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

CAWNPORE AND JHANSI
After the military review, Nana Sahib, in company with
his brother Bala Sahib, proceeded to the historically
famous palace of Brahmavarta. The 1st of July was
fixed as the day of coronation. On that day, what splen-
dour there was in the palace! The old historic throne of
the Peshwas was brought with great ceremony into the
Durbar Hall, and Nana Sahib, with the royal Tilaka on
his forehead, amidst the booming of guns and the thunder-
ing applause of thousands, ascended the throne which was
independent, earned by his prowess, supported by the
populace, and blessed by religion. On that day, hundreds
from Cawnpore sent presents to Nana Sahib.^{15} The Mah-
ratta throne which the English hurled down from Raigarh
thus re-emerged out of the Ganges flowing red with Eng-
lish blood. The Hindus all over the land hailed it with
"Raja Ramachandra ki Jay!!!"
But while Nana Sahib was straining every nerve to regain
freedom in childhood, Rani Lakshmi Bai, a fellow com-
petitor with him in childhood at Brahmavarta in horse-
riding and elephant-riding, did not keep idle. When Nana
Sahib cast the die on the battlefield for independence at
Cawnpore, she did the same at Jhansi. She was as close
an associate to him in the game of Revolution as she was
in the games of childhood. On the 4th of June, on the
same day that Cawnpore was suffused with the clouds
of fiery fume of cannonade, the Rani of Jhansi too dashed
out like lightning and joined the battle of freedom.
On the 4th of June, Jhansi rose. Before this rising, a few
letters fell into the hands of the British commissioner at
Jhansi from which it appeared that Lakshman Rao, a
Brahmin in the Ranee's service, was organising a Revolu-
tion and, as a preliminary, intended to kill the British
officers in command of the army. But while the English
were discussing amongst themselves as to what precautions
15. Trevelyan's Cawnpore, page 293.
239

THE ERUPTION
were to be taken, on the same day, the Revolutionists took
possession of the fort. Finding this, the English went to
take shelter in the city fort. The Revolutionaries made
an attack upon that also, and took it. On the 7th,
Rasaldar Kala Khan and Tahsildar Mahomed Hussein of
Jhansi and other valiant soldiers led the attack and the
flag of Revolution was hoisted on the fort of Jhansi. The
English, on the other hand, hoisted the white flag and
craved for peace. Hakim Salay Mahomed, a prominent
citizen of Jhansi, promised to spare the lives of the English,
if they surrendered unconditionally. The English laid
down their arms, and the doors of the fort were opened.
But, when the English came out of the gates, the soldiers
shouted, “Mâro Feringhiko!” The Sepoys had known
how the English had massacred their women and children
and how Neill had burnt whole villages and were infuriat-
ed beyond measure. On the 8th, a procession was led
through the city and the English were made to march in
the procession as prisoners of war. The very English peo-
ple, who were wielding the highest authority at Jhansi
only a week before, were, to-day, parading as captives.
As they were approaching Johan Bagh the Sepoys asked
the general, “Rasaldar Sahib, what further orders?”
The Rasaldar ordered that the Feringhis who were guilty
of treason in having dared to dethrone the Ranee and
annex the country should not be spared and that, there-
fore, they should be drawn up in three separate rows of
men, women, and children and, as soon as the jail Daroga
decapitated the commissioner in the line of men, imme-
diately the rest of the lines of men, women and children
should be beheaded. In a second, blood began to flow in
streams. Thus, they died as victims of the merciless
annexation policy of Lord Dalhousie refusing to recognise
the adoption made by the queen.
About seventy-five men, twelve women, and twenty-three
children were decapitated by the Revolutionaries and,
there being no legal or adopted heir of the English to
240

CAWNPORE AND JHANSI
represent them, the Revolutionaries annexed the Kingdom
of Jhansi to the Ranee's crown as the guardian of her son,
Damodar Rao. They declared: "The Universe belongs
to God, the country to the Emperor, and the authority to
Ranee Lakshmi Bai!" ¹⁶
16. There is an authoritative work on the life of the Queen of
Jhansi by a well-known Marathi historian, and there the able au-
thor has established by an incontestable array of proofs that there
was not the least incitement to this massacre from the young Queen.
This work has a wide circulation and is translated in other verna-
culars in India, and so we think it unnecessary to repeat the argu-
ment once more.
241
16

CHAPTER IX
OUDH
SINCE Dalhousie annexed Oudh, the people of
that province had been sinking deeper and deeper
in misery. After Oudh lost her independence,
all the offices of honour, power, and wealth in
the Nabob's Kingdom were given to Englishmen,
and the Swadeshi men had to go to the wall.
The Nabob's army was disbanded, his nobles were driven
into poverty, his ministers and other officers lost their
positions and were pushed to the low ranks of wage-
earners ; and all of them entertained a rankling hatred of
the slavery which destroyed their country and reduced
them to such a state. The sting of slavery was felt not
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OUDH
alone in the capital and among the palace officials. The
traditional rights of properties and Inams (fiefs) of the
big Zemindars and Rajas were also confiscated by the
English. So, all these Rajas and Zemindars saw how, bet-
ween even a bad Swaraj (national rule) and subjection
to a highly developed foreign rule, the former was to be
preferred and was infinitely more agreeable and honour-
able. The increase in the land-tax produced discontent
among the peasants. Most of the Hindusthanee Sepoys
in the English army were from Oudh, and the misery and
slavery of the place of their birth soon made them intense-
ly disaffected. Every one put his hand to the sword when
he remembered how the English ruined Nabob Wajid Ali
Shah with their cruel treachery and deceit. The big
Zemindars of Oudh, were descendants of Rajput heroes.
They were intensely excited when they heard of the per-
fidious cruelty of the English towards their King. After
the annexation of Oudh, the English asked them to come
and accept services under the new regime. Hundreds of
the freedom-loving and valiant men replied, at that time:
“We have eaten the food of Swaraj! We will not touch
the foreigner’s food!”
Sir Henry Lawrence was made the chief officer of the new
Oudh province. He was the elder brother of Sir John
Lawrence by whose alertness and statesmanship the seeds
of the Revolution in the Panjab were smothered before
taking root. Just as the chief commissioner of the Panjab
had saved that province, so also his brother in Oudh had
begun his preparations to save this. If anyone deserves
the credit of having materially helped to perpetuate Bri-
tish power in India in this Revolution, it is the Lawrence
family. Sir Henry Lawrence, as soon as he stepped into
Oudh, really grasped the situation there and had expressed
the fear of a Revolution, long before any other Englishman
thought of it. Lucknow being the capital of Oudh pro-
vince, Sir Henry had his headquarters there. He started
the policy of pacifying disaffected Zemindars by sweet
243

THE ERUPTION
speeches. He took great pains in organising a Durbar at
Lucknow and in giving various honours, titles, and re-
wards, in order to make the people forget their late Swaraj.
He was not unwise enough to rest content merely with
applying pacificatory means, but also began to think out
various plans for opposing a possible popular rising.
For, though Sir Henry Lawrence was a better officer than
his predecessors, the people in Oudh were heartily dis-
gusted with English rule as such, whether good or bad.
Their ambition could be satisfied with nothing less than
the restoration of Swaraj and the reinstallation of Wajid
Ali Shah on the throne. They had no other desire but to
break the English chains and make Hindusthan free again.
Their religion was yesterday the religion of the free. But
yesterday, it was the religion of the state and the king.
Today, it had fallen to a secondary and a servile place.
These were their chief complaints, and the remedy was
not good rule by the English but the end of all English
rule. Powerful Hindu chiefs, like Man Singh, and leaders
of Mahomedans, like Moulvie Ahmad Shah, resolved to
sacrifice their all in this war for freedom and the Hindu
and Islamic religions. Thousands of Moulvies and Pundits
began to wander all over Oudh, preaching sacred war,
openly and secretly. The army took the oath ; the police
took the oath ; the Zemindars took the oath ; almost the
whole populace joined in a vast conspiracy to fight the
English, and the fire of popular agitation spread every-
where. It has been already told how sparks of this agita-
tion would come forth, now and then, unintentionally.
Moulvie Ahmad Shah himself was convicted of sedition
and was given the death sentence which was later com-
muted. The 7th regiment was disarmed. Sir Henry Law-
rence held a great Durbar on the 12th of May, in order to
keep control over the Sepoys as far as possible. He then
delivered there an eloquent oration in Hindusthanee. He
fully dilated upon the importance of loyalty, the insults
offered by Ranjit Singh to the Mahomedan religion,
Aurangzeb's insults to Hinduism, and the protection ac-
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
244

OUDH
corded by the English to both Hindus and Mahomedans
against mutual injury. He then personally presented
swords, shawls, turbans, and other presents to those Sepoys
who had shown their loyalty ; while, on the other side,
the 7th regiment was being disarmed and disbanded. What
an irony time had in store for him ! In a very short time,
these loyalists who got rewards had to be sentenced to
be hanged on proof of their complicity with the
Revolutionaries.
The loyal Durbar was held on the 12th. On the 13th, the
news came that Meerut had risen and, on the 14th, the
people heard the joyful news that Delhi had fallen into
the hands of the Revolutionaries and that a Proclamation
had been issued of the freedom of Hindusthan.
Sir Henry Lawrence now selected two places near Lucknow
city, Machi Bhawan and the Residency, and began the
work of fortifying these as places of refuge. The English
women and children were taken there and all Englishmen,
clerks, civil officials, and merchants were taught military
drill, discipline, and the use of the rifle. At Meerut too,
after the rising, all the civil Englishmen there had been
given such training and made ready for the field in ten
days. Sir Henry Lawrence was made the chief military
officer of the province. Oudh being close to Nepal, Sir
Henry Lawrence sent a mission to Nepal requesting help
from there. He asked Jung Bahadur to come down into
Oudh with an army. While these precautions were being
taken, Sir Henry would get “ reliable ” information every
day that there would be a rising that day. Daily, on re-
ceipt of the news, he would take special precautions ; but
the day would pass and no rising would take place. He
was often thus deceived. On the 30th of May also, an
officer informed Sir Henry that there was to be a rising
that evening at nine o'clock.
The sun set on the 30th. While Henry Lawrence was
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THE ERUPTION
dining with his subordinates, the nine o'clock gun went
off. Seeing that the man who had brought information
this time was one who had proved a false prophet before,
Henry Lawrence bent forward and said sarcastically,
"Your friends are not punctual!"
Not punctual! Hardly had he finished the sentence, when
he heard the crashing noise of the rifles of the 71st regi-
ment. As previously settled amongst themselves, at the
nine o'clock gun, a detachment of this regiment attacked
the bungalows of the English. The mess-house of the 71st
regiment was set on fire and the Englishmen were
fired at. Lieutenant Grant who was attempting to escape
was hidden under a mattress by some one; but someone
else gave the information to the Sepoys. He was dragged
out and killed. While Lieutenant Hardinge was guarding
some streets with his cavalry, he also received a sword-cut.
The cantonment was on fire. Brigadier Handscomb was
also killed. The English soldiers and a few Sepoys who
stuck to the English flag were under arms all night, trying
to check the spread of the rising as much as possible. On
the morning of the 31st of May, Henry Lawrence marched
on the Revolutionaries with the English soldiers under
him and a few Sepoys who were still loyal to the English.
But, on the way, the 7th cavalry regiment that was with
him also rose. He left them to join the Revolutionaries
and returned. Though the English had the whole of the
32nd regiment stationed at Lucknow, besides the artillery,
before sunset, the 71st infantry, the 48th infantry, and the
7th cavalry regiment, together with the irregular troops,
hoisted up the flag of freedom.
At a distance of fifty-one miles to the north-west of Luck-
now is the town of Sitapur. There were stationed here
the 41st infantry and the 9th and 10th irregular infantries.
At Sitapur also stayed the commissioner of the province
and other big officials. On the 27th of May, some English
houses had been set fire to. But the English had not yet
246

OUDH
the experience to know that those fires were the premoni-
tory symptoms of the rising. They, therefore, did not
give any special attention to it. Nay, more, even the
Sepoys made great efforts to put down the flames! This
fire served two purposes. One was that the members of
the secret society got notice that the time had come. The
other was to test the credulity and confidence of the Eng-
lish. On the 2nd of June, an extraordinary incident
occurred. The Sepoys complained that the flour bags
given to them contained powder of bones and refused to
take them. They also insisted that they should be instant-
ly thrown into the Ganges. The English quietly threw
the bags into the river! In the afternoon of the same
day, the Sepoys suddenly rushed into the gardens of the
English and everyone helped himself to whatever fruit he
liked and as much as he liked. The English officers pro-
tested vehemently, but the Sepoys did not stop in their
repast to listen to the remonstrance! After the terrible
feast, they began an equally terrible exercise in order to
digest the food! On the 3rd of June, a batch of Sepoys
went up to the treasury and captured it, and the rest went
and attacked the house of the Chief Commissioner. On
the way, they met Colonel Birch and Lieutenant Graves
and killed them. The 9th irregulars, also, killed their
officers. All the Sepoys would shout, "The Feringhi rule
is at an end!" and fall upon any Englishman they met.
The commissioner and his wife were running towards the
river. He, his wife, and a boy were killed while crossing
the river. Thornhill and his wife, also, fell a prey to
bullets. The Sepoys in their rage killed about twenty-four
English. Many others among the English, however, ran
to the Zemindars of Ramkote, Mitavali, etc., enjoyed their
hospitality for eight or ten months, and then were taken
safely to Lucknow. All the Sepoys of Sitapur then went
to Farrukabad. The fort there, in which the Englishmen
had taken refuge, was taken after severe fighting and the
Englishmen were massacred. Nabob Tafuzar Hossein
Khan was re-established on the Gâdi which had been
247

THE ERUPTION
wrested away from him by the English. The Nabob, also,
caught and killed every Englishman in his state. Thus,
on the 1st of July, there was not a single Englishman
left in the province of Farrukabad. In the town of Malan,
about forty-four miles to the north of Sitapur, the English
officers had heard rumours of a conspiracy among the
Sepoys and the people. When they also got the news of
the rising at Sitapur, they ran away on their horses and,
thus, the whole district became free without even a drop
of blood being shed.
The third district was Mahmadi. The English here had
sent their families to the Raja of Mithauli. The Raja
saw them and told them that they must live secretly in
his jungles, as he had no power to protect them openly.
For, the Sepoys in the whole province of Oudh had taken
oaths to rise. After sending away their wives to the Raja,
the English officers at Mahmadi took themselves to the
fort. On the same day, the English fugitives from Shah-
jahanpur in Rohilkhand arrived at Mahmadi. But there
was not even a moment's safety at Mahmadi and the
officers sent a message to Sitapur to help these helpless
Englishmen. Sitapur had not yet risen then and some
Sepoys were sent with carriages to Mahmadi to fetch the
refugees. But, the Sitapur Sepoys brought with them
the seeds of the Revolution. They put all the English in
carriages and took them safely till half-way to Sitapur ;
but there, they suddenly told them to get down and killed
them. In this massacre, there were eight women, four
children, eight lieutenants, four captains, and many others.
The officers remaining at Mahmadi immediately ran away
and the whole district was free from British rule on the
4th of June.
Another district near Sitapur is Barhaitch. The chief
officer here was Commissioner Wingfield. There were four
administrative centres—Sikrora, Gonda, Barhaitch, and
Melapore. Out of these, at Sikrora were stationed the
248

The battle-scarred KASHMIR GATE at Delhi. Tenaciously held by the
Revolutionaries, the British could only take it after a very hard struggle and
heavy sacrifice of life.
KAISER BAGH, LUCKNOW, the palace of the Nawabs of Oudh.

This page contains no text (blank page).

OUDH
2nd infantry regiment and a battery of artillery. When
there were signs of a rising here, the English women and
children were sent to Lucknow. On the morning of the
9th of June, many English officers voluntarily repaired
to the Raja of Balarampur for refuge. Only the chief
officer of the artillery, Bonham, retained his faith in the
Sepoys and would not leave his post. But, in the evening,
the Sepoys plainly told him that they did not wish to
injure him personally but that they would not fight
against their countrymen, because the English rule was
at an end. At this, Bonham had to leave the station.
The Sepoys showed him the safest way and he reached
Lucknow safely. When the news of Sikrora's independ-
ence reached Gonda, that town also rose for freedom.
Then the commissioner, Wingfield, together with all the
Englishmen ran for safety to the Raja of Balrampur.
This Raja protected nearly twenty-five English people and
sent them to an English camp at a suitable opportunity.
The news of the liberty of Sikrora and Gonda soon reach-
ed Barhaitch. The English officers there, without waiting
for a rising, left the chief town of the district and ran
towards Lucknow, on the 10th of June. But, since the Re-
volutionaries had their out-posts at various places all over
the province of Oudh, they disguised themselves as Indians
and tried to cross the river Gogra in a boat. First, they
did not attract any attention; but when half-way, there
was a sudden cry of " Feringhi ! Feringhi !!" The boat-
men jumped away out of the boats and the English officers
were killed. With these officers vanished the British
power in Barhaitch.
Though there was no military station at Melapore, still
the popular outburst compelled the English officers to run
away from the district. A Raja helped them as far as
possible in their flight. But, soon, they fell victims partly
to the swords of the Revolutionaries and partly to the
hardships of the forest.
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
249

THE ERUPTION
Fyzabad was the chief town of the eastern part of Oudh
and was also the residence of Commissioner Goldney of the
province. In the province of Fyzabad, there were three
districts, Sultanpur, Saloni, and Fyzabad. In the city of
Fyzabad were stationed, at the time, the 22nd infantry,
the 6th irregular infantry, some cavalry, and some artil-
lery, all under the command of Colonel Lennox. In the
district of Fyzabad, the oppression of the English govern-
ment was at its worst. Sir Henry Lawrence himself writes,
“The Talukdars have also, I fear, been hardly dealt with.
At least in the Fyzabad district, they have lost half their
villages, some Talukdars have lost all.”¹ Immediately
after the news of Meerut, the English officers at Fyza-
bad were afraid that this oppression would soon be aveng-
ed, and anxiety to save themselves took possession of their
minds. They could not send their families to Lucknow,
because the road was thoroughly guarded by the Revolu-
tionaries. They could not prepare to fight at Fyzabad,
because the whole army there was composed of Indians.
Finding themselves in this dilemma, these officers at last
went to Raja Man Singh for protection. Raja Man
Singh was the great leader of all the Hindus in the pro-
vince of Oudh. His sword was always drawn to protect
the Hindu religion under the Nabobs. In the May of
1857, this proud Raja had been imprisoned by the English
for some begatelle about revenue. But, since the English
had been weakened by the Meerut rising, they had releas-
ed him in order to curry favour with him and gain him
to their side.
With very great difficulty, he consented to give refuge to
English women and children in his castle. He still said that
the people would not like his action and would not even
scruple to attack his castle for it. On the 1st of June, how-
ever, the families of the English officers went to Man
Singh for refuge and lived safely in his Shahganj Castle.

1. Kaye and Malleson's Indian Mutiny, Vol. III, p. 266.
   250

OUDH
While the English were taking these measures of precau-
tion, the Revolutionary fire began to burn brighter at
Fyzabad. Moulvie Ahmad Shah, a name which finds a
place now in Indian history, was one of the several Taluk-
dars whose property had been confiscated by the English.
He had taken the vow not only to get his Talukdari back
but to free his country. Since the English annexed the
kingdom of Oudh, Talukdar Ahmad Shah had given his
all-in-all for the service of his country and religion. He
became a Moulvie and set out on a tour through Hindus-
than to preach Revolution. Wherever this political saint
went, there was seen an extraordinary awakening amongst
the people. He personally saw the great leaders of the
Revolutionary party. His voice was law in the royal fami-
ly of Oudh. He formed a branch of the Secret Society at
Agra. At Lucknow, he openly preached the destruction
of the British power. He was beloved by the masses in
Oudh. With his body, his mind, his speech, and his intelli-
gence, he worked incessantly in preaching freedom and
weaving a perfect net of secret societies. He then took up
the pen also. He wrote Revolutionary pamphlets and
began to spread them broadcast in the province of Oudh.
In one hand the sword and in the other the pen! Seeing
this, the English ordered his arrest. But the Oudh police
did not help to arrest the popular leader! So, a military
force was sent to fetch him! He was tried for sedition,
sentenced to be hanged, and detained for a time in the
Fyzabad prison.² The race began between the Moulvie
2. "Before the mutiny broke out, the Moulvie travelled
through India, on a roving commission, to excite the minds of his
compatriots to the steps then contemplated by the master spirits
of the plot. Certain it is that, in 1857, he circulated seditious papers
throughout Oudh; that the police did not arrest him; and, to
obtain that end, armed force was required. He was then tried and
condemned to death. But, before the sentence could be executed
Oudh broke into revolt and, like many a political criminal in Eu-
rope, he stepped at once from the floor of a dungeon to the footsteps
of a throne!"—Malleson, Vol. IV, page 379. Says Gubbins :—
"The Moulvie of Fyzabad was released from jail by the mutineers.
251

THE ERUPTION
and the English power to hang each other ! While the
Moulvie was preparing to hang the English power, the
latter was hurrying to erect a scaffold to hang the Moul-
vie. But, in the hurry, they retained the Moulvie in the
Fyzabad prison and thus erected scaffolds for themselves.
For the Moulvie's arrest was the spark that set fire to and
exploded the Revolutionary magazine at Fyzabad. The
whole town, including the army, rose at once. When the
English officers went to the parade ground to keep the
Sepoys in order, the Sepoys on their part informed them
boldly that thenceforth they would only obey the orders
of Swadeshi officers and that their leader was the Subah-
dar Dhuleep Singh. Subahdar Dhuleep Singh then im-
prisoned the English officers ; they were prohibited from
going beyond a distance of twelve steps. Then, the towns-
men and the Sepoys ran to the prison which had been
sanctified by the feet of the popular hero. The door of
the prison creaked and amidst the loving shouts of the
populace, the Moulvie Ahmad Shah threw away the chains
which had now been broken to pieces and walked up to
the crowd ! This was the Moulvie's rebirth ! The Eng-
lish power which was about to hang him was itself hanged
by him at last ! As soon as he was released, he accepted
the leadership of the Revolution at Fyzabad, and the first
thing which he did, in revenge for the sentence of death
passed on him, was to send a message to Colonel Lennox,
now kept under guard, thanking him for his permission
to allow the use of a Hookah while he was in prison.³
After thanking for the gift of a Hookah the man who
gave him the death sentence, the noble-souled Moulvie
warned the English officers to leave Fyzabad immediately.
To prevent looting and disorder at Fyzabad, as happened
He came from Madras and was of a respectable Mahomedan
family and had traversed much of upper India, exciting the people to
sedition. He had been expelled from Agra for 'preaching sedition."
Etc., etc.
3. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 394.
252

OUDH
in some other places, detachments of Sepoys were sent
out as guards. The arsenal and other public buildings
were also guarded by Sepoys. The Sepoys of the 15th
regiment elected a committee of war which resolved that
the English officers should be killed. But the chief officers
decided that the first promise should not be broken and
so they let them go away alive. They were even informed
that they might take with them all private property, but
no public property as that belonged to the King of Oudh !
Thereafter, the Revolutionaries themselves got boats ready
for the English and gave them some money ; then the
officers took leave of all the Sepoys and went away along
the Gogra in boats. On the morning of the 9th of June,
a Proclamation was issued that Fyzabad had become
independent, that the Company's rule was at an end, and
Wajid Ali Shah had recommenced to rule !
While the English were floating along in the boats, the
Sepoys of the 17th regiment saw them. They had received
a letter from Fyzabad Sepoys asking them to kill all the
Englishmen coming from there. The attack on the boats
commenced. The chief commissioner, Goldney, was killed;
so also Lieutenant Thomas, Ritchie, Mill, Edwardes,
Currie and others. Those that went to the town of
Mohadaba were killed by the police themselves. Only
one boat and its occupants concealed themselves success-
fully till the end and reached the English camp safely
with the help of the boat-men. While Raja Man Singh's
household was anxious about the safety of English women
and children given in his charge, many more men came
there again for refuge. Man Singh was, at the time, at
the chief city of Oudh. He wrote home that he had just
made an agreement with the Revolutionaries by which
they allowed him to give shelter to women and children,
provided that he did not take there any Englishmen, and
that it had been decided that his house should be searched
to see whether he observed the conditions. Therefore, the
Englishmen in his fort, with their families, left to cross the
253

THE ERUPTION
river Gogra. They encountered many dangers and hard-
ships on the way and those of them that survived arrived
safely at the house of the Raja of Gopalpur. That Raja
entertained the twenty-nine English with great hospitality,
for some days, and then sent them safely to the English
camp. Most of the Englishmen who escaped in the trials
of 1857 have written long accounts of their experiences.
They are all very instructive and are a living monument
to the nobility of sentiment of the people of our nation.
Though there was so much hatred all over Oudh against
the English, they were entertained hospitably, when they
surrendered, even in the houses of those Rajas who fought
on the side of the Revolutionaries. And such examples are
not isolated. Busher writes: “Now, I alone remained. Run-
ning on, I came across a village on the way. The first
man I saw there was a Brahmin. I asked of him some
water to drink. He saw my misery and took pity on me
and told me that that village consisted of Brahmins and
that my life was safe.... Buli Singh came up in pursuit.
I ran into a gully when an old woman came up to me and
pointed out a cottage. I went in and hid myself in the
grass. Shortly after came Buli Singh’s men and began
to pierce everywhere with the ends of their swords to
find me. They soon found me and dragged me out by
my hair. The people in the village began to heap curses
on the Feringhis ! Then, Buli Singh conducted me to
another place, amidst the hootings of the village crowd.
My execution was postponed everyday. I fell on my
knees and craved for mercy. In this way, I was taken,
at last, to Buli Singh’s house.” After a long time, he was
sent away to the English. Colonel Lennox writes : “While
we were running, the men of Nazim Hossein Khan caught
us. One of them drew out his revolver, gnashed his teeth
and said that his hands were throbbing to despatch the
Feringhis away in an instant but that he could not do it !
We were next taken up to Nazim. He was sitting in the
Durbar leaning on a cushion. He told us to drink a little
sherbet and rest, and not to be frightened. When the
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question arose as to what quarters should be given to us,
an angry servant suggested the horse-stables near by.
Nazim rebuked him for this, but immediately another
broke forth, ‘Why all this trouble? I will just kill these
Feringhi dogs!’ Nazim thundered against them all and
promised us our lives. We hid near the Zenana through
fear of the mutineers. We got good food, clothing, and
rest.” Then, Nazim disguised all these as Indians and
sent them safely to the English camp.
As soon as the English officers left the city of Fyzabad,
the other districts in the province also hoisted the flag of
freedom. Sultanpur rose on the same day, i.e. the 9th
of June. The third district town, Saloni, rose on the 10th.
The officers of the latter place were running for their lives.
The Sirdar Rustom Shah saved some of them, and Raja
Hanumant Singh also saved some. The gallant and brave
princes of Oudh did not rest content merely by sparing
the lives of those who surrendered but also entertained the
English most hospitably. As a matter of fact, the Eng-
lish had inflicted terrible losses on, and offered great
insults to, almost all these Zemindars. Not that the
Zemindars ever forgot that their Swaraj had been des-
troyed and their religion was trodden under foot. Follow-
ed by their Sepoys, they were openly warring against the
English and many had taken oaths never to rest until the
English were out of the country. But, to match this
heroic patriotism and love of freedom, they all showed
equally heroic gallantry. While the common people were
massacring the English in a fit of rage and revenge, they
treated the English women and children hospitably and
showed them clemency! Even those officers who had
but now persecuted them were given their lives, when they
came to surrender! Though the mass of the people
insisted that it was not desirable to leave the officers, for
they might again come to fight—as the officers did in the
latter part of the war—they did not shrink from showing
them generosity! In how many other countries except
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THE ERUPTION
in India can be found, in Revolutionary times, this gallan-
try and this nobility of heart, even when it enraged
the masses ?
Raja Hanamant Singh was the chief of Kala and, though
not behind anybody in his anxiety to fight in the cause
of his nation, his nobility forced even his enemies to speak
of him in the following terms : “ This noble Rajput had
been dispossessed, by the action of the revenue system
introduced by the British, of the greater part of his pro-
perty. Keenly as he felt the tyranny and the disgrace,
his noble nature yet declined to regard the fugitive chiefs
of the nation which had nearly ruined him in any other
light than as people in distress. He helped them in that
distress ; he saw them in safety to their own fortress. But
when, on bidding him farewell, Captain Barrow expressed
a hope that he would aid in suppressing the revolt, he
stood erect, as he replied, ‘ Sahib, your countrymen came
into our country and drove out our king. You sent your
officers round the districts to examine the titles of the
estates. At one blow, you took from me lands which,
from time immemorial, had been in my family. I sub-
mitted. Suddenly misfortune fell upon you. You came
to me whom you had despoiled. I have saved you. But
now,—now I march at the head of my retainers to Luck-
now to try and drive you from the country .’”⁴
This generosity on the part of the people of Oudh was not
a sign of weakness. Between the 31st of May and the end
of the first week of June, the whole province rose in Revo-
lution like a big machine suddenly setting to work ! In
the whole province, the Zemindars, Jagirdars, and Rajas ;
the thousands of Sepoys under the British—infantry,
cavalry, and artillery ; all the servants of the civil depart-
ments ; peasants, merchants, and students ; in short, all,
whether Hindu or Mahomedan, rose like one man for
4. Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. III, page 273 (foot-note).
256