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

TATIA TOPE
But the enemy understood his game and, in the face of
the fire, crossed from Ayodhya to Cawnpore before the
30th of November. In the camp of Tatia, Nana Sahib
and Kumar Singh had also arrived. These leaders deter-
mined that, instead of leaving Cawnpore, it would on the
whole be more creditable to meet the commander-in-chief
in battle, especially as “ they had, as their leader, a man
of very great natural ability ! ”³
Tatia stationed his left wing in a well-protected position
between Cawnpore and the Ganges. His centre was right
in Cawnpore city. And his right extended behind the
Ganges canal and held a bridge over it. In his army, there
were ten thousand trained sepoys. With these he kept
Sir Colin busy on the 1st and 2nd of December. On the
2nd, he actually opened fire on Sir Colin’s tent. On the
6th, Sir Colin was forced to accept the open challenge of
the Revolutionaries. Consolidating, therefore, his army
of seven thousand in an admirable manner, he began his
attack on these insolent “ mutineers ” who could dare to
attack the camp of the commander-in-chief himself. See-
ing the right wing of the Revolutionaries unprotected, Sir
Colin determined to charge on the right.
But in order to draw off their attention from the right
and direct it towards the wrong direction, the English
opened fire early in the morning of the 6th on the left
wing of the enemy, who were soon engaged in repelling
the attack. A mock charge was meanwhile made on the
centre, too, by Greathed. So believing that the enemy’s
objective was the left and the centre, the Revolutionaries
began to concentrate their strength on these. While the
left was seriously suffering from the artillery of the Bri-
tish, the English began suddenly to turn to the right of the
Revolutionary army. But the Gwalior contingent station-
ed on the right by Tatia began a furious cannonade on
3. Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 186.
385
25

THE CONFLAGRATION
the Sikhs and the English who were charging. The rifles
of the Panday army, too, were very active. But the Sikhs
made "double march" and rushed forward, being backed
up by Peel's white troops, and the Gwalior army, under
this double fire, showed signs of retiring. As soon as that
was apparent, the fire of the enemy was reduced and soon
the Gwalior army was scattered completely. All their
guns were captured and a furious pursuit of them began
on the Kalpi road. A complete victory was thus obtained
by Sir Colin so far as the right wing was concerned; but,
he was not satisfied with that. He had an idea of block-
ing completely the road to Brahmavarta on the left, as he
had blocked the road to Kalpi on the right, and thus, of
capturing Tatia with his whole army. So he despatched
Mansfield to the road leading to Brahmavarta. On this
day, the well-established proposition about Asiatics,
referred to above, seemed to have been confirmed both
positively and negatively. The feigned attack on the left
made by Greathed was so weak that, had the Pandays
made but one attempt to repel it, not only would Greathed
have been punished in a way he would have remembered
to the end of his life, but the very fortunes of the day
would have been changed. As it was, the Revolutionaries
began to give way under the straight attack of the English.
While this affirmative part of the proposition, viz., that,
at a good charge and at a show of audacity, the Asiatics
lose heart, was being confirmed on the centre emphatical-
ly; on the left, the negative part too was being realised
in an unmistakably clear way. For when the Revolu-
tionaries saw Mansfield coming, crouching in a round-
about and concealed manner, they attacked him even
though he had a large division. Nana himself commanded
the left. He took full advantage of the slow movements
of Mansfield. When Sir Colin was inquiring whether
Tatia had been hemmed in or not, he heard with regret
that through the dilatory movements of Mansfield, he had
been foiled in his desire. He did not succeed in capturing
Tatia Topé!
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TATIA TOPE
For, that Mahratta general had pressed Mansfield and
pressed him as far as Brahmavarta. He had broken
through the network of the English army, and had gone
off with his army and with all his guns. How many more
networks the English general would have to spread before
they could succeed in capturing the Mahratta tiger will
appear in a future chapter.
Though Tatia was able to escape, on this day, with all
his men and all his guns, Hope Grant was pursuing him
closely and, on the 9th of December, a running fight
ensued between Tatia and the English near Sheorajpur ;
and, though Tatia did break through this time too, most
of his guns fell into the hands of the enemy. Thus, in
an interval of two days between the 6th and the 9th, Sir
Colin was able to repair the defeat of Wyndham, to cap-
ture thirty-two of the Revolutionary guns, and to break
up their army, forcing some towards Kalpi and the rest
on to Ayodhya. After obtaining these big victories, he
thought that minor victories were surely within reach. So,
he marched on to Brahmavarta, looted the property there,
razed the palace to the ground, and, to crown all his
triumph, demolished the sacred temples of that city.
It was in this palace that the brightest gems of India, Nana
and Tatia, Bala and Rao, and the “ Chhabeli ” of Jhansi
had been bred and brought up. It was this palace that
first conceived the War of Independence of that glorious
year. The temples of that city had blessed the birth of
the ideal. When the throne of Raigarh which had been
snatched from the Mahrattas had been re-established again
in this palace washed by a free flow of the stream of
English blood, the palace and these temples had been
illuminated.
That very fire which could produce all the illuminations
had been instrumental in reducing them to-day to ashes.
But history need not drop a tear on these sacred ashes. For
387

THE CONFLAGRATION
this palace and these temples had been burnt down only
after they had accomplished their task. The very extinc-
tion of such structures is more inspiring, a thousand times
more life-giving, than the existence of hundreds of other
structures which are but monument of slavery ; for these
have attempted to give birth to independence ; and they
have died in that attempt. Far more profitable is death
through the attempt to establish Swaraj than life in
slavery. The sacred fuel burning in the sacrificial fire
is a thousand times more life-giving than the log of wood
burning in the funeral pyre.
388

CHAPTER VII
THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
AFTER thus stemming the fierce tide of Tatia's
progress at Cawnpore, Sir Colin started recon-
quering the other portions of the country that
had risen. Seaton had been marching slowly,
‘pacifying’ provinces on the way, and had
now come down to Aligarh. So now Walpole was
sent by Kalpi road to accomplish the same task for all
the territory from Aligarh to Cawnpore. Walpole was to
march upwards from Cawnpore and Seaton was to go
downwards from Aligarh ; they were to meet at Minpuri ;
and, thus, all the tract of the Doab along the Jumna was
to be reconquered. While this was being done, Sir Colin
389

THE CONFLAGRATION
was to march towards Fatehgarh from Cawnpore. Such
was the plan of operations. It was thought that the Doab
Revolutionaries would be pressed back by the English army
and would eventually enter Fatehgarh. And hence it was
decided that the closing finale of the operations should be
conducted and a great battle should be fought near Fateh-
garh, where the three armies of Walpole, Seaton, and
Campbell were to meet after the close of their indivi-
dual operations.
According to this plan, on the 18th of December, Walpole,
with all his guns and his army, began his upward march
from Cawnpore on the Kalpi road. After fighting one or
two skirmishes with scattered Revolutionary bands all
along the way, wreaking cruel vengeance—the well-known
and customary Feringhi vengeance—on all persons indis-
criminately, innocent people as well as those who actually
fought against England, and on the villages which had
sheltered the Pandays ; and, by such means, trying to
bring back the territory under British allegiance, this
Walpole came as far as Itawa and, of course, he would have
gone further. But, though the Revolutionaries in Itawa
had all left, he had still to stop, with all his army, in that
city. What could be the reason of this extraordinary neces-
sity ? What could stop this march of the English army ?
Was it that Revolutionary troops, in large numbers, had
attacked him ? Or could it be infantry or the cavalry ?
Or was it by any chance the artillery with the fierce fire
playing all round ?
No, none of these things were happening in Itawa.
Neither the infantry nor the cavalry, nor the fire of the
artillery was stopping the English at Itawa. Only twenty
or twenty-five Indian heroes are making a stand from
yonder building. That building has a roof and its walls
have holes made in them for fixing the muskets. It is
these twenty-five men, standing with a musket in their
hand and a burning fire in their heart, that have made
390

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
the fully-equipped English stop at the door of Itawa.
Itawa blocked the passage of the English army notwith-
standing the guns and cannon that it carried, because
Itawa had not yet received its usual toll due to it as of
right. That toll was that everyone who dared enter the
threshold of Itawa against its wishes should fight first.
The challenge was “Fight first!” These twenty-five men
had determined to sell their lives dear, though escape was
easy. They stood determined there and only asked for a
fight. What battle could be given to these handful of
people in this building ? If probably they waited for a
few minutes, these mad people would come to their senses
and make their escape, which was yet open to them—so
thought the English. But though they waited long, there
seemed no possible chance of the “mutineers” coming
to their senses. So, an engagement was at last decided
upon. The mere show of the artillery would, it was
thought, be sufficient to make them fly. The English,
therefore, exhibited their artillery and tried to frighten
the Revolutionaries.
But, fear could exist only in the hearts of ordinary mortals.
Those who, charmed by the ideal of independence, wel-
comed death as the only means of achieving the ideal—
who could succeed in frightening these? Who fights for
victory fears; who battles for glory, even, may fear;
but who could frighten him who fights for death alone?
The utmost one can be afraid of is death! But he who
has overstepped those limits and who smiles on death,
what could frighten him? What could come in the way
of such a man? Not all the thunders and all the lightn-
ings of dread heaven could stop his progress; for his
progress is towards death and those elements are
only rendering his task easier. He who hopes for
death alone has no room for despair. These national
heroes of Itawa who courted death in battle with
the ardour of a lover for his love, what could frighten
them, then?
391

THE CONFLAGRATION
And so they willingly relinquished all the ways and means
of escape they had. They had not the slightest hope of
victory and yet they defied the English army and loudly
called on them to join battle. That army of the
English which did not stop for the ramparts of
Delhi nor for the walls of Cawnpore nor for the
siege of Lucknow, now had to stop before this in-
significant-looking building !
Malleson says : “ Few in number, armed only with mus-
kets, they were animated by a spirit fiercer even than the
spirit of despair—by a determination to die martyrs to
their cause. Walpole reconnoitred the place. It was, for
a place to stop an army, insignificant. It could easily be
stormed. Yet to storm it in the face of its occupants
would cost valuable life and it seemed that easier and less
costly means were available. These easy means were at
first tried. Hand-grenades were thrown in ; an attempt
was made to smoke out the occupants with burning straw.
But all in vain. Through their loop-holes, the rebels pour-
ed in a constant and effective fire on the assailants and,
for three hours, kept them at bay. At last, it was resolved
to blow up that place. For this purpose, Bourchier, aided
by Scratchley of the Engineers, made a mine with a num-
ber of his gun cartridges. The explosion of this conferred
upon the defenders the martyr’s honours they coveted. It
buried them in the ruins.”
The dynamite exploded the building. The highly coveted
honour of martyrdom was, thus, gained by these heroes
who longed for it. They died on the spot and were buried
in the ruins. And this sacred mausoleum of Itawa, since
that day, has been preaching a silent and terrible sermon,
by day and by night, on How to die in defence of a
Noble cause !!
Brave Itawa ! Glorious for ever ! What better, what
holier inspiration could one find in the pass of Thermo-
392

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
pylae, the ramparts of Breccia, or the stand of De Reuter
in the Netherlands ! All glory to Itawa ! Itawa for ever !
When Walpole reached Itawa, Seaton too had passed Ali-
garh, Kashgunj, and Minpuri, and was engaging in small
skirmishes the Revolutionary bands. The two armies
met at Minpuri on the 8th of January, 1858. In accord-
ance with their previous plans, the banks of the Jumna,
near the Doab, had been reconquered by the British army
from Delhi and Meerut as far as Allahabad. Meanwhile,
Sir Colin had been marching along the Ganges. He had
crushed the Nawab of Fatehgarh and had thus destroyed
the last resort of the Doab Revolutionaries, and he was
now going towards Fatehgarh from Cawnpore, bent on
clearing the territory of the Doab, as far as the Ganges
and the Jumna on either side, of the enemy altogether.
The Nawab of Farrukabad, as has been already told, had
declared his independence at Fatehgarh. The Doab Re-
volutionaries had flocked into Fatehgarh from all the
adjoining parts. Sir Colin had many small engagements
with these. As these Revolutionary troops were mostly
composed of undisciplined people who had been defeated
at Delhi and Cawnpore and had run away from the
battle-field in those places, they used to fly before the
English, before the engagements had even begun, just to
save their lives. But did they succeed in saving their
lives by these dastardly means ? Not at all. The Eng-
lish pursued them hard and, at times, would kill 600 or
700, sometimes even a thousand of the fleeing enemy.
What a world of difference between the dying of those
Itawa heroes and these ! And the Nawab of Far-
rukabad had soon to suffer the consequences of this
dastardly conduct of these bands. His capital, his forts,
and his military supplies fell into the hands of the British
and all the Revolutionaries were driven across the Ganges
and into Rohilkhand. With the military supplies that
were captured, Nadir Khan, the avowed enemy of the
British, also fell into their hands. This Nadir Khan had
393

THE CONFLAGRATION
fought the English on several occasions with credit under
the flag of Nana Sahib at Cawnpore. As soon as such a
formidable opponent fell into their hands, they hanged
him. This Nadir Khan, at the point of death, swore a
terrible oath “ calling upon the people of India to draw
their swords and assert their independence by the exter-
mination of the English.”¹ This was the burning message
delivered with his last dying breath by this glorious
patriot, Nadir Khan.
On the 4th of January 1858, at the time when Sir Colin
entered Fatehgarh in triumph, all the Doab and all the
country from Benares upwards as far as Meerut had been
reconquered by the British. So, now, the question was
what was to be the future plan of operations of the British
army? The hope of the British, that, when the flames
of rebellion had been extinguished in the Doab, the in-
surrections in other parts would quietly settle down, now
proved absolutely futile. Experts in political astrology
had prophesied that, within eight days of the fall of Delhi,
the “ mutiny ” would be no more. As a matter of fact,
the Revolution did not perish by the fall of Delhi, and all
these prophecies had proved false. For the huge mass of
the Revolutionary army, so far confined to Delhi, spread
tumultuously all over the country like a river overflowing
its banks. The troops of Rohilkhand under Bakht Khan,
of Neemuch under Veer Singh, and other armies under
their various Subahdars, instead of surrendering to the
English, continued the war from other parts of the coun-
try. Once, right in Delhi itself, there seemed signs of
another insurrection of the populace. For, a rumour had
spread all over the city that Nana, after his victory
at Cawnpore, had marched on to effect the release of the
Emperor whom the English had imprisoned. Secret
orders were immediately given to the military authorities
that, should Nana really come to Delhi, the guards

1. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 232.
   394

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
should rush in and shoot down the old Emperor like a
rabbit ! ² Since the fall of Delhi, the Revolutionaries had
become even fiercer than before. They did not mind de-
feat now. The first ebullitions due to their victory had
settled down by this time. A stoical calmness had now
come over their hearts. Their one thought was that what-
ever happened they were to go on fighting. Either the
Feringhis or they must be exterminated. They had deter-
mined, once for all, that, so long as neither of these was
accomplished, they would continue the war to the end.
They were quarrelling amongst themselves ; some, for
personal gain, were getting lawless ; but no one was willing
to give up the fight against the English. And, if ever this
determination—never to keep down the sword until either
the Feringhi or themselves had become extinct—appeared
clearer than ever on the firmly set jaws, the contracted
eyebrows, or the stern eye of the Revolutionaries, it was
after the defeat in the Doab. Before the Sepoys who
were captured in battle were hanged, they were usually
questioned by the English why they joined in the war,
and the Revolutionaries would answer clearly and sternly,
“ It is the command of religion that Feringhis should be
killed ! ” And the end ? The extermination of the Eng-
lish and of the Sepoys ! And then ? What God wills,
will be done ! ³
Thus, after the fall of Delhi, the desire of liberty, instead
of dying out, took only more fire. And to avenge Delhi,
they continued the fight in Lucknow and Bareilly. For
when the Doab had fallen to the English, the territories
of Ayodhya and Rohilkhand were under the complete
control of the Revolutionaries. Therefore, Sir Colin's idea
was to conquer Rohilkhand first and then to proceed to
2. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 184.
3. “The slaughter of the English is required by our religion.
The end will be the destruction of all the English and all the
Sepoys,—and then, God knows !”—Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny,
Vol. II, page 242.
395

THE CONFLAGRATION
Lucknow. Lord Canning urged that, once the focus of
the operations of the Mutineers, namely Lucknow, was
destroyed, the smaller places would surrender easily. In
deference, therefore, to the orders of Lord Canning, Sir
Colin determined first to attend to Lucknow. As pre-
viously agreed, Seaton, Walpole, and the commander-in-
chief had brought together at Fatehgarh about ten or
eleven thousand troops. In all the strategic positions of
the Doab, small garrisons were stationed for keeping the
province in hand. The army was reinforced by a fresh
batch of troops sent from Agra. With their larger re-
inforcements, Sir Colin started from Fatehgarh. English
historians thus describe the magnitude of the English
forces at this time : “ Onao and Bunni deserts had pro-
bably never witnessed such big armies, engineers, artillery,
horses, infantry, carriages full of supplies, camp-followers,
tents big and small ; all arrangements were complete in
every particular. Seventeen battalions of infantry (of
which fifteen were English), twenty-eight squadrons of
cavalry (which included four European regiments), fifty-
four light guns, and eighty big guns were included ! ”
Thus, on the 23rd of February 1858, Sir Colin Campbell
left Cawnpore, and crossed the Ganges again with such
a splendidly equipped and large army in order to punish
Lucknow.
Oh Ganga, witness these strong English troops coming to
destroy Ayodhya ! And, O proud Ayodhya, are you at
least now going to humble yourself to the dust frightened
by these odds ?
Ayodhya must have felt that the crossing of the Ganges
by the English was to destroy her. She must have felt for
the reduction to dust of her villages and for the destruc-
tion of her temples and images by dynamite;⁴ but not so
much for all these things as for the fact that the Nepalese
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
4. Russell's Diary, page 218.
396

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
troops of Jung Bahadur were advancing on her. It
was this that brought tears to the melancholy eyes of
Ayodhya ; it was the advancing of this army that cast
a shadow upon her face. Ayodhya was not a coward to
fear the advance of the English army ; for, if she had
been, she would not have attempted to cast off the hated
yoke of England. The very day that Ayodhya drove away
from her domain the English authority by force, that very
day, she was aware that an English army would soon
advance on her ; and aware of this, this brave Ayodhya
had already stepped forth to the battle, with her thousand
arms. But Ayodhya was not aware that on her would
advance the Nepalese army of Jung Bahadur also. That
the enemy would try to massacre her, she knew ; but she
did not know that her friends, her brothers, too, would
raise the axe of destruction against her. She was ready
to wrestle with the English, but she was ignorant of the
shameful fact that she would have to wage war with a
portion of Hindusthan herself, for the liberty of
Hindusthan. And thus, when, as if to mock at
poor Ayodhya, Jung Bahadur started with the Nepa-
lese troops to advance on her, Ayodhya looked in
the direction of those troops only and began to
shed tears of grief.
For, at the very time when the huge British army was
crossing the Ganges with Sir Colin at the head, Jung
Bahadur too with the Nepalese was advancing on Luck-
now to help his friends, the English ! The English were
his friends and the Hindusthanees were his enemies !
Those who greased the cartridges with the fat of the cow
were his confederates, and those who refused to bite them
were his enemies ! This Jung Bahadur, this blot on Indian
history, brought eternal disgrace on himself and his family
by joining the English as soon as he heard that the fight
for Swaraj had begun. A little before 1857 he had visited
England, and English historians assert that it was because
he had seen with his own eyes the might and the glory
397

THE CONFLAGRATION
of the English that he did not dare to fight against them!
Was the glory and might of England indeed so awe-
inspiring ? If Jung Bahadur had been to England, Azi-
mullah, the minister of Nana, too, had been there; and so,
also, Rango Bapuji; and history clearly records how this
might have affected them, and how for every indication of
that power, they only formed a fresh resolve to shatter it
to pieces. The might of England alone would not explain
the conduct of Jung Bahadur. The English glory only
gave an additional stimulus to the patriotic hearts of
Azimullah and Rango to make their Mother-Country a
crowned queen with the tilaka of Independence adorning
her brow. On the other hand, the sight of English power
whispered to snake-like Treachery that, if it helped to
keep the Mother a slave of this might, perhaps two more
crumbs would fall to its lot.
And this Jung Bahadur, ready to sell his Mother for a
mess of pottage, sent his Nepalese to the English. First,
three thousand Gurkhas from Khatmandu, in the begin-
ning of August 1857, descended on Azimgarh and Jawan-
pur to the east of Ayodhya. Mahomed Hussein, the
leader of the Gorakhpur Revolutionaries, was ready to
meet them on the field. When the English were fighting
in the Doab, Veni Madhav, Mahomed Hussein, and Raja
Nadir Khan had, with credit to themselves, reconquered
completely the parts round Benares and to the east of
Ayodhya. Even before the English troops had time to
look to Oudh, the Nepalese had pressed back the Revolu-
tionaries towards Oudh. Within a few more days, Jung
Bahadur and the British came to a definite agreement and
three armies were ready to advance on this province. On
the 23rd of December 1857, Jung Bahadur started with
his nine thousand Gurkhas ; General Franks and Rowcroft
started each with a large division of the British army.
And, crushing the Revolutionary armies on the way, on
the north of Benares and to the east of Oudh, these three
armies began to enter Oudh.
398

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
About the 25th of February, 1858, the Nepalese and the
English crossed the Ghogra and marched toward Ambar-
pur. On the way, there was a strong fort in a very thick
jungle, possessing great strategic advantages. It would
not have been safe for the English army to proceed on-
wards without taking this fort. Hence the Nepalese were
directed to attack this fort. The fort engaged in fight and
continued it very vigorously in the face of this well-equip-
ped enemy. The reader may inquire the strength of the
army inside the fort which dared to stop this huge army
on its way. It was an army composed of thirty-four per-
sons only ! But the minds of all of them were filled with
the inspiring ideal of independence and it is this which
gave them the strength to fight the enemies of the country
in spite of such odds. The Nepalese fought with deter-
mination. Their opponents fought with still greater
vigour. Patriotism maintained its fight with Treachery.
Everyone kept and maintained his place fighting, struggl-
ing hard. The name Ambarpur (Heavenly City) was
eminently fitting to this fort ; Ambarpur fought so well
that it killed seven of the enemy and wounded forty-three.
It fought so well that thirty-three, out of the thirty-four
who defended it, were killed without moving from their
posts, and still the thirty-fourth did not cease from the
fight ! And it was only when the thirty-fourth was killed,
after maintaining the fight to the very end, that the enemy
could enter the fort. The fort of Ambarpur fought as
Delhi could not fight, as Lucknow could not fight !⁵
After Ambarpur had been taken, the united forces of the
Gurkhas and the English marched on reducing the coun-
try all the way. After them was also coming General
Franks who, after engaging with Nazim Mahomed Hussein
and Commander Banda Hussein at Sultanpur, Budayan,
5. “It was defended with so much vigour and resolution that
the assailants lost seven men killed and forty-three wounded before
they gained possession of it. The defenders died all at their posts.”
—Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 227.
399

THE CONFLAGRATION
and other places, was advancing upwards towards Oudh.
In order to repair the loss of prestige caused by the recent
defeats and to regain the authority till recently maintained
in that part of eastern Oudh, the Lucknow Durbar sent
Gaffoor Beg, who was chief of the artillery under Wajid
Ali Shah, to drive back Franks. But in the important
battle of Sultanpur which took place on the 3rd of Febru-
ary he was defeated and, at the end of that month, there
was no enemy left for the army of General Franks to
encounter with in those parts.
All these armies were approaching Lucknow to join Sir
Colin. General Franks turned towards Daurara with the
intention of taking the fort there ; but, as the defenders
of the fort maintained the fight in spite of the loss of their
guns, General Franks had to acknowlege his defeat and
retire. As a matter of fact, Franks had engaged in many
a battle and been successful in most ; nor could any harm
have come through this small and unexpected defeat. But
discipline and responsibility were maintained so well and
vigorously in the English army at that time that, in spite
of the innumerable victories of Franks, Sir Colin struck
his name out from the list of the officers who were to
command the English divisions in the important battle
that was soon to take place.
Now, the several portions of the British army advancing
on Lucknow began to approach nearer and nearer to one
another. While Sir Colin’s huge army starting from
Cawnpore was approaching from the west, the armies
of Franks and Jung Bahadur were advancing from
the east. Before the 11th of March, these two
armies met together and their swords were out to
massacre the “ sinful ” city.
Sinful ? Not sinful but only unfortunate ! While the
swords of fellow-countrymen and foreigners were smiting
hard, was Lucknow doing anything to meet them ? Since
400

THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
the time—in the November of the previous year—when
Sir Colin hurried towards Cawnpore to watch Tatia's
movements, till March, every patriot who was in Lucknow
was trying his best, each in his own way, to protect Luck-
now and destroy the enemy. In honour of the flag of
Swaraj which was floating high in Lucknow, everyone,
from the Rajas to the poverty-stricken peasants, took his
life in his hands and began the fight. Some of these Rajas
and Zemindars had personally and individually lost no-
thing by the advent of English rule; nay, some of them
had actually been benefited by it. But the noble principle
that what cannot benefit the country cannot in the end
benefit individuals, the noble determination not to give
up duty at any time through love of personal gain, the
Rajput feeling that death is preferable to loss of honour,
and the realisation of the truth that there can be no self-
respect, no manhood, without liberty—all these noble
ideas filled and pervaded the aristocracy of Lucknow.
The Zemindars of Lucknow did not rise merely because
they had suffered through the revenue assessment of the
English but because they hated foreign rule! This is not
merely our opinion but the deliberate opinion of the then
Governor-General, as will be seen from the following ex-
tracts: "You seem to think that the Rajas and Zemindars
of Oudh have risen because they have personally suffered
by our land-revenue assessment. But, in the opinion of
the Governor-General, this requires some more thought.
More thorough-going hatred could hardly have been shown
by any feudatories than was shown by the Rajas of
Chanda, Bhinja, and Gonda. Not a single village of the
first of these had been taken by us. Not only that but
even his tribute had been reduced. The second one also
was treated as generously. Of the four hundred villages
of the third, only three had been taken and, in exchange
for that, his tribute had been reduced by ten thousand
Rupees.
"By the change of rulers, no one had gained more than
401
26

THE CONFLAGRATION
the youthful Raja of Nowpara. As soon as the English
government came in, we gave him one thousand villages
and, setting aside all other claimants, we appointed his
mother as his guardian. But from the first, her army has
been fighting us at Lucknow. The Raja of Dhura, too,
gained enormously by the changes. But his own men
attacked Captain Hursey, captured his wife, and sent
her to prison in Lucknow.
"Ashraf Baksh Khan, the Talukdar persecuted by his
late master, was made at once sole owner of all his pro-
perty. But, from the beginning, his hatred of us has been
most keen. These and other similar examples go to show
very clearly that not mere personal loss, due to our rule,
has been responsible for the rising of the Zemindars and
Rajas against us."⁶
And so the English historian, Holmes, frankly admits that
several of the Rajas and Zemindars who had begun and
maintained the War of Independence were inspired by a
nobler idea than mere personal gain. "There were numer-
ous Rajas and petty chiefs who, without any substantial
grievance to brood over, were always fretting against the
restraints of the Government, the very existence of which
was always reminding them of the fact that they belonged
to a conquered nation.... Among all these millions, there
was no real loyalty towards the alien government which
had been forced to impose itself upon them. In trying
to estimate the conduct of the people of India during the
mutiny, it is important to bear in mind that it would have
been unnatural for them to feel towards an alien govern-
ment like ours, the loyalty that can only co-exist with
patriotism. Those of them who regarded our rule bene-
ficial helped us or, at least, left us free to help ourselves.
But there was not one of them who would not have turned
6. Lord Canning's Reply to the letter of Sir James Outram.
(Re-translated from the Marathi translation in the original).
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THE FALL OF LUCKNOW
against us, if he had once come to believe that we could
be overthrown ! '”⁷
Those whose blood boiled at the very name of foreign
domination, those who had stepped forth into the battle-
field leaving their all to unfurl the honoured flag of
Swaraj, Rajas, Maharajas, Zemindars, and Talukdars had,
be it remembered, one amongst them, at this time, who
was the first in the field to protect the revered throne of
Lucknow and who was, at the same time, the ablest in
the council. This extraordinary man had been for four
months moving here and there with lightning-like activity,
inspiring by his presence both the battle-field and the
council-hall.
Readers, this hero is none other than the Patriot of
Fyzabad, Ahmad Shah Moulvie ! With the burning torch
of the Revolutionary War in his hand, he had been setting
the whole country aflame, when the English authorities
at Lucknow captured him and ordered him to be hanged.
But, before being executed, he was taken to the prison
at Fyzabad and there the storm of 1857 raised him from
his cell in the alien’s prison to the leadership of the Revo-
lution. This national hero, Ahmad Shah Moulvie, was
on the battlefield for the freedom of his country and the
protection of his Dharma. He inspired by his tongue
thousands of his countrymen on the platform and, on the
field of battle, by his valour he earned the admiration of
friends as well as foes.
When Sir Colin went to fight with Tatia, he had left
Outram in Alam Bagh with four thousand troops. Since
that day, the Moulvie was working day and night to take
advantage of this weakening of the enemy’s forces. Many
a time, ere this, had Lucknow been protected by the
7. Sepoy War by Holmes. (Re-translated from the Marathi
translation in the original).
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THE CONFLAGRATION
diplomacy and diversions created by Nana near Cawn-
pore. The isolated army at Lucknow had been brought
under the complete control of the Pandays. When the
British army crossed the Ganges to capture Lucknow,
Nana had pressed on Cawnpore and dragged the forces
of the enemy back into Doab. But Lucknow had not
taken full and determined advantage of this diversion.
The Moulvie tried his best not to let go the other chance
which had fallen in his way through the ability of Tatia.
Though the Begum of Oudh was the chief authority in
the palace, it seemed that her efforts could not succeed
in uniting and concentrating the Revolutionaries, Rajas,
and Maharajas ; internal disorganisation and carelessness
had rendered useless many fine opportunities of destroy-
ing the handful of the British army by a good determined
charge. Delhi had fallen ; Cawnpore, also, had fallen ;
Fatehgarh had shared the same fate ; and thousands of
defeated Revolutionaries from the neighbouring parts had
come to Lucknow. But, instead of helping Oudh, they
became a source of mischief by disobedience to authority.
It appeared certain that this last attack of the British who
were flushed with their victories and well reinforced by
numberless new troops would carry everything before
them. But the Moulvie turned darkness into light. This
patriotic Moulvie inspired with high patriotism many an
Indian heart by his eloquence and the force of his per-
sonality. He showed that it was possible still to beat the
English, if attempts were made to act with one mind and
make concentrated charges against them. He inspired the
Durbar with the confidence that he possessed and evoked
some order out of the chaos in the army. He had great
difficulties to cope with. Some incapables grew jealous
of his growing influence in the Durbar and so brought
about his arrest and imprisonment. But as the Moulvie
had more influence over the Sepoys than the Begum her-
self, and as, further, the troops from Delhi trusted and
obeyed him implicitly, pressure was brought to bear upon
the Begum by these people and the Moulvie was released
404