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

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

THE VOLCANO
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.
75

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

SECRET ORGANISATION
To obtain all information about this secret society,
either now or in the immediate future, is as difficult as it
is to obtain the information about any other secret society.
But upon the facts that occasionally come to light, one
cannot but admire the skill of the organisers.⁴
A little before 1856, Nana began to send missionaries
all over India to initiate people into this political ideal.
In addition to sending missionaries to awaken the people,
Nana also sent tried and able men to the different princes
from Delhi to Mysore, to fill their minds with the glorious
ideal of the United States of India and to induce them to
join in the Revolution. These letters, which were sent
into every Durbar secretly, clearly pointed out how the
English were playing the game of reducing India to in-
significance by annexing Swadeshi kingdoms under the
pretext of “ no heir,” how those states which were spared
yet would soon be reduced to the same fate as the others
and how, under the yoke of slavery, country and religion
were both being trampled under foot ; and they concluded
by exhorting the princes to work for the Revolution which
was to make them free. Direct evidence is available that
messengers and letters from Nana were sent to the states
of Kolhapur and Patwardhan, to the Kings in Oudh, the
princes in Bundelkhand, and others. The English arrested
one of such messengers at the Durbar of Mysore. The
evidence given by this man is so important that we give
it word for word below :—“ Two or three months before
Oudh was annexed, Shrimant Nana Sahib had begun send-
ing letters. First, no one would reply, for no one hoped for
any success. After Oudh was annexed, however, Nana
began a regular battery of letters and, then, the opinions
of Nana began to appeal to the Sirkars of Lucknow. Raja
4. Trevelyan says in reference to this : “ No society of rich and
civilised Christians who ever undertook to preach the gospel of peace
and goodwill can have employed a more perfect system of orga-
nisation than was adopted by these rascals whose mission it was
to preach the gospel of sedition and slaughter.”—Cawnpore, p. 39.
77

THE VOLCANO
Man Singh, the leader of the Purbhayas, was also won
over. Then the Sepoys began to organise amongst them-
selves and the Sirkars of Lucknow began to help them.
No replies to letters were received till Oudh was annexed ;
but as soon as that was accomplished, hundreds of people
came forward boldly and replied confidentially to Nana.
Next came the affair of the cartridges and, then, the dis-
affection was so great that letters were simply showered
on Nana".⁵ This very agent has given a long list of the
letters sent by Nana to the various Durbars.
While agents of Nana were moving from one Durbar
to another from Delhi to Mysore in order to draw them
into the War of Independence, it was in the Déwan-i-Khas
of Delhi, more than in any other Durbar, the seeds of
Revolution began to take root. The English had not
stopped at merely taking away the Padshahi of the
Padshah of Delhi, but had recently decided even to take
away the title of Padshah from the descendants of Babar.
The Emperor, though reduced to such an extremity, and
Zinat Mahal, the beloved, clever, and determined Begum
of the Emperor, had already decided that this last oppor-
tunity of regaining the lost glory should not be allowed
to go by, and, if dying was the only resource, then, they
should die the death which would only befit an Emperor
and an Empress. At this juncture, the English were
engaged in a war with Persia. Seeing that a simultaneous
5. "For months, for years indeed, they had been spreading
their network of intrigues all over the country. From one native
court to another, from one extremity to another of the great conti-
nent of India, the agents of the Nana Sahib had passed with over-
tures and invitations discreetly, perhaps mysteriously, worded to
princes and chiefs of different races and religions, but most hopefully
of all to the Mahrattas . . . . There is nothing in my mind more
substantiated than the complicity of Nana Sahib in widespread intri-
gues before the outbreak of the Mutiny. The concurrent testimony
of witnesses examined in parts of the country widely distinct from
each other takes this story altogether out of the regions of the
conjectural." Kaye's Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, pp. 24-25.
78

SECRET ORGANISATION
rising in India would be a help, the Shah of Persia began
to open diplomatic correspondence with the Emperor of
Delhi. In the Declaration of the Emperor of Delhi, it had
been made quite clear that a confidential agent had been
sent to Persia from the Delhi Durbar. While this intrigue
was going on at the Durbar of the Shah, right in the city
of Delhi agitation was started to stir the public feeling
to its very depths. For this work, even public Proclama-
tions were sometimes posted up on the walls of the town.
In the beginning of 1857, a Proclamation couched in the
following terms appeared boldly : “ The army of Persia
is going to free India from the hands of the Feringhis. So,
young and old, big and small, literate and illiterate, civil
and military, all Hindusthanee brothers should leap forth
into the field to free themselves from the Kaffirs.” ⁶
Though these Proclamations were ever and anon posted
in public places, still the English could hardly trace the
persons who posted these Proclamations ; and Indian
newspapers used to publish these Proclamations and to
criticise them in mysterious language. The various
Shahzadas and their retainers in the palaces of Delhi open-
ly and secretly spread disaffection, and were engaged in
weaving a net-work of conspiracies. In the grounds of
Prince Nawab Bakht, for six years, Sergeant Fleming’s
son had been practising riding. But when, in the begin-
ning of April 1857, this English youth went to the resi-
dence of Vizier Mahbub Ali, the prince, excited beyond
measure, said, “ Away, get away from here. I boil with
rage when I see the face of any Feringhi!” So saying, the
Prince spat on him ! ⁷ Other people were working more
secretly and quite differently from the manner of this
abusive prince. Mrs. Aldwell says in her evidence, that
she had personally heard Mahomedan mothers asking
6. Kaye’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, p. 30.
7. Military Narrative (p. 374): “ Jawan Bakht commenced
abusing, declaring that the sight of the Kaffir Feringhi disturbed his
serenity, spat in his face, and desired him to leave.”
79

THE VOLCANO
their children to pray that the English should be destroyed
root and branch.⁸ Mukund Lal, Private Secretary of
the Emperor of Delhi, says :—"Sitting at the doors of
the royal palace, Moguls and others within the palace used
to discuss the Revolution openly. The Sepoys would rebel
soon ; the army of Delhi would rise against the English ;
and then, all people, along with the army, would throw
off the Feringhi yoke and enjoy Swaraj—such definite
opinions were current. All people were inspired with the
hope that, when once the Raj was won, all power and all
authority would remain in their own hands." Thus, in
every cellar, in every house in Delhi, the disaffection only
awaited for a spark which should explode everything up.
Like the capital cities of Delhi and Brahmavarta,
Lucknow also, the capital of Oudh, the last victim that
had fallen a prey to the greed of Dalhousie, began to catch
fire from the flames of the War of the Revolution. The
Nabob of Lucknow and his Vizier were now residing
near Calcutta. To all appearances, the Vizier of Lucknow
looked as if he was wasting his time in luxury ; as a
matter of fact, however, Vizier Ali Nakkhi Khan was as
much absorbed in his dangerous conspiracy near Calcutta
as Nana Sahib himself was. One cannot help feeling
wonderstruck at the schemes—secret, extensive, and daring
—which Ali Nakkhi Khan was weaving to seduce the
Sepoys in Bengal and to prepare them to join him at the
right moment already fixed upon. Confidential agents
were sent by him, in the garb of Fakirs or Sanyasis, to
preach 'sedition' to the Sepoys. He opened correspon-
dence with the Indian officers in the army to make them
understand fully what immense advantages Swaraj could
confer as compared with the service of the Company.
How the English had committed an unpardonable crime
in annexing Oudh, how the royal family of the Nabob
had been treated with insult, and how the very Queen and
Begums were expelled with violence from the palace—
8. Trial of the King of Delhi.
80

SECRET ORGANISATION
pictures of such heart-rending tyranny were drawn with
such pathos that the brave Sepoys began to weep pro-
fusely. And, then and there, the Sepoys would take the
water of the Ganges in their hands, or would swear by the
Koran, that they would live only to achieve the destruc-
tion of the English rule. When Subahdar Majors, Subah-
dars, and Jamadars and the bigger officers were all sworn
in, the whole regiment was naturally bound over. The
Vizier of Oudh, by the use of such tactics, won over the
whole army in Bengal.⁹ In Fort William itself, in Cal-
cutta, the Revolutionary agents of Ali Nakkhi Khan
moved silently.
After sending letters to the various Durbars from
Brahmavarta, Nana exerted himself thoroughly to awaken
all the latent power of the people. When Brahmavarta,
Delhi, Lucknow, Satara, and such other big and promi-
nent princes figured conspicuously in the Revolutionary
Organisation, how could this organisation suffer for want
of money? To preach to all those who were a power
among the people, thousands of Fakirs, Pundits, and
Sanyasis were sent out in an incredibly short time. It is
not true to say that all these Fakirs were true Fakirs ;
for, some of the Fakirs and Sadhus lived with the gran-
deur of Amirs. Elephants were given them for travelling.
Guards armed to the teeth travelled with them, and every
stage on their way was a regular camp. Provided with
9. Some of the letters of the Sepoys of Barrackpore fell into
the hands of the English. Kaye adduces the following letters as
evidence for the above. "The second grenadier said that the whole
regiment is ready to join the Nabob of Oudh." "Subahdars said
that they would join the Nabob of Oudh." Subahdar Madarkhan,
Sirdar Khan, and Ram Shahi Lal said, "that in treachery no one
could come up to the level of the "Beti-choot" Feringhis. Though
the Nabob of Oudh gave up his kingdom, he could not even get a
pension". Many other letters, like this, the English came across
afterwards.—Kaye's Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, p. 429. (These regi-
ments consisted of the sepoys from Oudh, Agra, and were only sta-
tioned in Bengal.—Author's note).
81
6

THE VOLCANO
such paraphernalia, they could influence and impress the
people better, and the Sirkar also had fewer reasons to
suspect them. Influential and noble Moulvies were
appointed to preach the political Jehad, and they were
rewarded with thousands of Rupees. Through towns and
villages, these Moulvies and Pundits, these Fakirs and
these Sanyasis began to travel, from one end of the
country to the other, preaching secretly the war for
political independence. Just this start was wanted, for
this same trick was begun independently by other groups
of the Revolutionary Organisation. After these paid
missionaries came volunteers. Begging from door to door,
they began to sow, in all directions, the principles of in-
dependence, patriotism, and love of Dharma—for the
awakening of strength among the people. This work of
preparing for revolutionary rising was done so cautious-
ly and secretly that not much inkling of what was going
on could reach even such cunning people as the English,
until the explosion actually took place. When such a
Fakir or a Sanyasi went to a village, a strange agitation
and an unrest began in that village, and of this the English
were sometimes cognisant. Whisperings went on in
bazaars ; ' sahibs ' were refused water by the Bhishtis,
Ayahs left English homes without permission ; Baberchis
purposely stood before the Mem-Sahibs half-dressed ; and
Indian messenger boys walked insolently and slovenly
before their " masters ", when sent out.¹⁰ These Fakirs
and Pundits used to walk round and about the military
cantonments more particularly. From Barrackpore to
Meerut, Umballa and Peshawar, they started secret
societies and, more than that, practically surrounded every
military cantonment. The Hindu and Moslem Sepoys in
the army being very devoted to their religious teachers,
the Sirkar, though they might suspect them, could hardly
proceed against them. For, they feared that the Sepoys
would find in it another grievance against the Govern-
10. Trevelyan's Cawnpore.
82

SECRET ORGANISATION
ment. And, if the Sirkar did, by any chance, suspect
them, these political Sanyasis sowed the seeds of the
Revolutionary War in the very houses of the Sepoys in
the neighbouring village. The authorities at Meerut were
at last compelled to ask a Fakir, who was lodging near the
Meerut military cantonment, to move away. As soon as
this order came, like a simple, innocent man, this grand
person left the camp on his elephant, only to go to a
neighbouring village and establish himself securely in the
houses of the Sepoys! ¹¹ That patriot Moulvie Ahmad
Shah, whose sacred name has cast a halo round Hindus-
than, whose glorious achievements we shall have to des-
cribe very soon, began similarly to tour through the
country preaching the Revolutionary War. At last, when
he began to preach in Lucknow itself, to thousands and
tens of thousands in open meetings, that there was no
other way of saving the country and the religion than by
killing the English, he was arrested for sedition and sen-
tenced to be hanged !
It was the custom to have a Mullah and a Pundit in
every regiment for religious purposes. Taking advantage
of this, the Revolutionaries entered the service as regi-
mental Mullas and Pundits at the falling of the night, used
to preach Revolution to the Sepoys secretly. Thus, these
political Sanyasis toured from village to village for two
years preaching Revolution, and at last succeeded in sow-
ing the seeds of the terrible war to come.
While itinerant Sanyasis and itinerant preachers preached
in the villages and the country, local preachers were
being sent to the bigger towns. In all the important
places of pilgrimage where thousands of people congre-
gated, the ever-existing dumb dislike of the usurping
Feringhi rule was intensified into active hatred by the
Revolutionary preachers. The stir that was created at all
11. The Meerut Narrative.
83

THE VOLCANO
the holy places on the banks of the Ganges, how the
Sankalpa (resolution) of Revolutionary War was made
along with the usual Sankalpa for the bath—these and
other facts will soon be narrated in the history of the
rising of those places. The hatred of the Feringhis in
those Kshetras (holy places) was so strong, that open
prayers were started by the priests in the temples of
Benares, on behalf of their own rulers belonging to their
own religion.$^{12}$
In order to make clear to the common people, in simple
and clear language, how Swadharma and Swatantrya
—Religion and Independence—were being insulted, the
all-comprehensive programme of the Revolutionary party
had not left out of their consideration any of the festivals
or the Tamâshâs in which people took interest and con-
gregated in large numbers. The dolls in the doll-theatres
began now to speak a strange language and to dance a
dangerous dance; at police stations, under the shades of
trees in Dharmasalas, and at public squares, Powadas
and Lawanis (ballads and epic lays) were sung with the
gusto of a new mysterious interpretation. The fame goes
and there is a strong conviction everywhere that the song
of Allah-Udal, one of the most popular songs in Northern
India, does at once rouse in the hearers the martial craving
for war. This heroic martial song, sung with spirit by
minstrels, would cause the arms of the hearers tingle and
itch for battle, and their blood would begin to boil on list-
ening to the exploits of their ancestors ; then, the subject
would suddenly be changed and before their eyes would
be forced the image of their present helplessness. And
the hearers would be roused to rise against the Feringhi
and act in the present the heroism they admired in the
past. Itinerant groups of Tamashgars, so innocent in
themselves that the Government was not even cognisant
of their existence, were used for the preaching of the Revo-
12. Red Pamphlet.
84

SECRET ORGANISATION
lutionary War by these consummate Revolutionists.
Starting from Calcutta, they went on to the Panjab and,
in the nights, exhibited their peculiarly dangerous Tamâshâ
to their fellow countrymen.$^{13}$
These Tamashgars could not preach Revolution to
the women, and so it would appear that the leaders of the
Revolution sent out quack doctors and their wives—
female gipsies—amongst the people, to move them with
a new life and revolutionary discontent. The trick of
using gipsies for this purpose was excellent. These gyp-
sies used to foretell the destruction of English, depict the
evil machinations of the alien rule and prescribe revolu-
tion as the only remedy and spell that could and would
get rid of this evil which had possessed their Motherland !
The coming narrative will show what a terrible hatred of
the English had grown amongst the women and how
anxious they were to destroy this rule. Thus, the war was
preached in temples and Tirthas, in Kshetras, Jatras, and
in festivals, on the road and in the house, amongst the
Sepoys and the citizens, in Natakas and in Tamashas, to
men as well as to women.
Everywhere was this hatred of slavery and the desire
for Swaraj manifested. "My religion is dying, my
country is dying : my people have been reduced to a
condition worse than that of dogs !"—such were the
fears that moved every heart ; and an unconquerable
desire arose in every heart, from prince to pauper, to make
that country live and that people rise to the height of men.
And the passionate conviction went forth that streams of
blood were but a small price to achieve that independence ;
and that, therefore, "Din! Din!" and "Har! Har! Maha-
dev!"—the war cries of the Indians—must rend the air.
To instil into every heart the one great desire for
13. Trevelyan's Cawnpore, Short Narratives.
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THE VOLCANO
independence, and rouse it to action, there could be no
more effective weapon than poetry. When the mass of the
people are possessed by an idea which struggles for ade-
quate expression, the poet, who realises the idea more
intensely than the rest, gives it a beautiful expression,
which at once touches their hearts and makes them love
the idea still more. Hence the great part that national
songs play in all revolutions. The national songs are an
expression of the national soul under the sway of a strong
ideal. They unite the hearts of the people with ease.
When the soul of the land of Bharata was swayed by an
intense passion for liberty, for the protection of Swa-
dharma and the attainment of Swarajya, strange indeed
would it have been if the heart of the nation did not burst
into song. The principal court bard of the Emperor of
Delhi had himself composed a national song which was to
be sung by every throat in Hindusthan, and the Emperor
of Delhi, in person, had ordered that this should be sung
on all occasions of public ceremony. It described the
heroic deeds of the past and painted a pathetic picture of
the present fallen state. In that national song was echoed
the cry of the nation that those persons, whose heads had
been crowned but yesterday with imperially aggressive
independence, should be reduced to the condition of slaves
to-day, that their religion which yesterday was the state
religion should to-day be unprotected, and that heads
crowned recently with glory should, alas, be trampled
to-day under the foot of the foreigner.¹⁴
While the national song was educating the people
about their past glory and their present fall, a prophecy,
14. A mandate had, of late, gone forth from the palace of
Delhi enjoining the Mahomedans, at all their solemn gatherings, to
recite a song of lamentation indited by the regal musician himself
which described in touching strains the humiliation of their race and
the degradation of their ancient faith, once triumphant from the
northern snows to the southern straits but now trodden under the
foot of the infidel and the alien.—Trevelyan's Cawnpore.
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SECRET ORGANISATION
that emblazoned the star of future hope and encouraged
all, was heard, in the land. Prophecies are the leaps of the
mind into the future. As soon as the heart of India began
to long for Swaraj, the prophecies too began to point to
Swaraj. From the northern snows to the extreme south,
young and old circulated the prophecy that, thousands of
years ago, a holy, ancient sage had foretold that the
Feringhi Raj would end exactly a hundred years from the
date of its creation ! Indian newspapers gave wide publi-
city to this prophecy and interpreted it to mean that the
Company's Raj would fall to pieces on the 23rd of June,
1857. This one prophecy led to the performance of such
wonders in Hindusthan that it may safely be asserted that,
but for this prophecy, several portions of this history
would have to be written in a different way altogether.
The year 1857 was the centenary of the Battle of Plassey
and the Company's rule would end in that year—this idea
created a strange hope and an extraordinary inspiration
which moved every part of Hindusthan since the begin-
ning of 1857. After a considerable heated discussion
between various English historians as to who foretold this,
it has at last been decided beyond doubt that it was the
stratagem of the Hindus, since it was according to their
almanacs that the 100th year of Plassey fell in the year
1857. By this national prophecy, the impression of which
is indelibly indited on some of the most important pages
of this history, an extraordinary wave of agitation came
over the hearts of the young and old, and every one began
to be ready to turn the prophecy into an actual fact.
The secret organisation of the Revolution, which was
first started in Brahmavarta, was now growing at a tre-
mendous rate.^{15} By this time, nuclei had been established
15. Malleson says at the end of his voluminous history : “ Of
this conspiracy, the Moulvi was undoubtedly a leader. It had its
ramifications all over India—certainly at Agra where the Moulvie
87

THE VOLCANO
in various places in Northern India and regular com-
munication had been established between them. Rango
Bapuji was trying hard to create nuclei of this organisa-
tion in the Deccan. The palace at Brahmavarta was the
focus of the activities at Cawnpore ; the same function
was performed for Delhi by the Dewan-i-Khas of that
premier city. The great and saintly Ahmad Shah had
woven fine and cleverly the webs of Jehâd—the War of
Independence—through every corner of Lucknow and
Agra. Kumar Singh, the hero of Jagadishpur, had taken
the leadership of his province and, in consultation with
Nana, had been busy gathering materials for war. The
seeds of the Jehâd had taken such root in Patna that the
whole city was a regular haunt of the Revolutionary party.
Moulvies, Pundits, Zemindars, farmers, merchants, vakils,
students, of all castes and creeds, were ready to give up
their lives for the sake of Swadesh and Swadharma. A
very prominent leader of this secret organisation was a
book-seller ! Near Calcutta, the Nabob of Oudh and his
Vizier, Ali Nakkhi Khan, had seduced all the Sepoys and
were ready for the occasion. The Mahomedan population
of Hyderabad began to call secret meetings. The coils of
the Revolution began to wind themselves round the Dur-
bar of Kolhapur. The states of Patwardhan, and the
father-in-law of Nana, at Sangli, were ready to fight—
with their followers—under the banner of the united
nation, in the coming war. Why, right in Madras, in the
beginning of the year 1857, the following Proclamation
began to appear from the walls of the city : “ Country-
men and faithful adherents of your religion, rise, rise ye,
one and all, to drive out the Feringhi Kaffirs ! They have
trampled under foot the very elements of justice, they have
robbed us of Swaraj ; determined are they to reduce to
dust our country. There is only one remedy, now, to free
stayed sometime—and almost certainly at Delhi, at Meerut, at
Patna, and at Calcutta where the ex-King of Oudh and a large
following were residing.”—Vol. V, p. 292.
88