass that living in the English barracks meant the sacri-
fice of one's religion. For, if any Sepoy accepted the
Christian religion, he was praised loudly and treated
honourably ; and this Sepoy was promoted in the ranks
and his salary increased, in the face of the superior
merits of the other Sepoys ! A soldier renegade giving up
his religion became a Hawaldar and a Hawaldar, untrue
to his religion, was promoted to be a Subahdar Major ! ²
2. Causes of the Mutiny by a Bengali Hindu.
60

ADDING FUEL TO FIRE
Seeing that the Sepoys in the army were poor, igno-
rant, and short-sighted ; feeling that when the military
was christianised, the christianising of the people was only
a question of time ; considering the question every way,
the English had come to the conclusion that the chief
attack must be delivered on the Sepoy in the army. And
in accordance with this opinion, from many directions,
secret and open attacks on the Hindu and Moslem faiths
had already begun to be delivered. Not only that, but
some commanders and colonels did not hesitate even to
declare publicly, through newspapers, that they had
entered the army with the express purpose and object of
destroying the religion of the Sepoy. The Commander of
the Bengal Infantry himself writes in the Government
Report that he had been continuing uninterruptedly for
28 years the policy of christianising the military and that
it was a part of military duty to save the souls of heath-
ens from Satan ! Who could dare to say that the fears of
the Sepoy were unreasonable as to the impossibility of
preserving their religion in the face of the attempts to
undermine it, continued day and night by these padre
heroes who stumped the country with port-folios of
military orders on the one hand, and the Bible in the
other ? Everywhere there was a strong conviction that
the Government had determined to destroy the religions
of the country and make Christianity the paramount
religion of the land.
An Englishman, to show how the hatred of the Feringhi
was raging tumultuously in the hearts of both Hindus
and Mahomedans, says :—“A Moulvie of my acqu-
aintance, living outwardly on terms of intimacy with
me, was on his death-bed. I was with him at the time
and I asked him what was his last wish before he died.
He looked very disconsolate and gloomy at this question.
On being asked why he looked so gloomy, he said, ‘Truly,
I assure you that I repent exceedingly that I did not kill
even two Feringhis in my life !’ On another occasion a
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THE VOLCANO
respectable and learned Hindu said boldly, ' We wish you
to be gone and our native rule to be established, that we
may continue in the ways of our fathers ! ' " ³
While this tumult of disaffection was raging everywhere
Dalhousie himself made a further attack on the
Hindu religion. Even English historians who consider it
their duty to support all the actions of the Government
find it impossible to support this enormity. When the
civilised Christian hero, Dalhousie, came forward to
trample under foot the noble custom of adoption, one of
the tenderest, most noble, loving, and sacred command-
ments of the Hindu Dharma Shastras and endeared to the
people of all ages all over India, all India from one end
to the other was shocked. The magazine required only a
lighted match to explode with violence and this act of
Dalhousie supplied it.
To add fuel to this raging fire, orders were issued to
the Indian sepoys that they should use the new cart-
ridges ! Soon after the promulgation of the order for
using new cartridges for the new rifles, factories were
opened for the manufacture of these cartridges in various
places. A certain kind of fat had to be used for the
greasing of these cartridges so that they might be smooth
and well-lubricated, and orders soon followed that the
sepoys should bite off this greasy portion with their teeth
instead of tearing it away with hands as formerly.
Immediately afterwards schools were even opened that the
sepoys might learn how to use these rifles and also how
to bite the cartridges with their teeth, and the Govern-
ment reports from various quarters stated that the sepoys
were immensely pleased with the long range of these
new rifles.
One day, a Brahmin Sepoy belonging to the village
3. Rev. Kennedy, M.A.
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ADDING FUEL TO FIRE
of Dum-Dum, very near Calcutta, was going to the
military barracks with his Lôta full of water. At that
instant, a scavenger came and asked to drink from the
Lôta. The Brahmin replied that his Lôta would be rend-
ered unclean by his touch. The scavenger replied, “ Enough
of caste pride now ! Do you not know that soon you would
bite with your teeth the flesh of the cow and the fat of the
pig ? The new cartridges are being expressly greased with
these materials for this purpose ! ” when he heard this, the
Brahmin ran wild with excitement towards the camp, as
if the very devil was in him ; and in a few minutes, the
sepoys became excited—a crowd of mad men !—and
horrible whisperings were in the air. Suspicions arose
that the Feringhis had arranged a cunning plot to defile
their religions by greasing the cartridges with cows’ blood
and pigs’ fat. The Sirkar replied that, far from such a
plot being devised by them, the very story that the cart-
ridges were greased with cows’ blood and pigs’ fat was
absolutely without foundation !
Who was it then that spoke the lie ? Was it the
Sirkar or the sepoys ? If the cartridges were really
greased with cows’ blood and pigs’ fat, was it the result
of mere ignorance or of conscious purpose on the part of
the Government ? That the English did not know with
what material the cartridges were greased cannot be held
for a moment. For in 1853, when these cartridges were
introduced for the first time and when “ native ” sepoys
from Cawnpore, Rangoon, Fort William and other places,
not suspecting that unclean things had been used in their
manufacture, had bitten off these cartridges with full
confidence in their superiors, even then the English autho-
rities knew with what the cartridges were greased. In
December 1853, Col. Tucker has mentioned this fact very
clearly in the Government reports.⁴ Why, even the Com-
mander-in-Chief knew the fact and, in spite of this, the
4. Kaye’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, p. 380.
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very things prohibited by the two religions were used and
even factories for their manufacture were opened right in
India ! After ascertaining well this fact from the low
caste Indians working in those factories, the sepoys of
Barrackpore spread this news all over India. Even light-
ning travels not so quick ! Within a fortnight, not a Hindu
or a Mahomedan but was talking of cartridges and no-
thing but cartridges, wherever he was. And the stronger
this public indignation grew, the stronger and more
frequent grew the assertions on the part of the autho-
rities, from the Governor-General down to the lowest
white soldier, that the story of the cartridges was a
mere fabrication.
These statements of the Feringhi Government were not
only absolutely false, but they were put forward deli-
berately with the knowledge that they were false. The
fact that the very Commander-in-Chief was aware of
four years before, was now being openly denied by the
Government. That in the factory at Dum-Dum cartridges
were not greased with cows' and pigs' fat, that the igno-
rant and superstitious sepoys had started this wholly un-
founded rumour—such were the assertions of the English
historians until a very recent date. But now, there does
not seem to be the slightest doubt that the Government
was well aware of this fact. The contractor who had
undertaken to supply the fat for the cartridges had, in clear
words, made a distinct agreement in his contract deed,
drawn at that very time, to supply cows' fat. The agree-
ment was that the cartridges should be greased with the
fat of the cow, the Sacred Mother, buying the same at the
rate of twopence (two annas) per pound. And the sepoys
should bite these cartridges with their teeth ! When this
cunning scheme was exposed, the Feringhi Government
immediately issued orders that, thereafter, whatever fat
was to be used for the cartridges should . be only from
sheep or goats, and that cows' and pigs' fat should never
be used. If these orders mean anything they mean that
64

ADDING FUEL TO FIRE
so far the cartridges were being greased with cows' and
pigs' fat. It was necessary for them to issue this new
regulation because they knew this fact. From the Gov-
ernment documents published by Forrest it is clear beyond
a doubt that, in the fat used for the cartridges, cows' and
pigs' fat was mixed, and that this fact was known to the
highest English authorities in the land.⁵ And when the
sepoys refused to bite these cartridges, the Feringhi mili-
tary authorities used to swear that this was altogether
false. Not only that, but they were threatened with severe
punishment if they refused to obey the military orders
through their silly prejudices. But when, regardless of
these threats, it appeared that the sepoys were going to
dare everything for the protection of their Dharma, then
the Sirkar quietly retreated back and yielded on one point,
allowing the sepoys to use a certain paper instead of fat.
But what guarantee was there that a Government which
could stoop to the meanness of using pigs' and cows' fat
would not use some other mean trick of the same nature
to make the paper substituted for the lubricating mixture
smooth ? If once unconsciously they were defiled with
cows' and pigs' meat thrust in their mouths, then the
missionary colonels and padre commanders would say,
"Look here, you have now been christianised!" If, on
the one hand, the military superiors tried to soothe the
indignation and anger of the sepoys by false denials and
lowly retractations, on the other hand, they provoked them
still more by distributing on the parades thousands of big
pamphlets full of abuse of Rama and Mahomed to spite
their religions. The beginning of the agitation against the
5. Says Kaye : "There is no question that beef fat was used
in the composition of this tallow." (Vol. I, p. 381). Says Lord
Roberts : " The recent researches of Mr. Forrest in the records of
the Government of India prove that the lubricating mixture used in
preparing the cartridges was actually composed of the objectionable
ingredients, cows' fat and lard and that incredible disregard of the
soldiers' religious prejudices was displayed in the manufacture of
these cartridges."—Forty Years in India, p. 431.
65
5

THE VOLCANO
cartridges was started early in January and, before the
month had ended, the Government had to yield on yet
another point—a fresh regulation allowed the soldiers to
use the fat they themselves prepared. Further, Birch, at
the same time, by means of another Government memo-
randum, assured all the sepoys that not a single objection-
able cartridge had been sent into the army ! The Prince
of Lies could not have been more versatile ! Twenty-two
thousand and five-hundred cartridges from the Umballa
depôt alone and fourteen thousand from the Sialkot depôt
had been already sent in 1856 ! In the rifle classes in
various places, even at that very moment, practice in the
use of these cartridges was being given ! In the Gurkha
Regiments, the cartridges were being openly introduced !
And military authorities used to threaten the sepoys that
they would be physically forced to use the cartridges.
Why, in one or two places, when the sepoys were obsti-
nate in their refusal to use these cartridges, whole regi-
ments were punished severely.
So, the sepoys determined that, whether they had to
use these cartridges or not, they would not rest quiet until
they had destroyed this political slavery and this depend-
ence which was at the root of all this trouble. What reli-
gion can a slave have ? The first step towards Dharma is
to be a free man of a free country.
Rise, then, O Hindusthan, rise ! Even as Shri Ram-
das exhorted "Die for Dharma ; while dying, kill all your
enemies and win back Swarajya ; while killing, kill well."
Murmuring such sentiments to himself, every sepoy in
India began to sharpen his sword for the fight for Swa-
dharma and Swarajya !
66

CHAPTER VI
LIT UP
THE SACRIFICIAL FIRE
IT is then inevitable that we must resist sword
in hand and wage a relentless struggle to win
back our political independence and to safe-
guard the honour of the ashes of our fathers and
the temples of our gods. We must hence hasten
first to propitiate the God of War, the Lord
of Hosts, even as Indrajit did before he marched on to the
battlefield, as the ‘Puranas’ tell us, to secure the uncon-
querable Chariot which he expected to appear forth out
of the blazing Sacrificial Fire. True it is that Indrajit was
foiled in his attempt to secure it because unrighteous was
his cause. But our cause is just, is righteous ! We need
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
67

THE VOLCANO
not fear frustration. Even though we know that to fight
for what we call Right does not unfailingly win through
its inherent justifiability or righteousness unless and
until it is upheld by proportionate Might, even
then to fight for our Right to the best of our might
is in itself a heroic joy which fills the warrior with
a divine intoxication.
Lit up the Sacrificial Fire then, for we must propi-
tiate the Lord of Hosts, the God of War !
Dig the Sacrificial Fire-pit on the altar wider and
wider, deeper and deeper ! Well and good : Lo !
the Fire of National Indignation is already bursting forth
into flames ! As the first sacramental rite, the Sankalpa,
the declamatory vow, has already been proclaimed a
hundred years ago as early as the year 1757 A.D. So, as the
first sacrificial offering, throw the Field of Plassey into
the flaming pit !
Where is the Kohinoor of the Panjab ? Here has
Dalhousie himself offered to help us and brought it,
snatching it away from its rightful owner the Khalsa of
Guru Govindsingh ! What sacrificial offering can be more
igniting the hungry Fire than the Gem of “ the purest
ray serene ”, this ancient historical emblem of Indian
Sovereignty ? Throw then, the Kohinoor of Punjab in.
The next immediate offering must be Burma. So let
its King Theeba be exiled and into this crackling Fire pit,
throw in the kingdom of Burma too.
How do you forget the Throne of Shivaji himself ?
What is the good of its keeping rotting at Satara ? We
must respect the right of precedence due to it ! Help us
Oh, obliging Britania by doing your worst with your
ravenous claws and relegating the kings there to the
graves—where they might yet rule freely—bring here the
68

LIT UP THE SACRIFICIAL FIRE
Maratha throne quick ! That the Fire of National indig-
nation may get more and more fed, fat and fierce, throw
the throne of Satara in !
The Gadi of Nagpur by itself could be but a poor offer-
ing for such a wild, warlike God. Hence bring ye, with
the Gadi all the empty palaces, elephants, horses and
the very Rânees too, not only with their jewels, rudely
robbed but with their shrieks and weepings and wailings
and in this Sacrificial Blazing pit throw it all altogether !
Even though the flames are rising like huge columns
leaping forth into the skies higher and higher yet they
must be lit still more intensely and fiercely. So throw the
lightning of Zansi in !
Ah ! Hear you not now the rambling so deep, so
roaring in the bowels of this blazing fire pit, this
‘ Yadnya-Kund ’ ? Surely some great explosive Revolu-
tionary Birth is getting into line, form and figure ! Feed
up, Feed up the mighty sacrificial fire with anything and
everything that is intensely combustible and at hand. So
throw the Nabob of Oudh in ! In with the Gadi of Tanjore !
In with the Nabob of Arcot ! Push in Raj Anguli, Sam-
balpur, all the Talukdars, Jahagirdars, Inamdars, Vatan-
dars in fact all those who can affix a ‘ Dâr ’ to their titles,
depriving them of all their proprietary rights and posses-
sions and making them all ‘ Nâdârs ’—throw in, throw in !
And now has come the time for Dum Dum ! Hasten
ye all, friends and foes, and bring all the new cartridges
in millions from the Dum Dum type factories spread
throughout India, dip them in cow’s blood, boil them in
pig’s fat and throw them into this all absorbing, all con-
suming Jaw of Fire ! There, from the white-heat point
the wild fire has risen to War-heat !
Dancing on the blazing flames out of the Sacrificial
69

THE VOLCANO
fire pit, Behold, arises at last the presiding Deity, terrible
to look at! Salutes innumerable to Thee, O War God,
O Lord of Hosts! Under whose fierce insolence tyranny
and injustice are ground and burnt to ashes, by the
mighty hammer in whose hands the shackles of slavery
get knocked down to pieces and Nations are set free and
whose hundred and one red hot tongues are lolling out
from hundred and one mouths athirst to lick up battlefulls
of blood when loaded war clouds burst out on Nations
fighting for life, for death,—that aspect of Thee, O spirit
of War, O Har—the terrible! We contemplate, we wor-
ship! Be propitious! Wilt thou, O Lord, sharpen the
edge of our sword and bless it with Victory?
“ If not, perchance, with victory—with Vengeance will
I bless your sword ! !—yes vengeance, the force de-
terent, the Nemesis which tyranny dreads like death and
which holds in the hollow of its hands the seeds of a
Victory to come ! ! ”
70

CHAPTER VII
SECRET ORGANISATION
WHILE the forces of the Revolution were thus
maturing themselves all over India, as described
in the last chapter, in Brahmavarta a Program-
me was being prepared as to how to organise
properly all the materials for the war so as to
bring the War of Independence to a successful
conclusion.
In the third chapter, we left Rango Bapuji and Azim-
ullah Khan holding secret interviews with each other in
some London rooms. Though history cannot record the
exact conversation the Brahmin of Satara held with the
71

THE VOLCANO
Khan Sahib of Brahmavarta, still, it is as certain as any-
thing can be that the map of the rising was being pre-
pared by these two in London. After leaving London,
Rango Bapuji went straight to Satara, but it was not
possible for Azimullah Khan to go direct to Hindusthan.
The extent of the dominions and the diplomacy of those
against whom the war was to be waged were not now
confined to Hindusthan alone. Hence, it was necessary to
attack the British Empire in as many places as possible.
It was also essential that it should be ascertained from
what quarters in Europe direct help or moral sympathy
could be expected in the coming War of Independence. With
this object, Azimullah Khan made a tour in Europe before
returning to India. He went to the capital of the Sultan
of Turkey famed throughout the world as the Khalífa of
all Moslems. Being informed that, in the Russo-Turkish
War then going on, the English had been defeated in the
important battle of Sebastopol, he stayed some time in
Russia. Many English historians have a suspicion that
Azimullah had gone there to ascertain whether Russia
would pursue the war against England in Asia, and, if
possible, to enter into an offensive and defensive treaty.
When the trumpet of National War had been blown,
all people openly declared that the Nana had completed
a treaty with the Tsar of Russia and the Russian army
was ready to fight against the Feringhis. If we bear this
in mind, the above suspicion is strengthened. When
Azimullah was in Russia, he had an interview with the
well-known writer Russell, the military correspondent of
the London Times. The poor man could not have even
dreamt that, immediately after the Turko-Russian War,
he would have to send from Hindusthan news of the
wonderful activities of his guest. As soon as Azimullah
heard the news of the defeat of the English, and that the
Russians had beaten back the attack of the united forces
of the English and the French on the 18th of June, he
obtained admittance into the English camp. His dress
was Hindusthani and rich like that of a prince. As soon
72

Peshwa Nana Saheb of Bithoor was the eldest
adopted son of Baji Rao II the last ruling Peshwa of
Poona. Having failed in all his constitutional at-
tempts to establish his claim to the gadi and the
pension of the Peshwa, he organised a country-wide
plot to overthrow the British domination in India
by actually waging an armed revolutionary war.
With the full co-operation and assistance of his
younger brother Bala Rao, his nephew Rao Saheb,
his Commander-in-Chief Tatia Tope, Rani Lakshmi-
bai of Jhansi and several other Rajahs he took a
prominent part in the Revolutionary War of 1857.
After the capture of Cawnpore by the Revolutionary
forces he was proclaimed Peshwa.
In the end when he realised that the tide had
turned against the Revolutionaries and that the war
was lost, he decided to stage a retreat and did so,
keeping the enemy engaged all the time. With a large
army, and a retinue of captives and adherents he
forced an entry into the State of Nepal and there
disappeared. His disappearance and end are, even to
this day, one of the unsolved mysteries of history.
Ruins of the residence of Nana Saheb at Bithoor — once a grand palace
where Indians and Europeans alike were lavishly entertained.
NANA SAHEB PESHWA OF BITHOOR
From an old portrait
“Nothing could exceed the cordiality which he constantly displayed in
his intercourse with our countrymen. The persons in authority
placed an implicit confidence in his friendliness and good faith, and
the ensigns emphatically pronounced him a capital fellow.”
Trevelyan in — Cawnpore

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SECRET ORGANISATION
as Russell came out, Azimullah said to him, "I want to
see this famous city and those great Rustoms, the Rus-
sians, who have beaten the French and the English
together." $^{1}$ Undoubtedly, Azimullah was a past master
in irony and satire. This curiosity on the part of Azim-
ullah to see these brave Rustoms who defeated both the
English and the French Russell undertook to satisfy, by
inviting him to his tent. On that day, till the shades of
sunset closed round them completely, "he was looking
with marked interest at the fire of the Russian guns." One
cannon-ball of the Russian guns burst right at his feet, but
he did not move. The gay Azimullah, before returning
home in the evening, said to Russell, "I have my serious
doubts whether you could ever capture this strong forti-
fied position." That night, Azim slept in Russell's tent,
and he left next day, early in the morning. On the table
was left this note :—"Azimullah Khan presents his com-
pliments to Russell, Esq., and begs to thank him most
truly for his kind attentions."
It is difficult to say where Azimullah went after leaving
Russia. Yet, from the mention in the Proclamation of Cawn-
pore later on, it would appear as certain that he was trying
to put through some diplomatic scheme in Egypt also.$^{2}$

1. The above account is published in Russell's Diary, a very
   well-known book. Russell was military correspondent of the Lon-
   don "Times" in the war of 1857. He was personally present in
   most of the affairs that he describes.
2. Lord Roberts has come across a genuine letter from Azim-
   ullah to the Sultan of Turkey about the oppression in Hindusthan.
   He says regarding this "There were numerous letters from his Eng-
   lish fiancées and two from a Frenchman . . . . It seems probable
   that 'les principales choses' to which Lafont hopes to bring satis-
   factory answers were invitations to the disaffected and disloyal in
   Calcutta and, perhaps, the French settlers in Chandernagore to assist
   in the effort about to be made to throw off the British yoke. A
   portion of the correspondence was unopened and there were several
   letters in Azimullah's own handwriting. Two of these were to Omar
   Pasha of Constantinople and told of the Sepoy's discontent and the
   troubled state of India generally."—Forty Years in India, p. 429.
   73

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So, Azimullah then completed his European tour
and returned to Brahmavarta. As soon as Azim
reached Brahmavarta, the whole political atmosphere of
the palace was changed. The Jaripatka which had waved
triumphant and victorious all over India lay so long in
dust in the palace ; the glorious drum of the Peshwas at
the beating of which thousands of Mahratta swords had
advanced on the battlefields and performed such deeds of
wondrous valour, that drum hitherto only sounded melan-
choly to the ear ; and the royal signet of the Peshwas on
the sealing of which had depended the fate of the Mogul
Empire had so far been lying sealing its own widowhood
in the palace. But now all these appeared to be thrilled
with extraordinary life. The dust-soiled Jaripatka shone
forth again ; the old drums which had almost forgotten
their martial music were practising again the forgotten
military airs ; and the regal seals seemed to be eager,
extremely eager. The eyes of Shrimant Nana Sahib,
“excited like those of a tiger, brilliant and fierce,”
since the arrival of Azimullah Khan, flashed more
fierce from injured pride and shone more brilliant
as he drank inspiration from the words of Shri
Krishna, “Therefore, get ready for battle”. Every corner
of Brahmavarta echoed with those eternal words, Tasmat
yuddhaya yujyaswa. For, in Swadesh, even in their own
Hindusthan, the people have been reduced to be slaves and
have foreign masters : the Swaraj is no more, they have
lost their natural rights of liberty ! All the attempts to
win back the country and its independence by conciliation
and by money, and by appeal, had so far failed ; hence,
be ready for war. “If you are killed, you will get to
heaven ; if you win, you will enjoy the earth ; so, be ready
for war ; you will not be committing any sin thereby”—
it was such heavenly inspiration that gave to Nana’s eyes
extraordinary brilliance ! ³ He studied the conditions of
3. “Nana’s object, then, was to lay the foundations of his
74

SECRET ORGANISATION
his country, saw the sufferings of his countrymen, noticed
the destruction of his religion and, diagnosing all these
chronic symptoms, he came to the conclusion that nothing
but the sword could cure that terrible disease of slavery.
Though it is not clear what was the ultimate ideal which
he set before himself, still, it would appear that, in his
opinion, the first thing to do was to drive the English out
by unsheathing the sword and thus get independence ; and
then, to set up an Indian Government under the banner
of the united authority of all the Indian princes. Before
his eyes rose clear the history of how Swadesh fell into
slavery through the turmoil of internecine quarrels. Before
him, on one side was the portrait of Shivaji Maharaj, on
the other of Baji Rao, his father. By seeing these two
pictures side by side, he could well contrast the past glory
and the present shame ! And, hence, Nana’s programme
was first to fight a united fight, to make India free and,
by removing internecine warfare, to establish the rule of
the United States of India which would, thus, take its
rightful place in the council of the free nations of
the earth.
He, also, felt that the meaning of “ Hindusthan ” was
thereafter the united nation of the adherents of Islam as
well as Hinduism. As long as the Mahomedans lived in
India in the capacity of the alien rulers, so long, to be
willing to live with them like brothers was to acknowledge
national weakness. Hence, it was, up to then, necessary
for the Hindus to consider the Mahomedans as foreigners.
And moreover this rulership of the Mahomedans, Guru
Govind in the Panjab, Rana Pratap in Rajputana, Chha-
trasal in Bundelkhand, and the Maharattas by even sitting
upon the throne at Delhi, had destroyed ; and, after a
future sovereignty at Cawnpore. The mighty power exercised by the
Peshwas was to be restored.; and to himself, the architect of his
own fortunes, would belong the glory of replacing that vanished
sceptre. There can be no doubt that some such thoughts influenced
him.”—Trevelyan : p. 133.
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THE VOLCANO
struggle of centuries, Hindu sovereignty had defeated the
rulership of the Mahomedans and had come to its own
all over India. It was no national shame to join hands
with Mahomedans then, but it would, on the contrary,
be an act of generosity. So, now, the original antagonism
between the Hindus and the Mahomedans might be con-
signed to the Past. Their present relation was one not of
rulers and ruled, foreigner and native, but simply that of
brothers with the one difference between them of religion
alone. For, they were both children of the soil of Hindus-
than. Their names were different, but they were all children
of the same Mother ; India therefore being the common
mother of these two, they were brothers by blood. Nana
Sahib, Bahadur Shah of Delhi, Moulvi Ahmad Shah,
Khan Bahadur Khan, and other leaders of 1857 felt this
relationship to some extent and, so, gathered round the flag
of Swadesh leaving aside their enmity, now so unreason-
able and stupid. In short, the broad features of the policy
of Nana Sahib and Azimullah were that the Hindus and
the Mahomedans should unite and fight shoulder to
shoulder for the independence of their country and that,
when freedom was gained, the United States of India
should be formed under the Indian rulers and princes.
How to achieve this ideal was the one all-absorbing
thought of everyone in the palace of Brahmavarta. Two
things were necessary for the success of this terrible war
that was to be waged to win back freedom. The first thing
was to create a passionate desire in Hindusthan for this
ideal ; the second was to make all the country rise simul-
taneously for the purpose of achieving it. To turn India's
mind into the channels of freedom and to guide India's
hand to strike for freedom, these two things it was neces-
sary to accomplish ; and this in such a manner that the
Company's government should not suspect anything
while the scheme was yet unripe. Not forgetting historical
experience but guided by it, a secret organisation was re-
solved upon and, at once, started at Brahmavarta.
76