Fictionalisation
of History in Basavaraj Naikar’s The Sun of Freedom
Dr.
Kh. Kunjo Singh, Former Head
English Dept., Manipur University, MANIPUR
Basavaraj
Naikar’s fine novel The Sun of Freedom (2020), first
revised edition published by Vishwakarma Publications, Pune
is one of the
commendable Indian novels in English fictionalizing colonial
history of India,
particularly of the Deccan
region. In
attempting to represent colonial conflict between
Bhaskararao Bhave of Peshwa
dynasty, king of Naragund and the authorities of the East
India Company around
1857 in the most realistic terms in this novel, Naikar has
fictionalized Indian
history along with cultural and religious materials in the
most effective and
efficacious manner. The history he fictionalizes is not only
of Naragund, a
princely state in Karnataka then, but also of the complex
ramifications of the
whole Indian history.
The people of
India particularly in and around Naragund, are Hindus and in
their
self-contained Brahminic Society the retention of the myths,
legends, beliefs,
customs, religion, proverbs, tales, taboos, patriotism,
nationalism, humanism,
etc. is upheld with an utmost sense of duty. In the
fictional world of Naikar
history and traditionally preserved culture have been
fictionalized in an
artistic manner.
In order to
easily understand how history has been fictionalized to get
the effect of a
postcolonial novel in The
Sun of Freedom it will be useful
to throw some light on the
colonial historical and political facts as resulted from the
collective
political consciousness and native identification.
India or
Hindusthan, the land of the Hindus, with a very old history
has been existing
peacefully and independently till the advent of the British
colonial rule. The
novel The Sun of Freedom (2020) is a faithful
record of the turbulent period of the colonial history of
India vis-à-vis
Naragund where collective political consciousness and native
identity collapse
with the advent of colonialism and British Paramountcy
resulting in the loss of
national freedom. As this forms the central theme of the
novel, there has been
immense historical and political importance relating to the
administration of
the kingdom of Naragund (India). In fact, the novel embraces
the entirety of
Naikar’s idea on evaluation of the historical phenomena. We
see clearly that
the novel opens with the Arcadian environment exhibiting the
essential
qualities of a primordial image of a pure Hindu society,
which was stable,
peaceful and prosperous with promising royal administration
keeping full faith
in God and religion of the historic colonial period from
1800 to 1863.
In the history
of this time the Deccan region has sixty-three princely
states. The British
government posted Mr. Manson to officiate as Political Agent
over these
sixty-three princely states. By this time under the
initiation of Lord
Dalhousie, the then Governor – General of India, the severe
act of the Doctrine
of Lapse was passed by the East India Company. Under this
doctrine there is no
room for an heirless king or queen of a princely state to
adopt a son from
among his or her nearest relatives. Besides, the East India
Company passed the
Disarmament Bill in 1845. Under this Bill all the heads of
the princely states
of India should surrender all their military weapons such as
guns, rifles,
swords, etc. to the Company Sarkar within three months
failing which they are
to be severely punished.
The historical
situation of the birth of Bhaskararao Bhave in 1800 as the
son of the reigning
king of Naragund, Appasaheb or Apparao Sarkar, has been
beautifully rendered
fictionally. A few moments before the birth of the baby
Appasaheb was walking
up and down in his court and feeling rather fidgety he said:
What shall I do if it’s a female child?
I only hope and pray that Lord Venkatapati will bless me
with a male issue.
[S.F.:9]
As the king was
a devotee of Lord Venkatapati he believed that he got his
son as the boon of
Lord Venkatapati. So he arranged a grand service to Him. He
also arranged for a
grand naming ceremony of the boy. This ceremony is described
fictionally as:
On the occasion of
the naming ceremony, all the relatives and dignitaries of
the Samsthan had
gathered in the harem. The Rani had adorned the child with
gold chain, rings
and waistband. ………..…….. The priest applied the sandal paste
and saffron powder
on the child’s forehead and adorned its head with a wreath
of jasmine and
chrysanthemums. He said, “The baby-gem is born from the womb
of the Rani. He is
named Bhaskararao as per the desire of Appasaheb Sarkar. Let
the baby shine
like the sun whose name he bears and give light to the
entire world.” [Ibid.: 11]
The historic
event of the marriage of Bhaskararao to Savitri, the
daughter of Manjrekar
family of Ajare of the Western Ghat area is described
fictionally as:
The wedding was
celebrated on grand scale in the palace of Naragund. The
chiefs of all the
neighbouring princely states were invited to the royal
wedding. Thousands of
natives, relatives and friends feasted on a variety of
dishes and hundreds of
cows were given away to Brahmin priests. [Ibid.:12]
The simple
historic pilgrimage to Tirupati to visit the temple of Lord
Venkateshwara is
presented fictionally as a grand journey:
In Ramayana, the
second’s time, an event happened. He used to visit the
temple of Lord
Venkateshwara at Tirupati every year. Once in the month of
Pausya, he left
Naragund for Tirupati with a limited company consisting of
two camels, five
horses and fifty persons in all. The camels were loaded with
cooking utensils,
ropes and tents. The five horses were ridden by sardars and
others were cooks,
servants and palanquin bearers who carried the palanquin by
turns. [Ibid.:13]
The historic
event of the funeral ceremony of Appasaheb that took place
in 1835 is described
as a cultural traditional event usually found in fiction:
Then, at the
beckoning of the priest, Bhaskararao lit the pyre with a
burning wooden stick.
As the jungle wood caught fire, flames began to rise high
and lick the whole
mass of faggots. Bhaskararao and the other relatives went
round the pyre five
times. [Ibid.: 22]
When
Bhaskararao Bhave became the administrator of the kingdom of
Naragund in the
historic year 1835, he had a busy schedule of
administration. In the midst of
his royal duties he entered into romantic affair with a
dancing girl called
Bhimasani. The culmination of this love between this
historic personage and the
dancer is described fictionally:
He steered her to
the silk covered bed and laid her there. Bhimasani
surrendered herself
whole-heartedly to the king as she had never before to
anyone. He tumbled upon
her, explored her innermost beauty and dallied with her
until the fire of his
burning was quenched. Then both of them got up with a sense
of satisfaction and
slipped into their garments. He gave her a final patronizing
kiss as she took
leave of him. [Ibid.: 27 – 28].
The passing of
the Disarmament Bill in 1845 which is a landmark in the
colonial history of
India is also presented as a strand in the plot of this
fiction:
It was in 1845 that the Disarmament
Bill was passed by the East India Company when Dalhousie was
the Governor
General of India. A copy of the bill was sent to Babasaheb
of Naragund also,
through the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad. [Ibid.: 31]
The historic
event of holding a meeting of the heads of the princely
states of Deccan region
under the initiative of Babasaheb of Naragund to stand
unitedly against the
Doctrine of Lapse is also fictionalized when Babasaheb sends
out messages to
them:
He, therefore, sent out messages to
Bhimaraya of Mundaragi, Desai of Hammagi, Yasavantaraya of
Jamakhandi and
Viravva Rani of Chitradurga asking them to gather at
Jamakhandi to discuss the
problem of adoption. [Ibid.: 43]
The historic
episode of Mr. Mansion, Political Agent, sending a letter to
two officers of
Babasaheb to make a conspiracy against him is also
fictionalized in the form of
writing a letter to two of them as:
Dear Krishnajipant,
I hope this letter finds you
in a good health. I will be
camping at Munavalli in January 1856. I, therefore, request
you to come there
with Banyabapu to see me personally without fail to discuss
some very
confidential matter. Please keep this as a top-secret. The
rest in person.
Thanking
you
Yours Cordially
[Ibid.: 79]
The historic
episode of the killing of Mr. Manson, Political Agent of
Naragund by Marya as a
revenge for killing his dear brother Raya is narrated
without any exact date
and time as an ordinary event of fiction:
He lifted up his large sword
and struck it heavily on
Manson’s neck and fell a little distance away from there.
Blood spurted out
from the mangled parts. The trunk of the British officer lay
there, still
writhing with convulsions. [Ibid.: 101]
B.S. Naikar has
brought down the course of history in a fictional way by
mentioning that the
Mamledar of Naragund was bribed by the British Political
Agent Mr. Malcolm to
spy on the activities of Babasaheb and send him the report.
Accordingly the
Mamledar sent reports on the activities of Babasaheb to
Malcolm on the 27th,
28th and 29th May, 1858. The latest
report of the 29th
May, 1858 reads as:
I reported yesterday what had
happened at Naragund upto last
evening. Last night 5 guns were fired from Naragund fort at
eleven o’clock. I
do not know whether it was in consequence of his palki being
paraded or as an
acknowledgement to God that all the guns and ammunition had
been successfully
carried upto the fort. After this, no thailees or letters ought to be sent
to the Naragundkar. He has
rebelled against the government and it only remains to send
a force here.
[Ibid.: 106]
The historic
battle fought outside and inside the fort of Naragund
between the native force
and that of the British is also described in fictional forms
without proper
date and time.
A few company
soldiers were mangled to death and fell in the bloody pools.
Likewise, several
native soldiers who were also shot dead by the enemies
sagged to the earth and
died heroically for their master Babasaheb. The gunpowder
that was available in
Naragund was soon exhausted. The soldiers of Naragund lost
their lives very
rapidly. The surviving ones began to run for life. The
soldiers of Colonel
Malcolm were many times bigger in number than the small army
of Naragund.
[Ibid.: 110]
The historic
event of possessing of Bhaskararao’s palace by the Company
soldiers on the 2nd
June, 1858 and jubilant mood and gestures are rendered in
the form of a
fictional narrative piece:
A couple of soldiers climbed the roof
of the palace and brought down the banner of Bhaskararao and
threw it to the
ground contemptuously. Then they hoisted the Union Jack on
to the flag post. As
their banner began to flutter in the morning wind, they felt
proud of
themselves. [ Ibid.: 123]
The historic
event of the escape of Babasaheb’s mother Yamunabai and his
wife Savitri from
the imminent danger in the palace through the secret
underground exit, emerging
out of the hill of Naragund and walking into the bordering
woods in the hot sun
and finally descending into the water of Malaprabha river to
commit suicide by
drowning themselves there, is narrated as an imaginary
narrative usually in
fiction.
And lo, the sandy bed of the river
seemed to slip from beneath their feet. The torrential
current of the water
pushed them ahead mercilessly along with it and stopped
their respiration. The
two poor women felt a sudden blackout of consciousness and
knew not what
happened to them further. [Ibid.: 139]
The historic
event of the arrest of Bhaskararao from the house of
Mallanagowda of Toragal by
the British military officer Frank Seutor is presented
fictionally without
mentioning exact time, date and year as if it is a piece of
story imaginarily
constructed.
He instantly stood up and kicked Frank
Seutor and felled him to the floor. But Frank Seutor’s
soldiers surrounded and
overpowered Bhaskararao because of the very strength of
their big number. Thus
they arrested Bhaskararao and took him to Belgaum. [Ibid.:
194]
The historic
trial of Bhaskararao showing his exchange of argument with
the British judge in
the court is presented as a fine piece of fictional
composition of dialogue.
“Mr. Bhaskararao, you have committed
the great crime of organizing a mutiny against the company
government in India.
Don’t you know that?”
Bhaskararao replied curtly, “That’s
because your company government tried to snatch away our
natural freedom and
our right to adopt children of our choice for our
properties”.
“But don’t you remember the Doctrine of
Lapse prevents you from adopting any child?” asked the
judge.
“But your Doctrine of Lapse is itself
an illegal rule unnaturally imposed on our people,” replied
Bhaskararao.
“You cannot say that. The law had been
passed by Lord Dalhousie in the British Parliament,” said
the judge.
“No, it is not applicable to our
country. Our laws are different from yours.” replied
Bhaskararao. [Ibid.: 196]
The historic
incident of Bhaskararao’s escape from the jail when his
associate Shankara
Bhatta, a Brahman of his kingdom surrogated him in the jail
by exchanging their
respective garments is presented as a fictional scene.
………… he took off his garments and gave
them to Bhaskararao and Bhaskararao took his garments and
put them on. Now
their roles were changed. Shankara Bhatta looked like
Bhaskararao and vice
versa. Shankara Bhatta touched Bhaskararao’s feet and asked
him to hurry out of
the jail. Bhaskararao had tears in his eyes and caressed his
face. He took up
the food packet and walked slowly out of the jail building.
No soldiers
objected to his departure from the jail as everybody mistook
him to be the
Brahmin Shankara Bhatta. Shankara Bhatta sat in the cell in
the guise of
Bhaskararao in a fake posture of dignified suffering.
[Ibid.: 201-202]
The historic
event of punishing the two betrayers – Krishnaji Pant and
Banyabapu instead of
rewarding them is narrated in the way a fictional event is
narrated.
But Malcolm replied, “I am just a
servant of my government. I have to obey the instructions
given by my
supervisors. I am sorry to tell you that you are to be
appropriately punished.
Mr. Krishnaji Pant, you
are sentenced
for Kalapani punishment. And Mr. Banyabapu, you are to be
imprisoned in the
dungeon at Dharwad.” [Ibid.: 207]
The historic
passing of orders for giving punishment to different guilty
civilians is
expressed fictionally in an ordinary way.
As per the 1858 Act IV Colonel Malcolm
had ordered for death sentence for thirty people, Phatka for
nine people,
Kalapani punishment for thirty-four people; hanging for five
people and sakta
majuri for thirteen people. [Ibid.: 208]
The historic
event of Bhaskararao’s meeting with Nanasaheb in Nepal in
the last part of the
novel is delineated as a fictional scene with a simple but
forceful dialogue.
Then the sanyasi asked, “Huzoor, could
you identify me?” Nanasaheb answered, “Not exactly, but I
guess you belong to
some South Indian monastery.”
The sanyasi laughed mischievously and
said, “In a way you are right. Now I deserve to enter a
monastery permanently.”
Nanasaheb was rather puzzled and asked
him, “What do you mean? You have already been staying in a
monastery, don’t
you?”
“No, Maharaj, you have not recognized
me yet. You used to write to me earlier. I am Bhaskararao
Bhave of Naragund
Samsthan in South India.”
The sanyasi uttered these words in a
low pitch. Then Nanasaheb jumped out of his seat, hugged him
and exclaimed,
“What a surprise! You are our old bold Bhaskararao of
Naragund who fought with
those British monsters!” [Ibid.: 211-212]
Among the
historic incidents and events narrated in the novel the
story of Bhakararao’s
marriage at the age of sixty to a young girl at Kashi is
presented as a fine
fictional tale to enhance the degree of suffering and misery
of Bhaskararao.
The romantic scene of the marriage night in the bridal
chamber is presented as
a fine fictional delineation.
Bhaskararao gently drew her into his
arms and planted a few kisses. When touched by his masculine
body, she felt a
sudden thrill and her hairs stood on end. Being an
experienced man, he knew how
and where to titillate and excite her. He explored her
erogenous zones and
caressed them stimulatingly……………………………………………………… Kashibayi
examined the bed
sheet and felt satisfaction with the bloodstains on it.
[Ibid.: 224]
The historic
death of Bhaskararao leaving his boy son Ganeshpant, his
wife and old woman
Kashibayi is written fictionally without mentioning exact
time, date and year.
He had reached sixty-six years by now.
One day he slept after his lunch. In the evening he did not
wake up. She shook
him this way and that, but alas, his face fell to a side.
Bhaskararao was no
more. [Ibid.: 229]
The dialogue
among the elders of the monastery about the identity of a
dead Sanyasi is
presented in an unhistorical manner but in a fictional
pattern.
“That’s what we have heard. But the
truth is that Bhaskararao escaped to Nepal and lived
somewhere there. It was
some surrogate who was hanged in the name of Babasaheb.”
“Then our Sanyasi may have been Babasaheb,”
said the third man.
“I think,” said the second man, “Our
Sanyasi must have been one of the mutineers possibly
belonging to the blood
relatives of Babasaheb. It could be Vishnupant or
Govindarao.”
References
Naikar,
Bhasavaraj. The Sun of Freedom. Pune:
Vishwakarma Publications, 2020. Print
-----------------------.
The Sun Behind the Cloud.
New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers
and Distributors, 2001. Print