Veer Savarkar: A true Patriot, Author, and the Man beyond the Mercy Petitions
Abstract
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is one of the most misunderstood people in Indian independence history. His role as a revolutionary and author of several important historical writings is widely regarded as having received insufficient appreciation in Indian history. His identity as a freedom fighter has been widely contested, owing to the several pleas he sent to British officials while imprisoned in the Andaman and Nicobar islands' cellulars jail. This paper is an attempt to discuss his role in the revolutionary movement, his sufferings as well as experiences as a political prisoner of the British regime, his persona, his daunting spirit, and his authorship of several motivational historical works for the youth of India to serve the cause of the Indian Freedom Movement to analyse and re-narrate the politics surrounding his mercy petitions.
References
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar, Author’s introduction to the original edition, The Volcano, English Edition: 1909.
Keer, Dhananjay, Veer Savarkar, Popular Prakashan, pg.2, 2019.
Lokmanya Tilak, whom Savarkar considered as his political guru recommended the student Savarkar to Shyamji Krishnaverma for the Shivaji scholarship for Indian students desiring to study in Europe.
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar, The Volcano, The Chapter 1, pg.19.
Neelakandan, Aravindan, “Veer Savarkar: The Historian Extraordinaire,” In Commentary Long form/June 11, 2013; swarajyamag.com.
Essay by Savarkar titled ‘ Oh Martyrs’ on 10th May 1908 savarkar.org>pdfs>letters-from-andamans.v001.
Government of India, Home (Special) Department, 60-c/1908-10: “V.D. Savarkar: Book entitled “Indian War of Independence of 1857” by an Indian Nationalist”, Maharashtra State Archives(MSA).
Veer Savarkar-Rare Book Society of India, rarebooksocietyofindia.Org.posted on:3August 2018.
Savarkar relied on the historical works on mutiny by John George Malleson, History of Indian Mutiny of 1857-58, 6 vols. (1888-89); John William Kaye, A History of Sepoy War in India, 3 vols. (1864-76); Charles Ball, The History of the Indian Mutiny, 2 vols. (1858-59); George Otto Trevelyan, Cawnpore(1865); Alexander Duff, The Indian Rebellion: its causes and results(1858).
Article on Savarkar by M.P.T. Acharya (Mahratta,27May 1938) savarkar.org>pdfs>savarkar Article 19.
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar, 1857 Ka Bhartiya Swatantrya Samar, Rajdhani Granthagar, New Delhi, pg.15.
Ibid. pg.92.
Ibid. pg.94.
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar, Indian War of Independence 1857, pg.3.
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar, 1857 ka Bhartiya Swatantrya Samar, pg.246.
Lala Lajpat Rai, Endorsement in ‘The Maratha Movement’, 1925: 2003, Hindi Sahitya Sadan.
His book underlines the fact that the Maratha conflict with the European powers who came to India should also be viewed in the same spirit. Through his work, he claims that the Maratha power which was strongly imbued with the spirit of Hindu ideology could discern the European powers in India as alien intruders. He also highlights the interesting fact that the same Marathas who wished to supplant Muslim rule in India with Hindu-pad-padashahi had no hesitation in accepting Bahadur Shah Jafar as the emperor of India during the great revolution of 1857.
Savarkar, Veer, Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, Abhishek Publication, Chandigarh, India, Preface.
Ibid. Preface.
Ibid. pg.2.
Ibid. pg.18.
Ibid. pg. 21-22.
Ibid. pg.23.
Ibid. pg.24.
Ibid. pg.47.
Ibid. pg.47.
Ibid. pg.50.
Ibid. pg.51.
Ibid. pg.51.
Ibid. pg.409.
Ibid. Pg.410.
Ibid. pg.411.
Keer, Dhananjay, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Popular Prakashan, 1954: 2011, pg.338.
Keer, Dhananjay, Veer Savarkar, Popular Prakashan, 1950:2012, pg.350.
Keer, Dhananjay, Veer Savarkar, Ind ed. (Bombay) Popular Prakashan;1966,pg.120.
Savarkar, Veer, My Transportation For Life, Abhishek Publications, Chandigarh, 2012, pg.253.
Savarkar, V.D., The Indian War of Independence, Bombay, First authorized and public edition in India, 1947, Footnote 2. Pg.544, George William Forrest, State Papers.
Sareen, T.R., Indian Revolutionary Movement Abroad (1905-1921), Sterling Publishers, pg.22, Internet Archive, accessed on 05-7-21.
Sampath, Vikram, Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past (1883-1924), Penguin Viking, 2019, pg.266.
Purandare, Vaibhav, Savarkar: The True Story of the Father of Hindutva, Juggernaut Books, 2019, author’s note.
Savarkar, Veer, My Transportation for Life, pg.207-208.
Ibid. pg.210-217.
Sampath, Vikram, Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past (1883-1924), pg.312.
Ibid. pg.312.
Mercy Petition which VD Savarkar-word press.com, accessed on 05-7-21.
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