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

CONCLUSION
Even had these people thoroughly understood at least
so much that creation comes only after the Deluge, the
Revolution would have succeeded. But, let alone crea-
tion, the country could not accomplish even the deluge
thoroughly ! And, why ? Because, the vice of treachery
and baseness had not yet gone away from the land. The
defeat was chiefly due to the treachery of those men who
had not sense enough to understand that the English
power was more harmful than even the former kind of
Swaraj ever could be, and of those who had not the
honesty and patriotism to refuse to give help to the
foreigner against their own countrymen.¹
And the whole sin of this defeat lies on the head of these
traitors ! Had there been a clear and attractive ideal,
even the traitors would have become patriots. When
patriotism is profitable and paying, there is no advantage
in playing the risky and shameful part of the betrayer.

1. "Yet it must be admitted that, with all their courage, they
   (the British) would have been quite exterminated if the natives
   had been all and altogether, hostile to them. The desperate de-
   fences made by the garrisons were no doubt heroic ; but the natives
   shared their glory, and they by their aid and presence rendered
   the defence possible. Our siege of Delhi would have been quite
   impossible, if the Rajas of Patiala and Jhind had not been our
   friends and if the Sikhs had not recruited in our battalions and
   remained quiet in the Punjab. The Sikhs at Lucknow did good
   service, and in all cases our garrisons were helped, fed, and served
   by the natives, as our armies were attended and strengthened by
   them in the field. Look at us all, here in camp, at this moment !
   Our outposts are native troops, natives are cutting grass for our
   horses and grooming them, feeding the elephants, managing the
   transports, supplying the commissariat which feeds us, cooking our
   soldiers' food, clearing their camp, pitching and carrying their tents,
   waiting on our officers, and even lending us their money. The
   soldier who acts as my amanuensis declares that his regiment could
   not have lived a week but for the regimental servants, Doli bearers,
   hospital men, and other dependants. Gurkha guides did good ser-
   vice at Delhi and the Bengal artillerymen were as much exposed
   as the Europeans."—Russell's My Diary in India.
   543

TEMPORARY PACIFICATION
There is no special merit in that. The real glory belongs
to those heroes who thoroughly understood that foreign
domination is worse than Swaraj—Swaraj, democratic or
monarchical, or even anarchical—and thus came out to
fight for independence. Freedom is coveted not that the
country might become wealthy but because in it alone
consists the peace of the soul ; honour is greater than loss
or gain ; the forest of independence is better than the cage
though made of gold. Those who understood this princi-
ple, those who fulfilled their duty to their religion and
to their country, those who lifted their swords for Swa-
dharma and Swaraj and courted death if not for victory
at least for duty, let their names be remembered, pro-
nounced with reverence ! Those who did not join them
in the wholy war, through indifference or hesitation, may
their names never be remembered by their country. And,
as for those who actually joined the enemy and fought
against their own countrymen, may their names be for
ever crushed ! The Revolution of 1857 was a test to see
how far India had come towards unity, independence,
and popular power.² The fault of failure lies with the
idle, effeminate, selfish, and treacherous men who ruined
it. But those who, wielding the sword dripping with
their own hot blood, in that great rehearsal, walked bold-
ly on the stage of fire and danced in joy even on the very
breast of Death—let no tongue dare to blame those
heroes ! They were not mad ; they were not hasty ; they
were not the sharers of defeat ; they were not inconside-
2. " Among the many lessons the Indian mutiny conveys to
the historian, none is of greater importance than the warning that
it is possible to have a Revolution in which Brahmins and Sudras,
Hindus and Mahomedans, could be united against us, and that it
is not safe to suppose that the peace and stability of our domi-
nions, in any great measure, depends on the continent being inhabit-
ed by different religious systems ; for they mutually understand
and respect and take a part in each other's modes and ways and
doings. The mutiny reminds us that our dominions rest on a
thin crust ever likely to be rent by titanic fires of social changes
and religious revolutions."—Forrest's Introduction.
544

CONCLUSION
rate ; and, therefore, they cannot be blamed. It was
at their call that Mother India woke up from her deep
sleep and ran forth to smite slavery down. But while
one of her sons gave a terrific blow on the head of Tyran-
ny, alas ! her other son thrust a dagger in her own heart !
And the wounded Mother was thrown down on the
ground again ! Now, which of these two sons was wicked,
cruel, treacherous, and accursed ?
Emperor Bahadur Shah was a poet. During the heat of
the Revolution he composed a Gazal. Some one asked
him :
Dumdumaymen dam nahin khair mângo jânki
Ai Zafar thandi hui shamsher Hindusthanki.
“ Now that, every moment, you are becoming weaker,
pray for your life (to the English) : for, Oh ! Emperor,
the sword of India is now broken for ever ! ”
There is a tradition that the Emperor replied :
Ghazionmen bû rahegi jabtalak îmanki
Tabto Londontak chalegi têg Hindusthanki.
“ As long as there remains the least trace of love of faith
in the hearts of our heroes, so long, the sword of Hindu-
sthan shall be sharp, and one day shall flash even at the
gates of London.”
VANDÊ MÂTARAM
35 545

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GLOSSARY
AMIR—a lord.
ANKUSH—a goading hook.
ARABISTHÂN—Arabia.
ASURA—an enemy of the gods.
ATTAR—perfumed extract.
AYAH—a waiting-woman.
AYÔDHYA—Oudh.
BABALÔG—children.
BÂBERCHI—cook.
BADMÂSH—a ruffian.
BÂHÂDUR—brave (man).
BÂI—a lady's title.
BANIA—merchant.
BARGEER—a Mahratta horseman.
BATTI—a light turban.
BAZAAR—shopping quarter in a
city.
BEGUM—princess or lady of high
rank.
BÊTICHOOT—incestuous.
BHAGAVAT GÎTA—a Hindu Scrip-
ture.
BHÂGÎRATHI—the Ganges.
BHALDÂR—herald.
BHALEGHATE—the chosen troops
of the Scindia.
BHÂRATA—a Hindu; also India.
BHÂRATA-BHÛMI—India.
BHÂRATA-MÂT—Mother India.
BHÂRATA-VARSHA—the imperial
dominions of the Hindus.
BHAUBIJ—a Hindu feast.
BHÊDA—division : the principle
of divide et impera.
BHEEMA—an ancient Hindu hero.
BHISHTI—a water-carrier.
BÔLÔ—say.
BRAHMADÊSH—Burma.
BRAHMIN—a member of the
Hindu sacerdotal caste.
BUGGY—a gig.
CHALO—come along.
CHANDÊRI—a kind of cloth (from
the name of the place where it
used to be manufactured).
CHANDI—Goddess Kali(q. v.).
CHAPÂTEE—bread prepared in a
particular fashion used by
Indians.
CHAUVIS PERGANNA—a district
in Bengal.
CHHABÊLI—darling.
547

GLOSSARY
CHÂTO—cut down.
CHHATRA—umbrella: the em-
blem of empire.
CHHATRAPATI—emperor.
CHINTZ—a kind of printed cloth.
CHÔBDAR—herald.
CHOUGHADA—drum.
CHOWDHURY—chief.
CHOWDI—a rest-house outside a
village; government officers
sometimes hold their court
there.
CHOWKIDÂR—keeper.
DÂK—post.
DÂNA—gift.
DÂR—a suffix denoting possessor
or owner.
DARÔGA—jail superintendant.
DÊSH—country.
DEWÂN-I-KHAS—special audience
hall.
DEWÂNJI—minister.
DHARMA—sacred duty or religion.
DHARMASHÂLA—place where
charity is dispensed.
DHOTI—a long cloth.
DIN—Faith : the war-cry of the
Mahomedans during the Revo-
lution of 1857.
DÎPÂVALI—the festival of lamps.
DÔAB—land between two rivers.
DÔLI—ambulance.
DORAKDÂR—an officer.
DUPÊTA—long piece of cloth, used
by soldiers round their waist
and sometimes tied into a tur-
ban.
DURBÂR—levee or court.
DUSHSHÂSANA—a wicked charac-
ter in the Mahâbhâratâ.
FAKIR—a Mahomedan Sanyasi
(q.v.), also common beggar.
FERINGHI—a contemptuous term
for an Englishman ; (it origi-
nally meant, a European).
GADI—throne.
GANGA—the Ganges.
GAURI—a Goddess.
GAZAL—an Urdu couplet.
GHANAGARJ—Sounding like thun-
der.
GHARRY—a cab or carriage.
GHAT—the bank of a river,
generally a bathing place ; also
a chain of mountains.
GHÂZI—a Mahomedan who fights
fiercely for his faith and ob-
tains victory.
GHEE—clarified butter.
GULLY—small lane.
GURU—spiritual teacher.
HAR DÊV—God Shiva, who des-
troys evil.
HAR HAR MAHÂDÊV—the war-cry
of the Hindus (lit. Great God
Shiva).
HAKÎM—physician.
HARIDVAR—the place where the
Ganges leaves the mountains
and enters the plains—meta-
phorically, origin or source.
HATHO—retire.
HAWALDÂR—an army officer.
HIND—India.
HINDI—the language of India ;
also, Indian.
HINDUSTHÂN—India.
HINDUSTHANEE—inhabitant of
India.
HINDUSTHANI—Indian ; also, a
language of India.
HIRANYAKASHIPU—a most power-
ful but wicked king of the
Asuras (q.v.).
548

GLOSSARY
HOMA—a sacrifice.
HOOKAH—smoking pipe.
HOWDAH—a covered seat on the
back of an elephant.
HUJRE—attendant.
ID—a Mahomedan feast.
INÂM—land given as gift, free of
taxes.
ISLÂM—the Mahomedan world ;
Mahomedanism.
JÂHGIR—land given as recomp-
ense for service, generally mili-
tary.
JÂHGIRDÂR—a man who owns a
jahgir.
JAI JUMNÂJI !—victory to Jum-
na !—an invocation to the pre-
siding Goddess of the river
Jumna.
JAMADAR—poniard.
JARIPATKA—the banner of the
Mahrattas.
JAT—Panjabee peasant.
JÂTRA—pilgrimage.
JAWÂN—a heroic young man.
JEHÂD—a religious war.
JUMA MUSJID—the principal
mosque of a city.
KACCHA—useless, weak.
KÂFFIR—an abusive term for a
non-Mahomedan.
KALGITURA—an ornament on the
turban.
KÂLI—a Goddess who delights in
destroying the foes of India.
KÂLI-NADI—the river Kali.
KÂLINDI—the Jumnâ.
KALPA—a mythological tree
which bestows everything that
is asked of it.
KÂMADHÊNU—a mythical cow
which bestows everything that
is asked of it.
KÂRBHÂRI—superintendent.
KÂSHI—Benares.
KAUSTUBHA—gem worn by God
Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi.
KHÂLASA—the body of the fight-
ing Sikhs.
KHALÎFA—the spiritual head of
Islam.
KHÂN—a military title.
KHAVIND—Lord.
KILLA—fort.
KILLADÂR—fort-keeper.
KINKHAB—a rich velvet cloth
worked in silver.
KOH-I-NOOR—the most ancient
and most famous diamond of
the world, robbed by the Eng-
lish from India.
KORÂN—the Scripture of the
Mahomedans.
KOTWÂL—city commissioner of
police.
KOTWALI—central police station.
KRIPÂN—sword.
KSHATRIYA—the warrior caste
among the Hindus.
KSHÊTRA—a sacred place.
KUKRI—a small hand-sword.
KULKHERNI—a village tax-
gatherer.
KUMMERBUND—a loin cloth worn
by warriors.
KUNDA—a sacrificial pit.
KYA TAMASHA HAI—what fun !
LÂKH—one hundred thousand.
LASHKAR—army.
LÂVANI—a popular reed or lay.
LÔTA—tumbler, peculiarly shap-
ed, used for drinking water
from.
MAHÂBHÂRATA—the great Indian
Epic.
549

GLOSSARY
MAHAL—palace.
MAHÂLAKSHMI—the goddess of
wealth and prosperity.
MAHALKUREE—district officer.
MAHAR—a low caste.
MAHÂRÂJA—king (lit. great
king).
MAHÂRÂNEE—queen (lit. great
queen).
MAHÂRÂSHTRA—the land of the
Mahrattâs.
MÂHUT—the driver of an ele-
phant.
MAIDÂN—plain, battle-field.
MÂLIK—master, governor.
MANGALYA-SÛTRA—a sacramental
string worn in the neck by the
bride : it is removed only
when she becomes a widow.
MANKAREE—a courtier.
MANTAP—hall generally of a
religious character.
MANTRA—Vedic hymn.
MÂRO FERINGHÎKO !—kill the
Feringhis !
MÂRWÂRI—a Marwar man, gene-
rally used in the sense of ban-
ker.
MÂT—mother.
MATHÂLIKE—an epithet of Kali
(q. v.).
MAT MÂRO—don't kill.
MAUNG—executioner.
MÂWALÂS—Mahratta peasants
led by Shivaji, and who fought
with a courage rarely equalled.
MEM-SÂHIB—a term by which
English women delight to be
called by low-caste Indians.
MERA JHANSI DÔNGI NAHIN—I
will not give up my Jhansi.
MISAL—a division of the Sikh
Khalasa.
MISTRI—executioner.
MOSLEM—Mahomedan.
MOULVIE—a Mahomedan scholar.
MOURCHA—an ornamental fan
made of deer-hair.
MULLAH—a Mahomedan priest.
MUNSIFF—a civil judge.
MUSJID—a Mahomedan place of
worship.
MUSNUD—throne.
MUSSULMAN—a Mahomedan.
NABOB—a Mahomedan lord
(many of these Nabobs esta-
blished independent thrones).
NÂDÂR—bankrupt ; used in the
text in its literal sense of ‘ a
man who is not a dâr ’ (q.v.).
NADI—a river.
NÂGA—a cobra snake.
NAGÂRA—a kind of drum.
NAGÂRKHÂNA—place where
drums are kept and sounded.
NAGPURWALLA—Nagpur-man.
NARASIMHA—an incarnation of
Vishnu in which he killed
Hiranyakashipu (q.v.).
NÂTAKA—a theatrical perform-
ance.
NATH—an ornament worn on the
nose.
NIMAKHARAM—traitorous.
NUJEIB—of noble birth; also a
title.
OMRA—a nobleman.
PÂDRE—a missionary (a term of
contempt).
PÂDSHÂH—emperor.
PÂDSHÂHI—empire, emperorship.
PÂGA—stable.
PÂLKEE—a palanquin.
PÂNDAY—a Revolutionary of
1857.
PARIAH—a low-caste Hindu.
PÂRTHIVA PÛJA—a worship.
550

GLOSSARY
PATEL—head of a village
PÊSHWA—literally, a minister ;
the Peshwa of the Mahratta
empire soon became the head
of the Mahratta confederacy.
PÊSHWÂI—the office and posses-
sions of the Peshwa.
POWADA—a popular song.
PRASÂD—anything blessed by be-
ing first dedicated to God
PRAYÂGA—Allahabad.
PRAYÂGWÂL—Hindu priest of
Prayaga (lit. any Prayaga
man).
PRÂYASCHITTA—a purificatory
ceremony.
PUDDER—the end of ladies' cloth.
PÛJA—worship.
PUNDIT—a Hindu scholar.
PURÂN—a part of Hindu Scrip-
tures.
PURÂNIK—a Brahmin who reads
and explains the Puran in pub-
lic.
PÛRBHAYYA—a caste among the
people of Oudh.
PYJÂMA—loose trousers.
RABBI—a harvest season.
RÂJ—kingdom.
RÂJ—king.
RÂMÂYANA—a great Hindu Epic.
RÂMCHANDRA—the greatest
Hindu hero and king—the hero
of the Ramayana.
RÂN—king ; title assumed by
Rajputs.
RANALAKSHMI—the presiding
Goddess of war.
RÂNEE—queen.
RAO—a title among the Mah-
rattas.
RASALDÂR—an army officer.
RISHI—prophet or seer.
ROTI—Bread.
RUPEE—an Indian coin, original-
ly worth two shillings, now
depreciated to one shilling and
four pence.
RUSTOM—a mighty Persian war-
rior—metaphorically, a great
warrior.
RYASAT—State property.
RYOT—cultivator.
SÂHIB—Sir.
SÂHUKÂR—banker.
SALAAM—respect or salute.
SÂMA—conciliation.
SAMÂDHI—the state of perfect
beatification.
SANAD—title-deed.
SANKALPA—preliminary of a reli-
gious ceremony.
SANYÂSI—one who has renounced
the world.
SÂREE—cloth worn over the
shoulder by ladies.
SARVAHÂRA—destroyer of every-
thing.
SEPOY—Indian soldier.
SHÂBÂSH—well done !
SHAHÎD—martyr who falls fight-
ing.
SHANKAR—God Shiva (the same
as Har Dev).
SHASTRA—science, generally the-
ological.
SHATRUSAMHÂRIKÉ—destroyer of
foes.
SHÂZADA—a prince of blood.
SHILÉDAR—a Mahratta horseman.
SHIRPANA—an ornament worn on
the turban.
SHIVA—one of the Hindu Tri-
nity.
SHRΗblessed (used as part of
the titles of persons or books).
SHRÎMANT—a title of respect and
honour (lit. prosperous).
551

GLOSSARY
SIRDÂR—an army officer of the
higher grade.
SIRKÂR—Government.
SOWAR—cavalryman.
SUBAHDÂR—an army officer.
SUDDER AMIN—Sheriff.
SUDDER DEWÂNI—High Court.
SÛDRA—One of the four castes
among the Hindus.
SULTAN—king.
SÛRYAKANTA—a gem, very cold
to the touch, but which, when
exposed to the sun, absorbs
enormous heat and gives out
sparks.
SUTTEE—the act of self-immola-
tion by a Hindu wife on the
pyre of her husband (lit. a
pure spouse).
SWADÊSH—one's own country.
SWADÊSHI—belonging to one's
own country.
SWADHARMA—one's own duty or
religion.
SWARÂJ—independent self-go-
vernment.
SWARÂJYA—another form of
Swaraj.
SWÂTANTRYA—independence.
TÂSHIL—revenue-jurisdiction.
TÂSHILDÂR—revenue-collector.
TÂLUK—a revenue-district.
TÂLUKDÂR—baron of the court
of Oudh having almost sove-
reign authority.
TÂLUKDÂRI—the principality of
a Talukdar.
TAMÂMEE—a kind of cloth.
TAMÂSH—fun, a show.
TAMÂSHGAR—a showman.
TASMÂT YUDDHÂYA YUJYASVA—
Therefore, get ready for bat-
tle ! (the trumpet-like words
of Shri Krishna in the Gita).
THÂKUR—lord.
THÂNA—police station.
TILAKA—a mark on the forehead
used by Hindus—a sign of
purity and prosperity.
TÎRTHA—Sacred water.
TOP-KHÂNA—stand for mount-
ing guns.
TULSI—a plant sacred to God
Vishnu.
VAISYA—the merchant caste
among the Hindus.
VAKIL—attorney.
VÂRANÂSI—Benares.
VATAN—land almost tax-free, be-
stowed for service rendered.
VATANDÂR—holder of a vatan.
VÊDA—the Scripture of the
Hindus.
VIZIER—minister.
WÂGHNAHH—a weapon made of
or like tiger's claws.
YAJNA—a Vedic sacrifice.
YAMADVITÎYA—a Hindu feast.
YÔGI—a saint who has realised
God.
ZEMINDÂR—land-owner.
ZENÂN—ladies' apartments.
552

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