By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
Patna :Â Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library organised a public lecture on 1857 Revolution: A Resounding Voice in Russia here Sunday to mark the ongoing celebrations of the First War of Independence. Former Principal Patna College Professor N.P. Verma delivered a very thought provoking lecture on the subject enlightening the audience of the specially convened programme chaired by former Head Department of History in Patna University Professor Yuvraj Dev Prasad, reports Urdu daily Hindustan Express Wednesday.
"The 1857 War can be termed as a great revolution keeping in view its overall impact on the freedom struggle and eventual results," Professor Verma said.
At the very outset, he dwelt in detail upon the conflict then going on between Russia and England as well as the causes of the Russians' keen interest in the revolutionary movement of India.
Mentioning the political as well as farmers' movements then going on against the Russian government, he opined that that was the reason why the Russians were taking very keen interest in the revolutionary movement against the British in India.
Professor Verma also highlighted the coverage in Russian newspapers and magazines of day-to-day developments taking place on the soil of India as well as the impact Russian literature of the time left on the revolutionary movement in India. He said the Russian public heartily welcomed the public movement of India and Russian newspapers and magazines hailed the Indian revolution. The Russian media had no direct link with India and its coverage of Indian revolutionary movement depended entirely on the reports published in English and French media.
This interest of the Russians in the Indian revolutionary movement continued as long as the revolution was going on. But as the fire of revolt against the British started cooling down, the Russians lost their interest in India and started supporting the cause of the British.
Close to the banks of the Ganges flowing in the Capital of Bihar, stands the Khuda Bakhsh Library with a unique repository of about 21000 Oriental manuscripts and 2.5 lakh printed books. It was opened for public in October, 1891 by Maulvi Khuda Bakhsh Khan with 4,000 manuscripts, of which he inherited 1,400 from his father Maulvi Mohammed Bakhsh.