The English translation of a novel ‘Maharaja Dahir’ authored by Kolkata-based renowned novelist Debasree Chakraborti in Bengali language. The novel has been translated by Rajesh Giri
Suriya Devi writes, “Abdullah used to come to meet us sometimes; we used to get these news from him. Abdullah could speak broken Sindhi language while he was in the country of Sindh for a long time during war. From him I learned that Multan had been defeated and that Janaki, the sister of ruler of Multan, had been captured and brought to Bagdad. The Caliph was impressed by Janaki’s appearance and kept her in his service. Now Janaki is in a room of this palace near me. I was surprised to hear this. I told Abdullah that I wanted to meet Janaki. Janaki and all of us here are Khalifa’s sex slaves; from now on we have no way out, so we had no problem meeting her. One night I myself went to Janaki along with Parimal. Hearing our introduction, she covered her face with both hands and started crying. We were very surprised to see her behavior like this. I didn’t know what to say to her, then after crying for a while she herself started saying. She said that after the fall of Brahmanabad, our brother Jaisingh took refuge to the king of Multan. Hearing the news of our brother’s survival from her brought tears to our eyes. As if God conveyed this news to us through Janaki. Out of joy I lift both hands of Janaki to kiss them and immediately she moves her hands away saying, “I am sinful, these hands are drenched with sins; don’t touch it.”
She says that she fell in love with our brother when she first saw him, but one day when she told her brother about her feelings, he rejected it. Being rejected, out of anger, she complained to her brother against Jaisingh that he raped her. That night Jaisingh fled from Multan when the king of Multan was about to kill him. A few days after that incident, Muhammad bin Qasim captured Multan and killed her brother and brought her here as a prisoner. She says she has to suffer the consequences of her sins. After hearing all these from the girl, I did not develop any anger towards her. On the contrary, I liked her very much, because she loved Jaisingh. If my brother had not escaped that day, he might have suffered a lot. We met Janaki only once, and neither of us had any desire to meet again.
The dead body of Mohammad Bin Qasim was lying on the floor. I looked at the dead body and smiled with great satisfaction, then bowed to Maa Kali with folded hands – Suriya Devi
Then comes that day. One night when we were preparing to go to sleep, some women came, and started to make up us with various cosmetics; then we are dressed in white clothes and various ornaments, perfumed all over the body, just like a bride is dressed before a family wedding ceremony. Yes, that’s exactly how they kept dressing us up, but no hair tied with any flowers; we three sisters had been mentally preparing for this very moment for a long time; my whole body was burning with the passion of revenge. Then two guards appeared. We start to walk along with them; time seemed to get freeze. The severed head of my father was appearing in front of my eyes again and again, as if I could hear the sound of bells of our Kali Maa temple of Aror. Father used to say that we possess the power of Maa Kali within us. This particular manifestation of the divine mother appeared to slay demons. The face of Mohammad bin Qasim was floating in my eyes. Father used to say that you cannot hide yourself from the vision of divine mother; wherever the demon is, he will be turned into ashes by the mere sight of the mother. We were led into a large room; upon entering the room, the guards left from the outside through the door of the room.
Inside the room was a huge bed decorated, where the Khalifa was waiting for us dressed in white. He saw us and said, “I am a thirsty desert, quench my thirst.” Saying this he extended both his arms and I with folded hands said to him, “Muhammad bin Qasim kept us with him for three days before sending us to you. We have become his bedfellows, now think whether you will accept your servant’s concubines.”
This false statement of mine struck the Caliph like a thunderbolt and as he cried out, the guards opened the door and entered the room. Seeing the guards, he said, “Send messengers now to the Sindh and tell Muhammad bin Qasim to send himself as a gift to me covered in skins.” Then the Khalifa pointed us to leave.
That same night, the envoy left for Sindh with the news. In between one day a guard came and asked us to go with him; we were mentally prepared for all odds at that moment, so we went with the guard; we were taken to a room, where Abdullah was present. We had to wait for a while; then the Khalifa came with some old men, accompanied by a young man, who could speak Sindhi. The young man tells us that the Caliph has fixed the marriage of Sundari with Abdullah. But before that Sundari has to be converted to Islam. Sundari herself was somehow emotionally attracted to Abdullah. When she is asked if she is willing to marry Abdullah, she immediately nods her head. I saw tears in Sundari’s eyes at that time, as if she was searching for redemption on this path, but I found deep love in Abdullah’s physical expression. I also understood that Caliph did not accept the spoiled food by Muhammad bin Qasim and gave it to another of his slaves.
I replied, “He is the killer of thousands of innocent Sindhis including our father, we have done everything to take revenge.”
On that day Sundari was first converted by reading kalma; then she got married to Abdullah. After the nikah Sundari left us with Abdullah, and never looked back as she left. I could sense that if for some reason she was trapped here again, she never looked back. After that, several days had passed. I had no idea what was going to happen next. Sundari sometimes sent letters to us by Abdullah. We also used to reply to her through Abdullah. Then one day news came that a gift had arrived for the Caliph from Sindh. On that day, the atmosphere in the Khalifa’s palace was absolutely silent. He called us in the evening. Parimal and I went to his meeting, where we saw a large number of people present and a large leather sheet spread on the floor, on which the dead body of Mohammad Bin Qasim was lying. Those who were present at the meeting looked at us in surprise. Khalifa’s eyes and face were bloodshot with anger. I looked at the dead body of Mohammad bin Qasim and smiled with great satisfaction, then bowed to Maa Kali with folded hands. Before I lowered my hands, the Khalifa shouted something to me in his language. I did not understand what he said. Then the young interpreter said that at one order from me who could wrap himself in leather and set out to Bagdad, how he would enjoy the woman which are offered for me. It’s all lies, why do you lie?
I replied, “He is the killer of thousands of innocent Sindhis including our father, we have done everything to take revenge.”
The Caliph said, “You will have to suffer the consequences.”
I held Parimal’s hand tightly and said, “I am ready.”
On that day the Caliph ordered that I and Parimal should be buried alive. (Continues)
Click here for Part-I , Part-II, Part-III , Part-IV , Part-V , Part-VI , Part-VII, Part-VIII , Part-IX , Part-X, Part-XI, Part-XII, Part-XIII , Part-XIV , Part-XV , Part-XVI, Part-XVII, Part-XVIII , Part-XIX, Part-XX, Part-XXI , Part-XXII, Part-XXIII , Part-XXIV , Part-XXV , Part-XXVI, Part-XXVII, Part-XXVIII, Part-XXIX, Part-XXX , Part-XXXI, Part-XXXII, Part-XXXIII , Part-XXXIV , Part-XXXV , Part-XXXVI , Part-XXXVII , Part-XXXVIII, Part-XXXIX, Part-XL , #Part-XLI , Part-XLII
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Debasree Chakraborti is a renowned novel writer of Bengali language. Based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, she has done Master’s in Modern History from the Kolkata University, and authored some thirty books, mostly the novels, with historical perspective and themes. Her most recent novel is ‘Maharaja Dahir’ that covers the history of Sindh from 662, the year of first attack on Sindh by the Arab armies till date.
Rajesh Giri, born in Kolkata, had his early schooling from Kolkata and then from Medinipur—a village in Bengal. He graduated from Calcutta University with Physics and Maths and Master’s from Burdwan University in 2016. Now he is associated with Adhdhyaan educational institution teaching Physics. History enthusiastic Rajesh Giri is particularly interested in the ancient civilization of India and other regions like Egypt, Mesopotamia, and North America. He loves traveling.
