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

BENARES AND ALLAHABAD
the fort but to the cantonment ! The officers called the
Oudh cavalry to punish the Sepoys for this extraordinary
disobedience. The young and promising officers, Lieute-
nant Alexander and Lieutenant Harvard, got the cavalry
in order and marched on the Sepoys. At this time the
morning was just rising. When the cavalry was brought
face to face with the insolent Sepoys, the English officers
gave the order to attack and rushed boldly forward, hop-
ing that thousands of horses would gallop behind them
and trample down the handful of Sepoys. But, behold !
the cavalry refused to draw their swords against their own
countrymen and did not move ! At this, the Sepoys
raised a tremendous shout of applause. Lieutenant Ale-
xander was hit in the chest and fell down, his body was
cut to pieces, and then all the Indian Sepoys embraced
each other and marched to the camp. Two horsemen had
already galloped to the camp and given the news to their
brethren in the camp. The scene that followed on the
parade ground was unparalleled ! Whenever an English
officer gave a word of command, whiz came a bullet !
Plunkett, Adjutant Steward, Quarter-Master Hawes,
Pringle, Munro, Birch, Lieutenant Innes,—all fell down
dead ! The excited mass of humanity on the parade
ground was now going about setting fire to the houses of
Englishmen. When they heard that there were many
Englishmen at the mess-house, an attack was made and
every Englishman there was killed ! It has been already
said that the most important thing in Allahabad was the
possession of the fort. In it were the English women and
children and a vast store of ammunition, and it was
entirely in the hands of the Sikhs. All the Sepoys were
now waiting for the firing of the gun, the settled sign that
the Sikhs and the few Sepoys with them had also risen
and driven out the English.
But within the fort, the Sikhs showed their true treachery!
They not only refused to take away the English flag from
the fort but helped the English officers to disarm and
195

THE ERUPTION
drive out the few Sepoys that had found their way inside.
The English express even now a sense of astonishment as
to how the Sikhs stuck to them at that juncture. In half
an hour, the extensive fort of Allahabad would have fallen
into the hands of the Revolutionaries. That is to say,
in half an hour, the backbone of English rule would have
been smashed ! But the Sikhs spent that half an hour in
hacking their own countrymen and their mother country!
Though the Sepoys in the fort rose again and again, the
Sikhs, instead of joining them, disarmed them and drove
them out at the orders of the English. And thus, the fort
continued to be in English hands.
But Allahabad did not fortunately consist of these four
hundred Sikh traitors alone ! As the time for the Sepoy
rising in the fort approached, the city of Allahabad rose
also. The terrible shouts on the parade-ground were
echoed from the town itself. At first, the houses of Eng-
lishmen were destroyed ; then, Sepoys and the people
together broke the prison. No hearts could be more full
of hatred against the English than those of the hundreds
of prisoners there. So, as soon as they were released, they
shouted hoarse cries and ran first to the quarters where
the English resided ! The Revolutionaries had a special
eye on railways and telegraphs ! The railway officers,
the lines, the telegraph poles and wires, engines, were all
crushed to pieces ! In spite of all the precautions taken
by the English, some Englishmen fell into the hands of
the Revolutionaries. They despatched them quickly !
Then, the half Feringhis, who, relying on the protection
of the English, used to treat the “ natives ” with insolence,
came in for their turn. Those who had been against the
Revolution had their houses attacked. The lives of only
those were saved who took oaths, “ We will fight against
the English ! ” On the morning of the 17th, the Revolu-
tionaries captured the treasury containing nearly thirty
lakhs of Rupees. Then, in the afternoon, a great Revolu-
tionary flag was taken in procession and hoisted on the
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
196

BENARES AND ALLAHABAD
police station. And while the town and the fort were
thus involved in the flames of Revolution, all the Sepoys
and the citizens saluted it !
Almost at the same moment, the whole province of Allaha-
bad rose like one man ! Everywhere, things were altered
so quickly that, after a short time, no one would have
believed that the English had ever been ruling there ! In
every village the embroidered flag was hoisted and a stray
Englishman was beaten away or killed and the roots of
English rule were, as it were, uprooted ! Oh, how super-
ficial really are the roots of slavery in spite of the centuries
of efforts made to drive them in ! And, especially, an
unnatural seed like that of slavery, how can it take root?
Most of the Talukdars in the Allahabad province were
Mahomedans and their tenants were Hindus. Thus, the
English had considered it impossible that these two would
unite and that the whole mass of the people would rise
against them. But, in this memorable first week of June,
how many of such impossibilities were realised ! With-
out even waiting to hear about the rising of the city of
Allahabad, all the villages of the province rose simultane-
ously and declared their independence ! Hindus and
Mahomedans, because they fed on the same Mother's
milk, rose together to strike blows at English rule ! Not
only the able-bodied Sepoys, but also old military pen-
sioners enrolled themselves as national volunteers.
Twisting their white moustaches, they would organise
bands. Those who were too weak and old to do anything
themselves would explain to younger men important
points in military strategy and give advice on knotty
points of tactics. Can we wonder that the noble ideals
of Swadharma and Swaraj which thrilled youth even in
superannuated Sepoys had thoroughly permeated all
classes of the population ?¹³ Shopkeepers, Marwaris, and
13. "And with them went on not only the Sepoys who, a day
197

THE ERUPTION
Banias, even, took such an important part in that popular
agitation that General Neill in his report makes a special
reference to their hatred of the English ! “ The majority
of the chief merchants and others have shown the worst
spirit towards us. Many of them have taken active part
against us.” But, even after this, the English were
boasting that the peasants would take their side. But
Allahabad shattered this vain delusion to pieces ! The
peasants took a leading part in the Revolutionary War
of 1857, as, perhaps, they never had done in any political
agitation before. Under the banner of their old Talukdars
—not the new ones appointed by the English—the pea-
sants threw their ploughs and ran with lightning speed
to join the war for freedom. They had compared the
English Company with their old kings ; and they were
firmly convinced that their own Swaraj was a thousand
times better than the Feringhi Company’s rule. There-
fore, when the hour of consummation arrived, they began
the work of revenge for the wrongs of decades. Every-
where, Swaraj was hailed with shouts of delight and even
the children in the streets began to spit on slavery ! It
is true ; even children spat, for children of twelve or
fourteen would organise processions in the streets with the
Revolutionary flag. The English arrested such a proces-
sion and sentenced the little boys to death ! Hearing this
sentence, an English officer felt so ashamed that, with
tears in his eyes, he came to the chief commandant and
requested him to release the children. But it was of no
use ! And the children who committed the crime of rais-
ing the flag of independence were all publicly hanged !
Will not the murder of these little angels fall back on the
head of the assassins ? The whole province shook with
tremor ; peasants and Talukdars, old and young, men and

before, had licked our hands, but the superannuated pensioners of
the Company’s native army who though feeble for action, were
earnest in their efforts to stimulate others to deeds of cowardice
and cruelty.”—Kaye’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 193.
See also Red Pamphlet.
198

BENARES AND ALLAHABAD
women, all arose with the cry, "Har, Har," to smite the
chains of political slavery. "For, not only in the districts
beyond the Ganges but in those lying between the two
rivers, the rural population had risen . . . . and, soon, there
was scarcely a man of either faith who was not arraigned
against us."¹⁴ And, for the success of these huge efforts
of the whole populace and for the freedom of the Mother-
land, the Prayaga Brahmins and Mullahs began to send
forth prayers unto Heaven!
It is difficult to find in Indian history another Revolution,
so exciting, so quick, so terrible, and so universal! It
was almost an unheard of thing in India that the powers
of the people should awaken with a start and begin to
shed pools of blood for the freedom of the country, even
as thundering clouds shed rain. Besides, the sight of
Hindus and Mahomedans fighting side by side for
Hindusthan realizing their true interests and natural com-
radeship, was truly magnificent and inspiring. After
having set up such a terrible whirlwind, shall we wonder
that Hindusthan could not firmly keep it under control?
The wonder is that Hindusthan could raise such a whirl-
wind at all. For, no nation has been able to control a
Revolution suddenly. If we compare the Rising with the
French Revolution, we will find that the inevitable inci-
dents of any Revolution—like anarchy, confusion, outrage,
selfishness, and looting, were not fewer there than in
India. This was a vast experiment made by India. So,
we need not be surprised if, in the province of Allahabad
where the experiment was so successful, there were, also,
some mistakes and confusion. The hereditary feuds of
Zemindars, the excessive poverty—the corollary of long
slavery, and the enmity of centuries between Hindus and
Mahomedans and the natural occasional misunderstand-
ings during the efforts to extinguish it, all these made it im-
possible that there should not be anarchy for some time,
14. Kaye's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 195.
199

THE ERUPTION
when the first shock of the Rising was sensibly felt. After
the Creation, there comes often the Deluge. Whoever
wants a Revolution must be prepared to meet these diffi-
culties in carrying it out !
However, when the week of looting and burning was over,
all the dangers of anarchy melted away and the Revolu-
tion assumed some organised form in Allahabad. In that
province, as in all places where a Revolution due to
popular agitation takes place, the difficulty after the rising
is that of finding capable leaders. This difficulty was soon
got over in the city of Allahabad ; for, an ardent lover
of liberty, called Leakat Ali, soon became the leader of
the Revolution. The only information we have about this
extraordinary man is that he was a religious preacher
among the weavers. Before the Rising, he had worked
as a teacher in a school. He was adored by all people for
the holy purity of his life. When the province of Allaha-
bad became free, the Zemindars of the Chauvis Parganas
brought this Moulvie in a few days to Allahabad and
appointed him chief officer there. And he was proclaimed
in great ceremony as the representative of the Emperor of
Delhi. This Moulvie established his head-quarters in a
fortified garden called Khusru Bagh and began the work
of organising the Revolutionaries in the province. He
soon put all the affairs of state in good order. He did
not stop with merely saying that he was the Subahdar of
the Emperor but he continued to send, to the last, reports
of the events in Allahabad to the Emperor of Delhi.
The first thing that Moulvie Leakat Ali had to do was to
capture the fort of Allahabad. He had begun the attempts
to organise and prepare the army that collected under him
and direct an attack on the fort, when the news came that
General Neill was marching from Benares towards Allaha-
bad. Even now, if the four hundred Sikhs in the fort had
come to their senses, the whole fort, together with the
guns, arms, and ammunition, would have fallen to the
200

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Muhammad Bahadur Shah, an old man of about
seventy-five. years, was the titular .Emperor of Delhi
in 1857. After some outward hesitation, he agreed
to be the head of the Revolution and was proclaimed
sovereign of India. Revolutionary armies from all
quarters poured into Delhi, and for nearly four months
the City was in their hands. Later, it was stormed and
captured by the British troops.
On the capture of Delhi, Bahadur Shah fled from the
city with his family, but was eventually caught and made
to surrender. He was then publicly tried before a
military court and was sentenced, on March 9, 1858,
‘to be transported across the seas as a felon’. Accord-
ingly he was taken to Rangoon and thence to Tonghoo,
an inland station in Burma.
Bahadur Shah was a poet of considerable merit and
of a philosophical turn of mind.
BAHADUR SHAH in his last days at Tonghoo in Burma.

EMPEROR BAHADUR SHAH II OF DELHI
From an old miniature painting
In 1857 the raising of Bahadur Shah to the throne of India was no
mere restoration but the declaration that the long standing war between
the Hindu and the Mohamadan had ended, that tyranny had ceased
and that the people of the soil were once more free to choose their own
Monarch. Bahadur Shah was raised by the free voice of the people
both Hindus and Mohamadans, civil and military, to be their emperor
and the head of the War of Independence.
— Author, p. 285

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BENARES AND ALLAHABAD
Revolutionaries without a shot being fired ! General
Neill was so afraid of this that he marched with his Eng-
lish troops in haste to Allahabad. Neill arrived there on
the 11th of June. He had no hope that the Sikhs would
protect the fort and its English occupants till his arrival.
He was, therefore, overjoyed when he saw the English flag
still flying on the walls of the fort. He, immediately, kept
the English soldiers to garrison the fort and sent the loyal
Sikhs out to do the fighting. It is clearly seen from this
how little faith Neill had in the Sikh Sepoys. Though
Neill had no faith in the Sikhs, the Sikhs had complete
faith in him ; for, they refused to join the Revolutionaries
even after this insult, and consented to burn the neigh-
bouring villages. On the 17th of June, the English army
began to push its way into the town. Describing the inci-
dents, the Moulvie, in his report to the Emperor, says,
"Of the traitorous sinners who have joined the enemy,
some have spread the rumour that the English are going
to blow up the whole town. The people have left their
homes and have announced that they are going away in
order to save their lives ! Therefore, the whole town is be-
ing deserted in spite of assurances of protection." As this
unfortunate report of the Moulvie had set out on its
way to Delhi, the English attack on Khusru Bagh began.
The Revolutionaries defended the place that day ; but the
Moulvie soon saw that it was madness to attempt to hold
Allahabad from a dilapidated garden while the fort was
in the hands of the enemy. So, on the night of the 17th,
he left for Cawnpore with all his followers. The next
day, on the 18th, the English re-entered Allahabad together
with the 'loyal Sikhs.'
Though Allahabad followed the example of Benares and
fell into the English hands, the Revolutionaries did not
lose courage at all. Seeing the enemy thus safely protect-
ed in the chief forts, the people of the province were all
the more enraged and every village put up entrenchments
and prepared to make a stand. The days were gone when
201

THE ERUPTION
such determined people could be seduced by bribery. The
war was a war of principle, and though Neill offered re-
wards of thousands of Rupees for the heads of even minor
leaders, the penurious peasants themselves were unwilling
to help him. An English officer of the time has expressed
his surprise at this noble stand for the sake of principle.
He writes of one village : “ The magistrate offered a re-
ward of one thousand rupees for the head or the person
of the leader of rebels who is well-known to the natives ;
yet, such is their hatred towards us that no one would
give him up ! ¹⁵ Let alone betraying the leaders, it was
considered, at that time, a great sin even to sell for money
any commodity to the English. If anyone did commit
that offence, he was immediately given a harsh punish-
ment by the community. “ Anyone who had worked for
the Europeans, these murderers killed. So, if the popula-
tion is to a man against us, we should stand but a bad
chance. A poor baker was found with his hand cut off
and his nose slit, because he had sent in bread to us.”
This is the report of the 23rd of June. Simply because the
baker gave bread to the English, the villagers cut off his
hands and nose. When this national and armed boycott
was proclaimed, the misery of the Feringhis knew no
bounds. It is true they had taken the fort of Allahabad.
But, they found it impossible to move even a step one way
or the other. They could get neither oxen, nor carts, nor
even medicine ! No dolies for sick soldiers and no men
to lift them ! There were sick men lying about in various
places. Their shrill cries were so fearful that some Eng-
lish women died by hearing them. The days were hot.
And the trick of the Revolutionaries in rising in June, so
that the Englishmen might die of heat also, now came to
be understood. All Englishmen were busy bathing their
heads in cold water ! Besides, the provisions always fell
short. Nobody could be found who would sell even a
grain of corn to the English. “ Up to to-day, we have
15. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. 1.
202

BENARES AND ALLAHABAD
had little to eat ; indeed, I could not have fed a dog with
my yesterday's breakfast ! " So writes an officer from
Allahabad ! This heat and this starvation brought on
cholera in the English camp. To add to the troubles,
English soldiers regularly started getting drunk ! All
discipline was gone. These drunkards began to disobey
Neill's orders to such an extent that he wrote to Canning
that he had decided to hang a few of them ! The English
army, beset with these numerous difficulties, was chained
to Allahabad city. Though urgent messages requesting
help were coming frequently from the English of Cawnpore,
a dashing warrior like General Neill, had to see the first
of July dawn in Allahabad itself !
It is important to note that General Neill and his fusiliers
had been brought from Madras. If, at this time, there
had been even a slight tremor of a Revolution towards
Madras, the English would have been unable to bear the
strain even for a day. For, though the resolute Indians
of Allahabad had all but succeeded in the cleverly organis-
ed plan of shutting up English soldiers in the forts, the
English had no real reason to be disheartened. For
Madras, Bombay, Rajputana, the Panjab, Nepal, and
other parts were still lying like dead weights hampering
the national movement. When some of these parts did
begin to move, they fell on their own countrymen, like
demons. Were not thousands of Sikh Sepoys ready to
help the English in Benares itself ? However, whatever
the others might do, the Brahmin priests and Mullahs of
Prayag, Talukdars and peasants, teachers and students,
shopkeepers and customers—in spite of various difficulties,
in spite of the want of a great military leader who could
lead them to battle, in spite of defeat, discouragement,
and anarchy—showed a confirmed and inveterate hatred
of slavery. Of the great sacrifices, including the sacrifice
of life itself, made by these noble patriots for the
lofty ideals of Swaraj and freedom, History will
ever be proud !
203

THE ERUPTION
For, all these patriots were actually paying a very heavy
price for rising against English slavery. It is difficult to
find a parallel, even in the history of savages, to the cruel
brutality which Neill showed in the provinces of Benares
and Allahabad ! We do not write this as a figure of
speech ; any one will be convinced that what we have said
is nothing but the bare truth, if he reads the accounts
given by the English themselves. We had given some ac-
count of the inhuman conduct of the British in Benares.
Here, we extract a letter of a brave and generous Briton
to describe his achievements in Allahabad. “One trip I
enjoyed amazingly; we got on board a steamer with a gun,
while the Sikhs and the fusiliers marched up to the city.
We steamed up throwing shots right and left till we got
up to the bad places, when we went on the shore and
peppered away with our guns, my old double-barrel bring-
ing down several niggers. So thirsty for vengeance I was.
We fired the places right and left and the flames shot up
to the heavens as they spread, fanned by the breeze, show-
ing that the day of vengeance had fallen on the treacher-
ous villains. Every day, we had expeditions to burn and
destroy disaffected villages and we have taken our revenge.
I have been appointed the chief of a commission for the
trial of all natives charged with offences against the
government and persons. Day by day, we have strung
up eight and ten men. We have the power of life in our
hands and, I assure you, we spare not. A very summary
trial is all that takes place. The condemned culprit is
placed under a tree, with a rope round his neck, on the
top of a carriage, and when it is pulled off he swings.”¹⁶
Neill burnt old men ; Neill burnt middle-aged men ; Neill
burnt young men; Neill burnt children; Neill burnt in-
fants ; Neill burnt babies in cradles; and Neill has burnt
babies suckling at the breasts of their mothers ! Kaye
admits that six thousand Indians were done to death at
the place above mentioned ! Hundreds of women, young
16. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 257.
204

BENARES AND ALLAHABAD
girls, mothers, and daughters have been burnt alive by
Neill, without even counting their number. We make the
statement in the presence of God and in the presence of
all humanity ! If anyone has the slightest proof against
it, let him come forth boldly and stand for a moment at
least before the world and God !
And what was the crime all these had committed ? The
crime was that they were ready to bear all these for the
sake of their country's freedom !
Still the massacre of Cawnpore has to come ! Neill's
barbarities were not a revenge of Cawnpore, but the
Cawnpore bloodshed was the result of and revenge for
Neill's inhuman brutalities !
Neill has killed as many people in Allahabad alone as
all Englishmen, women and children who had been killed
throughout India in the Revolution, put together ! And
tens of such Neills were conducting such massacres in
hundreds of places ! For every Englishman, a whole vil-
lage has been burnt ! God will not forget this and we
will, also, never forget this !
And what do English historians say about this ? They
generally omit this, and that too, ostentatiously ! If they
do give some of the details, it is to prove how bold and
brave Neill was. What greater mercifulness than such
timely cruelty ? Some say that this cruelty on his part
shows the great love of humanity in Neill's heart ! Kaye,
no doubt, suspects that the Cawnpore massacres were a
result of this barbarous revenge; but, he says, it is natural
that the leonine qualities of the British people should
come out on account of the insolence of the 'natives.'
Kaye does not write a single word against Neill for this
cruelty. But, instead of allowing man to discuss this
question, he leaves it to God ! When talking of
Nana Sahib, his pen puts even Obscenity to shame !
205

THE ERUPTION
Charles Ball praises Neill inordinately. But what does
Neill himself say ?
He says, " God grant I may have acted with justice ! I
know I have acted with severity but, under all the cir-
cumstances, I trust for forgiveness. I have done all for
the good of my country, to re-establish its prestige and
power, and to put down this most barbarous, inhuman
insurrection." The definition of Patriotism in England is
unique indeed !
Another historian, Holmes, says : " Old men had done us
no harm ; helpless women, with suckling infants at
their breasts, felt the weight of our vengeance no
less than the vilest malefactors. But, to the honour
of Neill, let it be remembered that, to him, the
infliction of punishment was not a delight but an
awful duty."¹⁷
We fervently hope that impartial history, by examining
the above extracts, and the true God—not Neill's God—
will look more sympathetically and forgivingly at the few
massacres by the Revolutionaries than at these wholesale
slaughterings by the English. Are massacres in the cause
of freedom justified ? This question "should be left to
God !" " Let God forgive me, for what I am doing, I am
doing to win national independence for my country!"
—this sentence would fit the mouth of Nana far
better than that of Neill ! It was the Revolutionaries
who were " fighting for their country," not Neill !
And, if anyone performed a " duty " in massacres,
it was the Revolutionaries alone, fired with the
desire of fighting for Swaraj and Swadharma and burning
for vengeance for all the oppressions that the Motherland
suffered for a hundred years !
17. Holmes's Sepoy War, pages 229-230.
206

BENARES AND ALLAHABAD
But, of what use is all this philosophy now ? Neill has
sowed the seeds of cruelty and horror in Allahabad. Their
abundant crops are already rising in the fields of Cawn-
pore. Let us, then, go towards Cawnpore to reap them in
their full harvest ! !
207

CHAPTER VIII
CAWNPORE & JHANSI
LET us now leave aside, for a moment, the bloody
stream of the Revolutionary Ganges flowing
about violently on the fields of Northern India
with the holy desire of saving our forefathers
from the bottomless pit of slavery, and turn to
the events happening at its source at Haridwar.
About the time of the Meerut rising, there were assembled
a larger number of Revolutionary leaders in the palace of
Nana Sahib than could be found, at the time, in the palace
of Lucknow, in the Subah at Bareilly, or even at the
Dewan-i-Khas palace at Delhi. The Revolution of 1857 was
conceived in the palace at Brahmavarta. It was there
208

CAWNPORE AND JHANSI
that the embryo also took a definite shape. And, if the
birth also had taken place at Brahmavarta, the Revolu-
tion would surely not have been so short-lived. But,
before complete development, the thunder at Meerut
brought the Revolutionary child into being, unfortunately
before its time ; it was not, however, left to its fate ; but
strenuous preparations were made in the palace at Brah-
mavarta to sustain and nourish it even under such adverse
circumstances.
At the place of honour sat the proud and noble form of
Nana Sahib, the very incarnation of the Revolutionary
Spirit. His brothers, Baba Sahib and Bala Sahib, and
his nephew Rao Sahib, were there, ready to sacrifice their
lives, wealth, and comfort for the fulfilment of their
leader's noble objects. Beside these sat the man who,
from the low station of a menial servant, had risen in his
master's favour by means of his industry and ability, the
man who had studied the politics and warfare of Europe,
determined to utilise that knowledge in the holy war of
liberating his country from slavery. This was none other
than Azimullah Khan. There also sat the lightning Queen
of Jhansi, aiding now the experience of the Revolutionary
leaders with her magnificent intuition and inspiring them
with her own unbounded love of country and honour. But
in this historical meeting, who is the warrior over there,
sharpening his sword in the direction of the armoury ?
Readers, that hero in the armoury is the celebrated Mah-
ratta Tatia Topé He is the last valiant Mahratta warrior
of the School of Shivaji. There are many people who are
brave, but the valour of this last Mahratta hero was the
sword incarnate drawn by the Mother herself for
her freedom.
Tatia Topé was born in about 1814. His father's name
was Pandurang Bhat. Pandurang Bhat had eight sons
and of them, the second was called Raghunath. It is this
209
14

THE ERUPTION
Raghunath who shines as the brilliant star of liberty in
the galaxy of the heroes of Hindusthan. Pandurang Rao
Topé was a Deshasth Brahmin and was the head of the
charity department, under the late Bajirao Peshwa at
Brahmavarta. In the verandah, Nana Sahib, the Jhansi
Ranee, and Tatia Topé played the games of their child-
hood ! Nana Sahib and Tatia Topé were intimate friends
from childhood. In childhood, these two were trained in
the same school, fitted to perform the heroic deeds which
they did in the great event of their later life. They had
read the Ramayana and the Mahabharata together ; they
had read together the accounts of the war-like deeds of
the Mahrattas, and their young hearts had throbbed to-
gether at the noble inspiration which the stories of Hindu
heroism awoke.
Towards the end of April, Nana Sahib and Azimullah
Khan had travelled through all the chief towns in
Northern India to give the necessary unity to the work
of the secret organisation. They were now waiting for
the appointed time. Suddenly on the 15th of May, the
news of the rising at Meerut and the subsequent freedom
of Delhi came to Cawnpore. At this news of the prema-
ture rising, there was not the least apparent agitation in
the palace of Brahmavarta. In a Revolutionary organisa-
tion are bound up together thousands of separate parts ;
it is unavoidable that some should move too quickly and
others too slowly, some at the appointed signal and others
at the sudden impulse of the moment. The palace at Brah-
mavarta at once understood the situation and decided to
turn the Meerut rising to advantage. But, to take such
an advantage, which was the better course? To follow
Delhi at once or wait till the first week of June according
to the original plan? Of these two alternatives, the latter
seemed preferable and, accordingly, the machinery at
Brahmavarta continued to work secretly.
Cawnpore was, for a long time, an important military
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