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

THE CONFLAGRATION
And the pyre, flaming near the cottage of Gangadas
Bawa, is the last and the most lustrous flame of this
raging volcanic conflagration of the War of Independence
of 1857!
END OF THE THIRD PART
494

PART IV
TEMPORARY
PACIFICATION
CHAPTER I
A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW
THE chief scenes in the War of 1857 being in
Northern India, we had so long to dilate upon
the warlike events in that region alone. But,
in order to grasp even the general tenor of the
War, it is necessary to see its manifestations in
other provinces also. Therefore, while the tongues
of fire of that tremendous conflagration are dancing
up to the skies there, we must also cast a passing glance
at the sparks in other regions.
We have already given a short description of the events
in the Punjab, during the course of the siege of Delhi.
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After that, the Punjab was quiet on the whole, except for
one or two spasmodic efforts at rising. The Hindu as
well as the Mahomedan communities thoroughly sympa-
thised at heart with the Revolutionaries and were full of
hatred towards the British. But they did not care to
help either party actively. The Sikh princes and people,
on the contrary, did not wish well to the Revolutionaries
even at heart ; nor did they remain neutral ; nay, more,
they did not hesitate to side openly with the English and
shed the blood of their own countrymen on the field
of battle.
It can be proved from many events that happened that
the sympathies of the masses of Rajputana were on the
side of the Revolutionaries. In towns like Jaipur, Jodh-
pur, and Udaipur, the curses that were heaped upon
Indian soldiers fighting on the English side, the shouts
of joy that went up in the bazaars, when a Revolutionary
victory was announced, and the grief with which they
were filled when the news of their defeat came—all these
showed from day to day that the Rajput masses were
praying for victory to the Revolutionaries in the great
national war. As regards the princes of Rajputana, most
of them remained neutral and would not openly help
either side, until a decisive conflict had taken place. But
whenever they were forced to send some troops to help
the English, these troops openly disobeyed the orders of
their rulers and refused to fight against their brethren
on behalf of the Feringhis !
The United Provinces, Oudh, Rohilkhand, Behar, Bundel-
khand and Central India were the field of Kurukshetra
of the War of Independence of 1857. There was a slight
rising at Rangoon, and in Burma, in general, but alas !
it was a day after the fair, and was in vain !
After this bird’s-eye view of the region north of the Vindhya
mountains, let us now turn our eyes to the south. There,
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A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
we first of all see the Empire of the Mahrattas founded
by Shivaji. Their compatriots, who had migrated to the
north, were fighting fierce battles at Cawnpore, Kalpi,
and Jhansi. Thus, the Mahratta throne, ousted out of
Raigarh, reappeared again in an ocean of blood at Cawn-
pore. And Tatia Topé was again flying aloft on high
the banner once supported by heroes like Santaji and
Dhanaji. If the magnificent unanimity, dash, and deter-
mination that characterised the rising in the north had
also shown itself in the south, then, even if the whole of
England had gone to India to fight, the Jaripatka would
never have been lowered! 'Where, indeed, is a man of
pure Mahratta blood whose heart is not agitated by love
and pride when the Jaripatka flies on the field, whether
he shows it in his face or not? In 1857, also, the heroic
inspiration naturally took hold of the heart of all Mah-
rattas, but the diseases of indecision and indetermination
stifled it in embryo. While the plan of the Revolution
was being outlined in the north, its messengers were also
travelling in the south, visiting state after state and town
after town. Rango Bapuji of Satara was in correspond-
ence with Nana Sahib of Cawnpore. In the various
Sepoy regiments stationed at Poona, Satara, Dharwar,
Belgaum, Hyderabad and other places, Brahmins, Moul-
vies, and the deputies of the northern Sepoys were travel-
ling about secretly with the torch of Revolution in their
hand. And, from Mysore right up to the Vindhya
mountains, oaths were taken that a rising was to be made
as soon as the north arose. But, though the south did not
forget to rise, it forgot that it ought to arise as soon as
the north rose! The Rising in the north took place with
an inconceivable, lightning-like rapidity, and with the
determination to kill or die. Instead of starting up im-
mediately, the south waited for some time to watch the
fortune of war in the north. In times of crisis like a
Revolution, one moment decides the question of life or
death. There are disadvantages in both alternatives, in
haste as well as in delay. In such a dilemma, an able
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man fixes upon such a moment when boldness and spirit
will reap the greatest possible fruits. Revolutions do not
follow the rules of arithmetic. They succeed through
the enormous strength of the spirit in the heart of man.
They cool down by the sluggishness of inaction. They
are kept up only by the heat of action. Calmness, mathe-
matics, and the fixing of the day are all for the period
of preparation. But when once the bugle has sounded
and the drum been beaten, then there must be started at
once determined fighting without any regard of life. One
who hesitates then is certain to lose in the end. One
who only just then begins to think out whether it is
better to rise or not, is doomed for ever. Calmness in
preparation, but boldness in execution, this should be
the watchword. During preparation, one may and even
ought to proceed cautiously, step by step, even as on a
carpet ; but when the Revolution has once broken out,
one must dart forth like an arrow without faltering a
moment, even through living fire ! Then let there be
success or defeat, let there be life or death—there should
be stubborn war, men should be ready to “ die while
killing.” For when once the drum of war is beaten, the
best road to success in a Revolution lies in advancing
and never in waiting.
The south forgot this cardinal principle. It did not rise
as soon as the north rose. It proceeded slowly, stagger-
ing every now and then. Over-anxiety about success, and
only spasmodic, isolated risings that followed as its conse-
quence, necessarily led to nothing but certain failure.
How this came to pass .we shall review in brief.
There were three important regiments in the south, the
27th at Kolhapur, the 29th at Belgaum, and the 28th at
Dharwar. When the plans of the Rising were made by
means of correspondence, the 10th of August was fixed
upon as the day on which they were to rise. But an
English army was in the meanwhile being sent to Kolha-
498

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
pur to keep the population and the Sepoys there in check.
This news was divulged to the Sepoys by an official of
the Telegraph Department. Thus the Sepoys who were
already infuriated, rose prematurely on the 31st of July,
1857. They killed some of their English officers, took
the treasury in their charge, had a skirmish with the
English troops that had just arrived, and went away to-
wards the Ghats. The various Revolutionary bands
united together under the leadership of Ramji Shirsal of
Sawantwadi and began to harass the English force in the
direction of the Kadi forest. They were defeated and
dispersed after some months by the English with the help
of the Portuguese of Goa. The new English officer, Jacob,
who had come to Kolhapur, disarmed the remaining
Sepoys there and had their leaders shot.
But on the day on which the Sepoys at Kolhapur had
risen, the town itself had not done so. In the meanwhile,
emissaries from Nana Sahib of Cawnpore had an audi-
ence with the young king of Kolhapur and persuaded
him to join the National Rising. He had also been pre-
sented with a sword by the Durbar of Lucknow. In the
same manner, he was carrying on secret correspondence
with the Rajas of Sangli, Jamkhindi, and other southern
states. But, more than the Maharaja, his younger
brother, Chimna Sahib, had in his veins the blood of
Shivaji. He secretly began machinations to put right
again the plans of the Revolution foiled by the recent
turn of events. He prepared the irregular army of
Kolhapur and many volunteers for a Rising, and in the
early morning of the 15th of December Kolhapur rose
again. The city gates were closed, guns were made ready,
and the drum of Revolution was beaten in the streets.
As soon as Jacob heard the news, he got the men under
him ready and led an attack on a Kachcha gate. From
that moment onward till the time that the English army
took possession of the palace, a fierce battle raged. After
defeat, the Raja, following the usual custom, declared
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that the Rising was organised by the army and the
populace in spite of his orders to the contrary. When
the names of the Revolutionary leaders were demanded,
he replied that he knew nothing about it ! Jacob tried
his utmost to get hold of the leaders. He put many
people, now and then, in prison, simply on suspicion ;
but he could get no scent of the vast and dangerous con-
spiracy. One of the leaders, even as he was being arrest-
ed, tore up an incriminating letter in his possession and
swallowed it in the presence of his captors ! Of the many
who were blown from the mouths of cannon, one was
only wounded at the first firing and was not killed. Still
he proudly stood forth erect waiting for the second round.
Just then, Jacob went up to him and said, “ I pity you
—you must have been betrayed into joining the Rebel-
lion. So, if you help the Sirkar by divulging the names
of some mutineers, your life will be spared ! ” But the
grand hero bore, without a murmur, the excruciating pain
of his mangled body manfully, and “ he looked at me
(Jacob) with a scowl and scorn mingled and answered
unhesitatingly ‘ What I have done, I have done.’ ” With-
out giving out a single name, he turned his face and
stood forth boldly in front of the death-spitting cannon !
Another Revolutionary, just before being blown up, mut-
tered the name of a leader ; at this, one of the Govern-
ment servants present there quietly slunk away and
warned that leader and others who were implicated in
the town. When the English authorities, inquiring the
whereabouts of the person named, came up to arrest him,
he was already out of Kolhapur and safe ! With such
fidelity to each other did the conspirators work, and the
organisation of the various circles and batches was effect-
ed without much hitch or confusion.¹

1. “ But it is difficult to describe the wonderful secrecy with
   which the whole conspiracy was conducted and the forethought
   supplying the schemes, and the caution with which each group
   of conspirators worked apart, concealing the connecting links, and
   instructing them with just sufficient information for the purpose in
   500

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
While affairs were in this state at Kolhapur, there were
also signs of rising in Belgaum about the 10th of August.
But the Sepoy leader, Thakur Singh, and a bold Munshi,
the leader of the citizens, were arrested just at the last
moment. A new English army was soon on the scene
and Belgaum and Dharwar soon became silent and sub-
missive. The above-named Munshi was a Government
servant and incriminating letters from him were found
on the Sepoys at Poona and Kolhapur. So, on the evid-
ence of these, he was blown from the mouth of a cannon.
At Satara, Rango Bapuji was from the first, in the bad
books of the Government. Now, his son was hanged for
preaching the doctrine of the Rising at Kolhapur. At
the same time, two princes of the Satara royal family
were banished. Seeing the throne, in the devoted service
of which he had spent so many years, in such a plight,
the faithful Rango Bapuji disappeared from Satara. Re-
wards were offered but nobody helped to hand him over
to the English. And the fate of that patriot is not known
even to this day.
At this time, an able Englishman, called Lord Elphin-
stone, was appointed Governor of Bombay. He had not
only borne the strain—small though it was—in his own
presidency, but also sent troops to Rajputana. But, if
it was any one man whose cleverness prevented a rising
in the city of Bombay itself, it was Forrest, the chief
police officer. Bombay was a city full of easy-going,
happy-go-lucky, and traitorous cowards. Thus, the only
hearts susceptible to the flame of the national Revolution
there were amongst the ranks of the Sepoys stationed
there. And therefore it was that Forrest had kept a very
close watch upon them. The Dipavali holidays were fixed
Published by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2014.
view. And all this was equalled only by the fidelity with which
they adhered to each other."—Western India by Sir George Le
Grand Jacob, K.C.S.I., C.B.
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upon as the opportune moment for rising and the Sepoys
began to hold secret meetings. Forrest tried his utmost
to send detectives into these meetings but did not succeed
on account of the extraordinary caution displayed by the
Sepoys. Therefore, he himself began to go about in
various disguises, now as a Brahmin, now as some one
else, and thus mixed with the people even in their exclu-
sive dinner parties. At last he found out that the secret
meetings were held in the house of a man called Ganga
Prasad. Then he entered the house of Ganga Prasad
after threatening to arrest him if he opposed, and saw what
happened at one of those secret meetings through an
aperture in the wall, unknown to the Revolutionaries who
met there. Not only this, but he also brought with him
later on some English officers of the regiment and let
them see the secret meetings for themselves. When the
latter saw there coming in to the meeting, one after an-
other, Sepoys who were reckoned as the most loyal, they
whispered in amazement, “ My God, my own men ! Is
it possible ? ” The general plan of the Sepoys was to
make a rising in Bombay at first, then to march towards
Poona, capture that city, raise the banner of Mahratta
Kingdom, and proclaim Nana Sahib as Peshwa.² But
before the plans could be put into operation, Forrest
broke up the conspiracy, hanged two of the ringleaders
as rebels, and banished six of the prominent and leading
military men ; and thus the rising in Bombay was nipped
in the bud.
At about the same time, the Revolutionary spark was
about to strike Nagpur and Jubbulpore. The Sepoys
near Nagpur had decided to rise on the 13th of June,
1857, and this plan was assented to by most of the pro-
minent citizens. It was agreed that on the night of the
13th the townspeople should send up in the air three
burning balloons, and at this signal the military were to
2. Forrest's Real Danger in India.
502

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
rise. The Revolutionaries there had another advantage ;
the English could spare no European troops for the pro-
vinces of Nagpur and Jubbulpore at that time. But
soon the Indian regiments from Madras came and the
sparks of Revolution were speedily extinguished. The
Gond king of Jubbulpore, Shankar Singh, and his son
were doing their utmost for the Revolution. When they
were arrested and their palace was searched, a small
paper containing the king's morning-prayers was found
folded in a silk cloth. Its English translation is as
follows :—The king, Shankar Singh, meditating on the
terrible image of the Goddess Chandi says, “Shut the
mouths of slanderers ; trample the sinners ! Shatru-
Samharike ! Killer of enemies !) Listen to the cry of
Religion ; support your slave, Mathaliké ! Kill the Bri-
tish ; exterminate them ; Mata Chandi !” ³ etc. etc.
King Shankar Singh and his son had tried to enlist the
52nd native regiment at Jubbulpore in the cause of the
Revolution. Therefore, the two royal personages were
blown from the mouth of cannon on the 18th of Sep-
tember, 1857. At this news, the 52nd regiment, instead
of being cowed down, was infuriated, rose immediately,
killed an officer, called Mac Gregor, and marched away
to the war.
There were risings in the Dhar state and at Mahidpur,
Goria, and other places, organised by Prince Feroze Shah
of Delhi. We cannot describe the details of all these ris-
ings for want of space.
But, more than all the princes mentioned above, the fate
of the English power in India lay in the hands of the
Nizam of Hyderabad. The new Nizam, Afzul-ud-daulah,
had just come to the throne in May 1857, and the Prime
Ministership was in the hands of a man called Sir Salar
3. Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 144.
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Jung. The whole of the Deccan hung upon one word
from the lips of Sir Salar Jung. If the Nizam of Hyder-
abad had joined the National Revolution, the whole of
the Deccan would have risen like one man, and the cord
of English rule, already strained to breaking point by
the risings in the north, would have been snapped to
pieces. Nor can we say that no one preached to Salar
Jung the doctrine of a patriotic rising against the English.
Though we take for granted that he was too "loyal" to
let love of religion, country, and independence even
whisper such a thought into his mind, still the people of
Hyderabad were precipitately urging him to join the Re-
volution. But, in spite of all these efforts, Salar Jung
would not move. So, on the 12th of June 1857, Hydera-
bad assumed a more terrible form. On that day, pro-
clamations signed by important Moulvies began to adorn
the walls; Revolutionary handbills were seen everywhere
in heaps; there were crowded meetings of Moslems in
the Mosque and violent Revolutionary lecturers bound the
people by oaths to drive the Kaffir Britishers out of the
land! Still, Salar Jung would not move; nay, he even
arrested some of the popular leaders and handed them
over to the British authorities! Therefore, towards the
evening of the 17th of July, the city of Hyderabad actual-
ly rose and ran with shouts of "Din, Din!" to release
their imprisoned leaders and, following the flag signifying
independence, rushed at the British Residency. The
Rohilla Sepoys of the Nizam's own army and about five
hundred of townsmen actually began a battle. Under
these circumstances, Hyderabad felt assured that, though
Salar Jung would not openly join them, he would secretly
sympathise with them, as other States had done, or at
least that he would not join the side of the British. But
Salar Jung disappointed them in every particular; he
did not remain indifferent, but joined the Britisher and
helped to slaughter the soldiers of his own state. In the
skirmish, the Revolutionary leader, Torabaz Khan, was
killed and Moulvie Alla-ud-din fell into the hands of the
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A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
enemy. Soon he was despatched to the Andaman islands,
and the efforts of Hyderabad thus came to a disastrous
end. The English historian frankly admits : " For three
months, the fate of India was in the hand of Afzul-ud-
daulah and Salar Jung. Their wise policy proved that
they preferred the certain position of a protected state
to the doubtful chances of a resuscitation of the Delhi
monarchy under the auspices of revolted Sepoys."
Though the Nizam thus foiled the Revolution in the
south, the young Hindu Raja of Zorapur, near the
Nizam's territories, resolved to stake his everything in
the War of Independence. Accordingly, he began by col-
lecting an army of Arabs, Rohillas, and Pathans. Nana's
Revolutionary messengers came to him and prepared him
to fight under the flag of the Peshwas. The Brahmins
and Moulvies of Raichur and Arcot also encouraged him
in his plans. Not merely that, but, when he would not
rise as soon as the people wanted him to, they—his own
subjects—began to abuse him as cowardly and effemi-
nate. Then he began the Revolution in the name of the
Peshwas. The Nizam and the English together marched
against him. From the moment he heard this, he knew
his fate was sealed. Not being able to hold his own
against the combined forces of the Nizam and the Eng-
lish, the young Raja went to Hyderabad itself about the
month of February, 1858. While walking about there in
the bazaars, he was arrested by Salar Jung's orders and
handed over to the British ! This Raja was from his
childhood on very intimate terms with Meadows Taylor
and used to call him by the familiar name of " Appa."
Therefore the English authorities sent Meadows Taylor
to the prison to find out from the Raja the secrets of the
Revolutionary conspiracy and the names of the promi-
nent leaders. There, as he was awaiting death, the Raja
was very pleased to see Meadows Taylor and embraced
him heartily. But when Taylor began to ask him
some account of the Secret Society and as to how he got
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mixed up with it, to put in Taylor’s own words, “ He
drew himself very proudly and replied haughtily—‘ No,
Appa, I will never tell that ! You ask me to go to see
the Resident but I won’t do that either. Perhaps he
hopes that I will beg him for my life, but, Appa, I do
not wish to live, like a coward, on charity, nor will I ever
disclose the names of my countrymen ! ’ ” Meadows
Taylor went up to him once again and, showing him
hopes of a pardon, suggested that he should disclose the
story of the plot. Again, the Raja replied, “ I shall tell
everything else about my proceedings in this affair. But
if they ask me the names of those who incited me to rise,
I will not tell that. What ? Should I, now ready to
enter the jaws of death, should I betray the names of my
own countrymen ? No, no ! Cannon, gallows, the region
beyond the black waters—none of them is as terrible as
treachery ! ” Meadows Taylor then informed him that
death awaited him with certainty. The Raja replied,
“ But, I have one request, Appa ; do not hang me, for
I am not a thief. Blow me from a cannon. Just see
how calmly I can stand before its mouth ! ”
However, through the intervention of Meadows Taylor,
the sentence of this patriotic young Raja was reduced
from death to some years’ transportation. A short time
afterwards, when about to leave for the Andamans, the
Raja took a pistol belonging to one of his English warders
and, at a moment when no one was near, shot himself
dead. He had previously said, “ I prefer death to trans-
portation ! Prison and transportation? The meanest
mountaineer of my subjects will not remain in gaol—
what then of me, their king ? ” ⁴
One of the men who had intimate and constant connec-
tion with the Raja of Zorapur was Bhaskar Rao Baba
Sahib, the chief of Nargund. But, when Zorapur rose,
4. Meadows Taylor’s Story of my Life.
506

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
Bhaskar Rao hesitated and was not sure if the proper
time had arrived ; he only rose when the former was
completely crushed. On account of these lax, spasmodic,
and inopportune risings in the south, no one was crown-
ed with success. Baba Sahib was a cultured man and a
great lover of learning. He had also collected together
a large library of excellent books. His young wife was
as spirited as she was beautiful and had resolved upon
giving her whole life for the destruction of the Feringhis
since the time she was refused the right of adoption. It
was due to her inspiration that, at last, on the 25th of
May, 1858, after long hesitation, Nargund openly rose
and declared war with England. Baba Sahib threw off
the yoke of slavery to the British ostentatiously. When
the news came that the English officer, Monson, was
marching against him, Baba Sahib took a few select men
with him and surprised Monson at night in the woods
near Nargund. In the skirmish, Monson was killed, his
body was thrown in a fire near by, and his head was
taken back triumphantly to Nargund. Next morning, it
was hanging on the walls of Nargund. In the mean-
while, Baba Sahib's step-brother not only refused to join
the Revolution but actually joined the English side. An
English army then marched upon Nargund and defeated
the army of Baba Sahib who himself escaped from the
field. He was caught, a few days later, in disguise and
hanged on the 12th of June. His young, beautiful,
and daring Ranee did not surrender to the enemy,
but in company with her mother-in-law committed
suicide by throwing herself in the waters of the
Malaprabha.
Besides these, Bhima Rao of Komaldrug, the Bhils of
Khandesh and their valiant spouses, armed with bow
and arrow, and other small communities, organised risings
in Maharashtra of greater or less magnitude. But,
on account of the want of skill in choosing the proper
time, on account of unripeness of preparation, and on
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account of the loose and spasmodic nature of the risings
and their want of co-operation, the English had not to
bear any severe strain in the south and could devote,
practically, all their resources to the north.
After having thus taken a bird's-eye view of the affairs
in the south, it is now high time that we should turn
our eyes to take a last glance at the proud Ayodhya which
is left groaning there at the end of the life story of the
heroic Moulvie Ahmad Shah.
In the case of extraordinary brilliant heroes like Moulvie
Ahmad Shah, their death is as noble and as extraordinary
as their life. Others may die when they are killed in
battle, but one whose very soul is on fire with a burning
patriotism and who is dancing on the battle-field with
shouts of “ Blood ! Blood ! ” in order to quench that fire,
knows no death ; even if such a patriot falls in battle be-
fore his thirst for revenge is slaked, he does not die !
Though the head was cut off, it has been seen, as a matter
of fact, that the trunk of heroic men continued the fight
in the field, and there is a belief that when even this latter
is cut to pieces their disembodied spirits harass the
enemy at night.
There is, indeed, a philosophic truth underlying such
superstitions. While Moulvie Ahmad Shah was still
fighting, Lord Canning had published a proclamation to
let the whole of Oudh know : “ Those who will volun-
tarily lay down their arms will not be considered as rebels
and will be granted a free and complete pardon for their
past actions, and those who help us now will receive back
their lands and Vatans. Now that the British power has
triumphed over the rebellion, if some still insist upon
their resistance to the British government, they shall all
be most severely punished for this unwarrantable perti-
nacity.” After such a proclamation and after many of
the leaders had died suddenly one after the other, the
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A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
English naturally thought that the people of Oudh would
soon calm down. And to add to the misfortunes of Oudh,
on the 5th of June, 1858, the news came that the villain,
Powen, had assassinated the venerable Moulvie of Fyza-
bad. But instead of indulging in vain lamentations for
the death of this sacred Moulvie, exhausted as she was
by almost superhuman efforts, dispirited by defeat, and
with surrender tempting her with the hope of pardon,
Oudh rose suddenly at his death-spell like one possessed,
and jumped up in blood, with shouts of “ Revenge ! ”
The base enemy hanged the Moulvie’s body in the
Chowdi—but his spirit, his ghost, began to fight with the
English on the field ! His ghost, in order to satisfy its
unquenched thirst, jumped at the neck of the English
power, in its terrible unhuman form. Instead of being
cowed down by his death, the whole of Oudh, the living
ghost, ran up to the battle-field again with fresh vigour
brushing aside all thoughts of strength and weakness,
success and defeat, hope and despair, life and death ! To
take revenge for the hanging of the Moulvie, Nizam Ali
Khan marched up to Pilibht ; Khan Bahadur Khan with
four thousand men ran to the field of action ; the
Farrukabad men rose taking five thousand followers ;
Vilayat Shah took three thousand men to the field and,
with five thousand men, Nana Sahib, Bala Sahib, Ali
Khan Mewati, and other leaders started a tremendous
campaign in Rohilkhand and Oudh. Seeing these great
masses of troops marching in haste, and thirsting for
his blood, the cowardly traitor of Powen began to shud-
der with terror. The English immediately despatched
troops for his protection. Around that part, the Revolu-
tionaries were engaging in frequent and desperate en-
counters with the enemy. On the other side, at Chowk
Ghat, on the banks of the Ghogra, the Begum and Sirdar
Mamu Khan had established the headquarters of their
army. Besides these, Raja Ram Baksh, Bahunath Singh,
Canda Singh, Gulab Singh, Bhopal Singh, Hanumant
Singh, and other prominent and valiant Zemindars, with
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larger or smaller armies, were fighting to reconquer Oudh,
which had been almost conquered by the English. Also,
the celebrated Mogul prince Feroze Shah, who was lately
fighting at Dhar, was now in Oudh. There was also there
fighting in Oudh the famous Raja Narapat Singh, the
valiant son of a valiant father. He it was who had so
bravely defended the fortress of Ruiya. His father,
Jussa Singh, was an intimate friend of Nana Sahib and
had died at Brahmavarta while fighting on the side of
Nana Sahib in the holy War of Independence. Narapat
Singh, like a true Kshatria, unsheathed the sword again
for victory in the field in which his father lay dead ; he
gave shelter to Nana Sahib in his fortress at Ruiya ;
and he had been fighting ever since then against the
Feringhi power. And even greater than all these, in
power, in spirit, in determination, and in patriotism, the
veteran Raja Veni Madhav also now left his fort and,
with an extraordinary bold move, after marching along
the Cawnpore road, was now ready to pounce upon Luck-
now ! When those who have left all hopes of success
fight only for honour and duty, even courting death, is
there any limit to their magnificent courage ? Simply for
the honour of the Kshatriya race, this Veni Madhav,
though without the slightest hope of success at this late
hour, marched straight upon Lucknow ! And he caused
placards to be posted in the town that all Indians resid-
ing there should leave it, for he was going to direct a
tremendous attack upon the Feringhis. The Feringhis,
though drunk with victory, and possessed of force, and
good organisation, were astounded at his marvellous
courage. An attack on Lucknow ? Forsooth, as if
the war had begun only to-day, as if seas of blood
had not at all flowed for the whole of the past
year in Oudh !
So, on the 13th of June, Hope Grant directed a surprise
assault upon the Revolutionaries, gathering together at
Nabobganj near Lucknow. The surprise attack of the
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A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
white and the black forces of Hope Grant would naturally
have dispersed the incautious Revolutionaries at once—
but, Sepoys, stop ! It is not yet a week since the Moul-
vie was killed—so, stop ! They stopped and they stood
up ready to give battle even under such odds. And, lo !
such an exhibition of bravery was seen on the side of
the Revolutionaries as is rarely witnessed no matter any-
where. It was such as to make the usually spiteful
enemy to be carried away by a natural admiration of
heroic bravery. The English general, Hope Grant,
writes :—“ Still, their attacks were vigorous, if unsuc-
cessful, and we had much ado to repel them. A large
body of fine, daring Zemindari men brought two guns in
the open and attacked us in the rear. I have seen many
battles in India and many brave fellows fighting with a
determination to conquer or die ; but, I never witnessed
anything more magnificent than the conduct of these
Zemindars ! In the first instance they attacked Hodson's
horse, who would not face them and by their unsteadi-
ness placed in great jeopardy two guns which had been
attached to the regiment. I ordered up the 7th Hussars
and the other four guns belonging to the battery to with-
in a distance of five hundred yards from the enemy and
opened a fire of grape which mowed them down with a
terrible effect, like thistles before the scythe. Their chief,
a big fellow with a goitre on his neck, nothing daunted,
caused two green standards to be placed close to their
guns and used them as a rallying point. But our grape-
fire was so destructive that whenever they attempted to
save their pieces, they were struck down. Two squadrons
and more now came up to our side and forced the sur-
vivors to retire, waving the swords and spears at us and
defiantly calling out to us to come on. Around the
two guns alone there were one hundred and twenty-
five corpses ! After three hours' fighting, the day
was ours.” ⁵
5. Hope Grant’s Incidents of the Sepoy War, page 292.
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TEMPORARY PACIFICATION
Such desperate encounters took place in East Oudh, in
Middle Oudh, in North Oudh and, practically, all over
Oudh. And that not with the enemy alone but with
traitors like Man Singh and Powenkar who had been
lured to join the enemy by the proclamation of pardon.
Oudh began to fight such a double battle. They directed
attacks on Powen ; they were fighting towards Lucknow ;
they fought at Sultanpur ; they shut up the traitor Man
Singh in his fort ; they obstructed English routes ; they
sacked English stations ; and, by their noble sacrifice
they made every space of the ground there worth
worshipping as sacred soil ! Cutting the cordon which
the English drew round them, the patriots rushed
about from place to place still persevering in their
cry for war and revenge. Considerations of space
alone forbid us from minutely following all their
movements.
Such was the terrible fight that Ayodhya fought ! At
last, in October, 1858, the English Commander-in-Chief
again arranged a mass of white and brown troops in
systematic order, made them march simultaneously from
all sides against the Revolutionaries and, thus pressing
them on all sides, gave orders to push them northwards
towards Nepal. Still, Oudh would not be exhausted and
would not retreat a step without fighting !
Veni Madhav's town, Shankarpur, was surrounded on
three sides by three different armies. He was now weak
in resources and the enemy was very strong ; still, Veni
Madhav would not lay down his arms. Then, the Eng-
lish Commander-in-Chief himself sent him a message
telling him that a further continuance of the fight would
mean only useless bloodshed, as he had no hope of victory.
If he surrendered, he was promised full pardon and com-
plete restoration of his property. Veni Madhav replied:
" It being henceforth impossible to defend the fort, I am
going to leave it. But I will never surrender myself to
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