The First War of Independence of 1857 was a watershed in India’s history as it marked the end of the medieval era and the beginning of a new one; a precursor to the modern age. It was also a time when legends and superstitions played a big part in guiding the destinies of both British and Indian contestants. The late Lala Hanwant Sahai’s grandfather had heard in Chandni Chowk that when the new moon would come right above the ramparts of the Red Fort, its moat would fill up with the blood of the Feringis. But, if the blood made its way to the Yamuna and polluted the river, the British would win back what they had lost.
Hanwant Sahai was one of the men held for conspiracy in the Hardinge Bomb case of 1912. By then his grandfather was dead. The Maulvi of Faizabad, Ahmadullah Shah, who had made the prophecy of the new moon, had done so not in Delhi but in the main market of Meerut, where “Sab lal hoga” slogans in crimson dye were daubed on walls and stables. To counter Sir Charles Napier’s assertion that if he became Governor General, “Christianity would become the State religion as Providence had entrusted India to England”, the Maulvi had called upon Muslims and Hindus to combine and protect the land of their forefathers. His deep-set eyes and fierce mien had the desired effect when he bluffed the sepoys in Meerut's Sadar Bazar. With a loud shout of “Maro ferengi ko” the sepoys ran to the cantonments and set the bungalows of the British ablaze. Col John Finnis, a veteran of 40 years, who tried to stop them, was shot through the head, the first of the many men and women killed in a bloodbath that started on Sunday, May 10th and lasted till Monday, when the sepoys left for Delhi.
On the way they saw a blue-jay (neelkanth) flying towards their destination and the Hindus among them shouted, “There goes Lord Shiva’s sentinel to guide our way”. Soon after a white-bearded fakir was sighted sitting on a mound and reciting the Kalma, which the Mussalman soldiers took as a propitious sign. However, the fakir was disturbed in his recitation by a king cobra, with hood raised, threatening to strike him. The Pathan sepoys picked up stones to kill it, but their Brahmin and Rajput comrades forbade them, saying it too was a sign of Shiva ji’s blessing. The alarmed fakir suddenly stood up with his “chimta” tongs of bent iron. The snake, taking fright, slithered away into the thicket. At least that was the tale as told to Virginia Maguire by Tommy Martin, who heard it from a fellow-lieutenant while they were on their way to Jhansi, where the Rani was hesitating between challenging the British or accepting their terms for the annexation of her kingdom.
Much later, Martin was rumoured to have set fire to a haystack in which Laxmibai had taken refuge after losing the Battle of Gwalior to Sir Hugh Gough. Martin claimed it was the Rani who had requested him to do so when he pursued her on horseback and was on the point of throwing his spear at her. “Stop, young man”, she had said, “instead of the spear just throw that flaming torch into the ‘khalyan’ and take the treasure hidden in yonder mound”. God knows if it’s true, but Martin became immensely rich after the battle and settled down in Agra to lead a retired life, recounting the legend of Laxmibai’s gift to friends over evening drinks. The fact remains that the Rani was killed in battle and did not die of suicidal burns.
Another legend is that Bahadur Shah Zafar was determined not to lead the rebel sepoys, who had promised him the wealth of India to fill up his depleted coffers, but a dream made him change his stance. According to his private secretary, Jivan Lal, the king was told in a vision by his grandfather (Shah Alam) that the time had come to undo what had happened at the Battle of Plassey 100 years ago and that he should lead the rebellion. But at 82 Bahadur Shah hardly slept at night because of a persistent cough and dreams had long ceased to be part of his sleep. However, the royal hakim Ahsanullah Khan told him not to be misled by detractors and think twice before siding with the sepoys. It was his queen, Zinat Mahal, who later convinced him to support the freedom fighters.
Whenever May 11th comes around, people in the Walled City talk about these things as though they are yesterday's events. The sheet of blood seen in the sky in 1856, stretching from Agra to Delhi must have been as unnerving as the recent tremors that struck both cities. Such legends liven up the dull days of May despite its suffocating heat and the dust raised by the bulldozing of the Gordon Highlenders’ memorial site at Badli-ki-Sarai a few days ago. The shin bones remained remarkably intact.
