When we think of history, or historical fiction, we perceive that it will tell stories of kings, queens and dynasties. But, what about the common man, who lived in the medieval period? What were their struggles, issues – that is hardly looked at.
However, the latest historical fiction, Tejo Tungabhadra: Tributaries of Times, by Kannada writer, Vasudhendra, is changing all this.
It is a novel that speaks about late 15th and early 16th century India and Portugal, drawing history from the common man’s perspective to the social life of Lisbon, Goa and Vijayanagara.
The English translation of this book, by Maithreyi Karnoor and published by Penguin, was released at the recently-concluded Goa Heritage Festival at Campal by renowned writer, Damodar Mauzo.
BEHIND THE BOOK
Vasudhendra elaborated that he thought of writing a period fiction as he wanted to explore a new genre. He elaborated that he was always curious to know how the common man lived, during the older times, and thus the documentation, made by Portuguese of that time, came to his rescue.
“The Portuguese chronicled the common man’s life in Vijayanagara and Goa as they had the habit of writing chronicles,” he said, further stating that local sources like epigraphs mainly praised kings and queens.
His main focus was understanding what people ate, their clothes and income, what rituals were followed and the impact of religion in these two places.
The book focuses on couples and their sufferings due to the decision taken by rulers in Portugal and Vijayanagara.
The book also delves into the realities of sea voyages and how these sailors survived months of sea travel. He elaborates, “Vasco da Gama travelled 24,000 miles for 360 days in finding the route to India. That, too, without any power and using only winds, to sail their boats. Look at the challenges that they took in medieval period!”
Vasudhendra further mentioned that in late 15th century, Portugal was going through extreme poverty and that’s why the Portuguese came to India. And thus, when Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal, the income they earned from all the resources they got from India was 60 times higher than their investment in the voyage, even though he had to burn down two of his ships since 50 per cent of its passengers had died, including Vasco da Gama’s brother.
Due to this exponential income from sailing expeditions, private players also started investing in such journeys.
But, such expeditions involved lots of risks such as dying due to diseases like scurvy, threat of pirates and also attacks by local kings and sultans when the travellers reached the shore. That’s the reason why many refrained from travelling. Thus, Vasco da Gama in his first voyage, brought in prisoners who were supposed to be hanged.
“These prisoners were used as guinea pigs by Vasco da Gama and Afonso de Albuquerque,” said Vasudhendra.
Vasudhendra elaborated about Vasco da Gama’s first visit and meeting with the king of Calicut, Zamorin. At that time, Vasco da Gama had no idea about Hinduism and was under the impression that Hinduism was Christianity, itself. Thus, when the king took him to the local Bhagavati temple, he assumed that it was a church.
“He didn’t know about Hinduism, but there were already Christians in Kerala—the Syrian Christians, who then explained to him that it, is not Christianity.”
However, he could not communicate due to language barriers. The only one who could come to his rescue were the Mappilas, who were Persians and were married to the local women of Kerala.
But, Vasco da Gama refused to take their help as Persians were their business rivals. So, it resulted in kidnapping four locals, who he assumed he could teach them the language to communicate.
Sadly, three of them died on the boat, while one survived, and during his 200-day voyage, also picked up the language. He then converted to Judaism and when he came to India, he was barred from entering as he belonged to a lower caste, even though he had changed his religion.
INTERESTING INFO
Vasudhendra gave an interesting insight into the voyages and shared some tidbits, such as why it is necessary to have a cat on a ship. They were required to control the population of rats that would feast on the grains stored on the ship.
He further informed that the Portuguese were mainly involved in selling horses to the Vijayanagara and Adil Shah Dynasties. These horses were brought from Persia and were considered as one of the best, when it came fighting wars on the battlefield.
But, as they were not the local variety and in an unfamiliar environment, these horses could not reproduce. Thus, the cycle of buying horses continued—some even died during travel. But, still they paid for dead horses, too.
“If a horse dies on a ship, it was eaten by sailors, but its tail was kept to show the king, and they were paid for the same. It was like insurance,” says Vasudhendra.
He also opined that at that time, during the 15th and 16th century Goa, Vijayanagara, Bijapur, Gulbarga, were cosmopolitan towns as people from all over the world came down to trade. “There were people from Africa, who came as slaves, and one of them even became the king. It was such a fascinating time.”
Vasudhendra spent around three years doing this research and managed to use just 1 per cent of the material for his historic fiction. He compared it to cooking palak, the green leafy vegetable.
“The book has 1 per cent of what I have studied. It is like cooking palak—before cooking, the quantity is quite big. But, when it starts to cook, it is reduced drastically!” quipped Vasudhendra.
SYNOPSIS
Tejo Tungabhadra tells the story of two rivers on different continents, whose souls are bound together by history. On the banks of the River Tejo in Lisbon, Bella, a young Jewish refugee, and her family face daily threats to their lives and dignity from the deeply anti-semitic society around them.
Gabriel, her lover, sails to India with General Albuquerque’s fleet seeking wealth and a secure future for themselves.
Meanwhile, on the banks of the Tungabhadra in the Vijayanagara Empire, the young couple Hampamma and Keshava find themselves caught in the storm of religious violence and the cruel rigmarole of tradition.
The two stories converge in Goa with all the thunder and gush of meeting rivers. Set in the late 15th and early 16th century, Tejo Tungabhadra is a grand saga of love, ambition, greed, and a deep zest for life through the tossing waves of history.