Indu Sundaresan's Blog, page 2

In 1850,a P & O paddle steamer, the SS Indus, carries Colonel Mackeson and Captain Ramsay from Bombay to Suez. There, they disembark to take wagons across the desert to Alexandria, where they pick up another steamer across the Mediterranean to Portsmouth in England.

Mackeson is in the East India Company's army, Ramsay is Lord Dalhousie's nephew and Military Secretary in the Governor-General's council. Both men are guardians to a very expensive item...taken from the treasury of the Punjab Empire.

What happens during that voyage? It's in the chapter titled 'An Alexandria Moon,' in THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT.

Henry Lawrence comes to the Punjab as Resident after the first Anglo-Sikh war. He's a kind man, also appointed guardian to the eight year old heir to the Punjab Empire, Maharajah Dalip Singh.

To Dalip, Henry's a mentor, a father figure--a man for whom Dalip's affections last all his lifetime.

The idea is that the British will retreat after Dalip attains his majority, leaving to him the massive Punjab Empire that his father created...but they don't. Henry's loud and vocal against the annexation of the Punjab to British lands in India.

For his troubles, and because Henry's become too sympathetic toward the 'natives,' he's sent away from the Punjab by Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General who annexes the Punjab.

George, Lord Auckland, Governor-General of India, brings his sisters, Emily and Fanny Eden, to Maharajah Ranjit Singh's court in November 1838.

The Maharajah is very generous, pays for the stay of the entire British contingent, some 25,000 strong, for the two months they are his guests--Auckland comes to ask for help in the war against Afghanistan.

Emily and Fanny both document their visit--Ranjit sends the Kohinoor diamond to their tent; they hold it, admire it.

Something else happens also in THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT--I gave Emily almost all of the second chapter of the novel, even titled it ' Roses for Emily.' If you read the book, you'll see why!

Most of the action of the first chapter, titled 'Fragment of Light,' is set in the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, current day Pakistan.

Then? In 1817, Lahore, the gardens built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (SHADOW PRINCESS) belonged to the ruler of the Punjab Empire, Maharajah Ranjit Singh.

Ranjit uses these gardens as a prison, for a royal prisoner. As THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT opens, this captive, frustrated and restless in his luxurious surroundings, wrestles with a courtier on a marble platform, on the second terrace of the Shalimar Gardens.

This king has been Maharajah Ranjit Singh's 'guest,' for three long years.

The second-to-last Indian owner of the Kohinoor diamond--Ranjit Singh was a one-eyed king, who established the mammoth Punjab Empire.

In November 1838, Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India, visits his court with his sisters, Emily and Fanny Eden, to ask for help in the war against Afghanistan.

Paralyzed on part of one side from two strokes at the time, Ranjit can still ride his horse, still holds a firm grip on his empire and his lands. After his death? It's a different story...one you'll read in THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT.

I’m giving away TWO copies of THE FEAST OF ROSES, the second novel of the Taj Mahal trilogy. These are 1st edition US hardcovers; out of print now, paperback editions are, however, available everywhere.

The only way to enter the drawing is through my Facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indu-Su...

The July 29th, 2013 post on my wall (or the Notes tab) covers details on how to enter the drawing—here are the details.


Facebook page entry for July 29th, 2013
Book Giveaway: 1st US edition hardcover of this book, the third novel of the Taj Mahal trilogy, SHADOW PRINCESS. I'm giving away THREE copies. Details below, please read carefully.


1. TO ENTER: you must share this post on your wall. Please make your share setting PUBLIC, else I won’t know that you’ve entered the drawing.

2. You can share the same post more than once—if the setting is PUBLIC each time; I can see it and enter you into the drawing as many times as I see it.

3. Your network of friends and family are also welcome to ‘like’ my page and enter the drawing, with the same caveat, that I must be able to see their ‘share.’

4. The drawing will end May 15th, 2013.

5. I will post about this drawing more than once on my page over the next two weeks. YOU CAN ENTER AGAIN THEN, by sharing that new post. Again, share many times, enter the drawing that many times—MORE chances to win!

6. THE DRAWING: It will be unscientific. I will put all your names in a hat, close my eyes and draw THREE separate names.

7. If you win, I’ll mail you your copy, autographed any way you want it. I’ll mail anywhere in the world, that’s reasonable. Reasonable merely being that you should be on a postal route 

8. To be absolutely fair, no (very close) friends or family members, please. We can work out something else together—I’ll cook you a dinner, read personally from the book etc. HOWEVER, friends and family are welcome to share the post on their walls—so your network can also enter if they wish.

Questions? Please ask.

This next giveaway is for 1st US edition hardcovers of THE SPLENDOR OF SILENCE. I'm giving away three copies.

Giveaway ends March 15th, 2013. Details on how to enter, etc, on my FB page, please check the March 1st wall post or the NOTES tab on the page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indu-Su...

I'll be giving away, next and in this order, 1st US edition hardcovers of SHADOW PRINCESS, THE FEAST OF ROSES, and THE TWENTIETH WIFE.

Watch this blog for those giveaways!

I'm giving away three copies of my collection of contemporary Indian short stories, IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS. These are 1st edition US hardcovers. To enter, how to etc, please visit my Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indu-Su...

Details are in the NOTES on my FB page--and in the January 14th entry on the wall.

First time here at my S&S home!  I've been published by Pocket/Atria/ Washington Square Press from 2002 and have had a Web site online for almost as long.  But this is all new.  So welcome, take a look at my Web site, read about my work, peek into my Facebook Page, where I'm taking readers on a tour of the Mughal India of my Taj Trilogy...of which SHADOW PRINCES is the third book.


Get more on Indu Sundaresan at SimonandSchuster.com

I constructed a family tree for the Mughal kings of India (dynasty ruled 1526-1858) and the Persian immigrant family of Ghias Beg who fled his homeland in 1577.



Ghias's daughter, Mehrunnisa became the most powerful woman of the Mughal dynasty (The Twentieth Wife; The Feast of Roses).  His granddaughter, Empress Mumtaz Mahal had the Taj Mahal built for her.  His great-granddaughter, Princess Jahanara, is the main protagonist of Shadow Princess.  (Not bad, eh, for a man who fled his homeland in 1577, penniless, destitute, dogged by debt.)



Here's a link to the Main Players in the Taj Trilogy--it will show you where the books are in the timeline and the two most important (and lasting) monuments to come out of this time period. (Click on map/family tree to expand.)



http://www.indusundaresan.com/Trilogy...


Get more on Indu Sundaresan at SimonandSchuster.com