१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE CHAIN OF CAUSES
England might be more than men. None in Maharashtra
had seen these same Gods. It was, therefore, thought
proper that Rango Bapuji, an excellent and loyal man,
should go to England to lay the grievances of Satara before
the 'Home' authorities. Success or no success, the game
was at least, they thought, worth trying. But how long
would they wait, hoping against hope, for the success of
their mission? For how long would Rango Bapuji go on
wearing away the very pavement of Leadenhall Street?
Yes, Rango Bapuji will go on clinging to his impossible
hope till he is mocked at and insulted, till every penny
is spent in feeing English barristers with crores of Rupees
so that he has not money left even for his passage, and
until he receives the insolent reply that they refuse to
give back Satara!
While Rango Bapuji was busy packing for London,
Dalhousie's attention was being absorbed by a new affair;
for, an occasion had risen by which he could weed out the
miserable shrunken shrub of the Raj of Nagpur. Raghoji
Bhonsle, the rightful owner of the Nagpur Gadi, died
suddenly at the age of 47. The Raja of Berar was an ally
of the English Government,⁴ and this very friendship of
the English was the cause of his destruction! Those who
knew that the English hated them were spared but all
those who foolishly believed that the English were their
friends were mercilessly and treacherously involved in
ruin. The kingdom of the Berars was not the English-
man's jahgir, nor was it a feudatory state dependent for its
existence on his sweet will and pleasure. It was an inde-
pendent state on an equality with the Feringhi Sirkar. J.
Sylvian has defied the British Government to show on
what grounds and by what show of justice, either eastern
or western, they could have the right of annexing such a
4 The treaty of 1826 begins as follows :—Treaty of perpetual
friendship between the Honourable East India Company and His
Highness the Maharaja Raghoji Bhonsle, his heirs and successors.
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