Palace politics

KM Munshi in his book ‘The Glory of Patan’ explores the dynasty of Chalukya, which was a crucial era in history of Gujarat

Mythology is bursting out of media platforms all over. There cannot be a bigger example than ‘Baahubali 2’ on the motion picture front dealing with this theme, which has captured audience attention globally in the past three weeks.

Famed author Anand Neelakantan is already busy with a trilogy on the film ‘The Rise of Sivagami’. All this has happened under a decade, when Amish Tripathi single-handedly gave a booster shot to this genre with his 2010 book ‘The Immortals of Meluha’, a blockbuster which enjoyed a trilogy.

It is no exaggeration if one states that reading about tales of valour, treachery, war, romance and royal intrigues enjoys a top-of-the-mind slot for book lovers all over. Illustrated comics on kings and queens have been the staple diet of an earlier generation of readers, who have seen it morph into digital and e-books for the new gen.

The fascination, however, has endured, by and large.‘The Glory of Patan’, originally written by the legendary Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi was published in Gujarati as Patanni Prabhuta, a century ago in 1916. It was considered a bestselling Gujarati classic of passion, intrigue and adventure.

Munshi, who is known in contemporary times, especially in Telangana as one of the leading lights involved in the Police Action which freed Hyderabad from the Nizam rule in 1948 is a multi-faceted personality.

His historical novels have contributed profoundly, as the book’s dust jacket says, to the sense of past that Gujarat lives with. Apart from being a prominent lawyer, freedom fighter and politician, he was also the founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Competently translated by Rita and Abhijit Kothari, the book, which is the first novel in the Patan trilogy, is an engaging read. In many ways, the scenario that the novel focuses on and builds upon is an author’s delight: a dying king, a minor successor, a young queen, a clever and resourceful minister who is also the secret crush of the first lady, the subterranean tension that builds up constantly among various communities like the Bania, Jain and the Rajput and the non-stop scheming that characterises durbar politics forms the fascinating reservoir into which Munshi dips with relish. With minimal usage of the original language Gujarati in which it was penned, the Kothari duo cater to the English book reader clearly well.

The standout aspect of the book is the understated language which is used to describe the most excruciating of circumstances in which various characters see themselves in, which in other words, means allowing the reader to recreate an era, a far-off time in one’s mind.

A mirror to the times of how a whimsical, short-sighted move of people in power, be it a queen or a king, can end or revive the lives of many who are affected by it. It remains to be seen, how the remaining versions shape up in the days ahead about the city Patan, a 7th century discovery, which is a popular tourist destination even today in Gujarat.