India -- History -- Sepoy Rebellion, 1857-1858 -- Fiction
"It was a glorious matter. The Feringhis were shut up there, and Dhundu
Pant, whom men commonly call Nana Sahib, took a full revenge for his
grievances. Thou must know he was adopted son of that Baji Rao whom the
accursed Feringhis put down from being peshwa, and tried to soothe with
a pension of eight lakhs of rupees. And when he died, they would not pay
the pension to his son, though Baji Rao left a host of dependants for
Nana Sahib to support. And when Nana made complaint of this injustice to
the Kumpani, they gave him a rough answer: what did it matter to the
Kumpani if Baji Rao's people starved? And when the rising came, the men
of those parts made Nana Sahib their leader, and he caused entrenchments
to be thrown up before Cawnpore, and mounted great guns to destroy the
Feringhis. They had done well to yield, but they are even as pigs, and
endured great tribulations from shot and shell and the want of food, and
Nana Sahib was wroth, because the men clamoured to be led to Delhi. Nana
Sahib is a very great man. He sent a letter to the Feringhis, in which
he promised, if they would lay down their arms, to let them go safely to
Allahabad. Wah! They are stupid as camels. They sent men to meet
Azimullah, Nana Sahib's munshi, and he promised to have forty boats
stored with food ready for them at the Satia Chama ghat, and it was
written down, and when one of the Feringhis came to see Nana Sahib put
his name to the paper, the Nana shed tears of sorrow at what their women
and children had suffered. Truly he is a very great man."
"As a serpent in cunning. Go on with thy tale, darwan."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account