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 144 The Eruption [ Pt. II Delhi and all the English officers at
Budaun began to run about in the forests at night. Under privations
of food and clothing for weeks, hiding everywhere, sometimes in the
stable of some villager, sometimes in deserted houses, English
collectors, and magistrates, and English women, were running about
to save "their lives. Some of them were killed, some died, and some
lived under the protection of kindly u natives ! " In this manner, the
whole province of Rohilkhand rose in a day ! In Bareilly, in
Shahjahanpur, in Moradabad, in Budaun, and other district towns,
the military, the police, and the citizens issued Proclamations and
deported the British power in the space of a few hours! The English
power was smashed and the Swadeshi throne was put in its stead;
British flags were torn down, and green flags began to fly in the
courthouses and police-stations and offices. India assumed the role
of ruler and England was put in the prisoner's dock! This
extraordinary transformation took place in a whole province in a few
hours ! What wonder that not a drop of Swadeshi blood was shed in
freeing the whole of Rohilkhand ? Instead of saying " Rohilkhand is
dependent, " all said u Rohilkhand is free, " and the thing was done !
On one day, unanimously, everywhere and at once, the police, the
Sepoys, and citizens rose and drove away the few English officers in
the district towns. No more pains than this were required to make
the province free! A strong organisation of secret societies, and the
swift and clever execution of the plan proposed, these were the two
things which enabled Rohilkhand to free itself from the English and
accept the rule of Khan Bahadur Khan. All the Sepoys went away to
Delhi to fight under the leadership of Bakht Khan, the head of the
Bareilly artillery above-mentioned. Then, Khan Bahadur Khan formed
a new force to keep order in the province and the capital. Almost all
citizens were formed into a militia. The civil departments were also
organised and almost all the previous holders of offices were
confirmed in their posts. And the chief posts, occupied previously by
Europeans, were now given to Indians. The government land-tax
was assessed in the name of the Emperor of Delhi. Courts of justice
were opened as before and the former officers were retained. In
short, there was no break in any department or its work on account
of the Revolution, except that, instead of Englishmen, the chief
officers were Indians. Khan Bahadur Khan personally wrote an
account of the doings in his province to the Emperor, and the
 Ch. VI ] Rohilkhand 145 following Proclamation was posted
throughout Rohilkhand. 8 Residents of Hindusthan ! The long-
looked-for festival of Swaraj has arrived! Are you going to accept or
refuse it? Are you going to take advantage of this great opportunity
or are you going to let it go out of your hands? Hindu and
Mahomedan Brethren ! Be it known to all of you that, if these
English are permitted to remain in India, they will butcher all and put
an end to your religion ! The residents of Hindusthan have so long
been deceived by Englishmen, and have cut their necks with their
own swords. So, now we must repair this sin of treachery to our
country! The Englishmen will try, now also, their old work of
deception; they will try to incite the Hindus to rise against
Mussalmans, and the Mahomedans to rise against the Hindus. But,
Hindu Brethren! do not fall into their nets. It is hardly necessary to
tell our clever Hindu brethren that the English never keep their
promises. They are adepts in the art of trickery and deceitful
imposture! They have all along been trying to root out all other
religions on earth but their own ! Have they not pushed aside the
rights of adopted children? Have they not swallowed up the
countries and kingdoms of our Kings! Who took away the kingdom
of Nagpur? Who took away the kingdom of Lucknow ? Who has
trampled under foot both Hindus and Mahomedans ? Mussulmans, if
you revere the Koran, and Hindus, if you revere the cowmother,
forget now your minor differences and unite together in this sacred
war! Jump into the battlefield fighting under one banner, and wash
away the name of the English from India in streams of blood! If the
Hindus will join hands with the Mahomedans in this war, if they will,
also, take the field for the freedom of our country, then, as a reward
for their patriotism, the killing of cows will be put a stop to. In this
holy war, he who fights himself, and he who helps another to fight,
by means of money, will attain earthly and spiritual freedom! But, if
anyone will oppose this Swadeshi war, then, he will strike at his own
head and be guilty of the sin of suicide ! * Leaving Rohilkhand for
the present to make its preparations for defending the Swaraj which
it has got back, we shall go to Benares and Allahabad to see what is
taking place there. 10
 CHAPTER VII BENARES AND ALLAHABAD About four
hundred and sixty miles from Calcutta lies the ancient city of
Benares, on the banks of the sacred Ganges, shining in all her
historical glory. Benares is surely the queen of all the cities that have
been built by the side of the cool, clear, and holy waters of the
Bhagirathi. The rows of houses mounting higher and higher from the
banks of the Ganges, the domes of tall temples with golden steeples
glittering in the sun, the thick rows of trees gracefully raising their
heads to the sky, the grand harmony of the innumerable bells
sounded in the temples, and, above all, the sacred temple of
Vishweshvara, all these give a unique splendour to the city of
Benares. The pleasure-seekers go there for amusement, the devoted
for prayer, the Sanyasis for contemplation, and the holy for salvation.
All these achieve their various purposes in the holy city, For people
who are satiated with the pleasures of the world, holy Benares is a
place of retirement, and for those unfortunates whose hopes and
desires of happiness in this world are shattered by the jealousy and
spite of cruel and wicked men, Benares and the sprays of the cool
Ganges are a haven of rest. Thanks to the English, there was no
want of such unfortunate men in 1857 coming to end their days of
toil in that haven of refuge and peace. Several Hindu and
Mahomedan nobles, helpless since the palaces of Delhi were closed
to them, and the plundered royal families of Sikh and Mahratta
princes, were telling their tale of woe in Benares in every temple and
every Musjid. In this holy city, it is no surprise that the degradation
146
 Oh. VII ] Benares and Allahabad 147 of Swadharma and
the destruction of Swaraj were being hotly discussed among both
Hindus and Mahomedans. The military station of the province was
Sikroli, which was a short distance from Allahabad. There was the
37*k infantry, the Ludhiana Sikh regiment, and a cavalry regiment;
the artillery was purposely kept in the hands of Englishmen. Among
the Sepoys, the desire to rise for Swadharma and Swaraj had been
secretly fomented by various means. As the year 1857 approached,
signs were evident that there was a tremendous agitation among the
populace at Benares. The chief commissioner at the city, Tucker,
Judge Gubbins, Magistrate Lind, and other civil officers, as well as
Captain Olpherts, Colonel Gordon, and other military officers had
from the first taken great precautions for the safety of the English at
Benares. For, in that city, the popular agitation often outstepped the
limits of secrecy and sometimes became almost uncontrollable.
Purbhayyas openly shouted prayers in the temples, " God, release us
from the rule of the Feringhis ! * 1 Secret societies were formed to
ascertain the strength of the movement in other places. When the
month of May came, there was quite a number of Mahomedan
preachers in the Sepoy camp, proclamations were affixed to the city
walls and public squares asking the people to rise, 2 and at last,
things went so far, that Hindu priests began holding public prayer-
meetings in the temples to pray for the destruction of the English
and the victory of Swaraj. About the same time, the prices of grains
went up enormously, and, when English officers went about
explaining how, according to the laws of political economy, the grain
merchants would, in the end, be the losers if prices rose any more,
people said boldly to their very faces, u It is you who have made
everything dear in our country ; and now you come to lecture to us !
* The English were so much terror-struck at this ugly manifestation
of popular fury, even before the rising, that Captain Olpherts and
Captain Watson themselves insisted that the English should vacate
the place! At last Gubbins said, pathetically, u I will go on my knees
to you not to leave Benares!", and the plan of evacuation was
temporarily postponed ! And, indeed, why should it not be so? For
have not the Sikh nobles established a volunteer corps, now, to
protect the English? And 1 Report of the Joint-Magistrate, Mr. Taylor.
2 Bed Pamphlet.
 has not the descendant of Chet Singh whom Warren
Hastings trampled down, also joined the English? When there is so
much u loyalty * yet, there is no reason why the English should
leave Benares! But, while the English of Benares, relying on the
strength of this loyalty, had given up the idea of leaving Benares,
terrible news began to come from the direction of Azimgarh.
Azimgarh is situated about sixty miles from Benares, and the 17th
native regiment was posted there. In this regiment, a tremendous
uproar had commenced since the 31st of May, and the magistrate,
Mr. Home, had been delivering sweet speeches to pacify the Sepoys!
But the days were gone when such empty lectures would have
pacified soldiers. The 31st of May dawned, and the barracks at
Benares were set fire to, the sign for the other Sepoys in the
province to rise. So, the rising must take place in the first week of
June. To-day is the 3rd of June and a good day. For, don't you see
that the treasure of Gorakhpore, together with the treasure of
Azimgarh — altogether seven lakhs of Rupees — is being sent to
Benares? What better opportunity can you desire or expect? The
twilight of the 3rd of June was slowly changing to the darkness of
the night at Azimgarh. All the English officers, of Sepoy regiments
were dining together at the club, and the women and children were
playing and frolicking near by. Immediately, the party heard a
tremendous noise. The English had by the first week of June learnt
by heart the meaning of these sudden crashes. Even the sudden
hush in the midst of their jollity looked like a mutual whisper of u
The Sepoys have risen!" Just then followed a thundering noise of
drums and clarionets! Not a moment passed before the white
people, with the picture of the Meerut events before their mind's
eye, started running for dear life. Officers, women, and children
despaired of life. But the Azimgarh Sepoys, seeing this unfortunate
people suffering a worse agony than death, relinquished all thoughts
of revenge. They took charge of them in order to protect them from
being harmed by stray Sepoys, and ordered them to leave Azimgarh
at once. But what about some of the over enthusiasticSepoys who
had sworn to shed English blood on that day ? 1 Well then,
Lieutenant Hutchinson and Quarter- Sergeant L ewis, at least your
bodies must fall a prey to our bullets! Enough, let 1 Narrative, p. 58.
 Ch. YII ] Benares and Allahabad. 149 the rest run away
alive. If they cannot run, we have no objection to their leaving in
carriages! But the officers and their wives complained, "Who will
give us carriages now?" But the Sepoys replied gallantly, " Do not be
anxious ; we will give you carriages. " With such extraordinary
magnanimity, the Sepoys brought carriages, took away the
handcuffs of the English, put them in carriages, and even gave a few
Sepoys as guard; and thus, the whole caravan, including all the flags
and other signs of English rule, started forth for Benares! On the
other side, the treasure of seven lakhs, the English store of
ammunition, the prison bearing the stamp of British rule, offices
roads, barracks — all fell into the hands of the Sepoys. And who was
foremost in all this work? It was the police, the police whom the
English trusted for information about a possible rising in order to
save their lives ! The police were as well undermined and as
harmless on the surface as the Sepoys. When the appointed time
came, they began by hoisting the flag of Swaraj on the English
houses and prisons. Some Englishmen who did not find room in the
carriages going to Benares ran away in the night to Ghazipur. When
the sun rose the next day, he gazed in admiration at the marvellous
transformation that had taken place during his short absence, and
shone delightfully on the green flag flying at Azimgarh. Seeing the
green flag, which was all along flying in their hearts, now also
hoisted over their heads; all the Sepoys, in the flush of victory, drew
up a great military procession. And, to the strains of martial music,
they danced about their green flags and marched away to Fyzabad.
Although the news of the freedom of Azimgarh reached Benares,
there were hopes amongst the English that Benares at least would
be safe. Since the news of the Meerut rising, John Lawrence in the
Panjab and Lord Canning in Calcutta had been straining every nerve
to send English troops to the chief centres of the Kevolution. Since
the northern army was busy in the siege of Delhi, there was perfect
helplessness in the parts south of Delhi, and English officers sent
pathetic requests to Calcutta, saying, " For God's sake, send us
Europeans ! " We have already described how, by this time, Lord
Canning had called European troops from Bombay, Madras, and
Rangoon, and had retained in India the army destined for the now
abandoned invasion of China. Out of these troops, General Neill,*
with the Madras fusiliers had, about this time, arrived at Benares.
 This first succour of European troops, and that too under a
bold, able, and cruel general like Neill, restored the confidence of the
English at Benares. Just then, the English army at Danapur also
came to Benares. As there was extraordinary unrest in Benares and
there was clear evidence that the Sepoys were also in the
Revolutionary propaganda, the English thought that they should
make an attempt to crush the Revolution in its embryo. From the
first, the English were confident that this could easily be done by the
combined strength of General Neill's troops, the Sikh nobles and
soldiers, and the artillery. The news of Azimgarh reached Benares on
the 4th of June and it was decided after considerable discussion that
the Sepoys should be disarmed before they rose. Accordingly, a
general parade was ordered that afternoon. Hearing this order, the
Sepoys guessed the rest. They also got the secret information that
the English held the artillery in readiness. When on the parade
maidan the English officers gave them the order to lay down their
arms, it was clear to them that they would be first disarmed, and
then blown from the mouth of guns. Therefore, instead of laying
down their arms, they attacked the neighbouring arsenal and fell on
the English officers with fierce cries. Just then, there arrived on the
scene the Sikh regiment intended to overawe them. The Sikhs were
at the time possessed of such a spirit of loyalty to England, that they
fell at the feet of the English and prayed to be given a chance of
fighting the Sepoys, at least for a short time ! A Hindu Sepoy
attacked their commander Guise and he dropped down dead in an
instant. Hardly had Brigadier Dodgson arrived to take his place,
when a Sikh Sepoy, at the inspiration of the moment, shot him ! But
the other Sikhs, unable to forgive this great crime, hacked him to
pieces ! The Sikhs were waiting for the reward of this loyal deed,
when the English artillery opened fire on them all ! Seeing the
confusion going on between the Hindu and the Sikh Sepoys, the
English authorities must have suspected that the Sikh regiment also
had deserted them. On account of this misunderstanding, they
opened fire on all indiscriminately*^ Now the unfortunate Sikhs had
no other way left but to join the Revolutionaries! All the Indians,
together, attacked the artillery thrice^ This_was the only occasion in
the history of 1857 when Hindus, Mahomedans, and Sikhs, unitedly
fell upon the English But, at that very moment, the Sikhs were
making extraordinary efforts to
 expiate this sin! While the battle between the English and
the Sepoys was raging near the barracks, there was a fear that the
townsmen would also rise. In this fear, English officers, women, and
children were running about in the streets. Then the Sikh Sirdar,
Surat Singh, rushed forward to protect them. The treasury at
Benares, besides containing lakhs of Rupees, also contained the
most valuable ornaments wrested by the English from the late Sikh
Queen. And this treasury was guarded by the Sikhs! It was here
impossible that the Sikhs would not entertain the idea of taking hold
of the treasury and taking back the ornaments belonging to their
Queen who had been deported by the English. But their leader, the
loyal Surat Singh, came forward and arranged that his co-religionists
should not touch any of them ! And, soon, the treasure was
transferred to the guard of English soldiers. At this time, a Pundit,
called Gokul Chand, had also joined the side of the English. Even the
Raja of Benares placed his all — his influence, his wealth, and his
power — his everything at the feet of his lord — not Kashi
Vishweshwara, but — the English ! The Sepoys alone did not
surrender in spite of the hot fire, but retired fighting out of the field
and spread all over the province. e No doubt, the English, following
John Lawrence's plan in the Panjab, crushed the Benares rising in
embryo; but the news that Benares had risen spread with lightning
rapidity all over Northern India, and the different Revolutionary
centres, who were waiting with their eyes directed towards Benares,
began a series of risings. Javanpur rose on the 5th of June. When
the news arrived at Javanpur that the Sepoys from Benares were
coming there in all haste, the English officers began to deliver
lectures on loyalty to the Sikh Sepoys stationed there. But these
lectures had hardly ended when the tramp of Benares Sepoys was
heard rapidly approaching! The few Sikh Sepoys at Javanpur who
belonged to the Sikh regiment at Benares at once joined the
Revolutionaries, and the whole was ablaze in the flames of the
Revolution. Seeing this, the joint magistrate, Cuppage, again stood
up to lecture, but, from the audience, came a whizzing bullet instead
of applause, and the magistrate sahib fell down dead ! Commanding
officer Lieutenant Mara also fell shot by a bullet. After this, the
Revolutionaries attacked the treasury and ordered all the English to
clear out of Javanpur. Now, the Benares cavalry too entered the
town. They had taken terrible oaths to kill every Englishman they
met
 152 The Eruption [ Pt. II Seeing an old deputy collector
running, the Sowars ran after him. Some Javanpur men tried to
mediate, * Give the poor man his life, he has treated us very kindly."
But the Sepoys replied, ^ Can't help it; he is an Englishman and
must die!" 1 Even in times of such excessive hatred, the
Revolutionaries gave permission to Englishmen who surrendered, to
lay down their arms and run away quietly. Making use of this
permission, most of the Englishmen vacated Javanpur and departed
in a short time. They hired boats on the banks of the Ganges to go
to Benares. But, when in the middle of the stream, the boatmen
looted them and left them on the sands! There, at Javanpur, the
whole town came out with cries of u Din ! Din ! ! ", looted and burnt
English houses, and mixed into dust all the signs of their power. The
Sepoys took as much treasure as they could carry and marched
towards Ayodhya. Then, the old women of the town and paupers
who had never had a Rupee in their lives, were placed in charge of
the remaining treasure. They helped themselves with it plentifully,
and showered blessings heartily on Swaraj and the Emperor of Delhi
! In this way rose Azimgarh on the 3rd of June, Benares on the 4th,
and Javanpur on the 5th. The whole province of Benares was in
names. If the chief town of a province falls to the enemy, the
Revolution, as a rule, loses strength in that province. For the whole
province to depend on the capital in times of Revolution is regarded
as a most dangerous fault in Revolutionary tactics. Mazzini says, "
Wherever our flag flies, that is our capital. " The capital must follow
the Revolution and not vice versa. However accurately the map of a
Revolution might have been drawn in the beginning, it is impossible
that events will happen in a settled order during its course ;
therefore, though it fails in the capital, the province must never give
it up. Undoubtedly, Benares gave a very good illustration of this
principle. For though the capital of the province, the city of Benares,
fell into the grip of the English, in the province itself, the cyclone of
the Revolution arose at once and enshrouded the whole atmosphere.
Zemindars, peasants, Sepoys — all began to consider English rule as
unholy as cow's flesh! Even small villages, if they heard that an
Englishman was within their boundaries, would beat and drive him
out ! 2 Especially the 1 Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol I, page 245.
2 At every successive stage of this military revolt, the fact of a deep

 Ch. VII ] Benares and Allahabad 153 people were so
disgusted not only with Englishmen but with everything they had
done, that they could not bear to see anything connected with the
English before their eyes ! They drove away Zemindars appointed by
the English — good or bad — and put the old hereditary Zemindars
instead. In one week disappeared, completely, English methods of
taxation, their prisons, and their courts of 'justice ' ! The telegraph
lines were cut oif ; the railway lines were dug up ; behind every
hillock and every bush were hidden villagers thirsting for English
blood and money; and most of all, in village boundaries, warders
were parading with the green flag so that the English should get not
only no provisions but not even any information ! In these
circumstances, the misery of the English knew no bounds ! And still,
the city of Benares had been duped in its attempt at freedom, and
the Sepoys who rose had marched to Oudh! When the attempt of
the 4tri of June at Benares failed and wholesale arrests followed, an
important fact came to light. 1 Only from such incidental events is it
possible to understand how the machinery of the Secret
Organisation had been worked. Three of the most active agitators
and a millionaire banker were arrested at Benares. When their
houses were searched, some very violent letters written in cipher
and received from the chief centre of the Revolutionary organisation,
fell into the hands of the Government. The most important of these
letters came from * a head leader. " Their substance was as follows :
— " The Benares citizens should rise at once. Kill Gubbins, Lind, and
other Englishmen. The money for this work will be given by the
banker . . . . " When the house of this banker was searched, a store
of 200 swords and rifles was discovered ! This is a short account of
the rising of the province of Benares. Here the people never
massacred Englishmen as at Meerut or Delhi. In the whole province
not a single English seated and widespread feeling of hatred and an
unappeasable revengefulness for an assumed wrong is more plainly
developed. The desire for plunder was only a secondary influence in
producing the calamities to which the European residents of various
places were exposed". — Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol. I, page
215. 1 "No sooner had it been known in the districts that there had
been an insurrection at Benares, than the whole country rose like
one man. Communications were cut off with the neighbouring
stations and it appeared as if the Byots and the Zemindars were
about to attempt the execution of the project which the Sepoys
failed to accomplish in Benares." Red Pamphlet, page 91.
 154 The Eruption [ Pt. II woman was killed. Nay more,
when the flames of national anger in the heart were shouting
"Revenge!", the people cordially bid farewell to the English there,
themselves assisting sometimes to yoke the animals to their
carriages. Look on this picture and on that which will now follow! We
do not say that the English should have sympathised with Benares in
its attempts to attain Swaraj. But we do maintain that the English
could never be justified in the atrocities that they committed in the
Benares province, so totally incommensurable with the provocation
they received either from the Sepoys or the people in that province.
The English have never spared to hurl the most vile and lying abuses
on the heads of the Revolutionaries, and hence, on all Indians, for
their u cruelties Now, when we shall have described below how a
brave commander of the * civilised " English army treated the
people in the Benares province, and when it is said that all the facts
that we shall give is from the accounts of the English themselves, it
will be superfluous and unnecessary to add anything to it. Let the
impartial world judge for itself. After the Benares rising, General Neill
organised detachments of English and Sikhs to keep 1 order ' in the
neighbouring villages. These bands used to enter villages occupied
by defenceless peasants. Anybody whom they met was either cut
down or hanged. The supply of those to be hanged was so great
that one scaffold was soon found to be insufficient, even though
worked day and night; therefore, a long line of permanent scaffolds
was erected. Though, on this long range, people were half killed and
thmwn away, still, there was a crowd of waiting candidates !^The
English officers gave up as hopeless the silly idea of cutting down
trees and erecting scaffolds ; so, thenceforth, the trees themselves
were turned into scaffolds. But if only one man were to be hanged
on each tree, what has God given so many branches to a tree for?
So, * natives * were left hanging, on every branch, with their necks
tightly roped to them. This u military duty " and this Christian
mission went on incessantly night and day^ No wonder the brave
English got tired of it. So the necessary seriousness in this religious
and noble duty was mixed with a little humour for the sake of
amusement. The rude manner of catching hold of peasants and
hanging them on the trees was altered to suit the taste of art."**
They were first made to mount on elephants. Then the elephants
were taken near a tall branch,
 Ch. VII ] Benares and Allahabad 155 and after the necks
were tied tightly to it, the elephants would be moved away J. Still,
when the elephants were gone, the countless unshapely corpses
used to hang on the branches and the English passers-by were
bored with the unchanging monotony of the scene. Therefore, when
u natives * were hanged, instead of being hanged straight, they
were made into all sorts of figures. Some were killed in the shape of
the English figure "8", and some in the shape of u 9 there were still
hundreds of thousands of 'black' men living! Now, to hang all these
would require an amount of rope that could not easily be had ! The
u civilised * and u Christian * nation of England was landed in this
unthought-of difficulty. By the grace of their God Himself, they hit
upon a new plan, and the first experiment was so successful that,
thenceforth, hanging was abandoned for the new and scientific
method. Village after village could thus be razed to the ground! After
tying the necks of the peasants with flames of fire, and keeping the
guns in position to overawe them, how long will it take to burn
thousands of natives? This setting fire to villages on all sides and
burning the inhabitants, was so amusing to many Englishmen that
they sent letters to England giving a humourous description of these
scenes.— The fires were so quickly and skilfully lighted that no
villager had any chance of escape at all ! Poor peasants; learned
Brahmins, harmless Mussalmans, school children, women with
infants in their arms, young girls, old men, blind and lame, all were
burnt in the mass of flames ! Mothers with suckling babes also
succumbed to these fires ! Old men and women, and those unable
to move away even a step from the fire, were burnt in their beds ! 3
And if a solitary man were to escape the fire, what then? One
Englishman says in his letter, Jt We set fire to a large village which
was full of them. We surrounded them, and 3 Narrative, page 69. 2 "
Volunteer hanging parties went out into the districts and amateur
"executioners were not wanting to the occasion. One gentleman
boasted of the numbers he had finished off quite " in an artistic
manner, " with mango trees for gibbets and elephants as drops, the
victims of this wild justice being strung up, as though for pastime, in
"the form of a figure of eight."" — Kaye and Malleson's History of the
Indian Mutiny, Vol. II, page 177. 3 Charles Ball's Indian Mutiny, Vol.
I, pp. 243—244. But in spite of these various dilferent directions
 when they came rushing out of the flames, we shot them !
" 1 And was it only a solitary village that was thus treated? The
English sent various detachments to the various parts of the
province to burn villages. Out of the many batches, one officer, out
of the many officers, says of one of his many outings, u You will,
however, be gratified to learn that twenty villages were razed to the
ground ! " And all this account is only a summary of what has
accidentally appeared in the works of English historians, who openly
swear, 8 it is better not to write anything about General Ne ill's
revenge ! " Enough ! To write even a word more of our own to it, is
to spoil this naked picture of the inhuman barbarity of the English !
And, therefore, you terror-struck eyes, look now towards the love-
waves of the happy union of the Bhagirathi and the Kalindi rivers.
The city of Allahabad, eternally laved by the calm, noble, and
graceful waters at the union (Sangama), is situated about seventy
miles from Benares. To the holy purity of the Prayaga-Kshetra, the
vast fort built under the reign of Akbar, gave an additional beauty.
Allahabad is the key to all the important roads leading from Calcutta
towards the Panjab and Delhi. Here, the fort of Allahabad has the
imperial grace of a tall, strong, and great commander appointed to
guard over the movements of these provinces. In the Revolution of
1857, he who held this fort held the key to the whole province. Such
being the case, both sides made extraordinary efforts to acquire or
retain the command of this most important fort. The plan of the
Revolutionary party was that the Sepoys as well as all the citizens of
Allahabad should rise simultaneously. While the secret organisation
was working up towards this goal, the Prayaga Brahmins had been
of the greatest use in inspiring into the cities the ideals of Swaraj.
These influential Hindu priests had been long sowing the seeds of
the Revolutionary War, not only among the citizens of Allahabad, but
also among the Hindu population in the whole province. With the
traditional Hindu prayer at the time of the bath, was coupled the
holy and religious prayers of the Revolution. Also, among the vast
Mussalman population of the town, the Mullahs were very busy.
Thousands of Mussalmans were only awaiting the signal with a firm
determination to offer their blood on the 1 Charles Ball's Indian
Mutiny, Yol. I, pp. 243 — 244.
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