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

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,
312

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
314

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

BEHAR
Patna, the ideals of Swadharma and Swaraj were really
in unison.¹
When the Sikh army came into Patna, Tayler proceeded
to try and nip in the bud the Revolutionary activities in
the province. The conduct of Waris Ali, the police
Jamadar of the Tirhut district, appeared suspicious and
the authorities suddenly surrounded his house and made
him prisoner. This Jamadar in the English service was
just then writing a letter to a Revolutionary leader at
Gaya, called Ali Karim! On the evidence of the Revolu-
tionary correspondence seized in his house, he was, soon
after, sentenced to death. When he was brought to the
scaffold, he shouted, “If there is any real devotee of
Swaraj here, let him liberate me!” But, before his re-
quest could be heard by the devotees, his lifeless body was
hanging from the scaffold!
The Mahomedan leader, Ali Karim, was also ordered to
be arrested and a European detachment was sent for the
task. When Mr. Lowis, the head of the detachment, came
up to Ali Karim, the latter mounted his elephant and an
exciting race began! But, the spectators soon dropped
their impartiality and exceeded the bounds of fair play.
The neighbouring villagers, seeing the Feringhis chasing
a countryman, began to harass the former, misdirected
them on their way, and, at last, even stole one of their
ponies! The English officer “irritated by fatigue and
despair,” left it to his Indian servant to chase the swift
Karim and returned the next day, not having achieved
his task. The servant also, being an English-hater, let
Karim alone and came back to his master with a
sorry face.

1. “As soon as the Sikhs entered the town, a wild Fakir rushed
   forward into the road and, with savage menaces and threatening
   gestures, reviled them as traitors and accursed....”—Patna Crisis
   by Tayler.
   317

THE CONFLAGRATION
While these arrests were going on in the province, Mr.
Tayler came to know the names of several leaders in the
city and he resolved to surprise them. The Revolutionary
secret meetings used to take place in the house of the
leaders at night and, though Tayler had no definite infor-
mation about the names of the persons who were implicat-
ed in, or the general programme formed, still he had no
doubt about the complicity of three most influential Mul-
lahs of the place. He thought it necessary to arrest them at
once. However, there was the fear that an attempt to
arrest them openly would, perhaps, precipitate the revolt
he wanted to suppress. So, the honest officer struck upon
a new plan. One day, select citizens were hospitably
invited to Mr. Tayler's house to confer with him on im-
portant political matters. When all the guests had arrived,
he came up with the Sikhs ; and when, after some con-
versation, the company were taking leave to depart, Tay-
ler stopped the three Moulvies, who were also among the
guests, and informed them smilingly that, as it was
dangerous to leave them at liberty in the then troublous
times, they were arrested ! However, this act was applaud-
ed everywhere on the pretext that it was for the
good of the English power and all admired Tayler's
energetic action.
After having thus arrested the prominent Revolutionary
leaders without shedding a drop of blood, Tayler decided
to strike at the town of Patna, while it was still confused
at the suddenness of the arrests. He therefore issued an
order to disarm the town and prohibited the people from
leaving their houses after 9 P.M. This order rendered the
nightly meetings of secret societies impossible. The storing
of arms, also, became difficult. So long, the Revolutionary
society at Patna was awaiting the signal to rise from
Danapur. But, when this life-killing procedure began,
they resolved to rise suddenly and boldly. rather than be
crippled by it. On the 3rd of July, Mussalmans began to
crowd towards the house of a leader, Peer Ali by name.
318

BEHAR
They entered his house and settled their plans. In a short
time, they came out one by one, with green flags and
shouts of “Din, Bôlô! Din !” About two hundred
Jehadis came out in procession and attacked the church.
Just then, a white man, called Lyall, was seen coming with
some troops, and Peer Ali shot him dead, and his infuriat-
ed followers hacked his body to pieces beyond recognition!
But, Rattray came with his “loyal ” Sikhs and made a
desperate attack on the Revolutionaries. When the Sikhs
thrust their swords in the body of the Mother, when their
bodies became red with her blood, then, the handful of
Revolutionaries were soon broken up by the force of
superior discipline and arms. The English arrested the
Revolutionary leaders one after another, among them be-
ing Peer Ali who had shot Lyall.
Peer Ali was originally a resident of Lucknow but had
lately established himself as a bookseller in Patna. He
had imbibed the ideas of independence by reading the
books which he used to sell. The conditions of dependence
and slavery became unbearable to him. He placed him-
self in communication with the Revolutionaries at Delhi
and Lucknow. He imparted to others his passionate
patriotism. Though he was only a humble bookseller, he
had great influence in the Revolutionary councils of Patna.
He collected together a large number of armed men with
the help of the wealthy members of the secret society and
they were all sworn to rise against the British power at
a given signal. When the English officer at Patna, Mr.
Tayler, began torture and oppression, Peer Ali’s hot nature
could not keep quiet. He was by nature stern, spirited,
and brave. He could not bear to see the tortures of his
countrymen, and therefore he, as he confessed later, “rose
prematurely.” Next, we see Peer Ali sentenced to death,
severely handcuffed, his hands bleeding from his wounds.
He stood before the scaffold, with a heroic smile on his
face, defying the death that was awaiting him. There was
only a slight sob when he took the name of his beloved
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
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