ABOUT four hundred and sixty miles from Calcutta lies the ancient city of Benares, on the banks of the sacredGanges, shining in all her historical glory. Benares is surely the queen of all the cities that have been built by the sided of the cool, clear, and holy waters of the Bhagirathi. The rows of houses mounting higher and higher from the banks of the Ganges, the domes of tall temples with golden steeples glittering in the sun, the thick rows of trees gracefully raising heads to the sky, the grand harmony of the innumerable bells sounded in the temples, and, above all, the sacred temple of Vishweshvarfa, all these give a unique splendour to the city of Benares. The pleasure-seekers go there for amusement, the devoted for prayer, the Sanyasis for contemplation, and the holy of salvation. All these achieve their various purposes in the holy city. For people who are satiated with the pleasures of the world, holy Benares is a place of retirement, and for those unfortunates whose hopes and desires of happiness in this world are shattered by the jealousy and spite of cruel and wicked men. Benares and the sprays of the cool Ganges are a haven of rest.
Thanks to the English, there was no want of such unfortunate men in 1857 coming to end their days of toil in that haven of refuge and peace. Several Hindu and Mahomedan nobles, helpless since the palaces of Delhi and Poona and Nagpur etc. were closed to them, and the plundered royal families of Sikh and Mahratta princes, were telling their tale of woe in Benares in every temple and every Musjid. In this holy city, it is no surprise that the degradation of Swadharma and the destruction of Swaraj were being hotly discussed among both Hindus of Mahemadans. The military station of the province was Sikroli, which was a short distance from Allahabad. There was the 37th infantry, the Ludhiana Sikh regiment, and a cavalry regiment; the artillery was purposely kept in the hands of Englishmen. Among the Sepoys, the desire to rise for Swadharma and Swaraj had
been secretly fomented by various means. As the year 1857 approached, signs were evident that there was a tremendous agitation among the populace at Benares. The chief commissioner at the city, Tucker, Judge Gubbins, Magistrate Lind, and other civil officers, as well as captain Olpherts, Colonel Gorden, and other military officers had from the first taken great precautions for the safety of the English at Benares. For, in that city, the popular agitation often outstepped the limits of secrecy and sometimes became almost uncontrollable. Purbhayyas openly shouted prayers in the temples, “God, release us from the rule of the Feringhis!“22 Secret societies were formed to ascertain the strength of the movement in other places. When the month of May came, there was quite a number of Mahomedan preachers in the Sepoy camp, proclamations were affixed to the city walls and public squares asking the people to rise, 23 and at last, things went so far, that Hindu priests began holding public prayer-meetings in the temples to pray for the destruction of the English and the victory of Swaraj. About the same time, the prices of grains went up enormously, and, when English officers went about explaining how, according to the laws of political economy, the grain merchants would, in the end, be the losers if prices rose any more, people said boldly to their very faces, “It is you who have made everything dear in our country; and now you come to lecture to us!” The English were so much terror-struck at this ugly manifestation of popular fury, even before the rising, that Captain Olpherts and Captain Watson themselves insisted that the English should vacate the place! At last Gubbins said, pathetically, “I will go on my knees to you not to leave Benares!” , and the plan of evacuation was temporarily postpones! And, indeed, why should it not be so? For have not the Sikh nobles established a volunteer corps, now, to protect the English? And has not the descendant of Chet Singh whom Warren Hastings trampled down, also joined the English? When there is so much “loyalty” yet, there is no reason why the English should leave Benares!
22 Report of the Joint-Magistrate, Mr.Taylor.
23 Red Pamphlet.
But, while the English of Benares, relying on the strength of this loyalty, had given up the idea of leaving Benares, terrible news began to come from the direction of Azimgarh. Azimgarh is situated about sixty miles from Benares, and the 17th native regiment was posted there. In this regiment, a tremendous agitation commenced since the 31st of May, and the magistrate, Mr.Horne had been delivering sweet speeches to pacify the Sepoys! But the days were gone when such empty lectures would have pacified soldiers. The 31st of May dawned, and the Barracks at Benares were set fire to, the sign for the other Sepoys in the province to rise. So, the rising must take place in the first week of June. To- day is the 3rd of June and a good day. For, don’t you see that the treasure of Gorakhpore, together with the treasure of Azimgarh - altogether seven lakhs of Rupees - is being sent to Benares? What better opportunity can you desire or expect?
The twilight of the 3rd of June was slowly changing to the darnkess of the night at Azimgarh. All the English officers of Sepoy regiments were dining together at the club, and the women and children were playing and frolicking near by. Immediately the party heard a tremendous noise. The English had by the first week of June learnt by heart the meaning of these sudden crashes. Even the sudden hush in the midst of their jollity looked like a mutual whisper of “The Sepoys have risen!” Just then followed a thundering noise of drums and clarionets! Not a moment passed before the white people, with the picture of the Meerut events before their mind’s eye, started running for dear life. Officers, women and children despaired of life. But theAzimgarh Sepoys, seeing this unfortunate people suffering a worse agony of death, relinquished all thought of revenge. They took charge of them in order to protect them from being harmed by stray Sepoys, and ordered them to leave Azimgarh at once. But what about some of the over enthusiastic Sepoys who had sworn to shed English blood on that day?24 Well then, Lieutenant Hutchinson and Quarter-Sergeant Lewis, at least your bodies must fall a prey to our bullets! Enough, let the rest run away alive. If they cannot run, we
24 Narrative, p.58
have no objection to their leaving in carriages! But the officers and their wives complained, “Who will give us carriages now?” But the Sepoys replied gallantly, “Do not be anxious; we will give you carriages.” With such extraordinary magnanimity, the Sepoys brought carriages, took away the handcuffs of the English, put them in carriages, and even gave a few Sepoys as guard; and thus, the whole caravan, including all the flags and other signs of English rule, started forth for Benares! On the other side, the treasure of seven lakhs, the English store of
ammunition, the prison bearing the stamp of British rule, offices, roads, barracks - all fell into the hands of the Sepoys. And who was foremost in all this work? It was the police, the police whom the English trusted for information about a possible rising in order to save their lives! The police were as well undermined and as harmless on the surface as the Sepoys. When the appointed time came, they began by hoisting the flag of Swaraj on the English houses and prisons. Some Englishmen who did not find room in the carriages going to Benares ran away in the night of Ghazipur. When the sun rose the next day, it gazed in admiration at the marvellous transformation that had taken place during its short absence, and shone delightfully on the revolutionary flat flying at Azimgarh. The Sepoys, in the flush of victory, drew up a great military procession; and, to the strains of martial music and banners unfurled marched away to Fyzabad.
Although the news of the freedom of Azimgarh reached Benares, there were hopes amongst the English that Benares at least would be safe. Since the news of the Meerut rising, John Lawrence in the Punjab and Lord Canning in Calcutta had been straining every nerve to send English troops to the chief centres of the Revolution. Since the northern army was busy in the siege of Delhi, there was perfect helplessness in the parts south of Delhi, and English officers sent pathetic requests to Calcutta, saying, “For God’s sake, send us Europeans!” We have already described how, by this time, Lord Canning had called European troops from Bombay, Madras, and Rangoon, and had retained in India the army destined for the now abandoned invasion of China. Out of these troops, General Neill, with the Madras fusiliers had, about this time, arrives at Benares. The first succour of European troops, and that too under a bold, able, and cruel general like
Neill, restored the confidence of the English at Benares. Just then, the English army at Danapur also came to Benares. As there was extraordinary unrest in Benares and there was clear evidence that the Sepoys were also concerned in the Revolutionary propaganda, the English thought that they should make an attempt to crush the Revolution in its embryo. From the first, the English were confident that this could easily be done by the combined strength of General Neill’s troops, the Sikh nobles and soldiers, and theartillery. The news of Azimgarh reached Benares on the 4th June and it was decided after considerable discussion that the Sepoys should be disarmed before they rose. Accordingly, a general parade was ordered that afternoon.
Hearing this order, the Sepoys guessed the rest. They also got the secret information that the English held the artillery in readiness. When on the parade maidan the Engliosh officers gave them the order to lay down their arms, it was clear to them that they would be first disarmed and then blown from the mouth of guns. Therefore, instead of laying down their arms, they attacked the neighbouring arsenal and fell on the English officers with fierce cries. Just then, there arrived on the scene the Sikh regiment intended to overawe them. The Sikhs were at the time possessed of such a spirit of loyalty to England, that they fell at the feet of the English and prayed to be given a chance of fighting the Sepoys, at least for a short time! A Hindu Sepoy attacked their commander Guise and he dropped down dead in an instant. Hardly had Brigadier Dodgson arrived to take his place, when a Sikh Sepoy, at the inspiration of the moment, shot him! But the other Sikhs, unable to forgive this great crime, hacked him to pieces! The Sikhs were waiting for the reward of this loyal deed, when the English artillery opened fire on them all! Seeing the confusion going on between the Hindu and the Sikh Sepoys, the English authorities must have suspected that the Sikh regiment also had deserted them. On account of this misunderstanding, they opened fire on all indiscriminately. Now the unfortunate Sikhs had no otherway left but to join the Revolutionaries! All the Indians, together, attacked the artillery thrice. This was about the only prominent occasion in the history of 1857 when Hindus, Mahomedans, and Sikhs, unitedly fell upon the English! But, at that very moment, the Sikhs were making extraordinary efforts to expiate this sin! While the battle between the English and the Sepoys was raging near the barracks, there was a fear that the townsmen would also rise. In this fear, English officers, women, and children were running about in the streets. Then the Sikh Sirdar, Surat Singh, rushed forward to protect them. The treasury at Benares, besides containing lakhs of Rupees, also contained the most valuable ornaments wrested by the English from the last Sikh Queen. And this treasury was guarded by the Sikhs! It was here impossible that the Sikhs would not entertain the idea of taking hold of the treasury and taking back the ornaments belonging to their Qaueen who had been deported by the English. But their leader, the loyal Surat Singh, came forward and arranged that his co-religionists should not touch any of them! And, soon, the treasure was transferred to the guard of English soldiers. At this time, a Pundit, called Gokul Chand, had also joined the side of the English. Even the Raja of Benares placed his all - his influence, his wealth, and his power - his everything at the feet of his lord - not Kashi Vishweshwara, but - the English! The Sepoys alone did not surrender in spite of the hot fire, but retired fighting out of the field and spread all over the province.
No doubt, the English, following John Lawrence’s plan in the Panjab, crushed the Benares rising in embryo; but the news that Benares had risen spread with lightning rapidity all over Northern India, and the different Revolutionary centres, which were waiting with their eyes directed towards Benares, began a series of risings. Javanpur rose on the 5th of June. When the news arrived at Javanpur that the Sepoys from Benares were coming there in all haste, the English officers began to deliver lectures on loyalty to the Sikh Sepoys stationed there. But these lectures had hardly ended when the tramp of Benares Sepoys was heard rapidly approaching! The few Sikh Sepoys at Javanpur who belonged to the Sikh regiment at Benares at once joined the Revolutionaries, and the whole was ablaze in the flames of the Revolution. Seeing this, we joint magistrate, Cuppage, again stood up to lecture, but, from the audience, came a whizzing bullet instead of applause, and the magistrate sahib fell down dead! Commanding officer Lieutenant Mara also fell shot by a bullet. After this, the Revolutionaries attacked the treasury
and ordered all the English to clear out the Javanpur. Now, the Benares cavalry too entered the town. They had taken terrible oaths to kill every Englishman they met. Seeing an old deputy collector running, the Sowars ran after him. Some Javanpur men tried to mediate, “Give the poor man his life, he has treated us very kindly.” But the Sepoys replied. “Can’t help it; he is an Englishman and must die.!“25
Even in times of such excessive hatred, the Revolutionaries gave permission to Englishmen who surrendered, to lay down their arms and run away quietly. Makiong use of this permission, most of the Englishmen vacated Javanpur and departed in a short time. They hired boats on the banks of the Ganges to go to Benares. But, when in the middle of the stream, the boatmen looted them and left them on the sands! There, at Javanpur, the whole town came out, looted and burnt English houses, and mixed into dust all the signs of their power. The Sepoys took as much treasure as they could carry and marched towards Aydhya. Then, the old women of the town and paupers who had never had a Rupee in their lives, were placed in charge of the remaining treasure. They helped themselves with it plentifully, and showered blessings heartily on Swaraj and the Revolution!
In this way rose Azimgarh on the 3rd of June, Benares on the 4th, and Javanpur on the 5th. The whole province of Benares was in flames. If the chief town of a province falls to the enemy, the Revolution, as a rule, loses strength in that province. For the whole province to depend on the capital in times of Revolution is regarded as a most dangerous fault in Revolutionary tactics. Mazzini says, ‘Wherever our flag flies, that is our capital.” The capital must follow the Revolution and not vice versa. However, accurately the map of a Revolution might have
been drawn in the beginning, it is impossible that events will happen in a settled order during its course; therefore, though it fails in the capital, the province must never give it up. Undoubtedly, Benares gave a very good illustration of this principle. For though the capital of the province, the city of Benares, fell into the grip of the English, in the province itself, the cyclone of the Revolution
25 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 245.
arose at once and enshrouded the whole admosphere. Zemindars, peasants, Sepoys, - all began to consider English rule as unholy as cow’s flesh! Even small villages, if they heard that an Englishman was within their boundaries, would beat and drive
him out!26 Especially the people were so disgusted not only with Englishmen but with everything they had done, that they could not bear to see anything connected with the English before their eyes! They drove away Zemindars appointed by the English – good or bad – and put the old hereditary Zemindars instead. In one week disappeared, completely, English methods of taxation their prisons, and their courts of ‘justice’! The telegraph lines were cut off; the railway lines were dug up; behind every hillock and every bush were hidden villagers thirsting for English blood and money; and most of all, in village boundaries, warders were parading so that the English should get not only no provisions but not even any information! In these circumstances, the mistery of the English knew no bounds! And still, the city of Benares had been frustrated in its attempt at freedom, and the Sepoys who rose had marched to Oudh! When the attempt of the 4th of June at Benares failed and wholesale arrests followed, an important fact came to light.27 Only from such incidental events it is possible to understand how the machinery of the Secret Organisation had been worked. Three of the most active agitators and a millionaire banker were arrested at Benares. When their houses were searched, some very violent letters written in cipher and received from the chief centre of the Revolutionary organisation, fell into the hands of the Government. The most important of these letters came from “a head leader”. Their substance was as follows:- “The Benares citizens should rise at once. Kill Gubbins, Lind, and other Englishmen. The money for this work will be given by
26 At every successive stage of this military revolt, the fact of a deep-seated and widespread feeling of hatred and an unappeasable revengefulness for an assumed wrong is more plainly developed. The desire for plunder was only a secondary influence in producing the calamities to which the European residents of various places were exposed.” – Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 245. 27 “No sooner had it been known in the districts that there had been an insurrection at Benares, than the whole country rose like one man. Communications were cut off with the neighbouring stations and it appeared as if the Ryots and the Zemindars were about to attempt the execution of the project which the Sepoys failed to accomplish in Benares.” – Red Pamphlet, page 91.
the banker…..” When the house of this banker was searched, a store of 200 swords and rifles was discovered!
This is a short account of the rising of the province of Benares. Here the people never massacred Englishmen as at Meerut or Delhi. In the whole province not a single English woman was killed. May more, when national anger in the heart was demanding “Revenge!”, the people cordially bid farewell to the English there, themselves assisting sometimes to yoke the animals to their carriages. Look on this picture and on that which will now follow!
We do not say that the English should have sympathised with Benares in its attempts to attain Swaraj. But we do maintain that the English could never be justified in the atrocities that they committed in the Benares province, so totally incommensurable with the provocation they received either from the Sepoys or the people in that province. The English have never spread to hurl the most vile and lying abuses on the heads of the Revolutionaries, and hence, on all Indians, for their “cruelties.” Now, when we shall have described below how a brave commander of the “civilised” English army treated the people in the Benares, and when it is said that all the facts that we shall give are from the accounts of the English themselves, it will be superfluous and unnecessary to add anything to it. Let the imperial world judge for itself. After the Benares rising, General Neill organised detachments of the English and Sikhs to keep ‘order’ in the neighbouring villages. These bands used to enter villages occupied by defenceless peasants. Anybody whom they met was either cut down or hanged. The supply of those to be hanged was so great that one scaffold was soon found to be insufficient, even though worked day and night; therefore, a long line of permanent scaffolds was erected.
Though, on this long range, people were half killed and thrown away, still, there was a crowd of waiting candidates! The English officers gave up as hopeless the silly idea of cutting down trees and erecting scaffolds; so, thenceforth, the trees themselves were turned into scaffolds. But if only one man were to be hanged on each three, what has God given so many branches to a tree for? So, “natives” were left hanging on every branch, with their necks tightly roped to them.
This “military duty” and this Christian mission went on incessantly night and day. No wonder the brave English got tired of it. So the necessary seriousness in this religious and nobe duty was mixed with a little humour for the sake of amusement. The rude manner of catching hold of peasants and hanging them on the trees was altered to suit the taste of art. They were first made to mount on elephants. Then the elephants were taken near a high branch, and after the necks were tied tightly to it, the elephants would be moved away.28 Still, when the elephants were gone, the countless unshapely corpses used to hang on the branches
Englishman says in his letter, “We set sire to a large village which was full of them. We surrounded them, and when they came rushing out of the flames, we shot them!“29’30
But in spite of these various efforts in different directions, there were still hundreds of thousands of ‘black’ men living! Now, to hang all these would require an amount of rope that could not easily be had! The “civilised” and “Christian” nation of England was landed in this unthought-of difficulty. By the grace of their God Himself, they hit upon a new plan, and the first experiment was so successful that, thenceforth, hanging was abandoned for the new and scientific method. Village after village could thus be razed to the ground! After setting villages on fire, and keeping the guns in position to overawe them, how long will it take to burn thousands of natives? This setting fire to villages on all sides and burning the inhabitants, was so amusing to many Englishmen that they sent letters to England giving a humorous description of these scenes. The fires were so quickly and skilfully lighted that no villager had any chance of escape at all! Poor peasants, learned Brahmins, harmless Mussalmans, school children, women with
28 Narrative, page 69. 29 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, pp. 243,244.
30 “Volunteer hanging parties went out into the districts and amateur executions were not wanting to the occasion. One gentleman boasted of the numbers he had finished off quite “in an artistic manner”, with mango trees for gibbets and elephants as drops, the victims of this wild justice being strung up, as though for pastime, in “the form of a figure of eight”. – Kaye and Malleson’s History of the Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 177.
infants in their arms, young girls, old men, blind and lame, all were burnt in the mass of flames! Mothers with suckling babes also succumbed to these fires! Old
men and women, and those unable to move away even a step from the fire, were burnt in teir beds!31 And if a solitary man were to escape the fire, what then? One Englishman says in his letter, “We set sire to a large village which was full of them. We surrounded them, and when they came rushing out of the flames, we shot them!”32
And was it only a solitary village that was thus treated? The English sent various detachments to the various parts of the province to burn villages. Out of the many batches, one officer, out of the many officers of a batch, says of one of his many outings, “You will, however, be gratified to lean that twenty villages were razed to the ground!”
And all this account is only a summary of what has accidentally appeared in the works of English historians, who openly swear, “it is better not to write anything about General Neill’s revenge!”
Enough! To add even a word more of our own to it, is to spoil this naked picture of the inhuman barbarity of the English!
And, therefore, you terror-struck eyes, look now towards the love- waves of the happy union of the Bhagirathi and the Kalindi rivers. The city of Allahabad, eternally laved by the calm, noble, and graceful waters at the union (Sanhama), is situated about seventy miles from Benares. To the holy purity of the Prayaga-Kshetra, the vast fort built under the reign of Akbar, gave an additional beauty. Allahabad is the key to all the important roads leading from Calcutta towards the Punjab and Delhi. Here, the fort of Allahabad has the imperial grace of a tall, strong, and great commander appointed to guard over the movements of these provinces. In the Revolution of 1857, he who held this fort held the key to the whole province. Such being the case, both sides made extraordinary efforts to
31 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, pp. 243-244. 32 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, pp. 243,244.
acquire or retain the command of this most important fort. The plan of the Revolutionary party was that the
Sepoys as well as all the citizens of Allahabad should rise simultaneously. While the secret organisation was working up towards this goal, the Prayaga Brahmins had been of the greatest use in inspiring into the cities the ideals of Swaraj. These influential Hindu priests had been long sowing the seeds of the Revolutionary War, not only among the citizens of Allahabad, but also among the Hindu population in the whole province. With the traditional Hindu prayer at the time of the bath, was couples the holy and religious prayers of the Revolution. Also, among the vast Mussalma population of the town, the Mullahs were very busy. Thousands of Mussalmans were only awaiting the signal with a firm determination to offer their blood on the battle-field in the cause of country and religion. The English, at the time, quite expected this. They seem to have been firmly convinced that all Mussalmans were their mortal enemies. The well-known writer of the Red Pamphlet says, “The Mahomedans too, have shown that they cherish in their hearts the proselytising doctrines of their religion and that, as Christians, they will ever detest and take advantage of every opportunity of destroying Feringhis.” True as this is in general, it was more true still in this city. At Allahabad, the Moslems were more advanced than the Hindus. They were most prominent in the management of the machinery of the secret society. The efforts of Hindus and Mahomedans for the freedom of their country became, at last, so great that the very judges and Munsiffs of the Government joined the secret society!33
Allahabat being the chief station of the province, the English should have taken extraordinary precautions to guard the fort. But, on account of the ignorance till the beginning of May about the internal agitation in the whole country, the military preparations at Allahabad had been very bad. At Allahabad itself, the men who were spreading all around the fire of Revolution had kept such skilful secrecy that the Government did not think it necessary even to keep a single English soldier there! When the news from Meerut came, this important station had
33 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 268
only the 6th Sepoy regiment and about two hundred men of a Sikh regiment from Ferozepur. Soon after, the Oudh cavalry was brought there, and the forst, together with the vast store of arms and ammunition, was kept entirely in the hands of the Sepoys. The English officers at the head of these Sepoys were strong in the belief that their Sepoys were very loyal. Especially the 6th regiment was undoubtedly the first in loyalty! One day, after hearing the news of Delhi, they sent word to their officers, “Khavind, give us the order to go to Delhi and cut those mutineers to pieces. We are anxiously waiting.” This extraordinary symptom of loyalty was admired everywhere. From the Governor-General himself came the order to give public thanks to the 6th regiment, “for this unparalleled faithfulness and loyalty.” Just then a citizen brought the information that the 6th regiment was secretly hand in glove with the
Revolutionaries! Seeing this, the 6th regiment caught two revolutionary preachers and handed them over to the officers as a tangible proof of their loyalty. Now, why base suspicions? But, if the Government still suspects our loyalty, then the officers should come amongst us and see for themselves how pure our hearts are! The English officers came on the 6th of June into the lines and saw that their heart was indeed full to the brim with loyalty everywhere. Nay, some of the Sepoys actually ran up to the officers, embraced them heartily, and affectionately kissed them on both cheeks.34
And the same night, everyone of the Sepoys of the 6th regiment rushed out, sword in hand, shouting “Maro Feringhiko!” (Kill the Feringhis!).
While the Sepoys were moving heaven and earth in order that their plans might not be frustrated and they themselves might not be disarmed as at Benares, the English were
removing their families into the fort for protection under the charge of the Sikhs and the cavalty. The news from Benares came to Allahabad on the 5th. On that day, there was so much agitation in the town that the English pointed some guns in the direction of the bridge towards the Benares side and closed the castle-
34 Narrative.
gates. At night, the English officers whom the Sepoys had only then affectionately kissed had assembled at the mess for dinner, when at a distance the terrible bugle began to blow! The sounds of the bugle, as it were, conveyed the information that the loyal 6th regiment had also risen!
That evening, the order had been given to the Sepoys to take the guns which were on the Benares bridge into the fort. But it seemed that the hitherto traditional loyal practice of obeying all the orders of the English was suddenly discontinued that evening; for, the Sepoys themselves issued an order that the guns shall be taken not to the fort but to the cantonment! The officers called the Oudh cavalry to punish the Sepoys for this extraordinary disobedience. The young and promising officers, Lieutenant Alexander and Lieutenant Harvard, got the cavalry in order and marched on the Sepoys. At this time the morning was just rising. When the cavalry was brought face to face with the insolent Sepoys, the English officers gave the order to attack and rushed boldly forward, hoping that thousands of horses would gallop behind them and trample down the handful of Sepoys. But, behold! the cavalry refused to draw their swords against their own countrymen and did not move! At this, the Sepoys raised a tremendous shout of applause. Lieutenant Alexander was hit in the chest and fell down, his body was cut to pieces, and then all the Indian Sepoys embraced each other and marched to the camp. Two horsemen had already galloped to the camp and given the news to their brethren in the camp. The scene that followed on the parade ground was unparalleled! Whenefver an English officer gave a word of command, whiz came a bullet! Plunkett, Adjutant Steward, Quarter-Master Hawes, Pringle, Munro, Birch, Lieutenant Innes, - all fell down dead! The excited mass of humanity on the parade ground was now going about setting fire to the houses of Englishmen. When they heard that there were many Englishmen at the mess-house, an attack was made and every Englishman there was killed! It has been already said that the most important thing in Allahabad was the possession of the fort. In it were the English women and children and a vast store of ammunition, and it was entirely in the hands of the Sikhs. All the Sepoys were now waiting for the firing of the gun, the settled sign
that the Sikhs and the few Sepoys with them had also risen and driven out the English.
But within the fort, the Sikhs showed their true treachery! They not only refused to take away the English flag from the fort but helped the English officers to disarm and drive out the few Sepoys that had found their way inside. The English express even now a sense of astonishment as to how the Sikhs stuck to them at that juncture. In half an hour, the extensive fort of Allahabad would have fallen into the hands of the Revolutionaries. That, is to say, in half an hour, the backbone of English rule would have been smashed! But the Sikhs spent that half an hour in hacking their own countrymen and their mother country! Though the Sepoys in the fort rose again and again, the Sikhs instead of joining them, disarmed them and drove them out at the orders of the English. And thus, the fort continued to be in English hands.
But Allahabad did not fortunately consist of these four hundred Sikh traitors alone! As the time for the Sepoy rising in the fort approached, the city of Allahabad rose also. The terrible shouts on the parade-ground were echoed from the town itself. At first, the houses of Englishmen were destroyed; then, Sepoys and the people together broke the prison. No hearts could be more full to hatred against the English than those of the hundreds of prisoners there. So, as soon as they were released, they shouted hoarse cries and ran first to the quarters where the English resided! The Revolutionaries had a special eye on railways and telegraphs! The railway officers, the lines, the telegraph poles and wires, engines, were all crushed to pieces! In spite of all the precautions taken by the English, some Englishmen fell into the hands of the Revolutionaries. They despatched them quickly! Then, the half Feringhis, who, relying on the protection of the English, used to treat the “natives” with insolence, came in for their turn. Those who had been against the Revolution had their houses attacked. The lives of only those were saved who took oaths, “We will fight against the English!” On the morning of the 17th, the Revolutionaries captured the treasury containing nearly thirty lakhs of Rupees. Then, in the afternoon, a great Revolutionary flat was taken in procession and hoisted on the police station. And while the town and the fort were thus involved in the flames of Revolution, all the Sepoys and the citizens saluted it!
Almost at the same moment, the whole province of Allahabad rose like one man! Everywhere, things were altered so quickly that, after a short time, no one would have believed that the English had ever been ruling there! In every village the embroidered flag was hoisted and a stray Englishman was beaten away or killed and the roots of English rule were, as it were, uprooted! Oh, how superficial really are the roots of slavery in spite of the centuries of efforts made to drive them in! And, especially, an unnatural seed like that of slavery, how can it take root?
Most of the Talukdars in the Allahabad province were Mahomedans and their tenants were Hindus. Thus, the English had considered it impossible that these two would unite and that the whole mass of the people would rise against them. But, in this memorable first week of June, how many of such impossibilities were realised! Without even waiting to hear about the rising of the city of Allahabad, all the villages of the province rose simultaneously and declared their indedpendence! Hindus and Mahomedans, because they fed on the same Mother’s milk, rose together to strike blows at English rule! Not only the able-bodied Sepoys, but also old military pensioners enrolled themselves as national volunteers. Twisting their moustaches, they would organised bands. Those who were too weak and old to do anything themselves would explain to younger men important points in military strategy and give advice on knotty points of tactics. Can we wonder that the noble ideals of Swadharma and Swaraj which thrilled youth even in superannuated Sepoys had thoroughly permeated all classes of the population?35 Shopkeepers, Marwaris, and Banias, even, took such an important part in that popular agitation that General Neill in his report makes a special
35 “And with them went on not only the Sepoys who, a day before, had licked our hands,
but the superannuated pensioners of the Company’s native army who though feeble for action,
were earnest in their efforts to stimulate others to deeds of cowardice any cruelty.” - Kaye’s
Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 193.
reference to their hatred of the English! “The majority of the chief merchants and others have shown the worst spirit towards us. Many of them have taken active part against us.” But, even after this, the English were boasting that the peasants would take their side. But Allahabad shattered this vain delusion to pieces! The peasants took a leading part in the Revolutionary War of 1857, as, perhaps, they never had done in any political agitation before. Under the banner of their old Talukdars - not the new ones appointed by the English - the peasants threw their ploughs and ran with lightning speed to join the war for freedom. They had compared the English Company with their old kings; and they were firmly convinced that their own Swaraj was a thousand times better than the Feringhi Company’s rule. Therefore, when the hour of consummation arrived, they began the work of revenge for the wrongs of decades. Everywhere, Swaraj was hailed with shouts of delight and even the children in the streets began to spit on slavery! It is true; even children spat, for children of twelve or
fourteen would organise processions in the streets with the Revolutionary flat. The English arrested such a procession and sentensed the little boys to death! Hearing this setnence, an English officer felt so ashamed that, with tears in his eyes, he came to the chief commandant and requested him to release the children. But it was of no use! And the children who committed the crime of raising the flag of independence were all publicly hanged! Will not the murder of these little angels fall back on the head of the assassins? The whole province shook with tremor; peasants and Talukdars, old and young, men and women, all arose with the cry, “Har, Har,” to smite the chains of political slavery. “For not only in the districts beyond the Ganges but in those lying between the two rivers, the rural population had risen …. and, soon, there was scarcely a man of either faith who was not arraigned against us.”36 And, for the success of these huge efforts of the whole populace and for the freedom of the Motherland, the Prayaga Brahmins and Mullahs began to send forth prayers unto Heaven!
36 Kaye’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 195.
It is difficult to find in Indian history another Revolution, so exciting, so quick, so terrible, and so universal! It was almost an unheard to thing in India that the powers of the people should awaken with a start and begin to shed pools of blood for the freedom of the country, even as thundering clouds shed rain. Besides, the sight of Hindus and Mahomedans fighting side by side for Hindusthan realizing their true interests and natural comradeship, was truly magnificent and inspiting. After having set up such a terrible whirlwind, shall we wonder that Hindusthan could not firmly keep it under control? The wonder is that Hindusthan could raise such a whirlwind at all. For, no nation has been able to control a Revolution suddenly. If we compare the Rising with the French Revolution, we will find that the inevitable incidents of any Revolution - like anarchy, confusion, outrage, selfishness, and looting, were not fewer there than in India. This was a vast experiment made by India. So we need not be surprised if, in the province of Allahabad where the experiment was so successful, there were, also, some mistakes and confusion. The hereditary feuds of Zemindars, the excessive poverty - the corollary of long slavery, and the enmity of centuries between Hindus and Mahomedans and the natural occasional misunderstandings during the efforts to extinguish it, all these made it impossible that there should not be anarchy for some time, when the first shock of the Rising was sensibly felt. After the Creation, there comes often the Deluge. Whoever wants a Revolution must be prepared to meet these difficulties in carrying it out!
However, when the week of looting and burning was over, all the dangers of anarchy melted away and the Revolution assumed some organised form in Allahabad. In that province, as in all placed where a Revolution due to popular agitation takes place, the difficulty after the rising is that of finding capable leaders. This difficulty was soon got over in the city of Allahabad; for, an ardent lover of liberty, called Leakat Ali, soon became the leader of the Revolution. The only information we have about this extraordinary man is that he was a religious preacher among the weavers. Before the Rising, he had worked as a teacher in a school. He was adored by all people for the holy purity of his life. When the province of Allahabad became free, the Zemindars of the Chauvis Parganas
brought this Moulvie in a few days to Allahabad and appointed him chief officer there. And he was proclaimed in great ceremony as the representative of the Emperor of Delhi. This Moulvie established his head-quarters in a fortified garden called Khusru Bagh and began the work of organising the Revolutionaries in the province. He soon put all the affairs of state in good order. He did not stop with merely saying that he was the Subahdar of the Emperor but he continued to send, to the last, reports of the events in Allahabad to the Emperor of Delhi.
The first thing that Moulvie Leakat Ali had to do was to capture the fort of Allahabad. He had begun the attempts to organise and prepare the army that collected under him and direct an attack on the fort, when the news came that General Neill was marching from Benaras towards Allahabad. Even now, if the four hundred Sikhs in the fort had come to their senses, the whole fort, together with the guns, arms, and ammunition, would have fallen to the Revolutionaries without a shot being fired! General Neill was so afraid of this that he marched with his English tropps in haste to Allahabad. Heill arrived there on the 11th of June. He had no hope that the Sikhs would protect the fort and its English occupants till his arrival. He was, therefore, overjoyed when he saw the English flat still flying on the walls of the fort. He, immediately, kept the English soldiers to garrison the fort and sent the loyal Sikhs out to dothe fighting. It is clearly seen from this how little faith Neill had in the Sikh Sepoys. Though Neill had no faith in the Sikhs, the Sikhs had complete faith in him; for, they refused to join the Revolutionaries even after this insult, and consented to burn the neighbouring villages. On the 17th of June, the English army began to push its way into the town. Describing the incidents, the Moulvie, in his report to the Emperor, says, “Of the traitorous sinners who have joined the enemy, some have spread the rumour that the English are going to blow up the whole town. The people have left their homes and have announced that they are going away in order to save their lives! Therefore, the whole town is being deserted in spite of assurances of protection.” As this unfortunate report of the Moulview had set out on its way to Delhi, the English attack on Khusru Bagh began. The Revolutionaries defended the place that day; but the Moulview soon saw that it was madness to attempt to hold Allahabad from
a dilapidated garden while the fort was in the hands of the enemy. So, on the night of the 17th, he left for Cawnpore with all his followers. The next day, on the 18th, the English reentered Allahabad together with the ’loyal Sikhs’.
Though Allahabad followed the example of Benares and fell into the English hands, the Revolutionaries did not lose courage at all. Seeing the enemy thus safely protected in the chief forts, the people of the province were all the more enraged and every village put up entrenchments and prepared to make a stand. The days were gone when such determined people could be seduced by bribery. The was was a war of principle, and though Neill offered rewards of thousands of Rupees for the heads of even minor leaders, the penurious peasants themselves were unwilling to help him. An English officer of the time has expressed his surprise at this noble stand for the sake of principle. He writes of one village: “The magistrate offered a reward of one thousand rupees for the head or the person of the leader of rebels who is well-known to the natives; yet, such is their hatred towards us that no one would give him up!37 Let alone betraying the leaders, it was considered, at that time, a great sin even to sell for money any commodity to the English. If anyone did commit that offence, he was immediately given a harsh punishment by the community. “Any one who had worked for the Europeans, these murderers killed. So, if the population is to a man against us, we should stand but a bad chance. A poor baker was found with his hand cut off and his nose slit, because he had sent in bread to us.” This is the report of the 23rd of June. Simply because the baker gave bread to the English, the villagers cut off his hands and nose. When this national and armed boycott was proclaimed, the misery of the Feringhis knew no bounds. It is true they had taken the fort of Allahabad. But, they found it impossible to move even a step one way or the other. They could get neither oxen, nor carts, nor even medicine! No dolies for sick soldiers and no men to lift them! There were sick men lying about in various places. Their shrill cries were so fearful that some English women died by hearing them. The days were hot. And the trick of the Revolutionaries in rising in June, so that the Englishmen
37 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I.
might die of heat also, now came to be understood. All Englishmen were busy bathing their heads in cold water! Besides, the provisions always fell short. Nobody could be found who would sell even a grain of corn to the English. “Up to to-day, we have had little to eat; indeed, I could not have fed a dog with my yesterday’s breakfast!” So writes an officer from Allahabad! This heat and this starvation brought on cholera in the English camp. To add to the troubles, English soldiers regularly started getting drunk! All discipline was gone.These drunkards began to disobey Neill’s orders to such an extent that he wrote to Canning that he had decided to hand a few of them! The Englisharmy, beset with these numerous difficulties, was chained to Allahabad city. Though urgent messages requesting help were coming frequently from the English of Cawnpore, a dashing warrior like General Neill, had to see the first of July dawn in Allahabad itself!
It is important to note that General Neill and his fusiliers had been brought from Madras. If, at this time, there has been even a slight tremor of a Revolution towards Madras, the English would have been unable to bear the strain even for a day. For, though the resolute Indians of Allahabad had all but succeeded in the cleverly organised plan of shutting up English soldiers in the forts, the English had no real reason to be disheartened. For Madras, Bombay, Rajputana, the Punjab, Nepal, and other parts were still lying like dead weights hampering the national movement. When some of these parts did begin to move, they fell on their own countrymen, like demons. Were not thousands of Sikh Sepoys ready to help the English in Benares itself? However, whatever the others might do, the Brahmin priests and Mullahs of Prayag, Talukdars and peasants, teachers and students, shopkeepers and customers - in spite of various difficulties, in spite of the want of a great military leader who could lead them to battle, in spite of defeat, discouragement, and anarchy - showed a confirmed and inveterate hatred of slavery. Of the great sacrifices, including the sacrifice of life itself, made by these noble patriots for the lofty ideals of Swaraj and freedom. History will ever be proud!
For, all these patriots were actually paying a very heavy price for rising against English slavery. It is difficult to find a parallel, even in the history of
savages, to the cruel brutality which Neill showed in the provinces of Benares and Allahabad! We do not write this as a figure of speech; any one will be convinced that what we have said is nothing but the bare truth, if he reads the accounts given by the English themselves. We had given some account of the inhuman conduct of the British in Benares. Here, we extract a letter of a brave and generous Briton to describe his achievements in Allahabad. “One trip I enjoyed amazingly; we got on board a steamer with a gun, while the Sikhs and the fusiliers marched up to the city. We steamed upthrowing shots right and left till we got up to the bad places, when we went on the shore and peppered away with our guns, my old double- barrel bringing down several niggers. So thirsty for vengeance I was. We fired the places rightand left and the flames shot up to the heavens as they spread, fanned by the breeze, showing that the day of vengeance had fallen on the treacherous villains. Every day, we had expeditions to burn and destroy disaffected villages and we have taken our revenge. I have been appointed the chief of a commission for the trial of all natives charged with offences against the government and persons. Day by day, we have strung up eight and the men. We have the power of life in our hands and, I assure you, we spare not. A very summary trial is all that takes place. The condemned culprit is placed under a tree, with a rope round his neck, on the top of a carriage, and when it is pulled off he swings.“38 Neill burnt old men; Neill burnt middle-aged men; Neill burnt young men; Neill burnt children; Neill burnt infants; Neill burnt babies in cradles; and Neill has burnt babies suckling at the breasts of their mothers! Kaye admits that six thousand Indians were done to death at the place above mentioned! Hundreds of women, young girls, mothers, and daughters have been burnt alive by Neill, without even counting their number. We make the statement in the presence of God and in the presence of all humanity! If anyone has the slightest proof against it, let him come forth boldly and stand for a moment at least before the world and God!
38 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page 257.
And what was the crime all these had committed? The crime was that they were ready to bear all these for the sake of their country’s freedom!
Still the massacre of Cawnpore has to come! Neill’s barbarities were not a revenge of Cawnpore, but the Cawnpore bloodshed was the result of and revenge for Neill’s inhuman brutalities!
Neill has killed as many people in Allahabad alone as all Englishmen, women and children who had been killed throughout India in the Revolution, put together! And tens of such Neills were conducting such massacres in hundreds of places! For every Englishman, a whole village has been burnt! God will not forget this and we will, also, never forget this!
And what do English historians saya bout this? They generally omit this, and that too, ostentatiously! If they do give some of the details, it is to prove how bold and brave Neill was. What greater mercifulness than such timely cruelty? Some say that this cruelty on his part shows the great love of humanity in Neill’s heart! Kaye, no doubt, suspects that the Cawnpore massacres were a result of this barbarous revenge; but, he says, it is natural that the leonine qualities of the British people should come out on account of the insolence of the ‘natives’. Kaye does not write a single word against Neill for this cruelty. But, instead of allowing man to discuss this question, he leaves it to God! When talking of Nana Sahib, his pen puts even Obscenity to shame! Charles Ball praises Neill inordinately. But what does Neill himself say?
He says, “God grant I may have acted with justice! I know I have acted with severity but, under all the circumstances, I trust for forgiveness. I have done all for the good of my country, to re-establish its prestige and power, and to put down this most barbarous, inhuman insurrection.” The definition of Patriotism in England is unique indeed!
Another historian, Holmes, says: “Old men had done us no harm; helpless women, with suckling infants at their breasts, felt the weight of our vengeance no less than the vilest malefactors. But, to the honour of Neill, let it be
remembered that, to him, the infliction of punishment was not a delight but an awful duty.”39
We fervently hope that impartial history, by examining the above extracts, and the true God - not Neill’s God - will look more sympathetically and forgivingly at the few massacres by the Revolutionaries than at these wholesale slaughterings by the English. Are massacres in the cause of freedom justified? This question “should be left to God!” “Let God forgive me, for what I am doing, I am doing to win national independence for my country!” - this sentence would fit the mouth of Nana far better than that of Neill! It was the Revolutionaries who were “fighting for their country,” not Neill! And, if anyone performed a “duty” in massacres, it was the Revolutionaries alone, fired with the desire of fighting for Swaraj and Swadharma and burning for vengeance for all the oppressios that the Motherland suffered for a hundred years! But, of what use is all this philosophy now? Neill has sowed the seeds of cruelty and horror in Allahabad. Their abundant crops are already rising in the fields of Cawnpore. Let us, then, go towards Cawnpore to reap them in their full harvest!! 39 Holmes’s Sepoy War, pages 229-230.