
Letter to Reverdy Johnson (26 July 1862)
1860s
Facebook posting (26 February 2012)
Letter to Reverdy Johnson (26 July 1862)
1860s
Statement at his trial, rejecting the assertion he was a traitor to Edward I of England (23 August 1305), as quoted in Lives of Scottish Worthies (1831) by Patrick Fraser Tytler, p. 279
Variant: I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.
Context: I can not be a traitor, for I owe him no allegiance. He is not my Sovereign; he never received my homage; and whilst life is in this persecuted body, he never shall receive it. To the other points whereof I am accused, I freely confess them all. As Governor of my country I have been an enemy to its enemies; I have slain the English; I have mortally opposed the English King; I have stormed and taken the towns and castles which he unjustly claimed as his own. If I or my soldiers have plundered or done injury to the houses or ministers of religion, I repent me of my sin; but it is not of Edward of England I shall ask pardon.
Source: Daughter of the East : an autobiography
quoted in B.R. Ambedkar, Pakistan or The Partition of India (1946)
A Literary History of Persia, Vol. 2, p. 123 https://archive.org/details/a-literary-history-of-persia-vol-2-1964
Poetry
Thoughts and Aphorisms (1913), Jnana
“For my part I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.”
Response to a heckler asking him to state his beliefs, as quoted in TIME magazine (1 November 1963)