Fortune’s Heir by Alex Rutherford

Author:Alex Rutherford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
Published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Nicholas and Tuhin Singh’s onward journey through central India proved uneventful. Each day after breakfasting at dawn they set off, rode for five hours, rested themselves and their horses in the shade somewhere away from the worst of the heat till around three, then rode on again until dusk when it was time to camp or find lodgings – usually the former to keep themselves away from prying eyes. After bypassing Nagpur and its rulers – the powerful Bhonsles clan of Marathas – the fourteen men continued directly west on the remaining five hundred miles of their journey before turning south, crossing the Tapti River and heading for the city of Nasik on the banks of the Godavari River. Nasik – Tuhin Singh told Nicholas – was one of the most celebrated pilgrimage places for Hindu people in the whole of India. Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana, was said to have lived there with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshmana, who nearby had sliced off the nose of the demon enchantress Surpanakha.

Nicholas and his men crossed the broad river, again using makeshift rafts, a few miles to the west of Nasik to avoid the crowds of the devout. These included, as Tuhin Singh pointed out, some ash-daubed but otherwise entirely naked long-haired fakirs – holy men heading for the city as part of their ceaseless pilgrimages during which they relied on local people for their only sustenance.

Leaving the Godavari they pressed on towards Bombay over dusty, orange hills sculpted into strange shapes by the wind. Some days the heat of the sun was so intense that Nicholas felt himself swaying in the saddle but forced himself to ride on towards the shimmering horizon. Being without a change of horses for a few days, their pace slackened as they zigzagged up some of the steeper hills, pausing frequently for their weary mounts to catch their breath. At last they reached the coast where the wind blowing off the sparkling, mirror-like sea provided refreshing relief to both body and soul. They spent one more night under canvas on the palm-fringed seashore with the sound of breaking waves in their ears. The next day, after nearly six weeks on the road, their eyes red from the heat, glare and dust, their limbs aching, they at last saw Bombay before them.

A fortified wall – two miles in circumference, Nicholas had been told on his way to visit Shah Alam – surrounded the settlement. Passing through the arched gates, the weary riders headed for Bombay Castle, the centre of the settlement’s government. Constructed from blue-greyish stone, it overlooked the esplanade and the broad harbour. Its origins were Portuguese before the small enclave was gifted to King Charles II of England as part of the dowry of his Portuguese bride, Catherine of Braganza. There had, however, been many improvements and additions over the succeeding century.

Dismounting in the sun-drenched parade ground in front of the castle in the late afternoon, Nicholas crossed

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.