Arambha by Buchi Ramagopal

Author:Buchi Ramagopal
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Published: 2023-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Book 3

Samrajya: Empire

7

That hyperactive bastard!

1341–43: Kampili, Adenke, Dorasamudra, Reddi kingdoms

Is surprise the child of unpredictability?

Vira Ballala III, emperor of the Hoysalas, was erratic, eccentric and continually scheming about ways to expand his realm. Principles and integrity were inconvenient in his worldview. His frenetic energy and inconsistent policies had created internal strife in his kingdom, and the disruption plainly took its toll on his people. Fortunately, the land was fertile and, with few external threats, the kingdom stayed prosperous despite the king’s antics. However, his grip on the court slipped considerably, to the extent that he now shared power with several prominent nobles. Ballala was close to eighty, short, unprepossessing and significantly overweight. He was also perpetually hyperactive. While prancing around the kingdom with multiple projects, it was the more sedate but sinister forces who consolidated power in the capital city of Dorasamudra.

Much of the overseas trade went through the port cities of the sea-facing kingdom of Tulunad that lay across a large chunk of the southwestern flank of the Hoysala kingdom. The ships came from Arabia and even Africa. While the Hoysalas did a good deal of trade in this region, the heavy taxes exacted by Tulunad diminished what could have been a lucrative business. Ballala concluded that marriage would solve the problem and proposed to wed the queen of the Tulus, Cikkayi-tayi. Coming from a large kingdom with military muscle encouraged acceptance of his suit. Thus, it seemed that Ballala’s desire to add territory would be achieved and his kingdom would have an uninterrupted western coastline.

The marriage was not without its complications, however. The Tulus were practitioners of a rigid form of matrilocality. Ballala would be one of many husbands living in the queen’s palace—that did not sit well with the court at Dorasamudra. He hoped the queen might give up the practice out of respect for him. The prospect of his queen having a bevy of young kings serving her was unpalatable, both for him and for the court. But, for the time being, the prospect of more land and tax revenues won the day.

As Pattu told Hakka, Bukka and Valli about Ballala’s quest for territory, the three sat listening wide-eyed with broad smiles on their faces.

‘But the story gets spicier,’ Pattu said. ‘On their wedding night, when they got ready to consummate their conjugal obligations, Ballala appeared in all his natural glory and presented himself to his new queen. Aghast, the bride exclaimed that he reminded her of a bear because he had hair covering all of his body! It was not appreciated by his eminence, the king. He was accustomed to women flattering him. Yet it seems her horror at his highness’s hirsute exuberance did not prevent the required conjugal concatenation.’

The four of them roared with laughter as Pattu relayed the story he’d been fed by his sources. Hakka dropped his glass, Bukka stomped his feet, and Valli, who had covered her face with the pallu of her saree, was shrieking. But that was not all. Pattu continued:

‘Soon after, the king asked his bride to join him for the evening.

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