INDIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1857 PART-III The Conflagration © Himani Savarkar, Savarkar Bhavan, Raja Thakur Path, Shanivar Peth, Pune. tel :+912025544751 Internet Rights are with Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak Trust, Dadar, Mumbai INDIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1857 PART-III The Conflagration CHAPTER-I THE FIGHT IN DELHI AFTER declaring her Independence on the 11th of May, the city of Delhi had been busy in organising the wild storm, that such a bold step has raised into a systematised revolution. By restoring the Emperor of Delhi to the ancient throne of the Moguls, the citizens of Delhi had already created a nucleus mighty enough, by the very prestige of its name, to sustain the struggle of a people's liberation. But this restoration of the old Mogul was a restoration, neither to the old power nor to the old prestige, nor to the old traditions. Though the raising of the old Bahadur Shah to the Emperirship of Hindusthan was, in a narrower sense, a restoration to him of his ancient throne, still in a wider and truer sense, it was no restoration at all. For, the Mogul dynasty of old was not chosen by the people of the land. It was thrust upon India by sheer force, difnified by the name of conquest, and upheld by a powerful pack of alien adventures and native selfseekers. It was not this throne that was restored to Bahadur Shah today. No, that would have been impossible; for, such thrones are conquered and not received. That would have been suicidal; for, then, it would have been in vain that the blood of hundreds of Hindu martyrs had been shed in the three or four centuries preceding. Ever since the rising power of Islam left its native wilds of Arabisthan and went conquering East and West, irresistible and unchallenged, country after country and people after people had been made to prostrate in submission of Islam. But the unopposed wave was opposed, for the first time in the land of Bharat, with such strenuous, uncompromising, and undaunted tenacity as could be found only very rarely in other histories. For more than five centuries the struggle continued; for more than five centuries the Hindu civilisation had been fighting a defensive war against the foreign encroachment on its birth-rights. From the death of Prithvi Raj right up to the death of Aurangzeb, the war was without a truce. And in the midst of this gory struggle of countless years, a Hindu power arose in the western mountains of Bharat Varsha which was destined to fulfil the mission of the innumerable dead, who fell fighting in protecting the honour of the race. From out of Poona, a Hindu prince Bhausahib - advanced with a mighty host, captured the throne of Delhi, and vindicated the honour of the Hindu civilisation; the conqueror was conquered and India was again free, the blot of slavery and defeat being wiped off. Hindus again were masters of the land of trhe Hindus. So, in the truer sense, we said that the raising of Bahadur Shah to the throne of India was no restoration at all. But rather it was the declaration that the longstanding was between the Hindu and the Mahomedan had endedd, that tyranny had ceased, and that the people of the soil were once more free to choose their own monarch. For, Bahadur Shah was raised by the free voice of the people, both Hindus and Mahomedans, civil and military, to be their Emperor and the head of the War of Independence. Therefore, on the 11th of May, this old venerable Bahadur Shah was not the old Mogul succeeding to the throne of Akbar or Aurangzeb - for that throne had already been smashed to pieces by the hammer of the Mahrattas - but he was freely chosen monarch of a people battling for freedom against a foreign intruder. Let, then, Hindus and Mahomedans send forth their hearty, conscientious, and most loyal homage to this elected or freely accepted Emperor of their native soil on the 11th of May, 1857! And from far and near, the loyal homage did come to the Delhi monarch, from many Rajas, many regiments, and many of the chief cities of Hindusthan. The different regiments that had risen at different placed in the Panjab, Ayodhya, Neemuch, Rohilkhand, and many other places, marched on to Delhi with their flags and banners, and tendered their services to the venerable Bahadur Shah as the accepted head of the Revolution. Many regiments again brought whatever treasuries they had looted from the possession of the English Government on their way to Delhi and faithfully handed them over to the treasury of the Emperor. A proclamation was at once issued, addressed to the whole of Hindusthan, declaring that the foreign domination and the rule of the Feringhis had come to and end and that the whole nation was free and liberated. It exhorted the people to rise to a man to complete this Revolution so promising in its beginning, and warned them that the sole motive that should dominate them in this fight should be a self-denying, spiritual fervour and a consciousness of a divine duty. "Let it be known that the only inducement we can hold forth is that of Dharma alone. Let all those to whom god has granted determination and will, renounce the hope of property and of life and join us in this cause of our ancient faith. If the people sacrifice their private interest for the public good, the Englishmen will be exterminated from our land. It should be known that no one dies before his time and, when his time comes, nothing can save him. Thousands of men are carried off by cholera and other diseases; while, to be killed in a war of Dharma is martyrdom. And it is the duty of every man and woman to kill or expel every Feringhi from the land of Hindusthan. Let zeal for religious duty alone be the motive of those who join me, and not any worldly aspiration, though they who rise for the faith get happiness in this world too!" These extracts are from the different, and sometimes similar, Proclamations published in Oudh and Delhi. Another Proclamation was issued from the throne itself and was most widely published all over India. Even in the farthest south were found copies passing from hand to hand, in the bazaars and in the army. It insisted : "To all Hindus and Mahomedans! We, solely on account of religious duty, have joined with the people. Whoever shall, in these times, exhibit cowardice or credulously believe the promiseds of the English impostors, will be very shortly put to shame and receive the reward for their fidelity to England which the rulers of Lucknow got. It is further necessary that all, Hindus and Mahomedans, unite in this struggle and, following the instructions of some respectable leaders, conduct themselves in such a way that good order may be maintained, the poorer classes kept contented, and they themselves be exalted to rank and dignity. Let all, as far as it is possible, copy this Proclamation and fix it in some prominent place, escaping detection if prudence requires it, and strike a blow with the sword before giving circulation to it!" Soon after the general declaration of war against the English power, the Revolutionaries at Delhi began to manufacture the arms and ammunition necessary for its continuation. A big factory of cannon, guns, and small arms was started, and some Frenchmen were employed to supervise the manufacture. Two or threebig ammunition depots were also opened and many maunds of gun-powder begs to be prepared by people working day and night. A general order was issued prohibiting the slaughter of kine throughout the country and, when once some fanatic Mahomedans wanted to insult the Hindus by declaring Jehad against them, the old Emperor, seated on an elephant and with all his Imperial officers, went in a procession through all the city declaring that the Jehad was against the Feringhis alone! Anyone found killing a cow was to be blown up or his hand cut off. Different regiments were named after the different princes of the palace. Some Europeans, too, were to be seen fighting on the side of the Revolutionaries against the English power. The position which the English had occupied after the battle of Bundel-ki-Serai was very nicely suited to their military operations. The long range of hills, styles by the English as the Ridge, which almost touched the fortifications of Delhi at one of its extremeties and extended to the river Jumna four miles ahead, had, owing to its height, a special advantage from the military point of view. For the Ridge, being higher than the surrounding level by fifty or sixty feet, offered a fine position for the guns so as to keep up a continuous and effective cannonade. Again, this Ridge had at its back the wide canal of the Jumna which, owing to the heavy rains of the year, was copiously supplied with water even in this month of June. Being at their back, this canal was free from attacks of the enemies of the English power, and now especially so; for, the Panjab, which would have been the greatest terror to the English had it attacked them from their rear as Delhi had been doing from their front, had now declared in favour of the British. The Rajas of Nabha, Jhind, and Patiala rendered an immense service to the English people by guarding all the highways to the Panjab and, thus, facilitating the transport of corn, men, and ammunition from the Panjab into the English camp.