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

THE FIGHT IN DELHI

army of Rohilkhand while it was still far away. On the
morning of the 2nd of July, Nabob Ahmad Kuli Khan,
with all other nobles and citizens, went forth to receive
the army of Rohilkhand. Hakeem Ahsanullah Khan,
General Sanad Khan, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Gulam Kuli
Khan, and other leaders, too, were present. Mahomed
Bakht Khan, the commander of the forces of Rohilkhand,
requested the Emperor to accept his services. When
Bakht Khan pressed his request to know the desire of the
Emperor, the Emperor said : ‘It is my ardent desire to
see that the people are completely protected, that the
security of life and property is maintained, and that the
extermination of the British foe is triumphantly carried
out.’ The general then said that, if the Emperor wished,
he was ready to act as the commander-in-chief of the Re-
volutionary forces. At this, the Emperor pressed the hand
of the general with affection. Then, the different heads
of the different regiments were called together and they
were asked whether they would elect Bakht Khan as com-
mander-in-chief. All of them voted ‘aye’ and took mili-
tary oaths of obeying the general as their commander-in-
chief. After the levee was over, the Emperor again
granted a private interview to the general. All over the
city, the order went forth that Bakht Khan would act as
the commander-in-chief. He was presented with a shield,
a sword, and the title of General. The Prince Mirza
Mogul was appointed adjutant-general. Bakht Khan in-
formed the Emperor that, even if any of the princes of
royal blood would continue looting in the city, he would
not hesitate to cut off his ear and nose at once. The
Emperor replied, ‘You are invested with supreme authori-
ty. Do whatever you think best, without the least hesita-
tion.’ The Kotwal of the city was ordered that if there
was any row or looting through his negligence in the city
he would be hanged. Bakht Khan reported that he had
brought with him four infantry regiments, seven hundred
cavalry, six horse guns, three field-pieces, etc., etc. As
this part of the army had been given its pay for six months

297

THE CONFLAGRATION
in advance and as the general had with him four lakhs
of Rupees in cash, the Emperor was assured that he need
have no anxiety about money or pay. Not only this, the
Emperor was informed that further captures of money
would at once be sent to the Royal Treasury. The Em-
peror distributed sweet-meat worth four thousand Rupees
amongst the Sepoys. The Sepoys of Agra, the regiments
of Nasirabad, of Jallundhar, all are under the command
of Bakht Khan. The general ordered that every citizen
in the city should be armed. All householders and shop-
keepers should keep arms. And those who had none
should, at once, ask for them at the Supreme Thana and
they would be given them free. But none should be found
without arms. Any Sepoy who would be found looting
would be deprived of his hand. Bakht Khan went to the
armoury and, after examining it, got the arms and
powder-magazines properly arranged. At eight in the
night, the general went to the palace. The Emperor, with
Begum Zinat Mahal, Hakeem Ahsanullah Khan, and
Ahmad Kuli Khan, discussed the state affairs. In the
general parade on the 3rd of July, nearly twenty thousand
Sepoys were present."³
While the arrival of Bakht Khan was giving the Revolu-
tion in Delhi some sort of organisation, in the English
camp too, men of energy and initiative were arriving from
the Panjab and other places. The English government
had very few men with them who could surpass, in energy
or ability, the brave Brigadier-General Chamberlain who
had just arrived from the Panjab. The famous military
engineer, Baird-Smith, too, came there. All the men who
distinguished themselves in the Sikh War were sent from
the Panjab by John Lawrence to help the English army
at Delhi. Then, General Barnard decided to try once more
the " straight and bold " assault on Delhi which had been
so many times thought of and given up in the past. Even
3. Native Narratives by Metcalfe, page 60.
298

THE FIGHT IN DELHI
as in the past, this assault too was perfectly planned.
And on the 3rd of July, the English army, all the while
standing ready to march, did begin to move—but, lo !
someone has just brought the news that General Bakht
Khan has spared them all the trouble of marching on
Delhi ; for he himself has marched upon them ! On the
4th of July, Bakht Khan again came forth and pressed on
the English rear as far as Alipur itself !
That the city of Delhi, about which the English had been
openly boasting before the siege began that to see it was
to conquer it, should not allow him even to take one step
further on in spite of new forces pouring from the Panjab
to his help, even after the constant struggle of a complete
month, was too much of an anxiety and shame to the
sensitive nature of Barnard. The English were so eager
to take Delhi and so confident of their ability to do so
that, long before June had ended, the news of the fall of
Delhi would reach Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras ! And,
no sooner did this usual news prove as usually groundless
than the English people all over India would begin to
ask each other, “ What are the English forces doing at
Delhi, at all ?” This anxiety and shame were working
on the mind of Barnard. And to this gloomy view of
the past there could be seen nothing in the future but a
still darker sequel ! He was not allowed even a moment’s
rest by the constant attacks of the Sepoys ; nor could he
fail to see that every day that rose was lessening the hope
of carrying any bold or straight assault on the city of the
Revolutionaries. At last, Barnard, the commander of the
British forces, emaciated in body and eaten up in mind
by this hopelessness and dark despair, fell an easy victim
to cholera, on the 5th of July. This came up like a shock
over the English forces in the camp. This was the second
commander of the English forces who tried to enter the
city of Delhi but succeeded only in entering the grave,
instead ! General Reed, now, took up the charge and
became the third commander of the English forces !
299

THE CONFLAGRATION
While the British camp was busy in planning assaults, the
people of Delhi were busy in actually carrying them out.
All of them cannot be described here for want of space.
Yet, the sortie of the 9th of July and again that of the
14th of July, and the doggedness with which the Revolu-
tionaries fought, and the bravery with which the English
and the revolutionaries fought are too important and
inspiring to be omitted without any remark. On the first
day, the English cavalry was actually routed and driven
back. The English artillery was silenced. A brave Sepoy
threw Hill and his horse down on the ground. Hill, re-
covering himself, drew his sword, while three Sepoys
jumped upon him. Hill tried to shoot twice and twice
he missed, while one of the Sepoys succeeded in snatching
away his sword. They closed in hand-to-hand fight ; they
struggled ; down they came. Hill was lying on the ground
and the Sepoy was standing with one foot planted on
Hill's breast and with sword drawn in his hand. Major
Tombs saw this from a distance of nearly thirty feet ; he
aimed and shot at the Sepoy and killed him. Major
Tombs raised Hill from the ground and began to move
him off, but saw, to his utter dismay, that yet another
Sepoy had picked up the pistol of Hill and was coming
towards him. The Sepoy, single-handed, fought with two
or three Englishmen, wounded one with the sword, killed
the second, and was himself struck down by the sword of
a third. Tombs and Hill, both of them got the " Victoria
Medal " for this brave encounter, and Sir John Kaye says
that the brave Sepoy, too, ought to have got the " Baha-
dur Shah Medal " ! How many must have deserved the
Bahadur Shah Medal for their brave martyrdom in that
War of Independence! But this, too, is equally true, that
those that are so brave and so self-sacrificing get, if not the
Bahadur Shah medal, yet the nobler one, the Duty medal
of Martyrdom, even from the hands of Death himself !
On this day, the English soldiers were disgracefully routed!
But unable to avenge this on the Revolutionaries, these
brave people went back to their camp and wreaked their
300

THE FIGHT IN DELHI
vengeance on the poor innocent bhishtis (water-carriers)
and other Indians in their service, by actually cutting them
down to death in cold blood!” ⁴ And yet it was these
bhishtis and others who had kept the English army in
fighting condition! But the English were worsted still
more terribly in the attack of the 14th of July. For, on
this day, the brave Chamberlain was shot dead by a Sepoy.
“The first warrior in our camp, the first in fame, the first
in honour! Woeful the day when our Chamberlain was
carried back to the camp wounded mortally!—” such is
the language with which the English historians express
the fullness of their grief at this their national loss.
Thus, the 15th of July passed off and still the proud towers
of Delhi were carrying their flags and banners, resplendent
in the rays of the sun, proclaiming to the world that the
city had now become the abode of Freedom! At last,
Reed himself resigned and retired to the Himalayan hills
to avoid a sure death! This was the third commander of
the English forces. Two were put into the grave; the
third could survive simply by resigning the charge—still
Delhi could not be taken! The chiefs of the staff, Quar-
termaster-General Becher and Adjutant-General Chamber-
lain were laid down in the camp expecting their death
every moment—still Delhi could not be taken! Nay,
even the question of self-defence is getting more and more
hopeless by the constant and harassing attacks of the
Revolutionaries who numbered, by now, more than
twenty thousand! Even if the Revolutionaries lost more
men in the encounters, yet the English could reap ab-
4. “It is related that, in the absence of tangible enemies, some
of our soldiery, who turned out on this occasion, butchered a number
of unoffending camp-followers, servants, and others who were hud-
dling together, in vague alarm, near the Christian church-yard. No
loyalty, no fidelity, no patient good service on the part of these good
people could extinguish, for a moment, the fierce hatred which
possessed our white soldiers against all who wore the dusky livery
of the East.”—Kaye and Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, p. 438.
301

THE CONFLAGRATION
solutely no advantage. But the death of even a handful
of their number perceptibly weakened their strength. For
this reason, the English determined to remain only on the
defensive. For, defeats in these assaults could neither
weaken the Revolutionaries nor put a stop to their further
assaults. But, on the contrary, they grew more determined
and fearless and did openly boast, "Even a success is
costing the English as much as a defeat!" Even the
English people themselves all over India began to write
and criticise and complain that "the besiegers themselves
are besieged!" And, when, in such straits, even the third
commander retired, then, men like Greathead, Chamber-
lain and Rotton began to give up every hope of attacking
Delhi and, in the headquarters itself, the question of
actually raising the siege of Delhi began to be discussed!
This was the state of the siege of Delhi when the third
commander, Reed resigned and the fourth one, Brigadier-
General Wilson, succeeded him in the command!
302

CHAPTER II
HAVELOCK
WHEN the Sikh Sepoys delivered the Allahabad
fort into the hands of the English, instead of
into the hands of the Revolutionaries, the Eng-
lish made it a base of operations on their side.
There was now no longer the danger of having
to carry on all civil and military operations in
the North of India from a distant centre like Calcutta.
Lord Canning decided to shift the capital itself to Allaha-
bad until the Revolution was suppressed and, accordingly,
he came in a few days to reside at Allahabad. But, in the
meanwhile, came the news of the miserable plight of the
English at Cawnpore and their piteous cries for help.
303

THE CONFLAGRATION
General Neill, therefore, kept a small army for protection
at Allahabad and sent the rest under Major Renaud to
raise the siege of Cawnpore. This detachment marched
on burning villages indiscriminately, on their way. Just
then, Havelock was appointed to the command of the
Cawnpore army in place of Neill. He arrived at Allaha-
bad, towards the end of June. He was a trained and an
experienced officer. Fortunately for the English, the war
with Persia came to an end about the time when the Re-
volution actually broke out, and the whole English army,
under good commanders like Havelock, arrived in India
just at the time when they were very badly wanted.
Though Neill was extremely chagrined to find that Have-
lock superseded him as the chief officer at Allahabad and
that he had to be under him, he did not allow his private
feelings to come in the way of the welfare of his country's
rule in India. He made vigorous efforts towards the equip-
ment of the army. He gave every help to the army which
was to be commanded by Havelock, made all arrange-
ments as to the commissariat, and quietly handed over the
charge of the troops to Havelock when the latter officer
arrived. This army was now fully prepared to go to the
assistance of the English at Cawnpore. Havelock was
eager to start, when suddenly news came that Sir Hugh
Wheeler was defeated and had surrendered and that all
the Englishmen, including him, had been massacred on the
banks of the Ganges !
Havelock determined to revenge their death and set out
in haste from Allahabad towards Cawnpore. He had with
him one thousand select English infantry, one hundred
and fifty Sikhs, a picked detachment of English cavalry,
and six guns, all desperate with rage. There were, also,
several civil and military officers going along with them,
officers whose life had been saved consciously and deli-
berately by the revolted Sepoys and the people, out of
mercy, or who had escaped their vigilance, and who now
came to give information about the geography of the
304

HAVELOCK
country to the new officers and men, to fight along with
them and to wreak a terrible vengeance. And these brave
Englishmen, whom one word of a Sepoy would have
despatched from this earth, who would have been
dead by now but for their mercy, now came to-
gether and started the campaign of burning villages
wholesale.
When the news came to Cawnpore that a detachment
under Major Renaud was marching towards Fattehgurh,
Nana Sahib sent some troops in that quarter. Hoping to
crush the small detachment in a short time, this army
under Jwala Prasad and Tikka Singh reached Fattehgurh.
But, by that time, Havelock's army had joined Major
Renaud and the united English army fired their guns as
soon as they heard that the Revolutionaries had come.
When the small Revolutionary force rushed into the field,
confident of crushing Major Renaud in no time, it found
arrayed against it the whole army of Havelock, together
with artillery and all necessaries. This was on the 12th
of July. They were, thus, completely taken by surprise.
The fight began and they had to retire from the field
leaving their guns behind them. Pursuit was impossible
and the English army gave up the idea and entered the
town of Fattehpur. At the time of the rising in Fatteh-
pur, the leadership of the Revolution had been taken up
by a deputy magistrate in the English employ, a Maho-
medan named Hikmat Ullah. English officers had also
been killed there. The sword of English revenge now
fell on that town. The former magistrate of the town,
Sherer, who had been spared his life by the Revolutiona-
ries and let off, now came with the army and was now
eager to exercise his power of magistracy, so long in
abeyance. So, a looting by the military was ordered, first
of all. When it was certain that nothing more remained
in the town worth looting, the order was given to set fire
to it; but the honour of this work was left to the Sikhs.
So, when the English troops left, the Sikh troops per-
305
20

THE CONFLAGRATION
formed their allotted task, set fire to the whole town and
followed them.
When the English army burnt alive the whole town of
Fattehpur, the fumes spread along and, at last, reached
Cawnpore. The news reached Nana Sahib’s camp that
the detachment which attacked Major Renaud’s force was
suddenly set upon by Havelock’s army and that, after
routing them, the English had entered the town and
destroyed the whole city by first looting the place and
then, burning alive the people in it. The whole of the
Cawnpore Durbar was excited with rage and fury. Just
when it was decided to send another army under Nana
Sahib himself to obstruct the English march on Cawnpore
at the Pandu river, it was announced that some traitors
who had deserted to the English had just been arrested.¹
At their trial, it was proved that some of them had carried
letters from the women prisoners at Cawnpore to the Eng-
lish at Allahabad. When the news spread that those whom
Nana had saved from massacre as “ women ” were main-
taining secret, treacherous correspondence with the
English at Allahabad, the important question arose as to
what should be done to them. As the English burnt
Fatehpur, why not avenge it by destroying this “Bibigarh”
(Palace of Females) in return ?
Though the prison was called Bibigarh, there were, also,
some men in it saved by the intervention of Nana Sahib.

1. “ After the ,defeat of Nana Sahib’s forces at Fattehpur,
   some reputed spies were brought to the Nana Sahib. They were
   accused of being the bearers of letters supposed to have been written
   to distant stations by the helpless women in prison. In the cor-
   respondence, some of the Mahajans and Baboos of the city were
   believed to be complicated. It was, therefore, resolved that the
   said spies together with the women and children, as also the few
   gentlemen whose lives had been spared should all be put to death.”
   —Narrative of the Revolt, page 113. One of the Christian prisoners
   in the prison of Nana Sahib tells the same account and one of the
   Ayahs (nurses) deposes to the same effect.
   306

HAVELOCK
After the unanimous resolution that these prisoners, along
with the traitors who carried the correspondence, should
all be killed, the dreadful meeting of the dreadful night
adjourned. Next day, the spies and the Englishmen were
dragged out of the prison and made to stand in a line.
At first, the spies were decapitated with swords, in the
presence of Nana Sahib himself ; then, the Englishmen
were shot. When Nana Sahib left the place, people came
up to the corpses and mocked, “ This is the Governor of
Madras ; this of Bombay, and this of Bengal.”
When this grim mockery was going on here, the order was
sent to the Sepoys at Bibigarh to kill all the inmates.
When the warders would not dare to do it, it was resolved
to bring someone of greater mettle as regards cruelty.
The chief wardress of Bibigarh, Begum Sahib, sent a man
to the butcher quarter of the Cawnpore city. In the
evening, some butchers, brandishing naked swords and big
knives in their hands, entered the prison gesticulating in
rage. They entered about evening and came out when
it was just beginning to be dark. But, in that short space
of time, there was a regular stream of red blood within
the prison ! As soon as they entered, they stabbed right
and left and killed about one hundred and fifty English
women and children ! The room was a lake of blood with
pieces of human flesh swimming in it. When they went
in, the butchers walked on the ground ; but when they
came out, they had to wade through blood. The night
was wailing with the screams of the half-dead, the deep
groans of the dying, and the piteous cries of a few children
who escaped on account of their size in the general massa-
cre. About dawn, the unfortunate creatures were dragged
out of Bibigarh prison and pushed into a neighbouring
well. A couple of children, so long crushed under the
weight of the dead bodies, got out near the well and began
running away. A blow threw them also dead on the heap
of the dead. Men drank water so long from the well, but
the well now drank human blood. As the English had
307

THE CONFLAGRATION
thrown to the skies the screams of brown women and
children at Fatehpur, so, the Pandays threw the screams
and the corpses of white women and children into the deep
down! The account between the two races, extending
over a hundred years, was thus being settled !² Even the
Bay of Bengal might, in ages, be filled up ; but the yawn-
ing well of Cawnpore—never !
About the same time, Havelock was pushing forward after
defeating the army sent by Nana Sahib at Pandu nadi.
Commander Bala Sahib Peshwa, brother of Nana Sahib,
was hit by a bullet in the shoulder, in a skirmish, and
returned to Cawnpore. Nana Sahib called together a
council of war to settle the future plan of campaign. The
question was discussed whether Cawnpore should be eva-
cuated without fight or a strong resistance should be offer-
ed to the English advance ; and, at last, after a long
discussion, the latter alternative was decided upon. On
the 10th July, the English army came near Cawnpore.
The news of the Cawnpore well had not reached them.
Though Wheeler's fort was gone, they had a strong inten-
tion of rescuing Bibigarh. With this desire, they did not
rest a moment in spite of fatigue, sun, and strife. When
the turrets of Cawnpore came into view, Havelock was
inspired all the more by these hopes. He sent reconnoitr-
ing parties to spy the army of the Pandays. That army
was so splendidly arranged on the field that the English
warrior who had spent all his life on the battlefield per-
ceived that there were some men, among the Revolutiona-
2. "The refinements of cruelty—the unutterable shame—with
which, in some chronicles of the day, this hideous massacre was
attended, were but fictions of an excited imagination, too readily
believed without inquiry, and circulated without thought. None
was mutilated, none were dishonoured...... This is stated, in the
most unqualified manner, by the official functionaries, who made
the most diligent enquiries into all the circumstances of the massacres
in June and in July."—Kaye and Malleson's Indian Mutiny, Vol.
II, page 281.
308

HAVELOCK
ries, of extraordinary military skill. He called together
his officers and drew out for them, with his sword, on the
ground a map of his plan of attack. While Havelock was
explaining to them that, instead of a front attack, the
Revolutionary left wing should be attacked first, Nana
Sahib, mounted on a white horse, joined the efficiently
arranged troops of the Revolutionaries. From the English
camp, the figure of Nana Sahib could be seen distinctly
galloping into the different ranks and encouraging the
soldiers. About noon, the English attack on Nana Sahib’s
left wing commenced. To check this fierce, sudden and
unexpected attack on the left, the Revolutionary artillery
began fire. As the English artillery was a little late in
arriving, these guns did very effective work. But when
Havelock, irritated, by the success of the eRevolution-
aries, began to push forward again in desperate vigour
and when the Highlanders, with turned eyes, ran straight
to the guns and when the English, without going back an
inch, rushed forth with the cry, “ Death or Victory !’’, then,
the left wing became quite unable to resist the united,
sudden and orderly attack and retreated, leaving their
guns behind. While the left was retreating, the English
artillery had defeated the right wing. Seeing the English
army victorious, the Revolutionaries began the retreat
along the road to Cawnpore. But, with the courage of
despair, Nana Sahib rallied them and, with the rest of
the guns, renewed the fight. At this time, Nana Sahib
made marvellous efforts to encourage and lead the Sepoys.
“ Such was the battle of Cawnpore. The Revolutionaries
fought very well. Some of them did not retire even when
sword clashed with sword. They saved their guns
with determination and the firing was, also, splen-
didly aimed.’’³ One more assault from the English
side, and even this desperate resistance became in
vain and the defeated Revolutionaries retreated to-
wards Brahmavarta.
3. Red Pamphlet.
309

THE CONFLAGRATION
On the 17th of July, Havelock's victorious army entered
the city of Cawnpore. Havelock and his army who had
brought up to Cawnpore the first wave of victory, to
revive the lost English prestige were blessed by English-
men, both in India as well as in England. Everywhere
in England, in the street-corners, on sign-boards of shops,
on the walls of public-houses, Havelock's name was
engraved !
When the permission to loot Cawnpore was given, hun-
dreds of English officers and soldiers, along with the Sikhs,
fell upon Cawnpore like vultures on a wounded lion. At
Bibigarh, the spot was clotted with blood and there was a
suspicion that it was English blood that had been spilt
there. Therefore, a large number of Brahmins in Cawn-
pore were caught and those of them against whom there
was any suspicion of complicity with the Revolution were
sentenced to death. Not merely that, but, before being
hanged, they were made to lick off, with their tongue, the
blood spots and, then wash away the stains, broom in
hand. The reason of giving this unheard-of punishment
to those about to be hanged is thus given by an English
officer : “ I know that the act of touching Feringhi blood
and washing it with a sweeper’s broom degrades a high
caste Hindu from his religion. Not only this but I make
them do it because I know it. We could not wreak a true
revenge, unless we trample all their religious instincts
under foot, before we hang them, so that they may not
have the satisfaction of dying as Hindus.” In the massa-
cres ordered by the Revolutionaries, not only no religious
injuries were inflicted on the English, but they were always
given time, when they requested so, to read the Bible
before they were killed. But the English clean took away,
so far as they could, from the Revolutionaries who were
massacred at Cawnpore and Delhi, all consolations of
religion. But many gallant men, even. in this misery,
embraced death with a smile for the sake of their principle
and made sacred the gallows on which they were hanged.
310

HAVELOCK
Charles Ball says : “General Havelock began to wreak a
terrible vengeance for the death of Sir Hugh Wheeler.
Batch upon batch of natives mounted the scaffold. The
calmness of mind and nobility of demeanour which some
of the Revolutionaries showed at the time of death was
such as would do credit to those who martyred themselves
for devotion to a principle. One of them, who worked as
a magistrate at Cawnpore under Nana Sahib, was arrested
and put on his trial. But, he seemed so indifferent to all
the proceedings as if they all referred to someone else
and not to him. After he was sentenced to death, he rose
and turned his back to the judge and walked with a firm
step to the scaffold erected for him ; while the Maungs
were making the final preparations, he was looking at their
movements in an easy and natural manner. And without
the least agitation, he mounted the scaffold even as a Yogi
enters Samadhi ! Fortified by the assurances of his creed,
death to him was but a transition from the hated associa-
tion of the infidel Feringhis to the blissful enjoyment of
paradise.”⁴
While the British army entered Cawnpore and was taking
revenge ad libitum, Havelock praised the small army con-
sisting of English and Sikhs for having fought bravely in
an orderly, compact, and determined manner. Soon after
this, General Neill also arrived at Cawnpore, having left
a sufficient English garrison at Allahabad. When these
two English officers of equal rank came together, each of
them would have the desire of having all the troops under
his control and there was a possibility of more disorder
in the already disorderly English army. Seeing this,
Havelock told Neill plainly on the latter’s arrival, “Gene-
ral Neill, it is better that we should understand each
other clearly. So long as I am here, the whole command
is mine and you should not give any orders.” In order
that English interests might not suffer through the personal
4. Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 388.
311

THE CONFLAGRATION
jealousy of the two officers, Neill remained to guard
Cawnpore and Havelock marched towards Oudh at the
head of the troops going for the relief of Lucknow. Neill
hit upon a new plan for the defence of Cawnpore. He
formed a corps of Mahars and gave the town in their
charge. The trick of inciting these low class men against
the higher classes succeeded wonderfully. When the di-
vision among the Hindus and Moslems vanished, this
caste difference was thus made use of ! After the defeat
of Cawnpore, Nana Sahib Peshwa left Brahmavarta and
crossed the Ganges with his treasure and his army. His
first camp was at Fattehgarh ; the English army under
Havelock, not being able to ascertain Nana's whereabouts,
marched towards Lucknow. By the end of June, the
whole province of Oudh was a perfect beehive of the Re-
volutionaries, and it was not easy task to march through
the province and to relieve Sir Henry Lawrence and raise
the siege of Lucknow. Still, in the flush of victory, Have-
lock and his army thought lightly of the work of crossing
the Ganges and relieving Lucknow. Just as the idea, “ to
see Delhi was to conquer Delhi,” possessed the English
army which descended from the Panjab, so, the idea that
it was only necessary to cross the Ganges in order to take
Lucknow now haunted Havelock's army going up from
Cawnpore. It is true Lucknow is not very far from
Cawnpore. It is also true that the energy and quickness
which was displayed by Havelock on his march from Alla-
habad to Cawnpore inspired him to undertake stupendous
tasks with a light heart. But now, there was not an
inch of space in Oudh that was not involved in the flames
of the national Revolution. Oudh being the cradle of the
Purbhayya Sepoys who began the revolt in India, the
parents, the children and relatives, and friends of these
Sepoys, in every hamlet and every cottage, were inevit-
ably burning with Revolutionary spirit. Still, this terrible
state of affairs did not daunt the English commander who
was full of his victory. He was in such high spirits that
he hoped to conquer Lucknow at the very sight thereof,
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HAVELOCK
then to march to Delhi and, after taking it, to go to Agra!
With such confidence, Havelock, with two thousand Eng-
lish troops and ten guns, crossed the Ganges on the 25th
of July. General Neill stayed at Cawnpore and Have-
lock marched towards Lucknow. Such was the disposition
of the English troops at the end of July, 1857.
313

CHAPTER III
BEHAR
THE province of Behar and its capital, Patna,
did not remain aloof from the wave of Revolu-
tion which was sweeping over the North-
Western Provinces, Allahabad, Agra, and
Bengal. Of the different districts in the pro-
vince, the chief towns were Gaya, Arrah, Chapra,
Motihari, and Muzzafferpore. The army to control the
province was stationed near Patna, in the town of Dana-
pur. There were the 7th, 8th, and 40th native infantry
and, to keep these in check, there were the European
artillery and a European regiment, all under the command
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BEHAR
of Major-General Lloyd ; besides, there was the 12th
native cavalry regiment under Major Holmes stationed
near by, at Sigwali.
The historical town of Patna was the centre of the power-
ful Wahabi sect of the Moslem religion. The English
commissioner, Tayler, was certain that Patna would take
part in the Revolution of 1857, and he therefore kept a
close watch on the leaders of that sect. The town of
Patna which thoroughly hated the English yoke had
started a secret society with the object of overthrowing
the English power as far back as 1852. This secret society
had amongst its members influential and rich merchants,
bankers and Zemindars, a fact which gave the society im-
mense funds for its work. As prominent Moulvies accept-
ed leading positions in the society, the work soon assumed
a grave turn. They had correspondence and communica-
tion with the secret society at Lucknow as well as with
the Sepoys at Danapur. The whole town of Patna, from
the police officers down to humble booksellers, was anxious
and eager for the moment when the first blow was to be
struck against the English power.
Patna was the headquarters of the secret society and the
organisation counted amongst its members representatives
of all classes in the vast population of the town. To the
mass of the people, the word "Feringhi" itself was as
gall and wormwood. They had no lack of funds and even
sent some money to the distant frontier districts in the
west to organise a Revolution against the English. Since
the police had also joined, the nightly secret meetings
went on without a hitch. The various members of the
society employed hundreds of Revolutionaries in their
service under various pretexts and paid them out of the
funds of the society. While Patna was, thus, burning
with the hatred of Feringhi rule, its flames were spreading
in all directions in the vast province, giving secret inspira-
tion to the people. Soon, communication was established
315

THE CONFLAGRATION
with the Sepoys stationed for the protection of the pro-
vince, with the Zemindars, Rajas, with the chief towns in
the various districts, and all were hand and glove with
the secret society at Patna. The Sepoys in the camp at
Danapur began to hold secret meetings and form plans
at nights, under cover of the trees ! And if they saw some
Englishman who might have discovered them on
his patrol, they killed him ! When the power of
the people was thus organised and ready for Revo-
lution, negotiations began with the secret societies
at Delhi and at Lucknow.
When the final question was being discussed as to the
time when they were to start the Revolution, the English
commissioner, Mr. Tayler, got the news of Meerut. Fol-
lowing closely came the news that there was unrest among
the Sepoys at Danapur. The commissioner was a clever
man and thought the whole of India was rising in Revolu-
tion, the Sikhs were yet confirmed traitors. Therefore,
Tayler immediately sent two hundred Sikhs under Rattray
for the defence of Patna, and the Sikhs, accordingly left
for Patna. But, wherever they passed, all the way they
were despised and cursed, day and night ! They were
accused of treachery (Nimak-haram) to the nation and,
on the way, villagers would ask them sarcastically, “ Are
you true Sikhs or Feringhi converts ? ” They were advis-
ed, secretly and openly, to stand up for their country when
the crucial moment came. When the Sikhs, with the
curses of the whole province on their heads, began to enter
the town of Patna, the popular fury became intense every-
where on seeing them ; every citizen of the proud city
ostentatiously avoided the touch, even of their shadow.
What more—the priest of the Sikh temple in that free-
dom-loving city curtly refused entry to these traitors with-
in the temple! The belief that these Sikhs, were not real
followers of Guru Govind Singh—a belief shared by the
Sikh Guru, the Mahomedan Moulvie, and the Hindu
Prayagwal—is an excellent proof how, in the town of
316