Blog

Parched Earth Fragrant Love

This is the title of my next book, the second one in The Chola Chronicles, set in 998-999 CE in South India. This was a time that King Raja Raja Chola was expanding Cholanadu in all directions, with the help of his son and heir Rajendra Chola.

The book picks up the story of Vikraman, the Prince Regent of Vanci, who made an appearance in “To Laugh Again”, my first book of historical fiction. It is available at https://www.amazon.in/Laugh-Again-captures-South-Indian-Historical-ebook/dp/B07B2KZXM1/

Vanci is another, older, name for present day Karur. Vanci, an independent kingdom, was part of the Early Chera empire before being ruled by the early Pandyas and Pallavas. In the Mid 10th Century CE, it is under the suzernaity of Cholanadu and the Prince ruled as a Regent for the Chola Emperor.

Vikaraman falls in love with Madhavi, the Ganga Princess. The Western Gangas, a small, but powerful dynasty, ruled over present-day Bangalore, Mysore and surrounding areas. They have been in power since circa 350 CE. During much of the 9^th and 10^th centuries, they were aligned with their powerful northern neighbours, the Rashtrakutas, and hence remained inimical to their southern neighbours, especially the Cholas. Their enmity with the Cholas may have deepened after Prince Butuga, a Ganga prince, as a feudatory of the Rashtrakutas, killed the Chola Crown Prince Rajaditya in the Battle of Takkolam (949 CE). The Cholas have looked for revenge since then.

To the north, in present day Karnataka and southern Maharashtra, the nearly two-hundred-year-old Rashtrakuta dynasty had just been supplanted by the Western Chalukyas. The two mighty kingdoms, the Cholas and the Chalukyas, are constantly at loggerheads. The Chola-Chalukya wars stretched from 992 CE to 1120 CE – an astonishing one hundred and thirty years!

The story moves between several places which exist to this day; most are slumbering villages now, having forgotten their glorious pasts. Talakadu, Avani, Bethamangala, Hosur (Hosavuru), Amchavadi, Denkanikottai, Manyakheta (present day Malkehda), Nagai (Nagapattinam), Taguduru (present day Dharmapuri), and Vanci (present day Karur) are places which existed then and endure to this day.

The book follows the trials and tribulations of Vikraman and Madhavi. They are both blessed and cursed by the position of their births. Their fealty lies with their kings and kingdoms, but their heart is with the enemy.

It will be available soon on Amazon.