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

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
and had killed their English officer? The steady and firm
step of these men, that resolute answer, and that
fearless simplicity of behaviour drove away all sus-
picion about them, and the watchmen replied “Al-
right!” The ‘daring band entered unopposed into
the English camp, obtained all the information that
they wanted, and came out all unscathed to report
it to their master!
Having thus informed himself of the exact situation and
the plan of the British camp, the Moulvie quickly formed
his plans, marched ahead, and took possession of a village
four miles from Bari. The plan of the Moulvie was that,
while his infantry should hold this village against the
enemy, his cavalry should march ahead by a secret route
and should wheel round and attack the rear of the British
forces. He knew it for certain that the next morning the
British general was coming to that very place, suspecting
no harm and in a perfect sense of security. As soon as
this unwary prey came into the trap, the Moulvie’s in-
fantry was to attack him from the front, while his cavalry
was to fall on the enemy’s flanks or rear. Malleson says :
“It was really a brilliant idea and did credit to
his tactical skill.”
There were two things most necessary for the success of
this brilliant design. The one thing was to keep perfect
secrecy about the forces of the Moulvie in the village;
and the other was that the cavalry that was to make a
flank attack should not sally forth and put the enemy
on his guard before the front attack should be begun. The
Moulvie did whatever he had to do. He sent his cavalry
from Bari that same night by the route agreed on; he
quietly took possession of the village and succeeded in
concealing himself there, and so cleverly that the next
morning actually saw the unsuspecting British general
approaching the banks of the river. Half an hour more
and the British forces would be done for!
445

THE CONFLAGRATION
But in that half an hour, the splendid plan of the Moulvie
was shattered to pieces by the impetuosity of the cavalry
men. They had already occupied a very convenient place
on the flank of the British forces and had been holding
themselves ready to pounce upon the foe. But their
leader, while lying in ambush, saw some guns unprotected
in front of them and, forgetting the strict orders of the
Moulvie, made for them with the intention of capturing
them, and even captured and obtained possession of them
for a while ; but soon, the English woke to their danger,
the guns were recaptured, and the whole plan of the
Moulvie was shattered. For, this fighting at the rear
opened the languid eyes of the English commander and he
saw the danger in his rear as well as in his front. Seeing
his plan thus nullified by the rashness of his cavalry, the
Moulvie who was holding the village left it after a skir-
mish and marched off—to find another opportunity and
to mature another design.
While Hope Grant was pressing the Revolutionaries up-
wards and upwards, from Bari to Bitaoli, with a view to
drive them out of Oudh, there on the other side, on the
15th of April, was being fought a hotly contested battle,
near the fort of Ruiya. We have seen how, sometime
before this, in the province of the Doab, the English army,
being divided into separate divisions and marching by
separate routes, pressed on the Revolutionaries simulta-
neously and systematically, sweeping off the whole pro-
vince, till they drove them all into the town of Fatehgarh.
In the same manner, a campaign had been organised and
put into execution to sweep the Revolutionaries off the
whole province of Oudh, by different British forces, from
all possible quarters, pressing them onwards and upwards
towards the northern frontier of Oudh. About the 1st of
April, 1858, the total number of the white forces in India
had risen to ninety-six thousand soldiers, besides which
there were the loyal armies of the Sikhs. The brigades
consisting of the Pathans, Pariahs, and other raw recruits,
446

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
though originally raised in haste, had by this time become
quite like veterans through constant experience on the
field. Again, the ‘contingent’ forces of the native princes
which had been sent forth to the assistance of the English,
were also busy in the field. The pick of these innumerable
brown and white troops were now engaged in the supreme
effort of reconquering Oudh. As described in the last
chapter, Lugard and Douglas were sent into Behar, Sir
Hope Grant was sent towards Bari and Bitaoli, and Wal-
pole was ordered to march up from the banks of the
Ganges. Thus, these different forces, including those of
the commander-in-chief and others, were marching in a
line to drive out the Revolutionaries to a man further and
further to the north till they were pushed into Rohilkhand;
and then, the idea was to annihilate them by one supreme
effort. With this intention, Walpole too had started to
do his own part on the 9th of April, 1858 ; and now, on
the 15th of April, he was busy in attacking the fort of
Ruiya which is fifty-one miles from Lucknow.
It was not that either the fort of Ruiya was very strong
or that its owner Narapat Singh was a very big and mighty
chieftain. But small Zemindar though he was, ever since
this great sacrificial fire was lighted up on the field of
liberty, this Narapat Singh had offered himself with his
all-in-all, as a willing victim for the regeneration of his
nation. The 15th of April saw a mighty English army,
armed with the most modern artillery, attacking this little
chief in his tiny fort. As he had not even two hundred
and fifty men with him in the fort, the English naturally
expected that the chief must have already evacuated the
place. But, on that very morning, one of the white pri-
soners whom Narapat Singh had released came to the
English camp and informed the general that he had heard
Narapat Singh say that he would evacuate the fort but
not until he had had his vengeance.—Not until a gory
fight is fought, not until one bloody defeat is inflicted will
Narapat leave his fort !
447

THE CONFLAGRATION
What ! This little chief is to inflict a bloody defeat ? And
then alone is he to evacuate the fort ? Walpole was
furious and ordered his men to attack the fort. The Eng-
lish forces, as usual, circulated a rumour that the forces
of Narapat Singh numbered about two thousand ! When
we are sure of crushing this Narapat Singh, what other
way of magnifying our sure victory than of exaggerating
the strength of the adversary ? So even Walpole agreed
that the forces with Narapat must be at least a thousand
and five hundred. This released English captive who
attests to the fact of only two hundred and fifty men de-
fending the fort, though an eye-witness, might be a mad
man ! The English forces advanced—and that too, not
on the weak side of the fort though its weakness was
well-known to them, but the brave general would insist
on marching against the strongest face of the fort ! The
defenders of the fort began to pour a shower of bullets as
soon as they saw the British attacking the fort from
among the trees in front of it. The shower grew hottest
when the enemy approached the ditch. Out of a hundred
and fifty who marched, forty-six English soldiers were
killed on the spot. Grove could not move one step for-
ward on account of the fire of the Pandays. Now then,
the skilful Walpole, seeing this crisis at the strong face of
the fort, took his guns and rushed against the weak side
of it ; and with such accuracy he aimed his guns, that
the English cannon balls sent from this side crossed over
the fort and fell right amidst the English forces on the
other side ! Many are the generals who fight with their
enemies, but matchless and the first without a second is
General Walpole, who would fight with both friend and
foe with equal skill and bravery ! At the sight of this
matchless skill of the veteran general, another general,
Hope, came forth to save the day—but alas ! he is killed
by the unbearable fire of the Revolutionaries. Even
Grove is retiring—confusion worse confounded ! The
confused British army left the field and fell back, dis-
gracefully repulsed !
448

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
The death of this brave general, Hope, came as a shock
over all Englishmen resident in India. Lord Canning and
Sir Colin, why, all England was overwhelmed with grief.
Not even the death of hundreds of soldiers would have
inflicted such a sorrow and mourning on the English
nation as did the death of this Hope—one of the bravest
and most energetic of the English officers of that period.
The tiny chieftain, Narapat Singh, had done what he said,
“he had his vengeance,” and then left the fort with his
handful of men, and went on fighting with the unsullied
banner of liberty in his hand!
After these different divisions had swept off the Revolu-
tionaries from the province of Oudh towards the north
and then to Rohilkhand, the commander-in-chief got all
the forces united and marched on to Rohilkhand in person.
All the leaders of the Revolutionaries had now assembled
in Shahjahanpur. There was Nana Sahib of Cawnpore
and Moulvie Ahmad Shah. These two men had baffled
all the innumerable attempts of the British generals to
get hold of them and were still as energetic and uncon-
quered as ever. So, when the news was brought to Sir
Colin that these two leaders of the Revolutionaries were
within his reach in the same place and perhaps ignorant
of his movements, Sir Colin formed the shrewd plan of
closing the town from all sides. He marched and closed
on Shahjahanpur—but only to find that the birds had
flown away! It was but natural that Sir Colin should
be extremely piqued at this, as he had ordered four dif-
ferent forces to guard all the four sides, and the Revolu-
tionary leaders escaped by the side guarded by the com-
mander-in-chief himself!
Now that the plan of Shahjahanpur was frustrated, Sir
Colin was desirous of reducing at least the city of Bareilly.
So, leaving a division of his forces with four guns in
Shahjahanpur, he started and arrived on the 14th of May
within a day’s distance of Bareilly. The Rohilla, Khan
449
29

THE CONFLAGRATION
Bahadur Khan was still holding out in this city. After
the fall of Delhi and Lucknow, the Revolutionaries had
been pouring into this still independent town of their
party. Mirza Feroz Shah, the brave prince of the Delhi
dynasty, Shrimant Nana Sahib, Moulvie Ahmad Shah,
Shrimant Bala Sahib, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Raja Teja
Singh, and many of the lesser leaders, had retreated into
Rohilkhand and Bareilly, its capital, where still was wav-
ing the flag of a free people. And it was for this very
reason that Sir Colin had vowed vengeance against this
city. But in the Indian camp there was no talk of
making any stand at the city itself, as the leaders of the
Revolution had determined, even according to the general
order they had just issued, to resist the enemy by guerilla
tactics. Their plan was to evacuate the city and get scat-
tered all over the fields of Rohilkhand. All preparations
had been made for leaving the city and only the last order
of evacuation remained to be given. But when the
brave Rohillas actually saw the hated Feringhi just
near the town, the majority of them refused to
evacuate the city without first tasting the steel of
the foe—until, once at least, they had given proof
of their readiness to die for the cause of their
nation and their faith.
The English forces that had surrounded that city were
exceedingly strong. Their artillery was well-equipped and
they had numerous guns ; their cavalry and their infantry
were well-armed and well-disciplined ; and the command
was in the hands of no less a general than the commander-
in-chief Sir Colin Campbell himself. Against these, the
guns of Khan Bahadur Khan could make no impression,
and so, on that 5th of May, the Revolutionary guns had
to be silent and the Revolutionary sword flashed forth.
The sword belonged to the martyr-spirits who, in spite
of the hopelessness of success, nay, in virtue of the hope-
lessness of success, instead of leaving the battle-field, pre-
ferred to embrace death with a smile on their lips and
450

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
the unconquered and unconquerable faith in the holiness
of their cause in their heart. To die while fighting in a
good cause is the key to the gates of Heaven, that was
their belief ; and they knew that the cause of the freedom
of a people was one of the best causes for the sake of
which one could lay down one's life. So they unsheathed
their swords and dashed like thunderbolt on the English
forces. With green turbans on their head, with a Kum-
merbund girded round their loins, and a silver ring inscrib-
ed with chosen sentences of the Koran in their finger,
these terrible-looking Ghazis rushed up from the right,
holding their head behind their shields, with their swords
shining aloft in the sun, and shouting wildly their war-cry
of “ Din, Din ! ” They closed with the British troops with
a tremendous shock, and, at this desperate attack, though
they were very few, the British soldiers were startled
and confused and swept away ; the 42nd Highlanders
tried to check their onrush—but the death-dealing Ghazis
still advanced, while some of them even succeeded in
reaching to the rear of the British forces ! Not one of
them returned back—all of them fell while fighting and
mowed down the English soldiery like sheaves before the
scythe ! They fell ; they fell like lions, despising even the
thought of retreat or surrender ; one only fell without be-
ing bayoneted by the enemy. Why ? Wait a minute
and the answer comes ; for, there is coming up to this
spot the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces ; nay,
he has come here ! And just then this martyr, who had
been pretending death, jumps up from among the corpses
and falls on the commander, but alas ! a loyal Sikh stand-
ing by the commander scents this danger and cuts the
Ghazi off ! ²
Of the few instances of the immortal bravery of
martyrdom in the history of the world, none can be
greater than this !
2. Russel's Diary.
451

THE CONFLAGRATION
Next day, having baffled the attack of the British to cap-
ture them, the Revolutionaries, with Khan Bahadur Khan
at their head, marched out of Bareilly on the 7th of May,
1858, and the English forces took possession of the eva-
cuated capital of Rohilkhand.
Disappointed on account of the safe escape of Khan
Bahadur Khan out of his clutches, but still feeling trium-
phant for the capture of Bareilly, Sir Colin was standing
in his mighty camp. Just then, there rose one deafening
cry all over the camp—the cry of "The Moulvie! The
Moulvie!! The Moulvie, again!!!"
It was an extremely surprising design that the Moulvie
was hatching there at the town of Shahjahanpur. Having
baffled Sir Colin, it was not simply to avoid a fight that
Nana Sahib and the Moulvie had left Shahjahanpur. All
the government buildings in the town had been demolished
by the order of Nana Sahib even before they left the
town. The keen-sighted leaders had rightly gussed that
the English commander would leave only a few troops in
Shahjahanpur, and would proceed to Bareilly; and they
had decided that, when he was thus away, the Moulvie
should wheel round and fall on the city, crush the English
forces there, and thus avenge the loss of Bareilly by the
sack of Shahjahanpur. This was their plan and all things
turned up as they guessed. For the British commander
did go to Bareilly, leaving only a small detachment,
though with a strong complement of artillery composed
of four field-pieces. And the English detachment had to
encamp on a plain, unprotected and open, as Nana Sahib
had already caused all fortified places to be pulled down.
On the 22nd of May, Moulvie Ahmad Shah started for
Shahjahanpur by rapid marches, while his prey was in-
dulging in false security. But, after midnight, the forces
of the Moulvie—none can say by whose foolish obstinacy
—stopped for a while within four miles of the town. This
stay made the excellent plan barren of fruits, as "native
452

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
spies employed by the British were on the alert, and one
of them flew with the intelligence of his dangerous vicinity
to Colonel Hale at Shahjahanpur." As soon as this
traitorous spy brought the news, the British commander
moved into the newly-built fortified position with his
soldiers. The Moulvie pressed on, though now his prey
was awake and occupying a strong position. He attacked
and occupied the town, captured the fort, and levied a
tax on the rich inhabitants of the place for the supplies
of his forces. Even Malleson admits that, "in acting
thus, he simply conformed to the custom of war in
Europe." Not only this; but in a war of independence,
when a handful of noble spirits offer their fresh blood to
wipe off the shame and slavery of a whole nation, it is
the duty of the people to support them voluntarily. After
taking possession of the town the Moulvie brought eight
guns, and began a cannonade on the fortified place where
his foe was under shelter.
When this news reached Sir Colin at Bareilly on the 7th
of May though he was surprised, his joy knew no bounds.
The lost opportunity, which had worried the Commander-
in-Chief so much ever since the escape of the Moulvie
some days before, seemed now about to be restored by
the action of the Moulvie himself. And therefore, taking
the utmost precaution possible, Sir Colin started by forced
marches to pounce upon his prey. Now, it was clear
that there was no loop-hole whatsoever left through which
the Moulvie Ahmad Shah could escape. From the 11th
of May, for three days there was a continuous fight. It
was, indeed, impossible for the Moulvie to escape. So,
from all sides the different Revolutionary leaders brought
all their forces together, in order to save this most popular
and most energetic of patriots. The Begum of Ayodhya,
Mayyan Sahib, the King of Mahmadi, the Prince Feroze
Shah of Delhi, Nana Sahib of Cawnpore—all these leaders
poured in with their forces, before the 15th of May, to
help the flag of liberty, now in such immediate danger in
453

THE CONFLAGRATION
Shahjahanpur. Thus reinforced, the Moulvie marched
out of Shahjahanpur, warring night and day with his now
discomfited foe, and again escaped the coils that the com-
mander-in-chief had prepared for him. So sure was Sir
Colin of capturing the Moulvie that, in view of the cer-
tainty of the ruin of the Revolutionary party at Shah-
jahanpur, he had already issued orders for dividing his
forces again and sending them to different directions.
And, having dashed to pieces these orders and hopes of
the enemy, where did the Moulvie go? He entered Oudh
—the very province which the English had, after a year's
trouble and bloodshed and with the greatest difficulty,
succeeded in sweeping clear of the Revolutionaries. Sir
Colin conquered Ayodhya—the Moulvie occupied Rohil-
khand; now, Sir Colin comes and conquers Rohilkhand
—the Moulvie wheels back and again occupies Oudh!
In such a dogged manner and with such bravery did the
Moulvie fight with the foreign foe.
The British power is now bent on crushing him and
putting an end to his dangerous activities. Is there any-
one who would assist them in this plight? Whose
sword is mighty enough to kill this powerful head
of the Revolution, whom the sword of Sir Colin
has proved too blunt to cut? What is the best
way to accomplish this end?
What is the best way? There need not be any such
anxiety in the English camp. Is it not true that the Bri-
tish sword had, many a time before the present, proved
equally helpless and unsuccessful in eradicating the
enemies of British power in India? Well then, those
who could and did save England in all those periods of
danger and despair would come forward to save her once
more. If the English sword is too blunt to cut to pieces
this Indian patriot, let the dagger of treachery accomplish
the task!
454

MOULVIE AHMAD SHAH
After his re-entry into Oudh, while trying to offer as
much and as dogged a resistance to the foreigner as he
could, the Moulvie thought it would be a great help to
the new storm that he was preparing to raise in Oudh
if the Raja of Powen would lend the little might he posses-
sed to drive out the alien from the land. With this
purpose, he sent a request sealed with the Royal seal of
the Begum to this Raja at Powen. This tiny Raja was
quite shocked at the mere mention of war and battlefield.
Yet, as treacherous as he was cowardly, he wrote back
that he would like to see the Moulvie personally. In
answer to this invitation, the Moulvie started to see this
Raja. But, to the Moulvie's great surprise, he found the
gates of the town closed and the walls of it guarded by
armed men ; and in the midst of them, he found standing
the Raja Jagannath Singh himself, with his brother by
his side. Though the Moulvie knew the meaning of this
sight, still undaunted, he began to hold a parley with the
Raja. The wretch on the walls of the town was naturally
the last man to appreciate his eloquence. When it became
clear that the crowd was not going to open the gates
willingly, the Moulvie ordered his Mahut to goad on the
elephant on which he was sitting to break open the gates
of the fort. One stroke more of the mighty animal's head
—and the gates would have been forced. But, the brother
of the Raja took aim and Moulvie Ahmad Shah was shot
dead by the hand of that wretched coward ! The fat Raja
and his brother at once came out of the gate, severed the
head of the Moulvie from his body and, covering it up
in a cloth, ran forth to the nearest British Thana, thirteen
miles from the place,—to the city of Shahjahanpur. Here,
the British officers were at their table in the dining-room.
The Raja came in, unpacked the burden which he had
held forth as a trophy, and let roll on the ground, by the
feet of the officers, the head of the Moulvie still gushing
with blood ! Next day, the civilised Britishers hung on
the kotawali the head of an enemy who had fought against
them so bravely and so honourably, and the fat brute of
455

THE CONFLAGRATION
Powen was rewarded with fifty thousand Rupees for this,
his nefarious act of treachery !
As soon as the news of his death reached England, the
relieved Englishmen felt that “ the most formidable enemy
of the British in Northern India was no more ! ” ³ In
person, the Moulvie was tall, lean and muscular, with
large deep-set eyes, beetle brows, a high aquiline nose, and
lantern jaws. The life of this brave Mahomedan shows
that a rational faith in the doctrines of Islam is in no
way inconsistent with, or antagonistic to, a deep and all-
powerful love of the Indian soil ; and that the true believer
in Islam will feel it a pride to belong to, and a privilege
to die for, his mother-country ! Even the English histo-
rian Malleson, in no way inclined to assess rightly—far
less to exaggerate—the virtues of the Revolutionist
leaders, is carried off by his inner feelings and, forgetting
for the moment that he is an Englishman, remarks :
“ The Moulvie was a very remarkable man . . . . Of his
capacity as a military leader many proofs were given dur-
ing the revolt, but none more decisive than those recorded
in this chapter. No other man could boast that he had
twice foiled Sir Colin Campbell in the field ! . . . . Thus died
the Moulvie Ahmad’alláh (sic) of Fyzabad. If a patriot
is a man who plots and fights for the independence,
wrongfully destroyed, of his native country, then most
certainly the Moulvie was a true patriot. He had not
stained his sword by assassination ; he had connived at
no murders ; he had fought manfully, honourably, and
stubbornly in the field against the strangers who had seiz-
ed his country ; and his memory is entitled to the respect
of the brave and true-hearted of all nations.”⁴
3. Holmes’s History of the Indian Mutiny, page 539.
4. Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 381.
456

RANEE LAKSHMI BAI
GIVE up my Jhansi ? I will not. Let him try
to take who dares ! ” With this challenge the
heroic Ranee of Jhansi rose against the British
and as it is recorded in previous parts of this
History she assumed the leadership of the
Revolution, drove the English and began to rule at
Jhansi as the Queen of the province. The forces of
the Revolution had wreaked a bloody vengeance on the
English people and army and left not a trace of their
rule at Sagar, Naogaon, Banda, Banapur, Shahgarh
and Karki. The people everywhere hailed the Queen as
their own. She then busied herself—in restoring order
457

THE CONFLAGRATION
and peace in her liberated province.
The Ranee’s daily life at this period has been described as
follows :—" The Bai got up at five in the morning and
took a bath with fragrant attar. After dressing—and she
generally wore a Chanderi Saree of faultless white—she
would sit for her daily prayers. First, she dropped the
necessary water as a prayaschitta for keeping hair on her
head after her husband’s death ; then, she used to worship
the Tulsi in the Tulsi grove. Then began the Parthiva
Puja at which the Durbar musicians would sing in choir.
Puraniks would then start reading the Puran. Then,
Sirdars and dependants came and she returned their usual
salutes. Being very keen of memory, even if a single man
among the seven hundred and fifty who paid their res-
pects to her in the morning was not present, the very next
day, the Bai would not fail to inquire why he did not
come the previous day. After the worship of God began
the dinner. After dinner, she would take an hour’s siesta
unless there was urgent work to do. Then she would order
the presents of the morning to be brought before her,
which was done on silver trays covered over with silk
cloths. Those things that she liked, she accepted ; the
others were given over to the Kothiwalla (minister of the
presents department) for distribution amongst her ser-
vants. At three she went to the Durbar, when she
usually put on male attire. She wore a pyjama, a coat of
dark blue, a cap on the head, and a beautiful turban on
the top of it, a dupeta of embroidered cloth round the
slender waist, and the sword decked with gems by her
side. Attired in this wise, this fair woman looked like
Gauri herself. Sometimes, she wore the female dress.
After her husband’s death, she never wore nath
or similar ornaments. Her hands had round them bangles
of diamond ; she wore a small necklace of pearls round
her neck and a diamond ring on her little finger. These
were the only jewels worn by the Bai Sahib. Her hair
was gathered up together behind. She wore a white saree
458

RANEE LAKSHMI BAI
and a plain white bodice. Thus, sometimes in male attire
and sometimes in female, the Bai Sahib used to honour
the Durbar by her presence. Those assembled in Durbar
never used to see her person. For the room in which she
sat was separate from, and only opened into, the Durbar
hall. Gold carving adorned the doors, and over these fell
gracefully the chintz curtain, embroidered with gold
cloths. In this room sat the Bai Sahib on a gadi of soft
down, leaning on a soft pillow. Outside the door, two
pages with maces of silver and gold always attended.
Opposite the room, Lakshman Rao Dewanji stood with
a bundle of important documents in his hand, and beyond
him sat the Registrars of the Durbar. Being very keen and
intelligent, the Bai quickly grasped every matter brought
before her, and her orders were clear and definite and to
the point. Sometimes she wrote her orders out herself.
She was very careful in affairs of justice, and decided civil
and criminal cases alike with great ability. Ranee Sahib
worshipped Mahalakshmi devoutly. The temple of that
Goddess was situated on the banks of a lake filled with
lotus flowers, and every Friday and Tuesday the Bai
visited the temple. One day, it so happened that after
the Bai had returned from the temple and was passing
through the south gate, she saw thousands of beggars
blocking the passage and creating a disturbance. So, she
inquired of the Minister, Lakshman Rao Pande, the reason
of this. He inquired and informed her that the people
were very poor, and that they suffered immensely on ac-
count of excessive cold, and that, therefore, they requested
that the Bai would kindly consider their condition. The
Bai felt very grieved for these poor people, and she at
once issued orders—kind-hearted that she was—that, on
the fourth day from thence, a gathering of beggars should
take place, where every one should be provided with a
thick coat and a cap and a blanket either white or black.
The very next day, all the tailors of the town were given
orders to make caps and coats. On the day appointed it
was proclaimed that all the beggars were to gather in
459

THE CONFLAGRATION
front of the palace. Poor people, too, had been included
in this gathering. All were given clothes by the Bai and
they went away satisfied....In the fight with Nathe
Khan when the wounded men were brought into the city,
the Bai herself would insist on being present when their
wounds were being dressed. Her very presence soothed
their pain, and they felt themselves sufficiently rewarded
by the kind and sympathetic interest she took in their
well-being. The Ranee grieved at their grief, gave them
ornaments and medals, patted them, and showed such
sympathy that others, instead of being disheartened at
the sight of these wounded soldiers, felt that they could
even give up their lives for the sake of the Ranee. The
grandeur of the Bai's processions passes description. On
the occasions of the visits to the temple of Mahalakshmi,
she started sometimes in a palanquin, and sometimes
on horseback. When in the palanquin, the palanquin
would be covered with curtains of gold and embroidered
cloths tied with golden ribbon. When she was on horse-
back, in male attire, the end of a thin and beautiful batti
floated on her back and it fitted her admirably. The
national flag of freedom was carried before her, with the
band playing military music. Two hundred Europeans
followed the flag and a hundred horsemen rode before and
behind her. With the palanquin came the karbharis,
ministers, feudatories, and other officers like Bhayya
Sahib Upasane ; and others either rode or followed on
foot. Sometimes troops accompanied the procession.
When the Bai started from the palace, the choughada on
the fort made sweet music. The choughada of the nagar-
khana of Mahalakshmi started at the same time.”¹
And thus, from the Vindhyas to the Jumna, there was not
a vestige of British authority left. Brahmins, Moulvies,
Sirdars, Dorakdars, Sepoys, the police, Rajas, Raos,
bankers, villagers—all were desirous fighting for only one

1. D. B. Parasnis’s Life of Lakshmi Bai, pages 147-151.
   460

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THE BHANDEER GATE at Jhansi through
which the Rani escaped to Kalpi, when
Jhansi was captured by the British forces.
[On scabbard]: झांशीच्या रानी श्रीमंत लक्ष्मीबाई यांची कट्यार
The Dagger
of the Rani.
The Seal of Rani Lakshmibai
of Jhansi.
Two of the famous cannons of Rani Lakshmibai -SHATRU-SAMHAR, and NALDAR, now pres

Gangadhar Rao
alias Baba Saheb
Newalkar, the ruler
of Jhansi and the
consort of Rani
Lakshmibai, ascen-
ded the gadi in 1838,
but actually gained
full powers in 1842.
He was an able
ruler and a great
patron of learning.
During his regime
the State attained a
high degree of pros-
perity. He died in
1853, childless, and
the State was an-
nexed by the British
on the pretext that
there was no direct
heir to the gadi.
This was done in
pursuance of Lord
Dalhousie's "Policy
of Annexation."
GANGADHAR RAO alias BABA SAHEB NEWALKAR OF JHANSI
Narwar Fort (Gwalior).
THE RANI MAHAL—The Palace of Rani Lakshmibai at Jhansi.

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