Classic Mulk Raj Anand

by Mulk Raj Anand

  As I retired to my own compartment and settled down to the contemplation of the eternal twilight beauty of the Himalayas through which the train was passing, looking at the high peaks and the steep valleys, I tried to recapitulate in my mind the facts about the quarrel between Vicky and his Tikyali Rani to see if he had any chance of escaping the consequences of his past follies and of making a new start in his personal life.

  Unfortunately, however, from whatever angle I looked at the story, from whatever angle I seized it, the consequences to His Highness of his past conduct in regard to the Tikyali Maharani and the accession issue seemed to me to spell disaster. I shall put down the narrative of his early life here, so that what follows may assume some kind of perspective.

  His Highness’s marriage to the Tikyali Maharani, Indira Devi, took place in 1935, when he was twenty-five years of age, and his new bride, who hailed from the small native state of Malati Pur in Bengal, was eighteen. This union had been arranged because the Maharaja Sahib had no male issue from his two previous Ranis, though he had had a daughter by the second Rani. Since two years before his third marriage, His Highness had been consorting with the Brahmin woman, Ganga Dasi, who was about five years older than he. And he had a son and a daughter by her. But as the kept mistress’s son could not be acknowledged as an heir to the gaddi, the first two Ranis were anxious that he should have a son to succeed him. So the third marriage had been arranged. To the misfortune of the would-be Tikyali Rani, Indira, the fact that His Highness was carrying on with Ganga Dasi was not revealed either to her or to her parents.

  The Brahmin woman, Ganga Dasi, had led an unhappy, vicarious life ever since she had been a girl, and, as she was the daughter of a state priest, she used to come to the various palaces as a saheli to amuse the two Ranis and, later, to act as a kind of nursemaid to His Highness’s daughter by his second Rani. At one time, she went as a companion to the second Rani when she visited her brother’s state, Badaun, in the Simla Hills. Here she contracted an illicit relationship with the Raja, the second Rani’s brother, who had begun to neglect his wives. As she was suspected of having conceived a child by this Raja, public opinion rose and forced her out of Badaun, back to Sham Pur.

  When Ganga Dasi returned home, it so happened that His Highness was just spending his summer holidays, away from the Chief’s College, with his mother, who was his protector in the Court of Wards established since his father’s demise in 1920. He was being taught some of the essential duties he would have to fulfil when he ascended the gaddi on attaining his majority next year and also enjoying the company of the two wives to whom he had been married off by his doting mother. As Ganga Dasi came to the palace frequently, the young prince saw her and fell in love with her. At first his connection with her remained a secret, but then she became with child by him and rumours about the love affair spread in the state.

  Of his two legally married Ranis, the first one was older than him by ten years, while the second one was about the same age. In consequence, the older princess had no influence on him and, being of a religious temperament, she led a retiring life in a wing of the fort palace of Sham Pur, though the younger queen had continued to have conjugal relations with him and thus to wield some influence over him. But after the birth of a son to Ganga Dasi, this Brahmin woman began to possess him body and soul, to dominate him to the exclusion of all other things and interests. It was under these circumstances that His Highness’s old mother, the Dowager Maharani, and his two Ranis encouraged the idea of a third marriage, so that he could have a son from a legally wedded wife. This marriage was obviously anathema to Ganga Dasi.

  After His Highness’s marriage to Indira of Malati Pur in 1935, his relations with his new wife were at first fairly cordial. And the two previous Ranis treated the newcomer with affection, especially as a son was born to the Tikyali Rani. Of course, Ganga Dasi was very upset and determined to regain her power and influence over His Highness,

  It is customary in the states for the Maharaja to hold a durbar on the birth of a Tika, son and heir to the gaddi, and the occasion, which is made a public holiday, is marked by great rejoicings. Unfortunately, to everyone’s astonishment, no such durbar was held on the birth of a son to the Tikyali Rani, Indira, and it seemed that Ganga Dasi had regained control over the Maharaja. And since she was manoeuvring for her own son to be accepted as heir to the gaddi, she naturally prevented His Highness from celebrating the occasion. The then Diwan, Rai Bahadur Laik Ram, advised His Highness to hold the ceremonial durbar; but as the Maharaja evaded the issue, the Diwan resigned, and the Finance Minister, Chaudhri Ramji Das, took his place.

  After the arrival of the Tika, Ganga Dasi became obsessed with her design to get her own son accepted as the heir, and began a hate campaign against the Tikyali Maharani Indira, poisoning the mind of the Maharaja against her and trying to achieve her ends by fair means and foul. Thus she sought to win over the new Diwan, for instance, to her side. But as Chaudhri Ramji Das was a relatively honest man, and as he knew that Ganga Dasi was neither married to the Maharaja, nor, being a Brahmin woman, could ever be acknowledged as his lawful wife, he would not help her to have her son accepted as Tika. This turned her against the Diwan.

  The Maharani Indira, though a well-educated girl, was young in years and as yet completely inexperienced in worldly matters, and she lived in blissful ignorance of the lengths to which her rival could go. Suddenly, one day, when her child was about eight months old, he fell ill, with a high fever. She was very troubled, especially when, on asking His Highness to get some medical advice, the Maharaja treated the matter casually. Later, as the child’s fever continued unabated, a mysterious man, said to be a great yogi and sanyasi, was called. He prescribed the child some herbal medicine and the baby’s condition deteriorated. The Tikyali Rani was in a panic, but a sudden stony silence greeted her from His Highness’s camp and no doctor was fetched. The child was in an agony of pain after the administration of herbs and he died. The Maharani Indira suspected foul play, but as no direct proof except neglect to get medical advice could be adduced, her pleas for an inquiry into the death of the Tika remained unheard. But there were three facts which pointed irresistibly to the conclusion that Ganga Dasi had engineered the death of the child. Firstly, the yogi disappeared from the state after giving herbs to the sick babe, and no efforts were made to trace him. Secondly, there were rejoicings after the death of the Tika in the old palace where the Maharaja lived with Ganga Dasi. Thirdly, His Highness held a durbar after the death of his son and there openly declared Ganga Dasi’s son to be the heir to his throne.

  The Government of India did not accept his declaration. And this brought the wrath of Ganga Dasi and His Highness upon Indira, particularly because she had written to the Political Department about the death, in mysterious circumstances, of her son, and they presumed that the Government’s non-acceptance of His Highness’s nomination of Ganga Dasi’s son had been inspired by this complaint.

  Now His Highness refused even to see Indira and absolutely discarded her, and there were so many rumours afloat of what Ganga Dasi intended to do to her that she became frightened for her own life and went to live with her old mother-in-law in the Sham Pur fort palace. She had no opportunities to meet His Highness and to explain her point of view to him, because even when he came to the fort palace, Ganga Dasi accompanied him. What is more, His Highness openly insulted and abused Indira, charging her with treachery because she had written to the Political Department complaining about the death of her son. And her life was intolerably miserable. For even the servants, taking their cue from His Highness’s mistress, began to behave very insolently and refused to carry out her orders. The Dowager Maharani loved her son far too much to take sides with Indira, though she sympathized with her.

  In a little while, all except one or two servants, who were in attendance upon the Tikyali Rani Indira, were withdrawn, notwithstanding the fact that four of these were servants who had come at the time of her marriage from
Malati Pur State with her.

  At this stage, the second Rani, who was very fond of Indira, and still seemed to have some influence on His Highness, passed away. And this made Ganga Dasi more powerful than ever. For the first Rani was now mostly away at Haridwar or Mathura, visiting the holy shrines with the Dowager Rani, and there was no one to restrain His Highness from falling in with all the schemes of his mistress. And this made for the complete isolation of the Tikyali Rani. And there were days on which she didn’t even have a domestic servant to do her shopping. The guards and the sentries, at the gates of the fort, prevented even women from coming to see her. And soon she was treated virtually as a prisoner, till she made representations to Delhi again and His Highness relaxed the conditions for fear of a scandal.

  As the Maharaja was unable to bestow any legal status on Ganga Dasi, he began, by direct and indirect means, to buy property in her name. He sold some property belonging to himself as well as the state. He sold silver-ware and gold jewellery and other precious articles from the old palace, such as chairs and paintings and howdahs of elephants. Apart from this, he began to extort money from the people of the state by various illegal means in order to build up a fortune for her. The Diwan, Chaudhri Ramji Das, tried to dissuade His Highness from adopting such methods of obtaining money. But it was Ganga Dasi who was the real power behind the throne, and the illegal exactions continued. There were revolts in several parts of the state in consequence. These were suppressed by the state police with bloody violence and through a series of mass arrests and detentions. The people’s movement gathered force and a Praja Mandal was formed which obtained the moral support of the Indian National Congress in British India.

  At length an inquiry was instituted into the causes of the rebellions in the state. And it was proved beyond question that His Highness had oppressed the people in various ways. For instance, illegal dues, known as nazaranas, were taken from people; money was extorted from reversioners or heirs of those who died childless, from people who adopted children and even from people who arranged rightful succession. The penalty for disobedience to these decrees was the confiscation of the subject’s property. And in many cases this penalty was exacted, and even applied retrospectively. Thus those who had money to pay actually paid and earned a little peace, and those who could not pay had the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, that they might any day be deprived of their ancestral rights and properties.

  Undoubtedly, all these oppressions, extortions, deprivations were primarily conducted under the influence, and for the benefit, of the Brahmin woman, Ganga Dasi. But that was not the only cue for passion which inspired His Highness. For, at this stage, he was, through his constant quarrels with Gangi Dasi, who was taking lover after lover behind his back, bursting out into mad furies of love-making and was going to a number of women who were supplied by agents appointed for the purpose of procuring them in different parts of the state. Not a virgin or a rupee was safe in his realms during this period. There was no question, of course, of His Highness bringing these women into the palace, as Ganga Dasi, who could not even tolerate the Tikyali Rani, would have had these new rivals murdered. So the Maharaja created other opportunities for the satisfaction of his lusts, by frequently going out on camping or hunting expeditions, when he was undisturbed by any watchful eyes. Except that, now and then, Ganga Dasi herself provided him with one of her female companions and there were secret orgies of which the nature is more myth and legend than fact, for no one could guess the exact nature of the perversions practised in the Brahmin woman’s palace.

  The maladministration of the state and the high-handedness of His Highness were the subjects of a further inquiry set up by the Government of India, and by an order of the Central Government some of the powers and prerogatives of the Maharaja were made subject to restrictions and supervision. The first condition in this order was that His Highness’s Brahmin mistress, Ganga Dasi, and her two children, be banished from the state.

  In an interview he had with Colonel Burton of the Political Department, His Highness accepted all the restraints proposed except the first one, which he begged should not be enforced. Colonel Burton told him, however, that the first condition was the most essential, for the irregular influence and interference of this woman had been the chief cause of the misery of the people of Sham Pur State, and, therefore, it could not be waived. His Highness was, in fact, asked to report within two months that Ganga Dasi had been banished.

  Later, Colonel Burton came on a shooting tour to the state, and somehow or other the proposed exile of Ganga Dasi never happened. It was rumoured that His Highness had presented a precious necklace to Mrs Burton and had feasted her and her husband on roasted peacocks and some of the oldest French champagne he had in stock.

  During the time when His Highness’s conduct of state affairs was being inquired into, and the brief period during which it seemed that the order for Ganga Dasi’s banishment might have to be carried out, the Brahmin woman was unable to pursue him and keep vigilant guard on him. The Maharaja began to frequent the old fort where the Tikyali Rani lived. He played upon her sympathy and showed himself very contrite. Indira relented and consoled him and performed her wifely duties by him. And they became intimate once again.

  This return of His Highness to some degree of normality was encouraged by the Diwan, Chaudhri Ramji Das, who was keen on carrying out the instructions of the Government of India with regard to Ganga Dasi. The Prime Minister also tried to extract from the Brahmin mistress four lakhs of rupees, which she had collared from the sale of the State House in Haridwar. The efficiency and honesty of the Diwan was naturally much resented by Ganga Dasi. It was not surprising, therefore, when one fine morning the news came of the death, under mysterious circumstances, of the Prime Minister Ramji Das.

  After the demise of Chaudhri Ramji Das, a cousin of His Highness, Chaudhri Raghbir Singh, was appointed as the Diwan. He was a profligate young man who had been Private Secretary to the Maharaja, a willing tool in his hands as well as Ganga Dasi’s lover. At the instigation of the latter this new Diwan sought to compromise with the Tikyali Rani by making overtures to her of a nature which she could not accept with any integrity. When he could not get a favourable response to his verbal wooing, he took advantage of her discarded and helpless condition by audaciously writing to her a love letter couched in the most flattering as well as the most threatening terms. As Indira refused to reply to this or to see him, he became her sworn enemy.

  A trifle guilty at the thought of having thus improperly expressed himself in a letter, and afraid lest the Tikyali Rani should show the communication to the Maharaja, the Diwan began to ingratiate himself into the favour of Ganga Dasi by actively taking sides with her, so that he could get complete control over His Highness through the Maharaja’s mentor. And the trump card of this new combination was to throw doubts on Indira’s character! His Highness was only too amenable to the rumours which were floated about Indira’s affairs with certain army officers of the Fort Guards, because the allegations which became current gave him the assurance that he alone was not guilty of excesses of the flesh. And, as it is the easiest thing, especially in a state, to give a bad name to a woman and hang her, these stories of the Tikyali Rani’s misdeeds came to be widely believed.

  Indira took the occasion, during His Highness’s visit to the fort one day, to give him the letter written to her by the Prime Minister and to denounce his misbehaviour. But Vicky was not inclined to listen to her protestations and accused her of trying to frame-up a case against his trusted Vizier and cousin. And he disgraced her by abusing her in the presence of the courtiers.

  After this, when Indira was allowed to go for a little holiday to Simla, His Highness disgraced her more publicly by issuing a parwana, an order to the Home Member, who forwarded it to the head constable in charge of Sham Pur Lodge at Simla, to the effect that no stranger be allowed to see her and that she be vigilantly guarded on her walks and rickshaw rides and not be permitt
ed to go wandering on her own, without an escort. The result was that the Tikyali Rani came to be known to everyone as a bad woman, and became the subject of much scandal-mongering in the hill city, and untoward attacks began to be made on her by the fashionable heart squanderers who thought that she was easy game. And the fact that Indira had, during the brief spell of renewed intimacy between herself and His Highness, conceived another child made for all kinds of loose talk and conjecturing around her person.

  In the third quarter of 1941, His Highness’s mother, the Dowager Maharani, and the Senior Rani, knowing that Indira was with child, secured the Maharaja’s permission and took her on a pilgrimage. They went to Haridwar and Mathura and Benares and Puri and to the temple of Rameshwaram at the southern tip of India, praying and doling out charity, in the hope that the expected child might be a son.

  This was, of course, a very anxious time for Ganga Dasi, because she was frightened that the Tikyali Rani’s womb might prosper and yield forth a new Tika to occupy the throne of Sham Pur. So she began to spread the rumour that Indira had run away and just disappeared.

  The Tikyali Rani heard about this when she had come back, with the Dowager Maharani and the Senior Rani, from the pilgrimage and was resting at Dehra Dun, where she had decided to have the child in a good nursing home under expert medical advice. One day, a police inspector came with orders to hand over the Tikyali Rani to the Sham Pur police. This was the crowning humiliation for Indira.