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

THE VOLCANO
Raj, merely because the king died childless. Obviously it
was a game of legerdemain or sleight-of-hand ; one
removes and the other, his accomplice, conceals it quietly !
While the one cuts off the head, the other, his accomplice,
goes on asking loudly by what law he dared commit the
deed—as if murderers and highway robbers need the law
to back them up. In 1853, then Dalhousie at last laid his
murderous knife at the throat of ‘his friend’, showing as
a reason that the Raja had not adopted a successor. Raja
Raghoji had every hope of a child but died suddenly.
Even if he died without a child, the right of adopting
passed at his death to his legal wife. If the English had
not acknowledged at any time previously the heirs adopt-
ed by the queens of deceased Rajas, we should have had
nothing to say. But it remains a fact that the English
had acknowledged the adoption by Daulatrao Scindia's
widow in 1826, the adoption by Junkoji Scindia's widow
in 1836, the adoption by the widow of the Raja of Dhar
in 1834, and the adoption by the queen of Kishengarh in
1841. Not one, not two, but many such adoptions have
the English acknowledged. But we should not forget the
fact that, on those occasions, it was to their advantage
to acknowledge these heirs. In this case, on the other
hand, it was not to their advantage to acknowledge the
adoption by the widow of Raghoji. The real point at
issue, then was one of advantage to the English Govern-
ment, and everything was determined on that issue.
While the Raj of Nagpur was annexed because no adop-
tion took place, the Satara kingdom faced a similar fate
because the adopted heir should not have a right to suc-
ceed to the throne ! Impossible for logic to step in here.
By annexing Nagpur, Dalhousie robbed an extensive
tract of 76,832 sq. miles, with a population of 4,650,000
people and an enormous annual income. While the poor
Ranees were weeping themselves hoarse, a loud knock
came on the palace gate. The door was opened and in
rushed the English troops. Horses were let loose from the
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