THE chief scenes in the War of 1857 being in Northern India, we had so long to dilate upon the warlike events in that region alone. But, in order to grasp even the general tenor of the War, it is necessary to see its manifestations in other provinces also. Therefore, while the tongues of fire of that tremendous conflagration are dancing up to the skies there, we must also case a passing glance at the sparks in other regions.
We have already given a short description of the events in the Punjab, during the course of the siege of Delhi. After that, the Punjab was quiet on the whole, except for one or two spasmodic efforts at rising. The Hindu as well as the Mahomedan communities thoroughly sympathised at heart with the Revolutionaries and were full of hatred towards the British. But they did not care to help either party actively. The Sikh princes and people, on the contrary, did not wish well to the Revolutionaries even at heart; nor did they remain neutral; nay, more, they did not hesitate to side openly with the English and shed the blood of their own countrymen on the field of battle.
It can be proved from many events that happened that the sympathies of the masses of Rajputana were on the side of the Revolutionaries. In towns like Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur, the curses that were heaped upon Indian soldiers fighting on the English side, the shouts of joy that went up in the bazaars, when a Revolutionary victory was announced, and the grief with which they were filled when the news of their defeat came – all these showed from day to day that the Rajpur masses were praying for victory of the Revolutionaries in the great national war. As
regards the princes of Rajputana, most of them remained neutral and would not openly help either side, until a decisive conflict had taken place. But whenever they were forced to send some troops to help the English, these troops openly disobeyed the orders of their rulers and refused to fight against their brethren on behalf of the Feringhis!
The United Provinces, Oudh, Rohilkhand, Behar, Bundelkhand and Central India were the field of Kurukshetra of the War of Independence of 1857. There was a slight rising at Rangoon, and in Burma, in general, but alas! it was a day after the fair, and was in vain!
After this bird’s-eye view of the region north of the Vindhya mountains, let us now turn our eyes to the south. There, we first of all see the Empire of the Mahrattas founded by Shivaji. Their compatriots, who had migrated to the north, were fighting fierce battles at Cawnpore, Kalpi, and Jhansi. Thus, the Mahratta throne, ousted out of Raigarh, reappeared again in an ocean of blood at Cawnpore. And Tatia Tope was again flying aloft on high the banner once supported by heroes like Santaji and Dhanaji. If the magnificent unanimity, dash, and determination that characterised the rising in the north had also shown itself in the south, then, even if the whole of England had gone to India to fight, the Jaripatka would never have been lowered! Where, indeed, is a man of pure Mahratta blood whose heart is not agitated by love and price when the Jaripatka flies on the field, whether he shows it in his face or not? In 1857, also, the heroic inspiration naturally took hold of the heart of all Mahrattas, but the diseases of indecision and indetermination stifled it in embryo. While the plan of the Revolution was being outlines in the north, its messengers were also travelling in the south, visiting state after state and town after town. Rango Bapuji of Satara was in correspondance with Nana Sahib of Cawnpore. In the various Sepoy regiments stationed at Poona, Satara, Dharwar, Belgaum, Hyderabad and other places, Brahmins, Moulvies, and the deputies of the northern Sepoys were travelling about secretly with the torch of Revolution in their hand. And, from Mysore right up to the Vindhya mountains, oaths were taken that a rising was to be made as soon as the north arose. But, though the south did not forget to rise, it forgot that it ought to arise as soon as the north rose! The Rising in the north took place with an inconceivable, lightning-like rapidity, and with the determination to kill or die. Instead of starting up immediately, the south waited for some time to watch the fortune of war in the north. In times of crisis like a Revolution, one moment decides the question of life or death. There are disadvantages in both alternatives, in haste as well as in delay. In such a dilemma, an able man fixes upon such a moment when boldness and spirit will reap the greatest possible fruits. Revolutions do not follow the rules of arithmetic. They succeed through the enormous strength of the spirit in the heart of man. They cool down by the sluggishness of inaction. They are kept up only by the heat of action. Calmness, mathematics, and the fixing of the day are all for the period of preparation. But when once the bugle has sounded and the drum been beaten, then there must be started at once determined fighting without any regard of life. One who hesitates then is certain to lose in the end. One who only just then begins to think out whether it is better to rise or not, is doomed for ever. Calmness in preparation, but boldness in execution, this should be the watchword. During preparation, one may and even ought to procfeed cautiously, step by step, even as on a carpet; but when the Revolution has once broken out, one must dart forth like an arrow without faltering a moment, even though living fire! Then let there be success or defeat, let there be life or death – there should be stubborn war, men should be ready to “die while killing.” For when once the drum of war is beaten, the best road to success in a Revolution lies in advancing and never in waiting.
The south forgot this cardinal principle. It did not rise as soon as the north rose. It proceeded slowly, staggering every now and then. Over- anxiety about success, and only spasmodic, isolated risings that followed as its consequence, necessarily led to nothing but certain failure. How this came to pass we shall review in brief.
There were three important regiments in the south, the 27th at Kolhapur, the 29th at Belgaum, and the 28th at Dharwar. When the plans of the Rising were made by means of correspondence, the 10th of August was fixed upon as the day on which they were to rise. But an English army was in the meanwhile being sent to Kolhapur to keep the population and the Sepoys there in check. This news was divulged to the Sepoys by an official of the Telegraph Department. Thus the Sepoys who were already infuriated, rose prematurely on the 31st of July, 1857. They killed some of their English officers, took the treasury in their charge, had a skirmish with the English troops that had just arrived, and went away towards the Ghats. The various Revolutionary bands united together under the leadership of Ramji Shirsal of Swantwadi and began to harass the English force in the direction of the Kadi forest. They were defeated and dispersed after some months by the English with the help of the Portuguese of Goa. The new English officer, Jacob, who had come to Kolhapur, disarmed the remaining Sepoys there and had their leaders shot.
But on the day on which the Sepoys at Kolhapur had risen the town itself had not done so. In the meanwhile, emissaries from Nana Sahib of Cawnpore had an audience with the young king of Kolhapur and persuaded him to join the National Rising. He had also been presented with a sword by the Durbar of Lucknow. In the same manner, he was carrying on secret correspondence with the Rajas of Sangli, Jamkhindi, and other southern states. But, more than the Maharaja, his younger brother, Chimna Sahib, had in his veins the blood of Shivaji. He secretly began machinations to put right again the plans of the Revolution foiled by the recent turn of events. He prepared the irregular army of Kolhapur and many volunteers for a Rising, and in the early morning of the 15th of December Kolhapur rose again. The city gates were closed, guns were made ready, and the drum of Revolution was beaten in the streets. As soon as Jacob heard the news, he got the men under him ready and led an attack on a Kachcha gate. From that moment onward till the time that the English army took possession of the
palace, a fierce battle raged. After defeat, the Raja, following the usual custom, declared that the Rising was organised by the army and the populace in spite of his orders to the contrary. When the names of the Revolutionary leaders were demanded, he replied that he knew nothing about it! Jacob tried his utmost to get hold of the leaders. He put many people, now and then, in prison, simply on suspicion; but he could get no scent of the vast and dangerous conspiracy. One of the leaders, even as he was being arrested, tore up an incriminating letter in his possession and swallowed it in the presence of his captors! Of the many who were blown from the mouths of cannon, one was only wounded at the first firing and was not killed. Still he proudly stood forth erect waiting for the second round. Just then, Jacob went up to him and said, “I pity you – you must have been betrayed into the Rebellion. So, if you help the Sirkar by divulging the names of some mutineers, your life will be spared!” But the grand hero bore, without a murmur, the excruciating pain of his mangled body manfully, and “he looked at me (Jacob) with a scowl and scorn mingled and answered unhesitatingly ‘What I have done, I have done’.” Without giving out a single name, he turned his face and stood forth boldly in front of the death-spitting cannon! Another Revolutionary, just before being blown up, muttered the name of a leader; at this, one of the Government servants present there quietly slunk away and warned that leader and others who were implicated in the town. When the English authorities, inquiring the whereabouts of the person named, came up to arrest him, he was already out of Kolhapur and safe! With such fidelity to each other did the conspirators work, and the organisation of the various circles and batches was effected without much hitch or confusion.1
1 “But it is difficult to describe the wonderful secrecy with which the whole conspiracy was conducted and the forethought supplying the schemes, and the caution with which each group of conspirators worked apart, concealing the connecting links, and instructing them with just sufficient information for the purpose in view. And all this was equalled only by the fidelity with which they adhered to each other.”- Western India by Sir George Le Grand Jacob, K.C.S.I., C.B.
While affairs were in this state at Kolhapur, there were also signs of rising in Belgaum about the 10th of August. But the Sepoy leader, Thakur Singh, and a bold Munshi, the leader of the citizens, were arrested just at the last moment. A new English army was soon on the scene and Belgaum and Dharwar soon became silent and submissive. The above- named Munshi was a Government servant and incriminating letters from him were found on the Sepoys at Poona ad Kolhapur. So, on the evidence of these, he was blown from the mouth of a cannon.
At Satara, Rango Bapuji was from the first, in the bad books of the Government. Now, his son was hanged for preaching the doctrine of the Rising at Kolhapur. At the same time, two princes of the Satara royal family were banished. Seeing the throne, in the devoted service of which he had spent so many years, in such a plight, the faithful Rango Bapuji disappeared from Satara. Rewards were offered but nobody helped to hand him over to the English. And the fate of that patriot is not known even to this day.
At this time, an able Englishman, called Lord Elphinstone, was appointed Governor of Bombay. He had not only born the strain – small though it was – in his own presidency, but also sent troops to Rajputana. But, if it was any one man whose cleverness prevented a rising in the city of Bombay itself, it was Forrest, the chief police officer. Bombay was a city full of easy-going, happy-go-lucky, and traitorous cowards. Thus, the only hearts susceptible to the flame of the national Revolution there were amongst the ranks of the Sepoys stationed thee. And therefore it was that Forrest had kept a very close watch upon them. The Dipavali holidays were fixed upon as the opportune moment for rising and the Sepoys began to hold secret meetings. Forrest tried his utmost to send detectives into these meetings but did not succeed on account of the extraordinary caution displayed by the Sepoys. Therefore, now as a Brahmin, now as some one else, and thus mixed with the people even in their exclusive dinner parties. At last he found out that the secret meetings were held in the house of a man called Ganga Prasad. Then he entered the house of Ganga Prasad after
threatening to arrest him if he opposed, and saw what happened at one of those secret meetings through an aperture in the wall, unknown to the Revolutionaries who met there. Not only this, but he also brought with him later on some English officers of the regiment and let them see the secret meetings for themselves. When the latter saw there coming in to the meeting, one after another, Sepoys who were reckoned as the most loyal, they whispered in amazement, “My God, my own men! Is it possible?” The general plan of the Sepoys was to make a rising in Bombay at first, then to march towards Poona, capture that city, raise the banner of Mahratta Kingdom, and proclaim Nana Sahib as Peshwa.2 But before the plans would be put into operation, Forrest broke up the conspiracy, hanged two of the ringleaders as rebels, and banished six of the prominent and leading military men; and thus the rising in Bombay was nipped in the bud.
At about the same time, the Revolutionary spark was about to strike Nagpur and Jubbulpore. The Sepoys near Nagpur had decided to rise on the 13th June, 1857, and this plan was assented to by most of the prominent citizens. It was agreed that on the night of the 13th townspeople should send up in the air three burning baloons, and at this signal the military were to rise. The Revolutionaries there had another advantage; the English could spare no European troops for the provinces of Nagpur and Jubbulpore at that time. But soon the Indian regiments from Madras came and the sparks of Revolution were speedily extinguished. The Gond king of Jubbulpore, Shankar Singh, and his won were doing their utmost for the Revolution. When they were arrested and their palace was searched, a small paper containing the king’s morning-prayers was found folded in a silk cloth. Its English translation is as follows:- The kind, Shankar Singh, meditating on the terrible image of the Goddess Chandi says, “Shut the mouths of slanderers; trample the sinners! Shatru-Samharike! Killer of
2 Forrest’s Real Danger in India.
enemies!) Listen to the cry of Religion; support your slave, Mathalike! Kill the British; exterminate them; Mata Chandi!”3 etc.etc.
King Shankar Singh and his son had tried to enlist the 52nd native regiment at Jubbulpore in the cause of the Revolution. Therefore, the two royal personages were blown from the mouth of cannon on the 18th of September, 1957. At this news, the 52nd regiment, instead of being cowed down, was infuriated, rose immediately, killed an officer, called Mac Gregor, and marched away to the war.
There were risings in the Dhar state and at Mahidpur, Goria, and other places, organised by Prince Feroze Shah of Delhi. We cannot describe the details of all these risings for want of space.
But, more than all the princes mentioned above, the fate of the English power in India lay in hands of the Nizam of Hyderabad. The new Nizam, Afzul-ud-daulah, had just come to the throne in May 1857, and the Prime Ministership was in the hands of a man called Sir Salar Jung. The whole of the Deccan hung upon one word from the lips of Sir Salar Jung. If the Nizam, of Hyderabad had joined the National Revolution, the whole of the Deccan would have risen like one man, and the corfd of English rule, already strained to breaking point by the risings in the north, would have been snapped to pieces. Nor can we say that no one preached to Salar Jung the doctrine of a patriotic rising against the English. Though we take for granted that he was too “loyal” to let love of religion, country, and independence even whisper such a thought into his mind, still the people of Hyderabad were precipitately urging him to join the Revolution. But, in spite of all these efforts, Salar Jung would not move. So, on the 12th of June 1857, Hyderabad assumed a more terrible form. On that day, proclamations signed by important Moulvies began to adorn the walls; Revolutionary handbills were seen everywhere in heaps; there were crowded meetings of
3 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 144.
Moslems in the Mosque and violent Revolutionary lecturers bound the people by oaths to drive the Kaffir Britishers out of the land! Still, Salar Jung would not move; nay, he even arrested some of the popular leaders and handed them over to the British authorities! Therefore, towards the evening of the 17th of July, the city of Hyderabad actually rose and ran with shouts of “Din, Din!” to release their imprisoned leaders and, following the flag signifying independence, rushed at the British Residency. The Rohilla Sepoys of the Nizam’s own army and about five hundred of townsmen actually began a battle. Under these circumstances, Hyderabad felt assured that, though Salar Jung would not openly join them, he would secretly sympathise with them, as other States had done, or at least that he would not join the side of the British. But Salar Jung disappointed them in every particular; he did not remain indifferent, but joined the Britisher and helped to slaughter the soldiers of his own state. In the skirmish, the Revolutionary leader, Torabaz Khan, was killed and Moulvie Alla-ud-din fell into hands of the enemy. Soon he was despatched to the Andaman islands, and the efforts of Hyderabad thus came to an disastrous end. The English historian frankly admits: “For three months, the fate of India was in the hand of Afzul-ud- daulah and Salar Jung. Their wise policy proved that they preferred the certrain position of a protected state to the doubtful chances of a resuscitation of the Delhi monarchy under the auspices of revolted Sepoys.”
Though the Nizam thus foiled the Revolution in the south, the young Hindu Raja of Zorapur, near the Nizam’s territories, resolved to stake his everything in the War of Independence. Accordingly, he began by collecting an army of Arabs, Rohillas, and Pathans. Nana’s Revolutionary messengers came to him and prepared him to fight under the flag of the Peshwas. The Brahmins and Moulvies of Raichur and Arcot also encouraged him in his plans. Not merely that, but, when he would not rise as soon as the people wanted him to, they – his own subjects – began to abuse him as cowardly and effiminate. Then he began the Revolution in the name of the Peshwas. The Nizam and the English together marched against him. From the moment he heard this, he knew his fate was sealed. Not being able to hold his own against the combined forces of the Nizam and the English, the young Raja went to Hyderabad itself about the month of February, 1858. While walking about there in the nazaars, he was arrested by Salar Jung’s orders and handed over to the British! This Raja was from his childhood on very intimate terms with Meadows Taylor and used to call him by the familiar name of “Appa.” Therefore the English authorities sent Meadows Taylor to the prison to find out from the Raja the secrets of the Revolutionary conspiracy and the names of the prominent leaders. There, as he was awaiting death, the Raja was very pleased to see Meadows Taylor and embraced him heartily. But when Taylor began to ask him some account of the Secret Society and as to how he got mixed up with it, to put in Taylor’s own words, “He drew himself very proudly and replied haughtily – ‘No Appa, I will never tell that! You ask me to go to see the Resident but I won’t do that either. Perhaps he hopes that I will beg him for my life, but, Appa, I do not wish to live, like a coward, on charity, nor will I ever disclose the names of my countrymen!’ ” Meadows Taylor went up to him once again and, showing him hopes of a pardon, suggested that he should disclose the story of the plot. Again, the Raja replied, “I shall tell everything else about my proceedings in this affair. But if they ask me the names of those who incited me to rise, I will not tell that. What? Should I, now ready to enter the jaws of death, should I betray the names of my own countrymen? No, no! Cannon, gallows, the region beyond the black waters – none of them is as terrible as treachery!” Meadows Taylor then informed hin that death awaited him with certainty. The Raje replied, “But, I have one request, Appa; do not hang me, for I am not a thief. Blow me from a cannon. Just see how calmly I can stand before its mouth!”
However, through the intervention of Meadows Taylor, the sentence of this patriotic young Raja was reduced from death to some years’ transportation. A short time afterwards, when about a leave for the Andamans, the Raja took a piston belonging to one of his English warders
and, at a moment when no one was near, shot himself dead. He had previously said, “I prefer death to transportation! Prison and transportation? The meanest mountaineer of my subjects will not remain io gaol- what then of me, their king?”4
One of the men who had intimate and constant connection with the Raja of Zorapur was Bhaskar Rao Baba Sahib, the chief of Nargund. But, when Zorapur rose, Bhaskar Rao hesitated and was not sure if the proper time had arrived; he only rose when the former was completely crushed. On account of these lax, spasmodic, and inopprtune risings in the south, no one was crowned with success. Baba Sahib was a cultured man and a great lover of learning. He had also collected together a large library of excellent books. His young wife was as spirited as she was beautiful and had resolved upon giving her whole life for the descruction of the Feringhis since the time she was refused the right of adoption. It was due to her inspiration that, at last, on the 25th of may, 1858, after long hesitation, Nargund openly rose and declared war with England. Baba Sahib threw off the yoke of slavery to the British obstentatiously. When the news came that the English officer, Monson, was marching against him, Baba Sahib took a few select men with him and surprised Monson at night in the woods near Nargund. In the skirmish, Monson was killed, his body was thrown in a fire near by, and his head was taken back triumphantly to Nargund. Next morning, it was hanging on the walls of Nargund. In the meanwhile, Baba Sahib’s step-brother nor only refused to join the Revolution but actually joined the English side. AN English army then marched upon Nargund and defeated the army of Baba Sahib who himself escaped from the field. He was caught, a few days later, in disguise and hanged on the 12th of June. His young, beautiful, and daring Ranee did not surrender to the enemy, but in company with her mother-in-law committed suicide by throwing herself in the waters of the Malaprabha.
4 Meadows Taylor’s Story of my life.
Besides these, Bhima Rao of Komaldrug, the Bhils of Khandesh and their valiant spouses, armed with bow and arrow, and other small communities, organised risings in Maharashtra of greater or less magnitude. But on account of the want of skill in choosing the proper time, on account of unripeness of preparation, and on account of the loose and spasmodic nature of the risings and their want of co-operation, the English had not to bear any severe strain in the souch and could devote, practically, all their resources to the north.
After having thus taken a bird’s-eye view of the affairs in the south, it is now high time that we should turn our eyes to take a last glance at the proud Ayodhya which is left groaning there was the end of the life history of the heroic Moulview Ahmad Shah.
In the case of extraordinary brilliant heroes like Moulvie Ahmad Shah, their death is as noble and as extraordinary as their life. Others may die when they are killed in battle, but one whose very soul is on fire with a burning patriotism and who is dancing on the battle-field with shouts of “Blood! Blood!” in order to quench that fire, knows no death; even if such a patriot falls in battle before his third for revenge is slaked, he does not die! Though the head was cut off, it has been seen, as a matter of fact, that the trunk of heroic men continued the fight in the field, and there is a belief that when even this latter is cut to pieces their disembodied spirits harass the enemy at night.
There is, indeed, a philosophic truth underlying such superstitions. While Moulvie Ahmad Shah was still fighting, Lord Canning had published a proclamation to let the whole of Oudha know : “Those who will voluntarily lay down their arms will not be considered as rebels and will be granted a free and complete pardon for their past actions, and those who help us now will receive back their lands and Vatans. Now that the British power has triumphed over the rebellion, if some still insist upon their resistance to the British government, they shall all be most severely
punished for this unwarrantable pertinacity.” After such a proclamation and after many of the leaders had died suddenly one after the other, the English naturally thought that the people of Oudh would soon calm down. And to add to the misfortunes of Oudh, on the 5th of June, 1958, the news came that the villain, Powen, had assassinated the venerable Moulvie of Fyzabad. But instead of indulging in vain lamentations for the death of this sacred Moulvie, exhausted as she was by almost superhuman efforts, dispirited by defeat, and with surrender tempting her with the hope of pardon, Oudh rose suddenly at his death- spell like one possessed, and jumped up in blood, with shouts of “Revenge!” The base enemy hanged the Moulvie’s body in the Chowdi – but his spirit, his ghost, began to fight with the English on the field! His ghose, in order to satisfy its unquenched thirst, jumped at the neck of the English power, in its terrible unhuman form. Instead of being cowed down by his death, the whole of Oudh, the living ghost, ran up to the battle- field again with fresh vigour brushing aside all thoughts of strength and weakness, success and defeat, hope and despair, life and death! To take revenge for the hanging of the Moulvie, Nizam Ali Khan marched up to Pilibht; Khan Bahadur Khan with four thousand men ran to the field of action; the Farrukabad men rose taking five thousand followers; Vilayat Shah took three thousand men to the field and, with five thousand men, Nana Sahib, Bala Sahib, Ali Khan Mewati, and other leaders started a tremendous campaign in Rohilkhand and Oudh. Seeing these great masses of troops marching in haste, and thirsting for his blood, the cowardly traitor of Powen began to shudder with terror. The English immediately despatched troops for his protection. Around that part, the Revolutionaries were engaging in frequent and despaerate encounters with the enemy. On the other side, at Chowk Ghat, on the banks of the Ghogra, the Begum and Sirdar Mamu Khan had established the headquarters of their army. Besides these, Raja Ram Baksh, Bahunath Singh, Canda Singh, Gulab Singh, Bhopal Singh, Hanumant Singh, and other prominent and valiant Zedmindars, with larger or smaller armies, were fighting to reconquer Oudh, which had been almost conquered by the English. Also, the celebrated Mogul prince Feroze
Shah, who was lately fighting at Dhar, was now in Oudh. There was also there fighting in Oudh the famous Raja Narapat Singh, the valiant son of a valiant father. He it was who had so bravely defended the fortress of Ruiya. His father, Jussa Singh, was an intimate friend of Nana Sahib and had died at Brahmavarta while fighting on the side of Nana Sahib in the holy War of Independence. Narapat Singh, like a true Ksharia, unsheathed the sword again for victory in the field in which his father lay dead; he gave shelter to Nana Sahib in his fortress at Ruiya; and he had been fighting even since then against the Feringhi power. And even greater than all these, in power, in spirit, in determination, and in patriotism, the veteran Raja Veni Madhav also now left his fort and, with an extraordinary bold move, after marching along the Cawnpore road, was now ready to pounce upon Lucknow! When those who have left all hopes of success fight only for honour and duty, even courting death, is there any limit to their magnificent courage? Simply for the honour of the Kshatriya race, this Veni Madhav, though without the slightest hope of success at this late hour, marched straight upon Lucknow! And he caused placards to be posted in the town that all Indians residing there should leave it, for he was going to direct a tremendous attack upon the Feringhis. The Feringhis, though drunk with victory, and possessed of force, and good organisation, were astounded at his marvellous courage. An attach on Lucknow? Forsooth, as if the war had begun only to-day, as if seas of blood had not at all flowed for the whole of the past year in Oudh!
So, on the 13th of June, Hope Grant directed a surprise assault upon the Revolutionaries, gathering together at Nabobganj near Lucknow. The surprise attack of the white and the black forces of Hope Grant would naturally have dispersed the incautious Revolutionaries at once – but, Sepoys, stop! It is not yet a week since the Moulvie was killed – so, stop! They stopped and they stood up ready to give battle even under such odds. And, lo! Such an exhibition of bravery was seen on the side of the Revolutionaries as is rarely witnessed no matter anywhere. It was such as to make the usually spiteful enemy to be carried away by a natural admiration
of heroic bravery. The English general, Hope Grant, writes :- “Still, their attacks were vigorous, if unsuccessful, and we had much ado to repel them. A largebody of fine, daring Zemindari men brought two guns in the open and attacked us in the year. I have seen many battles in India and many brave fellows fighting with a determination to conquer or die; but, I never witnesses anything more magnificent than the conduct of these Zemindars! In the first instance they attacked Hodson’s horse, who would not face them and by their unsteadiness placed in great jeopardy two guns which had been attached to the regiment. I ordered up the 7th Hussars and the other four guns belonging to the battery to within a distance of five hundred yards from the enemy and opened a fire of grape which mowed them down with a terrible effect like thistles before the scythe. Their chief, a big fellow with a goitre on his neck, nothing daunted, caused two green standards to be placed close to their guns and used them as a rallying point. But our grapefire was so destructive that whenever they attempted to save their pieces, they were struck down. Two squadrons and more now came up to our side and forced the survivors to retire, waving the swords and spears at us and defiantly calling out to us to come on. Around the two guns alone there were one hundred and twentyfive corpses! After three hours’ fighting, the day was ours.”5
Such desperate encounters took place in East Oudh, in Middle Oudh, in North Oudh and, practically, all over Oudh. And that not with the enemy alone but with traitors like Man Singh and Powenkar who had been lured to join the enemy by the proclamation of pardon. Oudh began to fight such a double battle. They directed attacks on Powen; they were fighting towards Lucknow; they fought at Sultanpur; they shut up the traitor Man Singh in his fort; they obstructed English routes; they sacked English stations; and, by their noble sacrifice they made every space of the ground there worth worshipping as sacred soil! Cutting the cordon which the English drew round them, the patriots rushed about from place to place still
5 Hope Grant’s Incidents of the Sepoy War, page 292.
persevering in their cry for war and revenge. Considerations of space alone forbid us from minutely following all their movements.
Such was the terrible fight that Ayodhya fought! At last, in October, 1858, the English Commander-in-Chief again arranged a mass of white and brown troops in systematic order, made them march simultaneously from all sides against the Revolutionaries and, thus pressing them on all sides, gave orders to push them northwards towards Nepal. Still, Oudh would not be exhausted and would not retreat a step without fighting!
Veni Madhav’s town, Shankarpur, was surrounded on three sides by three different armies. He was now weak in resources and the enemy was very strong; still, Veni Madhav would not lay down his arms. Then, the English Commander-in-Chief himself sent him a message telling him that a further continuance of the fight would mean only useless bloodshed, as he had no hope of victory. If he surrendered, he was promised full pardon and complete restoration of his property. Veni Madhav replied: “ It being henceforth impossible to defend the fort, I am going to leave it. But I will never surrender myself to you. For my person belongs not to me but to my king.” The fort will surrender, but not Veni Madhav!6
In November, 1959, the famous proclamation of the Queen of England was published throughout India, and according to the prophecy, the Company’s rule did vanish after a hundred years! But, in its place came the rule of the Queen! Everyone who fought openly against the English in the war was to be given a full pardon as soon as he laid down his arms;
6 How the people fought pro rege and pro patria, for the king and the Motherland, will be seen from the following. Charles Ball says :- “After the proclamation, still the struggle in Oudh was wonderful, and all these bands of rebels were strengthened and encouraged to an inconceivable degree by the sympathy of their countrymen. They could march without commissariat, for the people would always feed them. They could leave their baggage without guard, for the people would not attack it. They were always certain of their position and that of the British, for the people brought them hourly information. And no design could be possibly kept from them while secret sympathisers stood round every mess-table and waited in almost every tent in the British camp. No surprise could be effected but by a miracle, while rumous, communicated from mouth to mouth, outstripped even our cavalry.” Vol.II, page 572.
a promise was given that his property would not be confiscated7; not even an enquiry was to be held. The right to Rajas to adopt an heir was recognised. A clause was also inserted that the religious beliefs of the people would never be interfered with; and an undertaking was given that promises would not thenceforth be broken.
The Queen proceeded to say : “And we do hereby confirm in their several offices, civil and military, all persons now employed in the service of the Honourable East India Company, subject to our future pleasure, and to such laws and regulations as may hereafter be enacted.
“We hereby announce to the native princes of India that all treaties and engagements made with them by or under the authority of the Honourable East India Company are by us accepted and will be scrupulously maintained; and we look for the like observance on their part.
“We desire no extension of our present territorial possessions; and, while we will permit no aggressions upon our dominious or our rights to be attempted with impunity, we shall sanction no encroachment on those of others. We shall respect the rights, dignity, and honour of native princes as our own, and we desire that they, as well as our own subjects, should enjoy that prosperity and that social advancement which can only be secured by internal peace and good government.
7 How this promise and similar promises were kept by the English, is well-known to the people of India. The Government actually refused to return lakhs of Rupees lent to them on bonds and securities on the ground that the security-holders were rebels. Here is a sample of the general attitude of the English people at the time. In the biography of John Delane, the famous editor of the London Times, recently printed, we get some glimpses of the matter. At about the time of the mutiny, the Times had sent a special correspondent to India in the person of Sir W.H. Russell. It is recorded that “at the end of January, 1859, Sir W.H.Russell was still with Lord Clyde and, in one of his last letters from Lucknow, he tells a delightful story which he heard from the Commander-in-Chief. Alluding to his landlord at Allahabad (an Anglo-Indian general merchant), Lord Clyde said, ‘you doubtless heard what he did?’ ‘No’. ‘Well, he was much in debt to native merchants when the mutiny broke out. He was appointed special commissioner and the first thing he did was to hand all his creditors.” This ‘delightful story’, is not, of course, contained in any ‘history of the Indian mutiny.’ It was not even contained in the Times’ special correspondednts’ letters to the Times intended for publication. It was mentioned only in private letter of Sir W.H.Russel to John Delane.
“We hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligations of duty which bind us to all our other subjects; and those obligations, by the blessing of Almighty God, we shall faithfully and conscientiously fulfil.
“And it is out further will that, so far as may be, our subjects, of whatever race or creed, be freely and impartially admitted to offices in our service, the duties of which they may be qualified by their education, ability, and integrity, duly to discharge.
“Our clemency will be extended to all offencers, save and except those who have been and shall be convicted of having directly taken part in the murder of British subjects.
“To all others in arms against the Government, we hereby promise unconditional pardon, amnesty, and oblivion of all offences against outselves, our crown, and dignity, on their return to their homes and peaceful pursuits.”
In such a manner was this ‘Magna Charta’ (?) of Hindusthan published! The principal reason for its publication was, no doubt, the desire to extinguish the Revolution in Oudh. But Oudh did not care even to glance at it. The Begum of Oudh published the following counter-proclamation: “In the proclamation, it is written that all the contracts and agreements entered into by the Company will be accepted by the queen. Let the people carefully observe this artifice. The Company has seized on the whole of Hindusthan, and if this arrangement be accepted, what is there new in it? The Company professed to treat the Chief of Bharatpur as a son and then took his territory. The chief of Lahore was carried off to London, never to return again. The Nabob Shams-ud-din Khan, on the one hand, they hanged, while, on the other hand, they salaamed to him. The Peshwa they expelled from Poona and Satara and imprisoned for life in Bithoor. The Raja of Benares they imprisoned in Agra. They have left no names or traces of the chiefs of Behar, Orissa, and Bengal. Out ancient possessions they took from us on
pretence of distributing pay and, in the 7th article of the treaty, they wrote on oath that they would take no more from us. If, then, the arrangements made by the Company are to be accepted, what is the difference between the former and the present state of things? These are old affairs. But even recently, in defiance of oaths and treaties, and notwithstanding that they owed us millions of Rupees, without reason and on pretences of misconduct and the discontent of our people, they took our country and property worth millions of Rupees. If our people were discontended with our royal predecessor, Wajid Ali Shah, how comes it then, that they are content with us? And no ruler ever experienced such loyalty and devotion of life and goods as we have. What, then, is wanting that they do not restore to us our country? Further, it is written, in the proclamation, that they want no increase of territory, and yet they cannot refrain from annexation. If the Queen has assumed the government, why does she not restore our country to us when the people have unmistakably shown their wish to this effect?
“It is well known that no king or queen ever punished a whole army or a whole people for rebellion. All will be gorgiven, for the wise cannot approve of punishing the whole army and people of Hindusthan and also they know that so long as the word “punishment” remains, the disturbance will not be suppressed. There is a well-known proverb, “Marta kya nahin karta.”
“It is written in the proclamation, that they who harboured the rebels or who caused men to rebel shall have their lives, but that punishment shall be awarded after deliberation to them, that murderers and abettors of murderers shall have no mercy shown to them, and that all the rest shall be forgiven. Now even a silly person will see that, under this proclamation, no one, be he guilty or innocent, can escape. Everything is written and yet nothing is written. But one thing they have clearly said, and that is that they shall let off no one who is implicated; and so, in whatever village or province our army has halted, the inhabitants of that place cannot escape. Deeply are we concerned for the condition of our beloved people on reading this proclamation which palpably teems with enmity. We now issue a distinct order, and trustworthy, that all persons who may have foolishly presented themselves as heads of villages to the English shall, before the 1st of January, 1859, present themselves in our camp. No doubt their faults shall be forgiven. To believe in this Proclamation, it is only necessary to remember that Hindusthanee rulers are altogether have heard this. No one has ever seen the English have forgiven an offence.
“In this proclamation it is written that when peace is restored, public works such as roads and canals, will be made in order to improve the condition of the people! It is worthy of a little reflection, that they have promised no better employment for Hindusthanees than the making of roads and the digging of canals!
“If people cannot see clearly what this means, then, there is no hope for them.
“Let no subject be deceived by the proclamation!”
And therefore Oudh would not take advantage of the unconditional amnesty granted therein. She was still waiving her sword, riding on horseback, fighting on the field, bathing in blood, and leaping into the fire of sacrifice! She wanted freedom or war to the end. She was more used to jump at the neck than fall at the feet of the enemy. She was still on the battle-field of Shankarpur, Dhundiakhera, Rai Bareilly, Sitapur. She was killing, she was dying, but still she fought on!
So sought Oudh from June to November of 1858, from November to December, until April of 1859, when she was pushed from all sides towards Nepal. When the Revolutionaries entered Nepal, the English were still in hot pursuit; but still there was one hope – will the Hindu Raja of Nepal protect them?
At this time, the number of Revolutionaries who entered Nepal was about sixty thousand; they were led by Nana Sahib, Bala Sahib, the
Begum and her young son, and others. Jung Bahadur of Nepal wrote at this time a letter to them. The reply which Nana Sahib sent to him is so pointed and sarcastic that we cannot help quoting at least a part of it. It runs to this effect:- “We have received your letter. We have been hearing the reputation of Nepal at distant places, all along the country. Indeed, in spite of my reading the history of many ancient kings of India and seeing the character of many present rulers, I believe that your Majesty’s deeds stand matchless! For you did not hesitate to render help even to the British – the very people who have borne every sort of ill-will towards your people. And yet, as soon as they asked for help you have rushed to their assistance! There is no limit to this your generosity! Well then, shall it be unnatural of me to expect that the descendant of the Peshwa who had all along been friendly towards your people will not be denied help from your Majesty, especially when you have given it so freely to the British who bore avowed enmity towards you? He who admitted the enemy inside will not at least turn his friend out! It is utterly unnecessary to repeat here the well-known story of the wrongs under which Hindusthan is groaning, how the British people have broken treaties, trampled down their promises, snatched away the crowns of the Indian Rajas. It is equally unnecessary to describe how even the religion of the land is threatened as soon as the kingdoms of the land are destroyed. It is too well known. It is for this reason that this war is wages. We are sending Shrimant Bala Sahib, our brother, to you, and he will clear up other things personally.”8 The letter was sealed with the royal seal of the Peshwas and sent to Jung Bahadur. After this letter, many consultations followed. Jung Bahadur sent one of his noblemen, Colonel Balbhadra Singh, to see personally the leaders of the Revolutionaries. The leaders told him unanimously, “We have fought for the Dharma of the Hindus. Maharaja Jung Bahadur too is a Hindu and therefore should help us. If he gives his help, even if he orders his officers to lead us, we shall again dash on
8 Charles Ball’s Indian Mutiny, Vol.II.
Calcutta. We shall feed ourselves, and shall obey his orders. Whatever country we conquer in fight will become the possession of the Gurkha Government. If this is not possible, at least let him give us asylum in his country and we will live under his orders.” Colonel Balbhadra Singh, the Gurkha representative, said : “The English have opened wide the door of mercy. So, throw down your arms before the British and go to their asylum.” They replied : “We have heard of the proclamation. But we have no wish that some of our brothers should have their lives at the expenses of others. Maharaja Jung is a Hindu and we do not want to fight against the Gurkhas. If he wants, we shall throw down our arms before him, and even if we are to be murdered, we submit unresistingly. But how can we submit to the British by risking some of our own brethren to their vengeance?”
Many such consultations took place, but at last Jung Bahadur finally told the Revolutionaries that if he had wanted to help them he would not have sent his men to massacre them at Lucknow! Nay, he did not stop merely with sending this mean and cruel reply. He gave full permission to the English to enter Nepal and hunt the Revolutionaries within his territories!
Then the Revolutionaries lost all hope, hid their arms, and quietly began to walk away to their homes. To encourage them in doing so, the English did not give them the slightest trouble for their past hostile attitude. Still, some grand-souled heroes, unable to bear the sight of the Britisher again treading the sacred soil of India, instead of returning to their homes, escaped to the jungles, knowing that it meant nothing short of dying by starvation! About that time, Nana Sahib wrote a letter to the British commander, Hope Grant. What does he say in that letter – any talk of surrender? Oh, no! After condemning at great length the unjust rule of the British in India, Nana asks : “What right have you to occupy India and declare me an outlaw? Who gave you the right to rule over India? What! You, Feringhis, are the kings, and we, thieves, in this our own country?” These are the last recorded words of Nana Sahib. No! This is the last
challenge of the Peshwa throne of Balaji Viswanath! It is strong, proud, just, and self-respecting, worthy of the last descendant of Shivaji’s Peshwas. The stain of effeminacy of the secondBaji Rao was washed away in streams of the blood of the foreign foe, and the Gadi of the Peshwas passes away from the scene, like the Chitore Rajputanees of old, struggling, fighting, and burning amidst the leaping flames of the fire of sacrifice. This was hedr last shriek – “In India, foreigners are kings and the sons of Hindusthan thieves!”
History does not know for certain what happened to Nana Sahib after the episode of this letter. Bala Sahib died in the forest in circumstances of self-imposed misery. The Begum and her young son were, later on, given shelter by Jung Bahadur. The great martyr Gujaran Singh died in one of the numerous skirmishes in the last stages of the war.
Thus ended the National Revolution of 1857, in Oudh. Nowhere in the world has a country fought for its independence with more stubborn bravery.
Malleson says: “They (the people of Outh) joined in the revolt inaugurated by their brethren the Sepoys – the majority of them Oudh men – and fought for independence. Howpertinaciously they wages the contest has been told in these pages. No other part of India gave an example of a resistance so determined, so prolonged, as did Oudh. Throughout the struggle, the sense of the injustice perpetrated in 1856 steeled the hearts of its people and strengthened their resolution. If on some occasion they too precipitately fled, it was in the hope of renewing the struggle with some chances of success another day. When, finally, the sweep made over Oudh by Lord Clyde forced the remnant of the fighting flass to take refuge in the jungles of Nepal, the survivors often preferred starvation to surrender. The agricultural population, the Talukdars, the landowners, the traders, accepted the defeat when, after that long struggle, they felt that it was final.”9
9 Malleson’s Indian Mutiny, Vol. V, page 207.