HUNTED out of the valleys of Jagadishpur by General Eyre, Kumar Singh, the old but energetic lion of the territory of Shahabad was roaming restlessly but always on the alert for every chance to spring at the neck of those who had deprived him of his liberty. Under his banner had united his brother Amar Singh and two other chiefs, Nisswar Singh and Jawan Singh. They were now lying in wait in the forests. With them were their beloved wives, heroic women, but ready to join in the fight, combing their hair not with the delicate combs of the Zenana but with sharp arrows, flourishing in their delicately fashioned hands, “tenderer than the very flower,” the flashing Damascus blade, “harder than adamant.” They were, also, waiting to drink the blood of the enemy! To drink the blood of the enemy, we say again; for, old as Kumar Singh was and proudly insolent as his opponent was, the ambition of Kumar Singh was nothing short of drinking the enemy’s blood! For, though “reduced to extremities with hunger, besieged by age, - a picture of hard misery, with no position, and courting death,” as the lion of the famous poem, our Kumar was still the king of the forest! And, therefore, whatever the reverses, how would he eat the dead grass of slavery? His ambition was - one ambition alone could be the ambition of the lion of the poem referred to - to break open, with his steel-claws, the skull of the elephant! With the land belonging to his family for generations as far as your memory could go now usurped by the stranger with his very palace of Jagadishpur in the hands of the foreigner, and his temples and images pulled down by the desecrating hands of the enemy, Kumar Singh did not show any excitement. He did not make a dash for Jagadishpur, nor did he persist in holding Shahabad. His capital was strictly guarded by the English and his army was small - only a thousand and two hundred Sepoys and five hundred untrained volunteers. He did not show, therefore, the least anxiety to recover his capital immediately. But his great desire was to hold aloft the bright golden banner of the War of Independence! The very day that he gave up Jagadishpur without serious resistance - that very day he had made up his mind to take to a different mode of warfare altogether. That mode of warfare is the one mode that goes farthest to secure success in any War of Independence. It is guerilla warfare. Therefore, enraged as he was at the loss of his capital, Kumar Singh sent not his army against the enemy, for then his soldiers would have perished like moths before the rushing enemy; but he moved quietly into the forests of West Behar and along the river Shon, carefully nothing the weak points of the enemy. In the meanwhile, news reached him that troops, Nepalese and English, were being sent from Azimgarh into Oudh to destroy Lucknow. As soon as with his keen scent he scented the prey, the lion of Jagadishpur took one leap out of the forest. Unlike those who would still, in fallen days, hover round their capital without the least chance, and unlike those weak persons who give way completely to passion and emotion to console themselves, our Kumar Singh was the very genius of guerilla warfare. Though the British army was marching on to Lucknow, they still had an eye on Jagadishpur, where his activities might be expected to be centred. Kumar Singh, therefore, postponed indefinitely his operations there and started for eastern Oudh, to make one spring for that part where the British army was weakest, hoping to surprise Azimgarh by uniting together all the revolutionaries that were scattered in eastern Oudh, and then to make a dash, if victorious, on Benares or even Allahabad and, thus, to avenge the Jagadishpur insult. On the 18th of March 1858, even the Revolutionaries of Beeva joined him; and the united armies encamped near the fort in Atrolia. Azimgarh is twenty - five miles’ run from Atrolia. Learning that Kumar Singh was so near, Milman marched on Atrolia with three hundred infantry and horse and two guns. Before the morning rays of the sun of the 22nd of March had lighted the field of Atrolia, the vanguards of Milman and of the Revolutionaries were within sight of each other. Milman gave them not even a moment’s time to recover themselves, taken aback as they seemed to be by the sudden appearance of the British troops. He began the fight at once. But, of course, how long could the Revolutionaries fight against the British? They were soon totally defeated. What an ending to the vainglorious boast of Kumar Singh! All glory to the British army which showed such fine front even after the all-night march of the previous day. Ye have earned your breakfast, British soldiers, by the sweat of your brow, nay, by the free flow of blood from your bodies; so, enjoy your breakfast, with your commanders, in the cool share of the mango groved! The rays of the morning sun are welcoming you, gay because of the great victory earned so lately. Arms were arranged all around, breakfast was ready, the hungry mouths were chewing the first morsel; the cups of drink were filled ready, - and then! Boom, boom! What is up? The cups are dashed down from the lips, the morsels of food have slipped off the mouths, the breakfast dishes are shattered and, instead the army has to take up the arms only this hour laid down with a sense of relief! Has Kumar Singh come after all? Yes, yes! Kumar Singh has descended like a thunderbolt upon the English, who had been contemplating with delight their supposed victory. As soon as Milman was completely enticed into the security of a false victory, the hero - old in age but youthful in spirit – came out of the fort of Atrolia and smiled with contempt at the prey, now completely his. Malleson says: “What more could a general long for? Everything was in his favour. Kumar Singh, then, marched to a victory which he deemed assured. The imagination can almost picture him making to the confidant by his side an exclamation near akin to that which burst from the lips of Wellington when he noticed the false movement of Marmont which brought on the battle of Salamanca! Mon cher Alva, Marmont est perdu!“42 Still Milman struggled to escape and marched on with bondness, hoping to frighten Kumar Singh by keeping up a good and steady attack. But a regular shower of bullets was kept on from the avenues of sugarcane, from the trees of the mango grove, and from the mud—banks everywhere. The army of Kumar Singh numbered five on six times that the Milman and, seeing that his enemy threatened to surround him completely, Milman was obliged to stop weakly in the midst of his hold attack. This weakness increased the determination of Kumar Singh to surround him. Now the British army, frightened and almost suffocated, began to fall back. Now began the wolf-like warfare of Kumar Singh’s troops, moving forward to shoot at stray soldiers and the flanks of the enemy. The temporary triumph did not turn Kumar Singh’s head. He did not attack unitedly the retreating troops of the enemy; for, he knew well the nature of the troops under him. He could not be sure how long they would have held on in a hand to hand fight. Hence, shrewd as he was, he determined only to continue the guerilla tactics. He drove the army of the enemy, hunting them from Atrolia straight to their camp at Kosilla. But the British army was destined not to get a safe refuge even in the Kosilla camp. Already the news of the defeat of the army had reached there and the Indian servants had left with their oxen and everything else that was in their keeping. No servants ahead, no provisions near, with Kumar Singh’s army preying on the stray unfortunates like wolves, Milman began his retreat leaving the camp behind him. Kumar Singh pursued - pursued even after he had taken complete possession of everything the enemy had, and hunted the British army and the miserable Milman from Kosilla right up to Azimgarh. At Azimgarh, Milman’s hopes revived again! For, there he had aid of three hundred and fifty fresh forces from Benares and Ghazipur, who had come in response to his express message. Colonel 42 Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, p. 319 Dames was the commander of the united forces. With a strong base like Azimgarh, with the British army reinforced to double the former number, with Colonel Dames to lead them – they determined to take revenge for the temporary defeat, come what might! So Colonel Dames set out from Azimgarh resolving to revenge himself on Kumar Singh on the 28th of March. He thought he had his revenge, for he was victorious over Kumar Singh; but it was only to find the old game repeated again, perhaps better than before. The fresh soldiers with their fresh commander got such a sound bearing that Colonel Dames ran from the field right to Azimgarh and took refuge within the fortifications of the city. No one now even spoke of attacking Kumar afresh. Kumar now entered Azimgarh and leaving the work of annihilating the few Englishmen in the fortifications to a few of his followers - and to famine - he pushed on triumphant to Benares! The governor-general who, as we have said before, was now at Allahabad, was filled with terror, now that the lion had opened wide his jaws. “Knowing what sort of a man Kumar Singh was, that he possessed audacity and courage, and that he knew the value of time in military operations, Lord Canning realised at once the danger of the situation.“43 He who had just imprisoned the English forces at Azimgarh and, having marched with wonderful rapidity the eighty-one miles of the way, had threatened to cut off Allahabad from Calcutta by attacking the city of Benares, he - the Rana Kumar Singh, reinforced as he now was by the Sepoys flying away after the defeat at Lucknow and knowing full well the art of keeping together and in discipline even such demoralised forces as he had, was not to be lightly treated by Lord Canning. It was owing to the firm grip on the cities of Allahabad and Benares which the English could maintain through the loyalty of the Sikhs in the first part of the mutiny, that 43 Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 321. . the rebellion was nipped in the bug in the provinces round Calcutta; and when it seemed the design of Kumar Singh to catch again the lost opportunity by dashing on Benares and Allahabad, Lord Canning ordered Lord Mark Kerr himself to march on this ‘rebel’ chief in all haste. Lord Mark Kerr, well known in the Crimean campaigns and well experienced in Indian military matters, marched off at once with five hundred men and eight guns and arrived within eight miles of Azimgarh. After a little rest, he started onwards on the morning of the 6th of April. At about six o’clock in the morning, he learnt that Kumar Singh’s men had been watching his progress. But pretending ignorance of this fact, he ordered his army to advance in readiness and at once commenced the attack on Kumar’s left flank. No sooner did the English commence the attack than Kumar’s left began a veritable shower of bullets on the enemy. On that day, the old Kumar was seen fighting lightning-like in the thick of the battle, seated on his favourite white horse. Knowing full well that the strength of his army was not so much in their number which was simply swelled as a threat to the enemy by allowing all sorts of camp-followers to enter the fighting ranks, Kumar Singh solely relied upon his own skill and courage and intrepidity. He spread out his force to attack Lord Mark Kerr on his flanks. The guns of the enemy were vomiting fire upon him and he had no guns to silence them, still did he succeed in bringing his army right to the rear of Lord Mark! This movement upset the plan of the enemy so totally that their guns had to fall back; and this was the signal for the Revolutionaries to rush forward with a triumphant war-cry. Kumar Singh had, by this time, tightened his grip on the English rear so firmly that the English elephants began to run amock, the conductors on them lost all hope of life and clung round their necks with both hands, and the servants and all began to run wheresoever they found a way. Yet Mark Kerr said “Let us hold on for a while - victory might still be ours!” He had captured some houses on the Revolutionaries’ front, while they had totally routed his rear.Thus was this strange battle fought. In the beginning, the front of Kumar was opposed to the front of the English army and now the rear of the British army is opposed to the front of Kumar; now he has even set the rear of the enemy on fire! When Mark Kerr saw the rear surrounded in flames of fire, he dedtermined to leave the battlefield and began to press on to Azimgarh. For, if not victory, at least the secondary purpose of carrying succour to Azimgarh should be accomplished if possible. His guns did him a splendid service, specially as Kumar Singh had none with him. At midnight, Lord Mark brought his army to Azimgarh. About this battle and the strategic movements and errors of Kumar Singh and the difficulties under which he laboured, Malleson says :- “That leader had showed himself greater as a strategist than a tactician. His plan of campaign was admirable but, in carrying it into execution, he committed many serious errors. Milman gave him a great, an unexpected opportunity. He had that officer at his mercy. When Milman’s men were waiting for their breakfast in the mango grove near Atrolia, it was in the power of Kumar Singh to cut them off from Azimgarh. He preferred to attack them in front. Then, when he had forced him to fall back, he did not press the pursuit with sufficient vigour. A capable commander would still have cut them off. Once having seen them housed in Azimgarh, he should have left a portion of his force to blockade them, pressed on with the remainder towards Benares, and occupied a position in which he could have engaged Lord Mark Kerr with advantage. He had at his disposal, it subsequently transpired, about twelve thousand men. To oppose these the few men led by Lord Mark were alone available. Everything was within his grasp had he dared to stretch out his hand. The chances are that, capable man as he was, he saw all this. But he was not supreme master of the situation. Every petty leader who had brought his contingent to serve under him wished to dictate a programme. The counsels of the rebels tended, then, almost always to a compromise.“44 44 Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, pages 326-327. But Lord Mark Kerr was baulked not only of his victory but even of this secondary purpose of relieving Azimgarh. For still the whole city was in the hands of the Revolutionaries who had also a perfect hold of the whole surrounding province. A born commander is he who knows exactly the nature and capacities of his forces. Few men could have excelled Kumar Singh in this necessary quality of a commander. As he had correctly gauged the power and strength of his enemy, even so he measured the merits and demerits of his own followers. Therefore is it that he did not try at all to attack and carry the fortress in which the English had taken refuge. He had closely observed the fact that the Sepoys, for whatever reasons or panic it might be, were ready to undergo any other ordeal but that of facing the English bayonets - a fact which had been clearly demonstrated in both the sieges of Arrah and Lucknow. Therefore, having rendered it difficult for the English forces to come out of the besieged fortress, he began to plan in his daring heart quite another scheme of worsting his enemy. In the forces of the Revolutionaries that had entered the field in 1857, it was clearly seen that there were men of two different temperaments - the one class, who would throw themselves right in the jaws of death with unflinching and firm and disciplined resistance on the battle-field, whether opposed to the cannon or the bayonet of the foe; the other who, possessing the will to die for the nation but lacking in the courage to carry it into effect, would flinch back and get routed at the very moment when they ought to have stood unmoved. Out of these two sorts of men, Kumar Singh collected those who belonged to the first sort and had proved immovable in the field, and organised them into a separate band of chosen veterans. Having made this selection and created a body on whom he could depend for any adventure however difficult, Kumar Singh became ready to put into execution the daring scheme which he had set his heart upon, and ordered his newly selected veteran band to stand on the bridge of the Tanu river. For, it was by this little bridge that a British general, named Lugard, was marching ahead to relieve the English forces at Azimgarh. Lugard first, and most naturally, thought that the object of this Revolutionary band in contesting the passage of the bridge was simply to preserve the grip of the Revolutionaries on the city of Azimgarh. “But”, says Malleson, “the wily chieftain had matured plans far deeper than even those about him could fathom.” This unfathomable plan of the wily chieftain was to deceive the enemy by a false show of holding Azimgarh at any cost, to fix their whole attention there on that spot and, while they were thus completely beguiled there, to march off straight on to Jagadishpur. This scheme was matchless in its military widsom. To march off from Azimgarh to Ghazipur, thence to jump into the Ganges, to cross it, to press on, and to reconquer Jagadishpur - all this in spite of the pursuing force of Lugard at the rear and in the face of the deluded English force of Arrah in front! It was for the execution of this very bold plan that he ordered his veteran band to guard the bridge of the river Tanu. His orders to those veterans were to hold the bridge against the attacks of Lugard till the other division of his forces had time to leave Azimgarh and escaping the vigilance of the English, to take the road leading to Ghazipur. If once he reached Ghazipur and crossed the Ganges, the lion would be back again into his native forests of Jagadishpur, and the English must re-enact the whole drama right anew, as all that they had done during the previous twelve months would be as if not done at all. But to succeed in all these plans depends upon your bravery, O soldiers on the bridge of the Tanu! You must not allow the British forces under Lugard to step upon this bridge till the whole army of Kumar Singhhas gone out of the range of the enemy’s sight! You have been selected by your chief in the brief that you alone would rise equal to the occasion. May your bravery not belie his confidence! Let one thought, one determination, one vow alone be yours, namely, not to let the enemy capture this bridge till Kumar Singh had led off in safety his whole force out of the sight of the duped enemy! As Baji Deshpande, the Mahratta soldier, held out in the famous gorge of Pavankhind till Shri Shivaji could reach the fort of Rangana in safety, even so fight on hard and hot till Kumar’s order is carried out to the letter, his forces saves and his confidence vindicated! Lugard, too led assaults after assaults on his handful of the Revolutionary band as often as Fazul did against the Mahratta, but he could not gain a foot-hold on the bridge even for a second. Every charge of the English was firmly and vigorously repulsed by the Revolutionary forces who were defending it. Till Kumar Singh signalled to them his safe departure from Azimgarh and his successful march on the way to Ghazipur, the veteran band held this bridge, contesting it inch by inch! Col. Malleson says, “They held the bridge of boats with a resolution and perseverence worthy of veterans, and it was not until they had by their long residence ensured the safety of their comrades, that they fell back.“45 Thus, the brave band accomplished its mission, fell back with perfect order, and, as settled, succeeded in rejoining their chief, Raja Kumar Singh. Seeing the suggen evacuation of the bridge, Lugard rushed on, but found, to his utter dismay, the magic-like disappearance of the whole army of Kumar Singh, as if it never was there! So to pursue and find out this invisible force, he despatched a detachment of European cavalry and a horse battery. Twelve miles did they gallop on; yet, Kumar singh could not be found - and when found at last, he was found in such a strong position as to make it impossible to distinguish who was the pursuer and who the pursued! It was not the Revolutionaries who were frightened at the sight of the foe but it was the English forces who seemed to have lost their balance at the sight of the Revolutionaries. Kumar Singh’s army was drawn up in battle array, with their swords unsheathed and with their guns pointed at the enemy. One of the English officers engaged in this fight says, “It was all we could do to hold our own against such odds. Immediately our cavalry 45 Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 330. charged, they stood and formed square and used to abuse and tell us to come on.” And, when the English did go on, they received them with such a hot welcome that many soldiers and even officers on the side of the English fell dead. The squares of Kumar’s forces remained impenetrable, and the English were completely thrown on the defensive. After this engagement, Kumar Singh pursued his march and was approaching nearer and nearer to the banks of the Ganges! News of the ill-success of the English pursuing force reached Azimgarh. The British general, Douglas, started with five or six more guns and came to their aid. Douglas had already tasted the sharpness of Kumar’s sword, and so he came on with circumspect steps as far as the village Naghai, in pursuit of the Raja. There also the Raja was quite ready. When the forces were within striking distance, Kumar Singh led on his veteran band to face the foe and again ordered them to fight on till the signal should come, and, dividing the remaining forces into two parts, he despatched them onwards by two different routes to the banks of the Ganges. While these movements were secretly being carried out, the veteram band kept up a vigorous fight with the enemy, in spite of the lack of gund to reply to the hot fire of the enemy’s artillery which was mowing them down like grass. They wavered not, nor did their ranks break up, nor did their charge flag in the least! For our miles this living battle pressed on! At last, when the army of the enemy showed signs of exhaustion, the two divisions of Kumar Sing’s army, until now going by different routes, united together and the whole force marched unhampered, and Raja Kumar Singh was again marching nearer and nearer towards the banks of the Ganges! This exhausted British force passed the night of the 17th of April near the village of Athusi. Early in the morning, Douglas, thinking he had given no start to the Revolutionary forces, ordered a march again - only to find that Kumar Singh was already thirteen miles ahead to him. The whole of the British horse and the British artillery had been pursuing Kumar Singh; but, as the British infantry, through total exhaustion, were unable to proceed further, they were given rest for another night. The scouts of Kumar Singh were matchless in bringing him all detailed information about the enemy’s plans and whereabouts. They did not fail to inform him of their exhausted condition. At this, the old general stood up, determined to take full advantage of this chance and, with his force, the octogenarian chief recommenced the march in the midnight and came straightway to Sikandarpur, reached the river Ghogra, crossed it, and entered the province of Ghazipur. He presseed on right up to the village of Manohar, and there ordered a temporary rest to the now tired, worn-out, and hungry forces which had so bravely responded to the intrepid will of their patriotic chief. It was humanly impossible to avoid stopping here, though Kumar Singh knew full well that the poosition was rather a weak one. When Doughlas heard that Kumar had gained a start over him, he started in hot pursuit and eventually reached Manohar soon after Kumar Singh. He began the attack immediately and, as the Revolutionaries were tired on account of their long and continuous marching, their stand was feeble and they lost the battle, losing also many elephants and ammunition and food supplies. But Kumar Singh’s heart and will remained as much unconquered and unconquerable as ever. For, no sooner he was the signs of a crushing defeat than he put into execution the same tactics that he had hitherto been pursuing. He divided his troops into small bands and, as each division effected its retreat from the losing battle-field by a different route, the pursuit of the enemy was frustrated. Kumar had given the captains of the different bands definite instructions to meet at a pre-arranged place at a fixed hour, and lo, when the hour struck, Kumar Singh’s forced had come together and were ready for their march. This place where they met was so completely hidden from the enemy that the victory of the English was altogether barren of any result, and so the English commander had to stop at the village of Manohar itself to ascertain the whereabouts of Kumar Singh’s army, while Kumar Singh and his forces were all the while marching nearer and nearer to the banks of the Ganges! Nearer and nearer to the banks of the Ganges! Nay, now, he has won the terrible race and actually reached the banks of the Ganges. The English forces were also close upon his rear. But, as his forces were now greatly reduced, he decided that it was not wise to fight the enemy and so he now pursued quite diffeent tactics. He spread a rumour all over the province that, owing to the scarcity of boats, his forces were going to cross the Ganges on the baks of elephants somewhere near a place called Balita. The English scouts brought the news to the general who must have felt triumphant of the efficiency of his intelligence department! How can now this rebel chief succeed in crossing the Ganges when my scouts have enabled me to know the exact place where he intends to cross the river? - He is doomed to be drowned along with his elephants! So, the British general, with his white forces, went to Balila and kept himself in concealment, elephants of Kumar Singh as soon as they would appear. Brave soldiers! Enjoying all the while the sweet prospects of success, conceal yourself near Balila till the looked for enemy comes! There, seven miles below this very spot, is Kumar Singhh actually crossing the river Ganges! Having duped the English by the story of the elephants and Balila, the Raja got together as many boats as he wanted and, from the Ghat of Shivapur, he began to the scaret Bhagirathi at night.The duped foe, awaked to this fact, got extremely irritated and, hurriedly marching from Balila, reached Shivapur and even succeeded in capturing a boat belonging to Raja - but that was the last boat! The whole army had already been sent on the other side and in a minute or two the chieftain too, having supervised the crossing of the army, would have crossed the river himself. But, alas! What a calamity this one moment has brought with it! While this hero of the nation, the pride of chivalry, the sword of Liberty - Rana Kumar Singh was in the middle of the stream, a bullet shot from the enemy’s gun entered his wrist! But old as he was, the octogenarian leader did not mind it at all! And when amputation was deemed necessary, with his own hand - the hand that was not wounded - Kumar Singh unsheathed his sword, lopped off the wounded arm at the elbow, and threw it into the sacred Ganges saying, “Accept thou, Mother, this last sacrifice of a loving son!” Though innumerable are the people who have addressed the Ganges as Mother, it is Kumar - this brave son of Ganga, and such as he, that make the motherhood of the sacred Ganges fruitful and glorious. As the poet says, innumerable are the stars that are in the sky; but, it is the moon alone that adorns it and makes it lovely! After offering this sacrifice to the Mother Ganges, this distinguished son succeeded in crossing the river without further trouble from the English army. The enemy, on the other hand, like a hunter whose prey is escaped out of his reach, unable to cross the river, stopped there with their pride wounded and mission unaccomplished. The lion, now triumphant by freeing itself from the hunter’s nets and lances, again rushed into his native forests of Shahabad, came to Jagadishpur and, on the 22nd of April, re-entered this his old capital. It was from this capital that he was hunted out eight months back. Once more now, in the palace of Jagadishpur is ruling the prince of Jagadishpur. His brother, Amar Singh, who had collected together a force of patriotic peasants and villagers even before Kumar Singh had crossed the Ganges, now joined him. The brave Kumar ordered out in divisions these united forces to guard the capital on all sides, while he too, as intrepid and unexhausted as ever, took again to warfare. The entrance into Jagadishpur was so sudden and dashing that the British forces at Arrah which had been kept there for the express purpose of watching Jagadishpur had no notice of Kumar Singh’s descent on Arrah. Thus outwitted, Le Grand, the British general at Arrah, became wild at the discovery of this his enemy’s triumph. What audacity that this rebel chief should give the slip to all the British forces in East Oudh, should enter Jagadishpur, and even begin to rule with all the pomp of an independent prince here, under the very nose of the British general? It is not even eight months since Sir Eyre had chased this rebel out of these forests; - well, even like that will this Le Grand rush in the Jagadishpur wilds to hunt down this marauding chief. With this hope, the brave general, with four hundred British troops and two guns, marched on the doomed city of Jagadishpur on the 23rd of April. How, now, is it possible that this field should be contested by Kumar Singh? During all these months, the old warrior had been fighting incessantly and without a moment’s rest; his forces had never been able to snatch a hearty meal or an undisturbed sleep; but yesterday had he come to Jagadishpur after the death-dealing struggle in East Oudh, and he and his forces had not even taken one day’s rest. According to the English official report itself his forces were “disjointed, badly armed, and without guns,” numbering at the most to a thousand, with very few trained soldiers amongst them, and the octogenarian chief himself was founded mortally in his hand! Against this army was marching the fresh, the vigorous, the disciplined forces of the British, well armed with guns and led by General Le Grand. The issue of the battle was, then, a foregone conclusion! And with this full confidence, the English army entered the forest which was about one mile and a half from the town. The English guns began to thunder forth unchallenged, for Kumar Singh had no guns to oppose them. But, still, it seems that he means to smother us in this thickly grown jungle by stretching out his forces round us; - well then, let the all unfailing stroke be given. Let that straight and bold front attack of the Europeans, which had always been the terror of the Asiatics, be ordered! It was ordered; the Europeans rushed forth irresistible; the army of Kumar Singh, too, began to contest; and none knows how, but in a moment, the brave Briton got confused and struck with terror and sounded the retreat. But, though the bands sounded the retreat, as Kumar Singh held the British force in his grip, it was more dangerous to attempt a treat than even to try to make a stand. But, if retreat is as ruinous as a stand, then, O brave Briton, why not make a stand to prove that unflinching courage of your people which so many times you have boasted that you possess? Matters not whether it is proved or disproved, he along lived who ran! And they did; all the British forces, like hunted deer, left the jungle and began to fly wherever the way led, while Kumar Singh’s army pursued them hot and the rout was complete! One of the men who himself was present in this rout, writes to this effect of his experience, in a letter written at the time: - “Indeed, it makes me extremely ashamed to write what followed. We began flying out of the jungles, leaving the battle-field and being constantly beaten by the enemy. Our people, dying of thirst, rushed forth at the sight of a wretched, dirty pool of water, in the most confused manner possible. Just then, the horses of Kumar Singh closed upon our rear. Henceforth, there was no limit to our disgrace, and the disaster was complete. No sense of shame was left in any one of us. Everyman ran wherever he thought his safety lay. Orders were thrown to the winds. Discipline and drill were dead. In all directions, nothing could be heard but sighs, curses and wailings. Bands of Europeans dropped dead in the flight by sunstroke. Nor was it possible to ask for medicine; for, the dispensary was already captured by Kumar Singh. Some died there and then; the rest cut down by the enemy; the carriers dropped the dolis and fled; all was confusion - all terror! Sixteen elephants were all full- laden with the burden of the wounder. General Le Grand himself was shot dead by a bullet in his breast! Soldiers running for their lives for five miles and more had now no strength, even for lifting up their guns. The Sikhs, accustomed to the heat of the sun, took off the elephants and fled away ahead of all. None would be with the white. Out of a hundred and ninety-nine whites, about eighty alone could survive this terrible massacre! We were led into this jungle like cattle into the slaughter-house, simply to be killed!“46 The forces of Kumar Singh were thus completely successful. They had in spite of the fact that they had no artillery to speak of on their side, routed the British forces with a terrible loss and slaughter, and had 46 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 288. captured even the two guns which the British had so proudly brought.47But, one fact is most significant in this pursuit; the number of Sikhs that fell on that day was only nine. It substantiates most thoroughly the tradition that Kumar Singh was in the habit of issuing strict injunctions to spare as many lives as could be spared of the Indian people even though they were on the enemy’s side, while there should be no mistaken mercy shown to the foreigh foe. In the first outbreak of the Revolution many of the Babus of Bengal were made prisoners, for joining the English side, by Kumar’s men; but he not only released them but sent them without harm on elephants to the city of Patna where they wished to go. When the Sepoys determined to burn down all government papers written in English, it was Kumar who stopped them from doing so, as “otherwise, after the English were driven out of the country, there would be no proof of the rights of the people, and no evidence to determine the amount due from one party to the other. Having vanquished his foe thus completely and thoroughly, the old chief, Rana Kumar Singh, entered again his palace of Jagadishpur on the 23rd of April, crowned with fresh laurels and a fresh fame! This was his last entrance, for no more will Kumar Sing re-enter on the stage of the world. The wound caused by the amputation of his hand proved mortal and, on the 26th day of April, the third day after his latest victory, the great Rana died in his own palace. He died on an independent throne and under the flag of freedom. The day he died, it was not the Union Jack of the British Isles but the Golden Banner of a free and liberated nation, the triumphant symbol of his Desh and Dharma, that was waving radiant over the palace of Jagadishpur. It was under the cool shade of this banner that he died. What nobler death can a Rajpur long for? 47 “The English sustained on this occasion a complete defect of the worst kind.” White’s History of the Mutiny. He had avenged his wrongs; he had, with poor means, worsted a mighty foe more than once in a fair battle-field; he had not proved a traitor to the nation nor a renegade to his Dharma but had broken the chains that bound his land and made her free so far as one man could do it, and to-day, in a noble field, he had been crowned by Victory’s own hands with a wreath of laurels. Then, this is the auspicious day : this is the supreme moment for you, O great Rajput, to close your eyes for ever, to lay down your body – not through disease, but even as a worthy sacrifice to the cause of your mother’s freedom, by the wounds received on the battle-field! Let your death be as noble and as matchless as was your life! He died on that day and under the banner of a free people. What nobler death can a Rajput wish for?48 The personality of Shrimant Kumar Singh is striking in more than one respect. His personal dash and high character had naturally infused in his army the two indispensable virtues of discipline and bravery. It is rarely the case that persons who are called upon to lead a nation’s regeneration are in their private morals as unimpeachable as they are unchallengeable in their public ability. This rare consistency of character was conspicuous in great degree in the life of this great Indian. Such was the influence of his pure conduct on his people that none would dare even to smoke openly in their verandahs for fear of being seen by him. Amongst all the leaders of the Revolutionaries in 1857, there was none who could surpass Kumar Singh in military ability. It was he who at once grasped trhe utility of guerilla warfare in the War of Independence and it was he alone who could imitate the masterful tactics of a veteran guerilla leader like Shivaji. If we compare the two great generals that 1857 brought to the front, Tatia Tope and Kumar Singh, in their military achievements as guerilla leaders, we shall be struck with one distinguishing point. To Tatia Tope may 48 The English historian, Holmes, says : “The old Rajput who had fought so honourably and so bravely against the British power died on April 26, 1858.” – History of the Sepoy War. be at once assigned a very high place in the negative side of guerilla warfare, while Kumar Singh holds the position with equal eminence in the positive as well as in the negative side of it. Tatia Tope did not allow the enemy to completely crush his forces or his power to raise them, but Kumar Singh, while succeeding in doing this, could even succeed in crushing the enemy’s forces by severe defeats. To ensure ultimate success, it is imperatively necessary in guerilla warfare to prevent the demonstration of one’s followers which the constant flights from the field or avoidance of battles against a mightier foe do inevitably tend to beget. The defeats which are suffered intentionally by the leader, and the flights which he finds it necessary to effect, ought not to be allowed to create demoralisation or diffidence in the minds of his followers. The constant avoidance of battles ought not to be allowed to create in the followers a fear for battle itself. The skilful avoidance of a battle and a panic-stricken flight in the course of the battle are two very different things. So it is most important in guerilla tactics never to leave the field through cowardice; but whenever a battle is decided to be given, it sould be given so sternly and dashingly as to strike a sudden terror into the heart of the enemy and to infuse an overwhelming confidence into the heart of one’s own followers. The main skill lies in taking care never to be forced to give battle where the chances are of an unequal contest. But once the die is cast, such must be the tenacity and desperation in contesting the field as was shown by Baji in the Pawankhind or by Kumar Singh on the Tanu Nadi. In short, if the strength is unequal, the leader should not get entangled into a battle; if the chances are equal, he should cast the die; but, in either case of a forced or voluntary contest, never should a battle once begun be left, through fear or want of discipline, but, on the contrary, it should be fought on so desperately and so bravely, in spite of an assured defeat or of an immediate death, as never to lose fame, though success be lost in the field. Thus attacked, the enemy is struck with error, the followers do not get demoralised, discipline is not slackened, and inspiration increases by stories of martyrdom; bravery begets bravery, and victory becomes insured. The guerilla general and his forces should never give the least chance to create an impression that their foe conquered them through superiority in bravery. This is the key to guerilla warfare. But Tatia Tope could not follow this positive side of this warfare. Tatia’s campaigns when trying to cross the Narbada and Kumar’s campaigns when trying to cross the Ganges demonstrate this difference. Tatia suffered many a defeat. Though this was due entirely to the panicky and sometimes even cowardly conduct of the Sepoys, he had to lead and could not be attributed to any inferiority in his capacity. Kumar Singh, while marching off, had all the while kept up such a bold front and, whenever opportunity offered, had hit his pursuing foe so hard, that all the while his forces were full of self-confidence and high inspiration in spite of the fact that they were retreating before pursuing enemy. Now, it ought not to be forgotten that Tatia had to take up to guerilla tactics when his forces were already completely demoralised by previous defects and when all the veterans had been either killed or disabled in the earlier stages of the war, and so it was quite natural that, in spite of his skill and insight into the guerilla’s art, he should not be able to put them in practice owing to the lack of materials. Whatever the reason, one thing is clear that, more than once, Tatiahad during his wonderful career as a general to leave the field through panic and fear striking his ranks; while Kumar Singh, like his prototype, the great Mahratta Shivaji, never allowed his army to become diffident, but created in them absolute confidence in themselves as well as in himself, their leader, by his personal valor and intrepidity and discipline; and he, also, exhibited matchless skill both in giving battle and in avoiding it - in both the positive and the negative sides of guerilla warfare; into dust, in the midst of a proud victory, on an independent throne, and under the banner of freedom - the old, the brave, the great Indian could die an honourable death! On the 26th of April,1858, Kumar Singh died. No sooner did this actor pass off from the stage than another - equally brave, equally noble, and equally patriotic - appeared on the scene. This new general was no other than the younder brother of Kumar Singh. Raja Amar Singh, without allowing a moment’s slackening in the vigour of the war, without taking a rest of even four days, marched straight on the knock at the gates of Arrah itself! Having heard of the defeat of Le Grand of Arrah, the British forces which had stopped on the other side of the Ganges had by this time crossed it; and the two generals, Brigadier Douglas and general Lugard, marched on Raja Amar Singh on the 3rd of May. At Bihiya, Hatampur, Dalilpur, and several other places, each alternate day, the English forces attacked the Revolutionaries. Therefore, now Amar Singh resorted to different tactics. If he saw that the enemy was gaining the upper hand, he would order his forces to divide themselves into small bands, to retire in divers but well- mapped-our directions and, thus rendering pursuit by the enemy hopelessly impossible, to get united again at the appointment signal. How, now, to fight with this invisible army - was the chief question before the British. Every battle seemed to them quite decisive, but the very next moment the army of Amar Singh was as strong and as active at some other place as ever! No sooner he was driven from one end of the jungle then he appeared again in the second, and as soon as he was driven from that, he would wheel round and reign supreme in the first. At last, worn out, disgraced, and disappointed - the British general, Lugard, resigned on the 15th of June and returned to England to rest. His army, too left the field and entered the camp. And this was the signal for Amar Singh to reunite his bands and to appear on the battle-field with the pomp of a victorious general. Now the police of Gaya were won over to fight for the freedom of the nation. Then, sending the English forces on a wrong scent, Amar Singh attacked Arrah itself and entered it. Nay, now he is actually entering back into that capital of Jagadishpur. July passed; August and September also passed; - yet the banner of a free people was flashing forth from the towers of Jagadishpur and the Rana Amar Singh was reigning the beloved monarch of a liberated people! Brigadier Douglas and his seven thousand English forces were sworn to finish him. Nay, they had even offered prizes to anyone who would bring the head of Amar Singh by hook or crook. They had, by this time, cleared the jungles and made roads; from post to post, the British bands were constantly advancing; but nothing availed against the worthy successor of Kumar Singh. It was not possible for want of space to enumerate his different activities. Suffice it to say that the Rana Amar Singh fought in such a manner as to make his whole people think that Kumar Singh died not at all! At last, the English decided to end the whole campaign by a supreme effort and seven different armies advanced from seven different directions on Jagadishpur. All the roads leading to Jagadishpur were thus closed up and the Rana was caught as if in a trap. The cordon slowly began to close round Amar Singh and, at last, on the 17th of October, it tightened its grip on the capital itself. Alas! It is in this net that the liberty-loving lion is to be captured and killed! At the appointed time, all these forces rushed simultaneously from all directions into Jagadishpur and the helpless lion was hit - but, well done, Amar Singh, well done! It was the cage that was hit, and the lion had already escaped all unscatched! For, though six divisions had advanced and fallen on the town as ordered, yet the seventh one was late by five hours and the shrewd Amar Singh, with all his forces, vanished by his very side, taking full advantage of the delay of that division of the foe. Therefore, abandoning the plan which had proved so ineffectual as regards the crushing of the Behar Revolutionaries, the English government sent a division of mounted infantry to pursue them. This ever- increasing and ever-pursuing force of the enemy left not one moment of rest to Amar Singh. The new rifles that were introduced into the enemy’s camp at this time had made the matchlocks of the Revolutionary forces almost useless, and the infantry found it impossible to outrun the horsemen’s pursuit. Still, Amar Singh talked not of surrender! On the 19th of October the English forces shut up the Revolutionaries, first in the village of Nonadi and, out of four hundred of them, they cut off three hundred! The remaining one hundred dashed out desperately into the field outside, like infuriated tigers, and fought a bloody battle with the new division of British forces that had just arrived. It was found in the end that out of these only three escaped - and one out of the three was the Rana Amar Singh who had been fightting all the while incognito. Many were the bloody encounters and many the pools of blood through which the Panday army had to swim across. But, still, the flag of liberty was unbent! So narrow were theior escapes that, once, the very elephant of the Rana was captured; but the Rana jumped off from it and vanished. In this way, the Revolutionaries contested every inch of their ground, while being pressed onwards and onwards out of their province; and now they had reached the hills of Kaimur, for “the whole population of the district constantly and systematically misled the British pursuers by false information.“49 With this sympathy of the populace, the patriotic chief entered the Kaimur hills but was soon followed by the relentless foe pursuing in his track. Still there was no talk of surrender. Every hill and every dale, every hillock and every rock, fought on with the alien till the whole of the Panday army died fighting for the liberty of the land, for the honour of their Dharma! Died fighting, yes, for not only the men but even the women of that patriotic band did not return back to their homes as captives and slaves! The hundred and fifty ladies of the Royal palace of Raja Shrimant Kumar Singh, seeing that no hope or chance of success remained to them in this world, stood before the guns, set fire to the fuse with their own hands, and got themselves blown up into the - Immortality of Martyrdom! Thus fought Behar for its birthrights against the foreign foe! 49 Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. IV, page 344. But Rana Amar Singh did not fall into the hands of the enemy. Fortune left him, but his unconquerable soul could never! But what became of him? - Where did he end his days? Bewildered History echoes back, ‘where?’