Legend of Suheldev: Amish’s latest book voices the biases that continue in Indian society

Amish Tripathi author of the book ¿The Immortals of MELUHA¿ Book one of the Shivatrilogy (Express photo by Prashant Nadkar, Mumbai)

By Reya Mehrotra

Yet another Amish twist to mythology brings forth the story of the forgotten King Suheldev of Shravasti, the historic place that lies somewhere in present-day Uttar Pradesh. After treating his readers with the successful Shiva trilogy and the Ramchandra series, Amish now narrates the story of the forgotten 11th century Indian hero through his latest book, Legend of Suheldev: The King Who Saved India, which reveals that India’s freedom struggle began as early as then. His eighth book on mythology, the book had a fanbase even before its release and has five million copies in print.

Suheldev also forms the first of the Immortal Writers’ Centre Book series. While most authors go through the painstaking yet liberating process of delving deep into research and isolation while writing a book over a long period of time, Amish introduces the concept of a co-writer through the Writers’ Centre, where a team of established writers write the first draft. The concept, which is fairly common among western writers, is brought to India by the author because he cannot ‘carry these stories to the cremation pyre’ and needs to tell them all before he dies.

Amish credits his love for mythology to his upbringing that taught him about scriptures and philosophies, as he pledges to uncover more forgotten heroes from the rich Indian myths. Suheldev, like all of Amish’s protagonists, is handsome, masculine and heroic. He, viewed from a humanised lens, like his other heroes, is a charismatic character and warrior that ticks all the boxes of Amish’s ideal hero. Amish writes, “Suheldev smiled the loopy grin that made so many women go weak at the knees.” This stands true for most of his men. It’s almost as if all his lead heroes are crafted for feature films—angry young men sporting flashboard abs and good physiques in ancient India. In The Immortals of Meluha, Shiva’s physique, crafted to perfection, made women turn and blush. Amish, in fact, effortlessly paints a picture of every character he introduces in the reader’s mind with minute and detailed description of their traits and characteristics.

Why the book that caters to an 11th century battle (of Bahraich) strikes a chord even more now is because it brings forth the caste and religious divide that was prominent then and remains till date. The treatment of King Mangaldhwaj of Shravasti (believed to be born lower than a Kshatriya) at the hands of Emperor Ajitpal of Kannauj, a Kshatriya king, even though both of them were of the same stature, is something that has remained a constant centuries later. It is because of this very reason that Amish has been hailed by the Dalits for his portrayal of a particular community and the voice that he gives them. He, however, uses the term ‘sub-altern’ to describe the Shravastis throughout the narrative.

The novel begins when India is on the verge of being plundered by the Turks, and Suheldev emerges as the ultimate saviour who unites his countrymen against the foreigners to save his land from being conquered and divided into pieces. And so the context of the novel remains of immense significance today when nationalism often is misconstrued. While talking about the book in his recent interviews, he re-iterates the fact that history has been misinterpreted, in the sense that our invaders were “Turks and not Indian Muslims” and that the Turkic colonial rule was not the same as Islamic rule, just like the British colonial rule was not the same as Christian rule, and hence, there should be no grounds for any religious hatred. From the very first chapter of the novel, Amish introduces Muslim characters as loyal aides of Shravasti empire, be it Wasim who dies fighting to save the Somnath temple from being plundered or Abdul.

When King Mangaldhwaj blesses his son Suheldev to “fight for Mother India”, we know that the freedom struggle in India began much before the colonial era, in the 11th century itself. The forgotten story brings about notions relevant today and those that need re-thinking—class, caste and national consciousness. Though the Battle of Bahraich might have ended a millennium ago, the battle of casteism, racism, religious bias, classicism continues and Amish’s message is clear, as he echoes through Mangaldhwaj’s voice, “Divided, we will continue to fall.”

Book details

Legend of Suheldev: The King Who Saved India
Amish
Westland
Pp 352, Rs 399