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

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.
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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

THE ERUPTION
English, purposely fired into the arsenal, when the
English crowded round the captured guns. There was a
tremendous explosion and Captain Andrews and his fol-
lowers were burnt down, and several Englishmen were
injured. After placing so many heads of the enemy
before his Motherland, he then placed before her his own
martyr’s head ! Just as the English historians are always
singing the praises of Captain Willoughby who blew up
the arsenal at Delhi, we shall also sing the praises of this
brave Sepoy, this martyr for the cause of his Motherland.
But, alas, even his name is not known to history ! About
this hero, Kaye says : “ It taught us that, among the
mutineers, there were brave and desperate men who were
ready to court instant death for the sake of the
national cause ! ⁴
As the English were, thus, completely successful in
this first battle, they expected Delhi to fall in a day or
two, and used to enquire every time, by post, for news
of the fall ! But how different were matters in reality !
Though, when this unprecedented and sudden revolution
first burst out into flames, Delhi had not yet the tact and
boldness to lead and guide it, yet every heart in Delhi
was full with the intense desire not to rest until the
mother-country was free, so long as God gave them life.
So, the Sepoys, despised by the populace all night on the
30th on account of the defeat they had sustained, came
out to fight again on the 31st. When the guns of the
Revolutionaries started their havoc, the English also
replied with their artillery. Since the guns of the Revo-
lutionaries were directed on this day with good aim and
the Sepoys fought with stubborn courage, the loss of life
on the English side was considerable. The hot sun of
May, also, became unbearable to the English. The Eng-
lish tried the tactics of the previous day, but that would
not succeed. The English prepared for a general assault
4. Kaye’s History of the Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 138.
136

THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
towards the evening. But the Revolutionaries rained a
perfect shower of cannon balls on the advancing English
and, before the broken ranks of the English could reform
to advance, they retired from the field in good order.
Never mind, Sepoys, in one day you have shown great
improvement. Even if you are so defeated again to-
morrow, even then, the English are done for. For now
they have not enough strength left even for petty skir-
mishes. On the first day of June, an army was seen
marching towards the rear of the already straitened Eng-
lish camp. The English were utterly confounded when
they found this army to be composed of brown soldiers !
They were preparing, with despair in their hearts, to
defend themselves, when they soon discovered that this
army was not the army of the Revolutionaries, but only
the Gurkhas under Major Reid coming to help them. The
English army from Umballa was helped by the Sikhs, the
army from Meerut was helped by the Gurkhas ! Under
these circumstances, what were the poor Revolutionaries
of Delhi to do ? The two English armies, effected a junc-
tion on the 7th of June. At the same time, the siege-
train prepared with the help of the Raja of Nabha also
arrived safely. The Sepoys of the 5th regiment were en-
treating the Gurkhas to revolt and capture the siege-train
as soon as it arrived at Umballa. But the Gurkhas flatly
refused to serve their country and their religion, and the
siege-train arrived at Delhi. And the united army of the
English arrived scatheless right up to Alipur, near Delhi.
Hearing that the English army had arrived at Alipur,
the Revolutionaries again came out of Delhi and met
the English army near Bundel-ki-Sarai. At this moment,
the English army was in a most efficient condition, with
all the necessary complement of artillery and other engines
of war, good commanders, fresh and numerous soldiers,
and an advantageous position. The Revolutionaries had
nothing but the goodness of their cause to support them.
Their leader was a prince who had never seen a battle-
137

THE ERUPTION
field in his life. Their number was swelled by more camp
followers than regular soldiers. And besides, they had be-
come disheartened at seeing their countrymen, the Sikhs
and the Gurkhas, helping the enemy. The English on the
other hand assured themselves that the battle would only
be a great Tamasha (a show). But the glorious ideal of
Swaraj had filled the hearts of the Sepoys with a new
inspiration and a new courage which discounted all odds.
Such was the valour they showed that the English were
soon convinced that it was not a Tamasha, but a real,
grim, life-and-death struggle. The Delhi artillery was so
powerful that the English artillery could do nothing
against it. While the artillerymen and officers of the
English were falling, the Delhi artillery became more and
more fierce. At this, the English ordered their infantry
to rush the artillery of the Revolutionaries. The English
soldiers came right up to the artillery and the field-arsenal,
and still the Revolutionaries would not budge an inch !
In the fight for Swadharma and Swaraj, these Sepoys
behaved like true heroes and did not leave their
posts till English bayonets pierced them through !
But these brave heroes had not, at that time, a
proper leader, or one who would, at least stand by
them to the end, if not lead and encourage them.
For, while they were dying for their country and
religion, pierced by English bayonets but still stick-
ing to their posts, their Commander-in-Chief had run
away towards Delhi at the first roar of cannon ! Just
then, the English cavalry charged the left, and Hope
Grant with his horse artillery charged the rear of this un-
fortunate army. The field was lost and this army, haras-
sed by compatriots and foreigners alike, after fighting all
day, was routed, and retreated to Delhi. General Barnard
in order to follow up the victory ordered the English army
to push forward, and it arrived at the walls of Delhi to-
wards evening. The result of this day's fight was that the
Revolutionaries lost the control of the territory surround-
ing Delhi, and the English got an advantageous position
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THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
to attack the fort itself. It is necessary to record here that
English historians applaud the Gurkha regiment under
Seymour for conspicuous bravery in this battle. In
English eyes, the names of these Gurkhas have become
favoured and honoured, for this extraordinary eagerness
and unparalleled bravery in cutting the throats of their
mother's sons !
The English won the battle of Bundel-ki-Sarai with
the help of the Gurkhas, but the battle destroyed all the
fancies of their imagination ; for, it killed the vain hope
of the English soldiers that they would spend the night
in Delhi and spill the arch-enemy's blood. The unplea-
sant truth, that there were not only disorderly camp
followers in the Revolutionary army, but that here, on the
walls of Delhi, swords flashing with the fire of righteous-
ness were now unsheathed for the protection of Swa-
dharma and Swaraj, was forced upon the notice of
the English by this stubborn battle ! In this battle, the
English lost four officers and forty-seven men, besides one
hundred and thirty wounded. But the thing which spread
more sorrow and despair in the English army than all
these losses, was the death, in the thick of the battle, of
Adjutant-General Colonel Chester. It will be seen, later
on, how English historians surpass English novelists when
they give the losses of the Revolutionaries. But even in
this din of the first battle, it is necessary to say that, as
regards the number of cannon which the English captured
on that day, one gives thirteen, and the other says they
were exactly twenty-six ! We should also note that both
these were military officers present in the fight !
In this manner, on the evening of the 8th June, the
English army encamped outside the walls of Delhi. The
work of bringing the armies from Umballa and Meerut
safely to Delhi depended solely on the movements in the
Punjab. It is, therefore, here necessary to see what were
the effects of the Meerut rising in this important province,
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THE ERUPTION
what the Swadeshi men did there, and how far the plots
of the English against them were successful. When the
Sikh Empire was broken, and the Punjab fell, finally, into
the hands of the English, Lord Dalhousie pursued an ad-
ministrative policy in that province which was calculated
to destroy the two virtues of love of freedom and martial
spirit among the Sikhs. When the administration of this
newly-acquired province came into the hands of the two
officers Sir Henry Lawrence and Sir John Lawrence, they
completely disarmed the people, enlisted most of the Sikh
Sepoys in the English army, brought the larger portion
of the European army in Northern India into the Punjab,
and directed everything in such a manner that the mass
of the people should attend only to agriculture as the
chief means of their subsistence and do nothing else.
When people become mere peasants, they lose their mar-
tial qualities ; they become hungry for “peace” and do
not easily give their consent to revolutionary projects
which might interfere with their agriculture. This deep
and profound statesmanship of the English proved success-
ful in the Punjab and, within ten years of the destruction
of the Sikh Empire in the Punjab, the majority of the
Sikhs began to take to the plough and left their swords
altogether, and those that still retained the sword put it
into the hands of the English in order to put down their
own countrymen ! In these circumstances, the chief
officer in the Punjab, Sir Jonn Lawrence, was sure that
there would be no trouble there. Like other English
officers he had no adequate idea about the impending
danger till the beginning of May, and he too had intended
to leave Lahore for summer and go to the cool air of the
Murree Hills. Just then, the news of Meerut and Delhi
electrified the Punjab. The clever Chief Commissioner
grasped the grave import of the news and stayed
where he was, in order to fight those who were preparing
to overthrow the English empire.
At this time, the greater part of the Punjab army
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THE INTERLUDE AND THE PUNJAB
was at Mian Mir. As the camp of Mian Mir was very
near Lahore, the Lahore fort was allowed to be garrisoned
purely by Sepoys. In the camp at Mian Mir, though the
Sepoys outnumbered the English soldiers by four to one,
the English officers had no suspicion about them until
the news from Meerut arrived, and when the news did
arrive they found it difficult to ascertain whether they were
or were not secretly in communication with the Meerut
Sepoys. At this time, the chief officer of the army of
Lahore was one Robert Montgomery. This Robert Mont-
gomery and Sir John Lawrence were both trained in the
school of Dalhousie. They were gifted with rare coolness
and courage and could preserve their presence of mind in
the midst of the most unexpected difficulties. It was
necessary to find out how far the spirit of national free-
dom had awakened among the Punjab Sepoys. A Brah-
min detective was employed to ascertain the state of mind
of the Sepoys. This Brahmin did the work of treachery
exceedingly well and reported to Montgomery, “ Sahib,
they are steeped in revolt—they are so far steeped in re-
volt”—and so saying he put his hand to his neck. This
account of the Brahmin removed the veil from the eyes of
Lawrence and Montgomery. They saw clearly that the
Revolution was well organised not only in northern India,
but that the fire was smouldering also in the Punjab, only
waiting for the right moment to burst into flames.
Thanking the premature rising at Meerut for having
enabled him to discover this terrible secret, Montgomery
immediately ordered the Sepoys to be disarmed. On the
13th of May, in the morning, a general parade was called
out at Mian Mir. To keep the Sepoys confident in their
sense of security, a grand ball was given to the English
residents. Before the Revolutionaries guessed the secret of
this apparent hunting after pleasure, in these conditions,
they were suddenly surrounded by English cavalry and
artillery. It was impossible for the Sepoys to see through
this deceit and, when the usual parade movements were
going on, the artillery were ordered to be in readiness to
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THE ERUPTION
fire, and the confused Indian regiments were peremptorily
ordered to give up their arms ! The thousand Sepoys,
indignant with rage but overawed by the strong force of
artillery, threw down their arms and, without a word,
walked away to their lines.
While this ceremony of disarming the soldiers, who,
by their valour, had saved the lives of Englishmen in
Afghanistan, was going on, a battalion of the English
force was sent to the fort of Lahore. This battalion, with
the help of the English artillery in the fort, disarmed the
Sepoys there and turned them out of the fort and occupi-
ed it. If there had been the slightest delay or slackness
in this manœuvre, within a fortnight, the whole of the
Punjab would have been burning with Revolution ; for,
the different regiments of Peshawar, Amritsar, Pilhur, and
Jullunder were anxiously waiting for the moment when
the Sepoys of Mian Mir would attack the Lahore fort.
When the news spread that the English had disarmed the
Mian Mir Sepoys and taken the Lahore fort, English
prestige gained a great deal of ground in the Panjab.⁵
But a position of even greater importance than the
Lahore fort was the Govindgurh of Amritsar. This latter,
being a holy place of Sikhs and there being a probability
of the Sikhs being aroused if anything happened there,
the Sepoys had their eye on it. The rumour arose that
the Sepoys, disarmed at Mian Mir, were going towards
Amritsar to take Govindgurh. The English perceived the
danger and requested the Jat and Sikh peasants to protect
Amritsar ! This request was acceded to by these loyal
traitors, and the fort of Amritsar, like that of Lahore, fell
into English hands. Before the 15th of May, the two
5. "Had the Punjab gone, we must have been ruined. Long
before reinforcements could have reached the upper provinces, the
bones of all Englishmen would have been bleaching in the sun.
England could never have recovered the calamity and retrieved her
power in the East."—Life of Lord Lawrence. Vol. II, page 335.
142