VIII
 

Author^s Introduction
 

would be unjust and foolish if nursed now, simply because it
was the dominant feeling of the Hindus then.

As almost all the authorities on which this work is based are
English authors, for whom it must have been impossible to paint
the account of the other side as elaborately and as faithfully as
they have done their own, it is perfectly possible that many
a scene, other than what this book contains, might have been
left unstated, and many a scene described in this book might be
found to have been wrongly described. But if some patriotic
historian would go to northern India and try to collect the tradi¬
tions from the very mouths of those who witnessed and perhaps
took a leading part in the War, the opportunity of knowing the
exact account of this can still be caught, though unfortu¬
nately it will be impossible to do so before very long. When,
within a decade or two, the whole generation of those who
took part in that war shall have passed away never to return,
not only would it be impossible to have the pleasure of seeing
the actors themselves, but the history of their actions will have
to be left permanently incomplete. Will any patriotic historian
undertake   to prevent this while it is not yet too late ?

Even the slightest references and the most minute details in
this book can be as much substantiated by authoritative works
as the important events and the main currents of the history.

Before laying down this pen, the only desire I want to
express is that such a patriotic and yet faithful, a more detailed
and yet coherent, history of 1857 may come forward in the
nearest future from an Indian pen, so that this my humble
writing may soon be forgotten !

The Author.
 

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