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

CONTENTS
PAGE
PUBLISHER'S NOTE – – – – – – – – vii
THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY, G. M. Joshi – – ix
THE ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S PREFACE – – – xxi
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION – – – – – – xxiii
LIST OF IMPORTANT BOOKS CONSULTED – – xxv
PART I—THE VOLCANO
CHAP. PAGE

1. SWADHARMA AND SWARAJ – – – – – 1
2. THE CHAIN OF CAUSES – – – – – – 13
3. NANA SAHIB AND LAKSHMI BAI – – – – 25
4. AYÔDHYA – – – – – – – – 41
5. ADDING FUEL TO FIRE – – – – – – 53
6. LIT UP THE SACRIFICIAL FIRE – – – – 67
7. SECRET ORGANISATION – – – – – – 71
   PART II—THE ERUPTION
8. SHAHID MANGAL PANDAY – – – – – 101
9. MEERUT – – – – – – – – 107
10. DELHI – – – – – – – – 116
11. THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB – – 127
12. ALIGARH AND NASIRABAD – – – – – 160
13. ROHILKHAND – – – – – – – 167
14. BENARES AND ALLAHABAD – – – – 179
15. CAWNPORE AND JHANSI – – – – 208
16. OUDH – – – – – – – – 242
17. THE SUMMING UP – – – – – – 261
    iii
    A

CONTENTS
PART III—THE CONFLAGRATION
CHAP. PAGE

1. THE FIGHT IN DELHI - - - - - - 283
2. HAVELOCK - - - - - - - - 303
3. BEHAR - - - - - - - - - 314
4. DELHI FALLS - - - - - - - 330
5. LUCKNOW - - - - - - - - 346
6. TATIA TOPÉ - - - - - - - 376
7. THE FALL OF LUCKNOW - - - - - 389
8. KUMAR SINGH AND AMAR SINGH - - - 417
9. MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH - - - - - 443
10. RANEE LAKSHMI BAI - - - - - - 457
    PART IV—TEMPORARY PACIFICATION
11. A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW - - - - - - - 495
12. THE CULMINATING OFFERING IN THE
    SACRIFICIAL FIRE - - - - - - 522
13. CONCLUSION - - - - - - - - 541
    GLOSSARY - - - - - - - - 547
    iv

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
(† mark indicates full colour plates)
V. D. SAVARKAR (Author) . . . . . . FRONTISPIECE
BETWEEN PAGES
THE WARRIOR RANI LAKSHMI BAI OF JHANSI† . . 32—33
A Rare Picture of Rani Lakshmi Bai by a Court
Artist at Jhansi.
NANA SAHEB PESHWA OF BITHOOR† . . . . 72—73
Ruins of the Residence of Nana Saheb at Bithoor.
NANA SAHEB LEAVING LUCKNOW WITH HIS ESCORT† 96—97
RANI LAKSHMI BAI CHARGING A BRITISH BATTERY† 144—145
EMPEROR BAHADUR SHAH II OF DELHI† . . . 200—201
Bahadur Shah in his last Days.
TO FACE PAGE
THE BATTLE-SCARRED KASHMIR GATE AT DELHI . 248
KAISER BAGH PALACE, LUCKNOW . . . . . 248
BETWEEN PAGES
THE READING OF EMPEROR BAHADUR SHAH'S PRO-
CLAMATION OF 1857 AT HIS DARBAR IN THE
DIWAN-I-AAM, DELHI† . . . . . . 288—289
BEGUM ZINAT MAHAL† . . . . . . 336—337
Begum Zinat Mahal in her old age.
TATIA TOPÉ IN THE BATTLE AT KALPI† . . . 378—379
KUMAR SINGH OF JAGADISHPUR . . . . . 424—425
Sir Henry Lawrence.
Sir Hope Grant.
Sir John Lawrence.
Sir James Outram.
Sir Henry Barnard.
v

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
BETWEEN PAGES
GANGADHAR RAO ALIAS BABA SAHEB NEWALKAR OF
JHANSI. . . . . . . . . . . 460—461
Bhandeer Gate at Jhansi.
The Dagger of the Rani.
The Seal of the Rani.
Shatru Samhar and Naldar, two of the cannons
of Rani Lakshmi Bai.
The Rani Mahal, Jhansi.
MAHARAJA JAYAJI RAO SCINDIA . . . . . . 488—489
The Fort, Gwalior.
Diwan Dinkar Rao Rajwade.
GENERAL TATIA TOPÉ . . . . . . . . 512—513
A Battle Scene.
Sir Henry Havelock.
Sir Colin Campbell.
Lord Canning.
SALAR JUNG, DIWAN OF HYDERABAD . . . . . 528—529
The Residency, Hyderabad.
The spot at Sureban where Mr. Manson was
killed.
Venkateshwar Temple at Nargund.
The City Gate, Nargund.
The Fort, Nargund.
vi

PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Most historians, British as well as Indian, have
described and dismissed the rising of 1857 as a 'Sepoy
Mutiny' or at best 'The Indian Mutiny'. Indian revolu-
tionaries on the other hand, and national minded leaders
and thinkers have regarded it as a planned and organised
political and military rising aimed at destroying the British
power in India.
Mr. Savarkar's is an attempt to look at the incidents of
1857 from the Indian point of view. A leading revolutionary
himself, he was attracted and inspired by the burning zeal,
the heroism, bravery, suffering and tragic fate of the leaders
of 1857, and he decided to re-interpret the story and to relate
it in full with the help of all the material available to him
at the time. He spent days and months at the India Office
Library studying the period. Finally, his work was published
in 1909, under the title "The Indian War of Independence
—1857". The full story of its publication and eventual fate
is related, at length, elsewhere in this volume. We shall only
mention here that its entry into India was banned by the
Government even before it was published. This ban was
finally lifted by the Congress Government of Bombay in May
1946, and this is the first authorised edition of the book to be
published in India.
As the publishers of this edition we take here the oppor-
tunity of recording our sense of gratitude to Mr. G. M. Joshi,
editor of the Marathi weekly journal Agrani, for making this
work available to us, and for his continued interest in it while
vii

PUBLISHER'S NOTE
it was going through the press. But first of all, we are indebted
to Mr. Savarkar himself for letting us publish this book.
For, ever since the ban on it was lifted the public has been
eagerly waiting for it to reappear. We consider it a matter
of pride that we should be permitted to present it to the public.
The publication of this edition in the present form would
hardly have been possible but for the hearty co-operation of
many of our friends. First among these is our artist friend
Mr. D. G. Godse, who not only planned and supervised the
entire lay-out and get-up of the book, but took more than mere
professional interest in the whole work.
The value of this edition is further enhanced by the many
rare photographs and pictures kindly lent by Mr. R. M.
Athawale from his special "Sattavani Collection" which is
intended for his forthcoming work, in Marathi, on 1857. He
has spent years in studying the subject, and has taken a good
deal of trouble to collect the material for his work. It is be-
cause his high respect for Mr. Savarkar and his special regard
for Mr. Savarkar's history of 1857 that he has lent this
material to us. Among the pictures lent by him, the one of
Maharaja Jayaji Rao Scindia of Gwalior, and those of two of
Rani of Jhansi's cannons were given him by the Archæological
Department of Gwalior State for suitable use. We are thank-
ful to Mr. Athawale for allowing us the use of these also.
We are also thankful to Mr. Purav, photographer; Mr.
H. S. Dhargalkar, of India Block Co.; Mr. D. D. Neroy,
Block-maker; Mr. M. V. Kamat, of Bombay Process Studio;
and to the Industrial Art Studio, Bombay. They all went out
of their way to execute our work at the shortest notice and
without the least hesitation. Last of all, we must thank the
printers and other workers of the Karnatak Printing Press
for the care and despatch with which they handled the work.
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
“An honest tale speeds best
By being plainly told.”
—Shakespeare
Apart from the splendid merits of the subject matter
dealt with in the warlit pages of this history of “The Indian
War of Independence of 1857,” the story of the thrilling vicis-
situdes through which this book had to pass does by itself
entitle it to be placed on the classical shelf in any world
library.
The Object and the Name of the Book
Veer Savarkarji, the famous author of this book, did
himself explain in an article in the “Talwar,” an organ of
the Abhi Nava Bharat Revolutionary Society, which was started
by him and published in Paris, that his object in writing this
history was, subject to historical accuracy, to inspire his peo-
ple with a burning desire to rise again and wage a second and
a successful war to liberate their motherland. He also ex-
pected that the history should serve to place before the revo-
lutionists an outline of a programme of organisation and
action to enable them to prepare the nation for a future war
of liberation. It would never have been possible to preach
such a revolutionary gospel publicly throughout India or carry
conviction so effectively as an illuminating illustration of
what had actually happened in the nearest past would do.
So he invoked the warriors of 1857 to deliver his message
through their own mighty words and mightier deeds.
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
The ideal of absolute political Independence, and the
conviction that the ultimate and inevitable means to realize
that ideal could be no other than an armed national revolt
against the foreign domination,—were concepts which in
those days—lay even beyond the horizon of the then political
thought and action in India. The very mention of them was
brushed aside as chimerical by the then extremists, was
denounced as criminal by the loyal moderates and was even
anathematised as immoral by the half-witted moralists!
But these self-same concepts formed the two fundamental
tenets of the A. N. B (Abhi Nava Bharat) Revolutionary
organisation. "Reforms and a peaceful solution" formed the
alpha and omega of the ambition of the then Indian National
Congress itself. Independence, Revolution—let alone a War
for Independence—were as a rule words almost unknown, un-
heard and inconceivably incomprehensible even to the highly
patriotic Indian world. It was to familiarize this Indian
patriotic world with at least these words in daily thought, and
by their constant repetition, like that of a 'Mantram', to
hypnotize the youthful political mind into a sub-conscious at-
traction for the noble concepts, which the words connoted—
that Savarkar, who as a Historian would have called
this book a history of the 'National Rising' or of the
'Revolutionary War of 1857', did, of a set design, name
it the history of "The Indian War of Independence of 1857."
Veer Savarkar always emphasized the necessity in the
Indian condition of carrying politics and patriotism to the
camp, to the military forces in India, for rendering any arm-
ed revolt practical. The history of the Revolutionary War of
1857 proved beyond cavil or criticism that only some fifty
years previously our ancestors had aimed to achieve absolute
political independence, could bring about the active and armed
participation in the National struggle of the military forces and
could wage an inexorable war for the liberation of our
motherland. He consequently felt that this history if told
viewing it through such a revolutionary perspective was most
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
likely to animate the rising generation of India with the faith
that there was no reason why it should not be practicable and
even more faithful to try again as, at any rate, there
was no other way to salvation. How far this expectation
of the author was realized will be seen as this story proceeds.
Originally written in Marathi
This book was written originally in Marathi, in 1908,
when Veer Savarkar was about twenty-four years of age. Some
select chapters used to be reproduced in English, in speeches
which Veer Savarkarji used to deliver at the open weekly
meetings of the Free India Society in London. Perhaps
through this channel or otherwise the detectives got some scent
of the subject-matter of this book which their reports dubbed
as revolutionary, explosive and highly treasonous. Soon a
chapter or two of the Marathi manuscript were found missing,
which, it was disclosed later on, were stolen by the detective
agents, and found their way to the Scotland Yard, the head-
quarters of the British Intelligence Department in London.
Nevertheless, the Marathi manuscript was sent to India by the
revolutionists so secretly and cleverly that, foiling the strict vigi-
lance of the customs authorities of the Indian Ports, it reached
safely its destination. But the leading press-concerns in Maha-
rashtra dared not run the risk of printing the volume. At last,
the owner of a printing firm who was himself a member of the
Abhi Nava Bharat Secret Society undertook to publish it. In
the meanwhile, the Indian police too got some vague informa-
tion that the volume was being published in Marathi. They,
thereupon, carried a number of simultaneous surprise raids
on some prominent printing houses in Maharashtra. But fortu-
nately, the owner of the Press, where the book was being
actually printed got a hint through a sympathetic Police Officer
and succeeded in smuggling out the Marathi manuscript to a
safer place just before the search party arrived. The manus-
cript was later on sent back to Paris, instead of to London,
and fell into the hands of its author.
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
Finding thus that it was impossible to get it printed in
India, it was decided to get the Marathi book printed in Ger-
many, where some Sanskrit literature used to be published in
the Nagari script. But after a lot of waste of money and time,
the scheme had to be given up as hopeless, owing to the un-
couth and ugly Nagari type cast in Germany, and to the fact
that the German compositors were absolutely ignorant of the
Marathi language.
The History translated into English
The A. N. B. Revolutionary Party resolved thereupon
to publish, at least, the English translation of this History of
the Indian War of Independence of 1857 with a view to
enabling the English speaking public, both in India and outside,
to know its contents. A few highly intellectual Maratha
youths in London, members of the A. N. B., distinguished
graduates of Indian Universities studying Law, and candidates
for the I.C.S. Examination, volunteered to translate the volu-
minous work into English. After the translation was complete
under the supervision of Sriyut V. V. S. Aiyer, efforts were
made to get it printed in England. But the British detectives,
too, were not idle, and made it impossible for any British
printer to undertake the publication of it for fear of being
prosecuted forthwith. The English manuscript was then sent
to Paris; but the French Government at that time was so
thoroughly under the thumb of England, with whom France
had to ally herself in order to face combinedly the impending
danger of a German invasion that the French detectives were
working hand in hand with the British police to suppress the
A. N. B. revolutionary activities in France; and under their
threat, even a French printer could not be found ready to run
the risk of printing this history. At last by a successful ruse,
the revolutionists persuaded a printing firm in Holland to print
the book. The British Intelligence Department continued to
grope in the dark, as the revolutionists publicly gave it out that
the English translation was being printed in France. Before
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
the British detectives could get any inkling, the volume was
printed in Holland and the whole edition of the English trans-
lation was smuggled into France and kept secretly ready for
distribution.
In the meanwhile, before the book was sent to Holland for
getting it printed, the British and the Indian Governments got
so nervous, and dreaded so much the effects of Savarkar's
writings that they proscribed the book which they admitted
was not yet printed ! This was so high-handed a step on their
part that the English papers themselves resented this action of
proscribing a book before its publication—a case almost un-
precedented in a land which boasted of its Freedom of the
Press. Veer Savarkar also did not spare the Governments and
poured vials of ridicule on the proscribing order in a spirited
letter which he wrote to "The London Times." He challenged
in it, "It is admitted by the authorities that they were not sure
whether the manuscript had gone to print. If that is so, how
does the Government know that the book is going to be so
dangerously seditious as to get it proscribed before its publica-
tion, or even before it was printed? The Government either
possess a copy of the manuscript or do not. If they have a
copy, then why did they not prosecute me for sedition as that
would have been the only course legitimately left to them?
On the contrary, if they have no copy of the manuscript how
could they be so cocksure of the seditious nature of a book of
which they do not know anything beyond some vague, partial
and unauthenticated reports?" The "London Times"
not only published the letter, but added a note of its
own that the very fact that the Government should
have felt it necessary to have recourse to such presumably
high-handed and extraordinary executive steps proved that there
must be "Something very rotten in the State of Denmark."
After getting the English translation printed in Holland,
the revolutionists smuggled into India hundreds of its copies
by ingenious devices. Many of them were wrapped in
xiii

THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
artistic covers specially printed with such innocuous and bogus
names as "Pickwick Papers," "Scot's Works," "Don Quixote"
etc. Several copies got smuggled in boxes with false bottoms.
It will be interesting to note that one such box, containing a
number of copies under a false bottom, was taken into India by
a youthful member of the Abhi Nava Bharat named Shikandar
Hayat Khan who later on was known to fame as Sir Shikandar
Hayat Khan, the chief minister of the Punjab. Even the
vigilance of the Argus-eyed monster of the Bombay Customs
House failed to spot these devices and thousands of copies did
thus reach their destinations in India addressed to many pro-
minent leaders, members of Abhi Nava Bharat, leading libraries,
colleges and especially to secret sympathisers who had access
to several military camps throughout India. All these copies
of this first edition of this history were sent free, even the
postal charges being defrayed by the A. N. B. Revolutionary
Society. It was then openly published in France, was freely
circulated and widely read by leading English historians, poli-
ticians and revolutionary circles especially in Ireland, France,
Russia, America, Egypt and Germany.
The "Gadar" in America and the second English Edition
In the year 1910, the British and the Indian Govern-
ments launched a violent campaign of persecutions and prose-
cutions with a view to crushing the Abhi Nava Bharat Secret
Society. Several Indian revolutionaries were hanged ; several
transported for life ; hundreds sentenced to terms extending
from ten to fourteen years of rigorous imprisonment. The
heroic story of Veer Savarkar's arrest, escape, re-arrest, perse-
cutions, prosecutions and consequent transportation to the
Andamans for two life-sentences amounting to at least fifty
years' imprisonment, is well-known to be recited here.
No sooner did the Abhi Nava Bharat organisation recover
from this stunning blow than Madam Cama, the well-known
brave Parsi lady, Lala Hardayal, Chattopadhyaya and other
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY

leaders of the A. N. B. Revolutionary Party decided to bring
out the second English edition of this book. Lala Hardayalji
organised the American branch of the A. N. B. and started
his well-known newspaper "The Gadar"—(Rebellion) in
America. Not only was the second English edition of this
Indian War of Independence of 1857 published this time for
regular sale to replenish the party funds; but translations of
this History were published regularly in Urdu, Hindi and
Punjabi languages secretly through the 'Gadar.' It aroused
the Sepoys in the Army, as the "Gadar" reached several
camps in India and especially the large number of the Sikh
agriculturists settled in America. Soon after that, the First
World War broke out. How the Indian revolutionists in India
and outside joined hands with the Germans against England,
how large amounts of arms and ammunitions were smuggled
into India, how the 'Komagatamaru' succeeded in landing
revolutionary forces in India, how the Emden bombarded
Indian ports, how mutinies broke out in Indian regiments
stationed at Hong Kong, Singapore, and Burma under the
leadership of Gadar party and how this attempt by the Indian
revolutionaries to invade India to liberate her was at last
frustrated owing to the defeat of the Germans, is now a matter
of history. Nevertheless, this revolutionary campaign proved
to be a veritable rehearsal of the recent Military Invasion at-
tempted on a mightier scale by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
with the I. N. A. Throughout this later revolutionary move-
ment, it became evident from the trials of hundreds of leaders
and followers that this history of the first Indian War of
Independence of 1857 proved to be a perennial source of
inspiration, and even provided a detailed sketch of the pro-
gramme of action. The demand for its copies was so great
that they used to be sold and resold, in cases, for such fabulous
prices as 300 Rupees each. Thousands of the arrested revo-
lutionaries were found in possession of them, and possession
of a copy of this book was taken to be a proof by itself of
the complicity of the possessor in the revolutionary activities.

xv

THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
“ The Original Marathi Book is Dead!—Long live the Book!! ”
After the arrest of Veer Savarkar the manuscript of the
original Marathi book was handed over to Madam Cama in
Paris. She kept it in her safe in the Bank of France with a view
to placing it beyond the reach of the Agents of the British
Intelligence Department. But the invasion of France by the
Germans threw the Government of France itself into a hopeless
disorder. Madam Cama too, passed away. Consequently,
when a searching enquiry was made regarding the whereabouts
of the book no trace of the manuscript could be found. The
great Marathi tome was lost—no hope of its recovery was left.
Marathi literature had thus suffered an irreparable loss.
The Third Known English Edition of the History
As we are noting down only those editions of which we
have definite knowledge, leaving out of count those of which
rumour alone informs us, the next English edition we must
take cognizance of, is that which, after the re-emergence of
the revolutionary party on an all India basis, was printed
and published in two parts, of course secretly, under Veer
Bhagatsing’s lead. It was sold widely at high prices and the
proceeds went to swell the party funds. The few copies, almost
religiously preserved even at the risk of prosecution and per-
secution, which can be rarely found even today, belong, in the
main, to this edition. The conspiracy cases which followed
the arrest of Veer Bhagatsing and his leading comrades reveal-
ed the fact that copies of this book were found in searches
in the possession of almost all the accused and that this History
animated them to face martyrdom and guided them to chalk
out the revolutionary programme—to organise an armed revolt
to liberate our motherland !
The Indian National Army organised by Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose and the Fifth English Edition
The well-ascertained fifth edition came to light in the days
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
when the last and the most determined effort was made to
organize an army on the largest scale, yet recorded, to invade
India to free her from the British bondage, by Rash Bihari
Bose, the President of the Hindu Maha Sabha branch in Japan,
and which army was later on commanded by Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose. Unimpeachable evidence recorded by patriots
and warriors who took an actual part in the invasion shows
that this ‘History’ was read and re-read in their camps and
was looked upon as a veritable text-book for the soldiers and
officers in the army. A stray copy of a Tamil edition was
also ransacked. Its tattered pages were glued and the volume
was rebound and circulated in the army. But it is not known
when or by whom the Tamil translation was made and
published.
The Sixth English Edition to Challenge the Ban on the Book
While throughout the last thirty or forty years the revo-
lutionists were thus bringing out secretly, edition after edition
of this history, an open public agitation was also going on in
India demanding the raising of the Governmental ban not only
on this history but on several other books written by Veer
Savarkar. Public meetings and protests made by literary socie-
ties went unheeded by the British Government in England as
well as in India. Even when the so called National ministries
formed by the Congressites came to power some ten years ago,
they too did not raise the ban on Savarkarite literature as
perhaps, it not only did not countenance but positively de-
nounced the vagaries of the half-witted and even immoral
doctrine of absolute non-violence to which the Congressites
swore only verbal allegiance. But when the recent World War
II was over and the present Congressite ministries came into
power, the public demand for the raising of this ban
grew so unruly that some enthusiastic patriots threaten-
ed to challenge and break the ban. They raised funds
and secretly printed a new English edition in Bombay with a
view to selling it openly and publicly courting arrests. They
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
even informed the Congressite ministers of their intention.
The Ban Raised at Last after some Forty Years of Proscription
When matters came to this pass and as the Government
too was inclined to reconsider the question, the ban on
Savarkarite literature as a whole, which continued to be pros-
cribed for some forty years in the past, was raised by the
Congressite ministry at long last, upon which sane act they
deserve to be congratulated.
“ The Book became the Bible of the Indian Revolutionists ”
It will be evident from the story as recited above that the
book continued to be regarded as a veritable Bible by the In-
dian Revolutionists ever since the armed struggle for Indian
Independence initiated by the Abhi Nava Bharat bands down
to recent times when full-fledged armies marched to the battle-
fields under Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Directly and in-
directly the book has influenced, animated and guided at least
two generations in India in their struggles to free the Mother-
land. That is why the Nation itself made it a point of honour
to keep the book alive as a national asset in defiance of the
violent efforts of the foreign government to suppress and kill
it. Its survival despite of it all is almost miraculous.
Miraculous too is the survival of its illustrious author who,
in spite of untold sufferings and sacrifices, trials, tribulations
and transportations, has been spared by Providence to witness
the triumphant march of the Revolutionary principles and pro-
grammes which he as .a SEER preached and as a WARRIOR
fought to carry out.
The Book Pays our National Debt to the Memory of
the Warriors of 1857
We cannot do better than to quote Shrijut Subbarao, the
gifted editor of the ‘Gosthi’ to illustrate the above truth :
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THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
“The British Raj in India has treated Savarkar’s book
as most dangerous for their existence here. So it has been
banned. But it has been read by millions of our countrymen
including my humble self. In trying to elevate the events of
1857, which interested Historians and Administrators had not
hesitated to call for decades as an ‘Indian Mutiny’, to its
right pose of ‘Indian War of Independence’. All be it a
foiled attempt at that! It is not a work of a Patriotic Al-
chemist turning base mutineering into noble revolutionary
action. Even in these days what would the Mahatmic school
have called the efforts of Subhas Bose’s Azad-Hind-Fouj if
Savarkar’s alchemy had not intervened? True. Both the 1857
and 1943 ‘Wars’ have ended in failure for our country. But
the motive behind—was it mere Mutineering or War for Inde
pendence? If Savarkar had not intervened between 1857 and
1943, I am sure that the recent efforts of the Indian National
Army would have been again dubbed as an Ignoble Mutiny
effectively crushed by the valiant British-cum-Congress arms
and armlessness. But thanks to Savarkar’s book Indian sense
of a “Mutiny” has been itself revolutionised. Not even Lord
Wavell, I suppose, can now call Bose’s efforts as a Mutiny.
The chief credit for the change of values must go to Savarkar
—and to him alone. But the greatest value of Savarkar’s Book
lies in its gift to the Nation of that Torch of Freedom in whose
light an humble I and a thousand other Indians have our dear
daughters named after Laxmibai, the Rani of Jhansi. Even
Netaji Bose in a fateful hour had to form an army corps named
after Rani of Jhansi. But for Savarkar’s discovery of that
valiant heroine, Rani of Jhansi should have been a long-for-
gotten ‘Mutineer’ of the nineteenth century.”
—Free Hindusthan, Special, 28th May, 1946
This history has literally resurrected from continuing to
be entombed in oblivion the spirits of the bravest of the leaders,
warriors and martyrs who fell fighting in 1857, and taught
us to pay our admiring and loyal tribute to Nana Sahib, Bala
B xix

THE STORY OF THIS HISTORY
Rao, Kumar Singh, Mangal Pande, Ahmad Shah, the Queen
of Jhansi, Senapati Tatia Topé and hosts of our warriors. The
names could never have been on the lips of millions today but
for the researches of Veer Savarkar guided by a gifted intuition
and on a par with such excavations as at Mohenjodaro.
It cannot but be a source of satisfaction to Veer Savar-
karji that the expectations he cherished about this History,
when he wrote it in his youth, should have been realised before
his eyes. But we are afraid that his satisfaction in this case
must be only partial. For he never could conceive that the
'Rising of 1857' was an event complete by itself. He looked
upon the war of 1857 as but a campaign in the war of Inde-
pendence in its entirety. He did not, therefore, mean the book
to serve as merely the annals of the past but also as a source
of inspiration and guidance to the Future. Consequently he
must be expecting this History to continue to discharge its
mission yet further till the end in view is accomplished. This
end is clearly marked out by Veer Savarkar himself as the
following passage will show.
The special tribunal, which tried him in 1910 for waging
war against the King (of course of England!) and sentenced
him to transportation for life and forfeiture of his property,
quotes in its judgment as an overwhelming proof of his 'guilt'
the following statement issued by Savarkar in 1908 from
London:
"The war begun on the 10th of May 1857 is not over on
the 10th of May 1908, nor can it ever cease till a 10th of May
to come sees the destiny accomplished and our Motherland
stands free!"
G. M. JOSHI
Bombay : 10th January, 1947
xx

THE ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
This book on the history of 1857 was originally written
in an Indian vernacular. But owing to the unique nature of
the book which, for the first time ever since the great War
was fought, proves from the English writers themselves that
the rising of the Indian people in 1857 was in no way an
insignificant chapter in, or a tale unworthy of, a great peo-
ple's history, pressing requests were made from many quarters
to translate the work into the English language, so that, by
translations into the other vernaculars, the whole of the Indian
nation might be enabled to read the history of the ever memor-
able War of 1857. Realising the reasonableness and impor-
tance of these requests and with the kind permission of the
author the publishers undertook the translation of the original
into the English language. With the patriotic co-operation of
many of their countrymen, they are able to-day to place this
work in the hands of Indian readers.
The work of translating an Oriental work into a western
tongue has ever been a task of immense difficulty, even when
the translator has all the facilities which leisure and training
could afford. But when the translation had to be done by
divers hands and within a very short time, it was clearly fore-
seen by the publishers that the translation would be defective
and unidiomatic. But the main point before the publishers
was not to teach the Indian people how to make an elegant
translation nor to show them how to write correct English
—points to which they were supremely indifferent—but to let
them know how their nation fought for its Independence and
how their ancestors died “for the ashes of their fathers and
xxi

THE ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
the temples of their Gods." So, the publishers decided to run
the risk of publishing the book as soon as it could explain
the facts it had to tell, though none could be more conscious
of the faults of the language than they themselves. Fifty
years have passed and yet those who died for the honour of
their soil and race are looked upon as madmen and villains
by the world abroad ; while their own kith and kin for whom
they shed their blood, are ashamed even to own them ! To
allow this state of public opinion, born of stupid ignorance,
and purposely and systematically kept up by a band of
interested hirelings, to continue any longer, would have been
a national sin. So, the publishers have not waited till the
language of this translation could be rendered elegant. Which
would be more shameful—to let hideous calumny hover over
and smother down the spirit of martyrdom, or to let some
mistake creep into a book admittedly translated into a foreign
tongue ? The first, at the best, was a crime, and the second
at the worst a venial literary offence. Therefore, the publi-
shers owe no apology to, nor would one be asked for by, the
Indian readers for whose special benefit, the work is published.
But, to those sympathetic foreign readers who might be
inclined to read this book, we owe an apology for the faults
of the language and crave their indulgence for the same.
THE PUBLISHERS
LONDON, May 10, 1909
xxii