I have been listening to this podcast called The Seen and the Unseen with Amit Verma, after it was introduced to me by my friend Sanjay Padubidri an year or two back. This is counter programming to twitter and WA, where each episode runs from 3 to 5 hours but never boring! In one of the recent episodes author Manu Pillai who has written this book titled False Allies: India's Maharajahs In The Age Of Ravi Varma was interviewed. Since I enjoyed the interview and haven't read anything substantial on India in a while, decided to pick it up. It was quite an interesting read.
Westerners may not know much about pre independence India. Even for those who grew up in India, the history taught in schools generally used to portray the the kings (and few queens) who ruled dozens of small kingdoms that together formed today's India, as these not so bright, lazy characters that didn't pay much attention to the welfare of their subjects but whiled away time, watching dancing girls smoking hookah, dressing themselves up in a lot of jewelry while the citizenry eked out a living toiling away in farmlands. The understanding was when India finally got its independence from the British in 1947, all these kings were kicked out of their palaces as they deserved forming the new Indian Union. Pillai argues that the reality is a lot more complex and nuanced. Britain in the 19th century was a super power, that colonized countries allover the world. Kings ruling small part of India didn't have the wherewithal to militarily oppose Britain militarily. So, they had to perform a delicate dance, appeasing their British overlords while maintaining their dignity among the people of their kingdom. Certainly there were some rulers who were inept as well and the author is not pulling any punches while talking about their shenanigans. But by and large, these were reasonable monarchs who did their best to retain their position, protect their own prestige and people while trying not to antagonize the crown. Pillai employs a very nice troupe to weave these stories of six different kingdoms together using Ravi Varma, the famous early 20th century Indian painter as a common thread. This works well as he has traveled among multiple capitals within India in those days, taking up commissions from one king to the next, painting their portraits, their queens, children, country scenes and so on.
Book covers the period of roughly 1880 to 1930, traveling through Travancore, Pudukkottai, Mysore kingdoms (called Samasthanam in the Indian parlance) in Southern India and Baroda, Mewar kingdoms in Northern India, diving into a lot of details. Initial chapters talk about Asvati Tirunal, Uthram Tirunal and Swathi Tirunal of the throne of Travancore, where what sounds like the first name is the name of the star (one out of 27) that is associated with the king's birth and Tirunal (meaning auspicious day) referring to their birth, thus each king being referred to by the birth star. Next sections talks about a robber sect that elevated itself royals and ruled Pudukottai, struggled to manage finance and taxes and then pulled themselves up by employing good administrators that served with the title of Dewans. I had heard of the title Dewan during my school days as a sort of Minister. But through the book (re)learned the important role they played in the administration of the kingdoms from managing taxes/finances to communicating with the British and so on, like a home + finance minister of a country in this century. Some men who functioned in this role (Madhava Rao and A. Seshiah Sastri) in more than one kingdom during their lifetime have managed to turnaround the fortunes of poorly functioning administrations, while also serving as good or bad bridges between the kings and the Britishers. There is a long and interesting chapter about the Kerala territories that were matriarchically managed, where succession flows through the women's side. Last few chapters talk about Baroda and Mewar kingdoms, ending with the Rana of Mewar, who resisted and disliked the "progress" as promoted by the British and insisted on administering his land on his own terms. Thus, while not bothering to improve roads, trains but maintaining forts or patronizing artists well. Book ends saying how while this particular king was quite selfless and cared a lot about his subjects, his insistence on keeping his kingdom in the 19th century forever, eventually made him unpopular allowing the British to push him out, making him king in name only, while they took control of the whole kingdom.
Both the Indian rulers as well as the British empire had used every detail involved in visits, gift giving, protocols, paying tribute/taxes, sending reports, language used in reporting and so on to gain leverage. British had the practice of installing one Resident in the palace of each colonial kingdom, to monitor everything that is taking place. The kingdom was diplomatically but firmly forced to get clearance from the Resident for any new rule they wanted to promulgate, projects they wanted to fund, etc. Since kings had no capacity to throw these Residents out, they will oblige but won't meet with them often enough or invite them to the court and give them lavish gifts establishing who is superior. There are examples such as Lord Hastings touring India from Britain, avoiding Delhi since as per convention he would have to appear in front of the Mughal emperor and receive gifts, which is perceived as a mark of servitude. Similarly, Sayajirao, a famous Indian king, when he was forced to go to Delhi to meet British monarch, George V in 1911, stand in a line of kings from India, paying tribute to the British king one by one, refused first. When he was really forced to, he did. But the Resident who didn't like Sayajirao, exaggerated details like he didn't wear enough regal jewels & attire to show respect, didn't walk back 7 steps before turning his back to George V to make a huge issue calling it the Durbar Incident and managed to depose him completely. Though the level of racism exhibited by the British is mind boggling by today's standards, it is quite interesting to learn that even younger children of Indian kings weren't totally scared or look up to them. For example, an Indian princess getting English lessons from a British teacher once starts to cough badly. When the teacher asked her to drink some water, the princess says, as per her custom, since she is sitting down with a foreigner considered unclean, she has to finish the session, go take a bath to cleanse herself and only then can drink or eat anything. There are tons and tons of stories and incidences in the book.
While the book is 556 pages long, about 200 pages are full of extensive references. Ample material and pointers to those who are interested in any particular era, king to dive deep. There are sections of the book that delve deep into administrative practices, how the treasury was turned around in a kingdom, and so on that are not directly related to the thesis of the book. Those parts could have been trimmed down to make the work more crisp. But if you get into the flow (of the author's slightly different Indian prose compared to the Western style of writing one may be used to), the details are not uninteresting.
Since the book wasn't available in US, I asked my brother Sarathy who lives in India to order the book for me to read while being in India on my sabbatical visit. He got me a Kindle copy that when I read on a tablet, allowed me to enjoy dozens of Ravi Varma paintings that are included in the book in glorious colors! This was indeed a treat as the paintings are so intricate and exquisite. Since I often complain about how most books I read don't include enough pictures (even graphs, photos where they could help immensely) due to costs & complexities involved, I could really appreciate these included paintings as they fit very well into the flow of the narration while being delightful to look at. Ravi Varma himself being a descendant of a royal family, had not only established the preeminence of Indian artists but had done a lot to make the Indian culture palatable to the Victorian era Britain as well. For example, in a painting he portrays a mother with child and a house dog, awaiting the arrival of the father. This portrayal is in line with the values of the Britain at that time where the man worked and the woman stayed home with the child & dog waiting for him to return. While this may have been true in some parts of the India at that time, in the part where Ravi Varma grew up, women ruled, didn't wait for their husbands to come home and considered animals like dogs dirty and so would not allow them inside their homes! He similarly reimagined even the Hindu goddesses and painted them in fairer skin color and high neck blouses and shiny silk sareers. Since he also managed to make these paintings available for mass consumption via lithographic printing, how these goddess are portrayed has remained the same in India till date! Thus, though one can argue that Ravi Varma is a loose thread to connect all these kingdoms and stories, it is an exquisite one nonetheless.
As I am wrapping up my stay in India, also finished reading couple of Tamil novels my brother bought for me that were originally published circa 1930. Though some parts may not be PC by today's standard, I found the language, flow, stories all to be totally amusing and enjoyable.
Regards.
-sundar.
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