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

CHAPTER III
DELHI
NANA Sahib Peshwa had been to Delhi towards
the end of April and all were anxiously awaiting
Sunday, the 31st of May, agreed upon as the
day of rising. If the whole of Hindusthan had
risen simultaneously on the 31st of May, history
would not have had to wait longer than 1857 to
record the destruction of the English empire and the
victorious Independence of India. But the premature
rising of Meerut benefited the English much more than
the Revolutionaries.¹ It is true that the spirited and

1. "It is certain, however, that if this sudden rising in all
   116

DELHI
patriotic women of the Meerut bazaars, who taunted the
soldiers and goaded them on to release their comrades.
have added one more honourable episode to our history.
But the Meerut Sepoys, by their rising, unconsciously put
their brethren in unforeseen confusion by warning the
enemy beforehand !² All the Sepoys at Delhi were Indian.
They too had become restless since the heroic martyrdom
of Mangal Panday. But the Emperor Bahadur Shah and
the Empress Zinat Mahal had tactfully restrained them.
Just at this moment, a message from the Meerut branch
of the Society was delivered to the Delhi branch, “ We
are coming to-morrow ; make the necessary preparations!”
Hardly had this unexpected and strange message been
delivered at Delhi when two thousand Sepoys were al-
ready on the march from Meerut, shouting, “ Delhi !
Delhi !” Night herself was then sleepless. How could
she sleep amidst the terrible noise produced by thousands
of horses stamping and neighing, the clanging of swords
and bayonets, and the fierce shouts and secret whisperings
of the marching revolutionaries ? When day dawned,
the Sepoys were astonished to find that the Meerut
artillery had not been following them. The Sepoys
forgot all the fatigues of the night and, without

parts of India had found the English unprepared but few of our
people would have escaped the swift destruction. It would then have
been the hard task of the British nation to reconquer India or else
to suffer our Eastern empire to pass into an ignominious tradition.”
Malleson, Vol. V. “The calamitous revolt at Meerut was, how-
ever, of signal service to us in one respect : inasmuch as it was a
premature outbreak which disarranged the preconcerted plan of
simultaneous mutiny of Sepoys all over the country, settled to take
place on Sunday, the 31st of May, 1857.’—White’s History, page 17.
2. “From this combined and simultaneous massacre on the
31st of May, 1857, we were, humanly speaking, saved by the frail
ones of the bazaar. The mine had been prepared and the train
had been laid, and it was not intended to light the slow match for
another three weeks. The spark which fell from the female lips
ignited it at once and the night of the 10th of May saw the com-
mencement of the tragedy never before witnessed since India passed
under British sway.”—J. C. Wilson's Official Narrative.
117

THE ERUPTION
losing a minute, marched on with vigour. Delhi is about
thirty-two miles from Meerut. At about eight in the
morning, the first part of the army was in sight of the
sacred Jumna. Seeing the holy Jumna which seemed, by
its cool breezes, consciously to encourage the heroes bent
on the holy work of Freedom, thousands of soldiers salut-
ed her, shouting, "Jai Jumnaji!" Horses began to gallop
on the bridge of boats leading to Delhi. But did the river
Jumna understand their sacred mission? It was neces-
sary to let her know this and get her blessings before
marching on. Then, catch hold of that Englishman there
walking along the bridge, and let his blood be poured into
the dark Jumna! This blood will tell her the reason why
these Sepoys are galloping so hurriedly towards Delhi!
After crossing the bridge of boats, the Sepoys were
already at the walls of Delhi. When the rumour reached
the English officers, they collected the Sepoys on the
parade-ground and began to treat them to lectures on
loyalty. Colonel Ripley, with the 54th regiment started
to oppose the Meerut Sepoys. The Sepoys of the 54th
regiment told their Colonel when starting, "Show us the
Sepoys of Meerut and we will then see." The colonel
said "Shabash" (Well done!) and the regiment march-
ed towards the Revolutionaries. As they advanced, they
saw the Meerut cavalry galloping towards the fort. Just
behind the cavalry, there were also coming on, the in-
fantry dressed in red garments and thirsty for English
blood. As soon as the two armies saw each other, they
saluted; and the army of Delhi met that of Meerut on
friendly terms! When the Meerut army raised the
cries of "Let the English rule be destroyed!" and
"Long live the Emperor!", the Delhi army replied by
shouting, "Kill the Feringhis!" In a moment, Colonel
Ripley, who, in confusion, began to shout, "What is
this!", "What is this!", was riddled with bullets and
fell down dead. All the English officers of the army of
Delhi were similarly killed. After having thus sealed their
118

DELHI
patriotism with English blood, the horsemen of the Meerut
cavalry descended and heartily embraced their comrades
from Delhi ! Just then the historic Kashmir gate of Delhi
opened, and this army of the heroes of liberty entered the
town of Delhi with the cries of " Din ! Din ! "
The second part of the Meerut army was also trying
to enter Delhi by the Calcutta gate. The gate was first
barred, but at the terrible knock of the Sepoys, it began
to open slowly, and soon the watchman at gate joined the
Sepoys with cries of " Din ! Din !! " The Sepoys who
entered by the Calcutta gate turned towards the bunga-
lows of the English at Daryaganj, and the buildings there
were all ablaze before long. Those Englishmen who
escaped the fire succumbed to the sword. The English
hospital was near by and it was found that it had given
shelter to the English bottles ! It is natural that the Se-
poys were enraged at the temerity of this hospital, after it
had seen the example of the bungalows of Daryaganj be-
ing razed to the ground for sheltering Englishmen ! So
they broke all bottles and after punishing the hospital,
they began the hunt for English blood in all the houses of
Delhi ! But what is an army without a banner and what
are mere cloth banners for an army like this ? So, where-
ver an English head was found, it was stuck at the ends
of lances, and with such terror-striking flags did the army
push forward at a rapid pace !
In the royal palace of Delhi, Sepoys and townsmen
were crowding together, shouting, " Victory to the Em-
peror." Commissioner Fraser was entering the gates of
the palace, wounded. A man called Nuzul Beg standing
near him pierced him in the cheek. At the sign, all the
Revolutionaries ran up the stairs, trampling Fraser down
all the way up. The Sepoys did not stop there, trampling
him, but went upstairs to the room in which Jennings
and his family were living. An attempt was made by
someone from inside to bolt the door, but a furious knock
119

THE ERUPTION
of the Sepoys burst it open. Jennings, his daughter, and
a guest fell to the sword in an instant. Where is that
Captain Douglas, who was running already dying with
terror, all through the streets of Delhi ? Kill him, too !
And this Collector hiding in the corner ? Give him also
leave of life ! Well, now there is not a trace of Feringhi
authority left in the palace of Delhi ! Now, Sepoys, you
can surely rest a while ! Let the cavalry pitch their
quarters in the palace, and let the Sepoys who had march-
ed all night take a little rest in the palace in the Dewan-
i-Khas.
In this way the palace of Delhi came into the hands
of the army of the people, and the Emperor, the Empress,
and the leaders of the Sepoys held a conference as to
future plans. It was now evidently foolish to wait till the
31st of May as previously arranged ; so after a little hesi-
tation, the Emperor decided openly to take the side of the
Revolutionaries. As this was going on, a large part of
the artillery of Meerut, who had also risen, arrived at
Delhi. They entered the palace and gave a salute of
twenty-one guns in honour of the Emperor and of free-
dom. The little hesitation that remained in the mind of
the Emperor, even after the pleadings and arguments of
the Revolutionary Sepoys, now completely disappeared
after this thunder of cannon ; and the hundred Imperial
yearnings in his heart awoke with a flash. The leaders
of the Sepoys, with their swords dipped in English blood,
stood before the dignified and magnificent person of the
Emperor, and said, “ Khavind ! the English are defeated
at Meerut, Delhi is in your hands, and all the Sepoys
and people, from Peshawar up to Calcutta, are awaiting
your orders. The whole of Hindusthan had arisen to
break the chains of English slavery, and to acquire their
God-given independence. At this time, take up the flag
of Liberty in your own hands, so that all the warriors of
India may assemble to fight under it ! Hindusthan has
begun to fight to get back Swaraj and if you accept her
120

DELHI
leadership, in a moment, we will either drown all these
Feringhi demons in the oceans or give them as food to
the vultures ! ” ³ The Emperor grew spirited after hearing
this unanimous and exciting eloquence on the part of the
leaders, both Hindu and Mahomedan. The memories of
Shah Jahan and Akbar rose before his mind's eye, and a
divine inspiration inflamed into his heart, that, rather than
continue in slavery, it would be preferable even to die,
in the attempt of liberating one's country. The Emperor
said to the Sepoys, “ I have no treasury and you will get
no pay ! ” The Sepoys replied, “ We will loot the English
treasuries all over India and lay them at your feet ! ” ⁴
When the Emperor, at last, declared that he would accept
the leadership of the Revolution, there was a thundering
roar of applause in the vast multitude assembled
in the palace !
While all this was going on in the palace, in the city
outside there was terrible confusion. Hundreds of the
citizens of Delhi took up any arms they could get hold
of, and joined the Revolutionaries and were roaming about
to kill any stray Englishmen in the streets. About twelve
o'clock, the bank of Delhi was besieged. The family of
Beresford, the manager of the bank, was killed, and the
whole bank was demolished. The mob then turned to the
printing office of the ‘ Delhi Gazette.’ The compositors
were busy setting into type the news from Meerut. Sud-
denly, there was a roar of “ Din ! Din ! ! ” outside, and
in a moment, all the Christians in the building were des-
patched. The types were thrown away, the machinery
was smashed, and everything that was made impure by
the touch of the Englishmen was destroyed. The great
wave of Revolution then rushed on ! But see the yonder
church ! Is it fair that it should hold its head high in
the march of this Revolutionary War ? From this very
3. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 74.
4. Metcalfe.
121

THE ERUPTION
church have prayers gone forth to Heaven to perpetuate
English dominion in India ! Has this church preached
once at least to its congregation that their dominion in
India is a sin and a crime against liberty ? On the con-
trary, this partisan church has sheltered under her wings
these tyrants, to protect them and to look after their
material more than their spiritual welfare. We have al-
ready got the reward for allowing this den of cruelty to
be established in our midst, in the shape of cartridges
mixed with cows' and pigs' blood ! Run to that church !
Why are you looking on ? Smash that cross, take away
those pictures from the walls, pound down that pew, and
shout, " Din ! " Every day the bells ring in the church.
We shall, also, peal them on our way back. Peal on,
bells, peal on ! You are pealing so much to-day and still
no Englishman comes to the church ! How do you like
the touch of these brown hands ? Fall down on the
ground ! Our comrades are ready to trample you down !
When all the bells fell down with a crash, the mob smiled
to each other in a ghastly way and said to one another,
" Kya tamasha hai ! " " what fun ! "
But there, on the other side, there was even a more
ghastly scene taking place. There was a big arsenal of
the English army near the palace. In this arsenal there
was a vast quantity of ammunition useful for war. At
least 900,000 cartridges, 8 to 10 thousand rifles, guns, and
siege-trains were there. The Revolutionaries decided to
capture this arsenal. But this work was not at all so
easy. If the Englishmen in the arsenal were so inclined,
they could kill a large number of the attacking force ;
they had only to light a match. It was thus very danger-
ous to attempt to capture the arsenal. Still, without it,
the life of the Revolution was not safe for a moment ; so
thousands of Sepoys made ready to carry out the task.
They sent a message in the name of the Emperor to the
officers of the arsenal, asking them to surrender. But
such paper messages never conquer kingdoms ! Lieute-
122

DELHI
nant Willoughby did not even condescend to reply to the
note. At this insult, thousands of infuriated Sepoys began
to mount the walls of the arsenal. Within the walls were
nine Englishmen and some Indians. When they saw the
flag of the Emperor of Delhi flying on the Fort, the Indians
speedily joined their comrades, and the nine Englishmen
began to fight with the courage which despair gives. It
was evident that the handful of Englishmen could not
hold out long before the terrible onslaught of the Sepoys.
They had already determined to blow up the arsenal in
case all hope of saving it for England was gone ; because
they were not certain of their lives being spared even if
they were willingly to hand over the arsenal. On the
other hand, the Sepoys also, in spite of a certainty of
losing a large number if the arsenal was blown up, fiercely
continued the assault. To their aid came also hundreds
of the citizens of Delhi. Suddenly the terrible boom and
crash, as if of a thousand cannon, which both sides had
been expecting every moment, rent the air, and volumes
of flame and smoke went up to the skies ! The nine Eng-
lish heroes, instead of handing over the arsenal to the
enemy, set fire to it themselves and gave up their own
lives. With that one crash, twenty-five Sepoys and about
three hundred men in the neighbouring streets were
literally blown to pieces !
But it was not in vain that the Revolutionaries, at
last, got hold of the arsenal at the cost of so many men
who fell victims in the blowing up of the arsenal. The
Sepoys got a good store of arms, each getting four guns.
As long as the vast arsenal was in English hands, the
Indian Sepoys in the chief cantonment were under the
English officers. True, they had refused to attack their
brethren ; but they did not also rise against the English.
At about four o'clock in the evening, the thundering crash
was heard which shook the whole of Delhi. The Sepoys
in the cantonment suddenly came together and fell on the
Englishmen, crying " Mâro Feringhiko !" They killed
123

THE ERUPTION
Gordon Smith and Revely and, wherever an Englishman
was found, he was killed. The national vengeance
awakened after a century, crushed down men, women,
children, houses, stones, bricks, watches, tables, chairs,
blood, flesh, bones—anything that had any relation with
the English ! In the end, at the strict orders of the Em-
peror, many Englishmen were saved from massacre and
made prisoners in the palace. But such was the popular
fury against the Feringhi despots that, after a struggle of
four or five days, the Emperor was compelled to hand
over the fifty English prisoners to the mob ! On the
16th of May, the fifty Englishmen were taken to a public
maidan. Thousands of citizens, assembled to witness the
scene, burst forth in imprecations against English rule and
the faithlessness of the English. When the order was
given, the Sepoys killed the fifty in a second. If any
Englishman attempted to ward off a Sepoy's sword and
implored for mercy, loud cries of “ Revenge for handcuffs!”,
“ Revenge for slavery ! ”, “ Revenge for the arsenal ! ”,
would rise up, and the bent English head was soon severed
from the body ! The massacre of the English began on
the 11th and ended on the 16th. In the meanwhile hun-
dreds of Englishmen ran away from Delhi to avoid death.
Some blackened their faces and disguised themselves as
“ the despised ” Indians ; some died of heat, while run-
ning away, in the woods and forests ; some learnt by
heart the songs of Kabir and attempted to escape through
the villages in the guise of Sanyasis ; but were killed by
the villagers when the disguise was seen through. Some
were cut by the villagers as “ Feringhis ” when they sat
down under the trees in fatigue after walking long, long
distances ; and a few with the assistance and hospitality
of kindly villagers at last safely reached the English camp
at Meerut. The hatred against English rule was so great
that, at the news of the massacre of Delhi, hundreds of
villages determined never to allow an Englishman to set
foot within their limits. But in none of these villages,
not even in Delhi itself was a single Englishwoman out-
124

DELHI
raged.⁵ The fact is proved by the enquiries of the English
themselves and is universally admitted by the English
historians. And still what lies were not circulated in
England by the English missionaries at that time ? We
have no hesitation in saying that nobody has ever dared
to make false statements more mean, despicable, or wick-
ed, than the false descriptions given, at the time, by
English missionaries “ from personal experience,” about
the events at the time of the massacre ! What can one
think of the love of truth of a nation which allows its
citizens to say falsely that English women were made to
walk about naked in the streets of Delhi, that they were
outraged openly, that their breasts were cut, the small
girls were outraged, and so on ? And these were priests,
too ! The Revolution of 1857 did not take place because
the Indians wanted white women ! It was brought about,
rather, to remove all traces of white women from India !
In this manner, the storm raised by the violent rav-
ings of the women of the Meerut bazaars, dug up, by the
roots, in one stroke, the poisonous tree of slavery which
had been standing in the country for a hundred years !
The chief cause for this extraordinary success of the Revo-
lutionaries in five days was the ardent desire among all
classes of the people to get rid of English slavery. From
the women of Meerut to the Emperor of Delhi, there was
a strong desire in every heart to achieve Swaraj and
protect religion. This desire had already been put into
shape by the secret societies. Therefore was it that in five
days the banner of Swaraj could be won on the historic
capital of Hindusthan, Delhi. On the 16th of May, there
was not even a trace left, in Delhi, of English domination.
Such was the hatred against things English that anyone
5. “However much of cruelty and bloodshed there was, the
tales which gained currency of dishonour to ladies were, so far as
my observation and enquiries went, devoid of any satisfactory proof.”
—Hon. Sir Wm. Muir, K.C.S.I., Head of the Intelligence Dept.
125

THE ERUPTION
who uttered a word of English was mercilessly thrashed !
The rags of the English flag were being trodden down
upon the streets ; and the flag of Swaraj, from which
the strains of slavery had been washed away by hot blood,
was flying at the head of the Revolution ! The wave
of liberty rose so strong that in five days there was not
even one traitor in the whole of Delhi. Men and women,
rich and poor, young and old, Sepoys and citizens, Moul-
vies and Pandits, Hindus and Mahomedans—all attacked
the foreign slavery with their swords drawn under the
banner of their country. It was on account of this extra-
ordinary patriotism and love of freedom, and a confirmed
hatred of the English, that the words of the women of
Meerut could raise the throne at Delhi once more from
the dust !
These five days will be ever memorable in the history
of Hindusthan for yet another reason. Because these five
days proclaimed by beat of drum the end for the time
being at any rate of the continuous fight between the
Hindus and Mahomedans, dating from the invasion of
Mahmud of Ghazni. It was proclaimed first that the
Hindus and the Mahomedans are not rivals, not con-
querors and the conquered, but brethren ! Bharatamata
(Mother Ind) who was, in times past, freed from Maho-
medan yoke by Shivaji, Pratap Singh, Chattrasal, Pra-
tapaditya, Guru Govind Singh, and Mahadaji Scindia—
that Bharatamata gave the sacred mandate that day,
‘ Henceforward you are equal and brothers ; I am equal-
ly the mother of you both ! ” The five days during which
Hindus and Mahomedans proclaimed that India was
their country and that they were all brethren, the days
when Hindus and Mahomedans unanimously raised the
flag of national freedom at Delhi. Be those grand days
ever memorable in the history of Hindusthan !
126

CHAPTER IV
THE INTERLUDE AND
THE PUNJAB
THE news of the liberation of Delhi travelled with
lightning rapidity, and by its suddenness ab-
solutely staggered for a moment Indians as well
as the foreigners. Englishmen could not even
grasp for a time the meaning of what had come
to their ears. Lord Canning was fast asleep there
in Calcutta, in the certainty that peace was reigning
all over India, and Commander-in-Chief Anson was pre-
paring to go to the cool heights of Simla. When first
Canning got a scrappy telegram to the effect that Delhi
was free, he could hardly believe his eyes. The Indians
were in a consternation quite as much as the Englishmen,
127

THE ERUPTION
because this unthought-of rising at Delhi spoiled all the
preconcerted plans of the Secret Revolutionary Organisa-
tion. And the Englishmen were not, now, likely to repeat
the tactical mistakes which they committed while confused
at the sudden rising in Delhi. They got an opportunity
to retrieve their mistakes, being forewarned of the future
great danger by this sudden shock. The throne of Delhi
could now be wrested from the Emperor in a couple of
days by a sudden onslaught. Whereas, if the rising had
taken place simultaneously in all places on the 31st, as
arranged previously, the complete success of the Revolu-
tion would have been assured in the course of a single
day. Though that plan failed on account of the sudden
rising at Meerut, the taking of Delhi at once openly gave
the Revolution a national character, and the sudden news
had brought about an extraordinary awakening in the
whole of Hindusthan. Now, the question was whether to
take advantage of this awakening and rise at once, or
wait till 31st as arranged before. What were the plans
adopted by the Centres ? Would not a rising without
consultation of the rest produce confusion similar to that
of the rising at Meerut ? Such were the questions which
the Revolutionary leaders in other places put to them-
selves and wasted their time with. There is no other
life-killing poison to a revolution than indecision. The
sooner and the more sudden the spreading of a revolution
the greater are its chances of success. If a delay is made
after the first start and breathing time is given, the enemy
gets time to guard himself ; those who rise prematurely
lose confidence, when they see no one joining them ; and
a clever enemy, profiting by the past, puts obstacles in
the way of those who want to rise later. Therefore, to
give the enemy time between the first rising and the
spreading of a revolution is always harmful to the Revo-
lution. But that is exactly what happened. This sudden
rising in opposition to their previous plans confused the
Revolutionary leaders in various places and they could,
for the time being, neither hold back nor rise.
128

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
The inevitable idleness of the Revolutionary party
was of the highest advantage to the English. They never
had occasion to hear such terrible news since first they
set foot on the soil of Hindusthan. The swords of the very
Sepoys who so long maintained and extended their power
were now turned against them. English Sovereignty fled
from this spectacle at Meerut to Delhi, only to find
the old Emperor, who strangled her with the left hand
and wrested her crown away with the right! This Eng-
lish Sovereignty full of gory wounds, spat upon even by
the women at Meerut, with hair dripped in English blood,
with necklaces of bones, with all her ornaments including
the crown snatched away by the people—this English
Sovereignty now tried to enter Calcutta with a terrible
moan! The English dominion in India has not the
slightest natural strength! In this month of May, there
was only one white regiment, right from Barrackpore to
Agra, a distance of 750 miles. Under such circumstances,
if the whole of this region had risen according to the plan
of the Revolutionary party, not one but even ten Eng-
lands put together could not have been able to hold
Hindusthan! This white regiment was stationed at Dana-
pur. There was a considerable number of white troops
in the Punjab on the frontier, but it was necessary to
maintain them there. Under these circumstances, the first
effort of Lord Canning was to bring as many white troops
together as possible. Just at the time, fortunately for the
English, the war with Persia had come to an end and
orders were sent to that army to return at once to India.
At the end of the war with Persia, the English had picked
up a quarrel with China and had ordered troops thither;
but when this storm arose in India, Canning determined
to stop the army on its way to China. Besides
these two, the English regiments which were to
have gone to Rangoon were detained at Calcutta,
and orders were issued to the Governor of Madras
to hold in readiness the 43rd infantry and the
Madras fusiliers.
129
9

THE ERUPTION
While this white army was marching towards Cal-
cutta from all directions, Canning made one more attempt
to pacify the Sepoys. He issued a proclamation and
ordered it to be posted in every town and village. It was
worded in the usual manner and contained the usual stuff.
It said, “ We had no intention to interfere with your re-
ligious and caste affairs. We have not the least intention
of insulting your religion. If you like it, you can make
cartridges with your own hands. It is a sin on your part
who have eaten the salt of the Company to rise against
it.” But who was now going to pay attention to such
empty proclamations ? Where the question at issue was
whether the English ought to have, at all, the right of
issuing proclamations in India or not, to issue a new
proclamation was not to pacify but to exasperate the peo-
ple. Hindusthan had no time to read these proclamations,
for all eyes were turned to the magnificent Proclamation
that went forth from Delhi ! It was a strange sight, two
proclamations at once, one of freedom at Delhi, the other
of slavery at Calcutta. Hindusthan at that time welcomed
the Proclamation of Delhi. And, therefore. Canning laid
aside his pen and ordered the Commander-in-Chief to
direct his guns immediately towards Delhi.

Commander-in-Chief Anson was at Simla when he
got the telegram announcing that Delhi had become free.
When he was thinking what he was to do, he got Can-
ning’s order to take Delhi at once. The ignorance of the
English about the plans and the strength of the Revolu-
tion was so extraordinary, that they perfectly believed
that they could take Delhi in a week and could quell the
rising before a month was over. Sir John Lawrence,
Chief Officer in the Punjab, also sent urgent messages to
Anson to Capture Delhi. But Anson knew better than
either Canning or Lawrence what it meant to take Delhi
and he determined to wait until sufficient preparations were
made. Hardly had Anson left the heights of Simla and
arrived at the army headquarters at Umballa, when there

130

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
was a tremendous uproar at Simla ! A rumour was
abroad that the Gurkha Naziri battalion had also risen,
and at that the English at Simla lost all courage. In that
year, the heat was unsufferable to the English even at
Simla ! It appeared that the English would now have to
pay a very heavy price for the royal pleasures, which they
had so long enjoyed in cool bungalows and beautiful plea-
sure-gardens. There was a general uproar that the
Gurkha regiment was coming, and women and children
ran wherever they could get away. In this race, the
men, naturally, even with loads on their backs, left the
women and children far behind ! This exhibition of Eng-
lish courage was open for two days, but it was closed
afterwards as no Gurkhas were to be seen. About this
time, similar scenes were being enacted, also, at Calcutta.
Often the rumour would get about that the regiment at
Barrackpore was in arms against the English ; and Eng-
lish men, women, and children would be seen running to-
wards the fort. Some booked passages to England, some
prepared all their luggage in readiness to run away to the
fort, and some would hide in corners in their offices and
leave their work aside ! Such was the panic created by
Meerut and by Delhi—and yet Cawnpore was still
to come.
As soon as Anson arrived at Umballa, he began to
prepare the siege-trains to besiege Delhi. There was
never such a danger to the English in India before ; but,
now that it appeared, their real weakness came forth into
prominence. Their state was absolutely deplorable. It be-
came impossible for Anson to expedite matters. The
English officers ordered about Indian soldiers just as they
liked, but they could not do the same to their own
soldiers ! How could the English soldier give up in a
day his haughtiness and his luxurious habits ? And it
was now out of the question to get an Indian to help in
everything. Carriages, labourers, provisions, even stret-
chers and ambulances for the wounded could not be got !
131

THE ERUPTION
Adjutants, quarter-masters, commissaries, medical
chiefs—none could get his department ready and every
one was in a fix. What a shadowy thing is English power
in India, without the help of the Indians themselves !
When once the Indians were roused, the English found it
extremely difficult even to march from Umballa to Delhi,
because " natives of all classes held aloof, waiting and
watching the issue of events. From the capitalists to the
coolies, all shrank alike from rendering assistance to those
whose power might be swept away in a day."¹ If the
Indians had always kept aloof like this, then, indeed, as
the above writer says, English power might have been
swept away in a day. But such a brilliant day had not
yet arisen in 1857 ! The year, 1857, was the dawn after
a long night's sleep. Those who saw the vision of the
brilliant day to come woke up and left their beds, but
others, who thought it was still night, clung to their covers
of slavery and went again to sleep. Amongst these
sleepy heads, the honour of Rip Van Winkle was very
keenly contested between the states of Patiala, Nabha,
and Jhind. These states had it in their hand either to
establish the Revolution firmly or kill it. These states
lay between Umballa and Delhi and without their sup-
port the English rear was quite defenceless. Even if these
states had remained passive like the others, the Revolu-
tion had a great chance of success. But when Patiala,
Nabha, and Jhind began to deal blows at the Revolution
even more cruel than those of the English, the chain bet-
ween Delhi and the Punjab was suddenly snapped. These
states despised the invitation sent to them by the Em-
peror of Delhi, killed the Sowars that brought the message,
showered money on the English from their own treasuries,
mustered their armies, and protected the regions through
which the English armies were to pass, and attacked Delhi
along with the English ; and when the Punjab Revolu-
tionaries left their hearths and homes to defend the

1. Kaye's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II.
   132

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
national flag at Delhi, these Sikh states, these disciples
of Guru Govind Singh, cruelly tortured and mur-
dered them !
When the English were sure of the help of Patiala,
Nabha, and Jhind, they mustered up courage. The Raja
of Patiala sent his brother with sepoys and artillery and
ordered him to guard the Thaneswar Road, and the Raja
of Jhind took up the strong position of Panipat. When
these two most important stations were thus guarded, the
roads from Delhi to Umballa and uninterrupted communi-
cation with the Punjab were perfectly secure ; and the
Commander-in-Chief left Umballa on the 25th of May
and marched towards Delhi. But Anson had become quite
disheartened since the news of the freedom of Delhi. He
had now, besides, to be roasted in the terrible heat of the
plains, of which he had a great terror having passed his
time hitherto amid the cool shades of Simla. Emaciated
by these mental and bodily worries, the Commander-in-
Chief succumbed to cholera on the 27th of May, just as
he arrived at Karnal. On the same day, Sir Henry Bar-
nard took charge of his office.
In this manner, the English army, after burying the
old Commander-in-Chief, was marching under the new
one towards Delhi. At that time, the English were so
hopeful of victory that they were openly boasting that
they would fight in the morning and drink the blood of the
enemy in the evening at Delhi ! While this army was
marching from Umballa, the world saw the secreted poi-
son in the black hearts of these white Sepoys !
The army at Meerut was composed of “ heathens ! ”
It is, of course, an example of the savage nature of Indian
country and religion that they massacred “ harmless ”
Englishmen at Meerut and Delhi, relying on the
“ rumours ” about cartridges ! But let not what is con-
cealed be laid open before the world ! Otherwise God
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
133

THE ERUPTION
will despise truth more than false rumours and civilisa-
tion more than barbarity ! Ah, it will require pools of
blood to wash these blasphemies away !
On the way from Umballa to Delhi, in thousands of
villages, all those that could be easily caught were imme-
diately put before a court-martial in rows after rows, and
were condemned to be hanged and killed in a brutal and
barbarous manner ! At Meerut, the Indians no doubt
killed the alien English but it was not done savagely
enough. They simply cut off their heads with a blow
of the sword. But the English, be it said to their credit,
corrected this mistake. Hundreds of Indians were con-
demned to be hanged before a court-martial in a short
time, and they were most brutally and inhumanly tortured,
while scaffolds were being erected for them. The hair on
their heads were pulled bunches by bunches, their bodies
were pierced by bayonets, and then they were made to do
that, to avoid which they would think nothing of death
or torture—cows’ flesh was forced by spears and bayonets
in the mouths of the poor and harmless Hindu villagers ! ²
Ah ! but it still remains to be told to my “ barbarous ”
readers what this court-martial was and is. Hundreds of
innocent villagers were herded together, and then they
were given “ justice.” When there was a revolution in the
Netherlands, Alva had established a similar court. The
inquiry before this court was so thorough that sometimes
the judge would go to sleep. When the time of sentence
came, he would be awakened, and with a grave look at
all the prisoners before him, he would say, “ Let these
be hanged ! ” This historical death-chamber of the
Netherlands was doubtless reformed and improved upon
by the English ! For, their judges never went to sleep.
Not only so, but, before their appointment, they had to
take an oath that they would give the death sentence,
2. History of the Siege of Delhi.
134

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
without thinking of guilt or innocence ! ³ The place,
where, after such a holy oath, English officers sit down
in order to condemn all “natives”, guilty or innocent,
to be hanged, is known in the English language as a
court-martial !
Wreaking all along the line of his march such a de-
moniacal vengeance on thousands of innocent men for the
handful of Englishmen killed at Delhi and Meerut, Com-
mander Barnard sought to join the white troops at
Meerut before marching right up to Delhi. It has al-
ready been noted that the English had a considerable
force at Meerut. This force was coming down from
Meerut to join the army from Umballa. But the national
army of Delhi came forth to fight with the Meerut army
before the junction could be effected. On the 30th of
May, the opposing armies met on the banks of the river
Hindan. The right of the Indian army was safe on ac-
count of powerful guns, and the English could do no-
thing against it. While the fight was raging on this side,
the left of the Indian army could not stand before the
English onslaught. There was confusion in their ranks,
and they retreated to Delhi, after leaving five guns in the
field. But before the English could take possession of the
guns one brave Sepoy of the 11th regiment, rather than
leave his place, chose death instead. Others might do
their duty or not, but he was determined to do something
for his country before he lost his life. With this noble
inspiration, this Sepoy of the 11th regiment, seeing that
the guns would otherwise fall into the hands of the
3. “Officers as they went to sit on the court-martial swore
that they would hang their prisoners, guilty or innocent and, if
any dared to lift up his voice against such indiscriminate vengeance,
he was instantly silenced by the clamours of his angry comrades.
Prisoners condemned to death after a hasty trial were mocked at
and tortured by ignorant privates before their execution, while edu-
cated officers looked on and approved.”—Holfes's History of the
Sepoy War, page 124.
135