The Peshwa - Ram Sivashankaran

photo courtesy:goodreads.com

A great read about a lesser known historical character.

Bajirao came out of forgotten archives thanks to the Hindi film Bajirao Mastani. I loved the movie - the story and the valour of the Maratha hero is impressive. It left me a bit surprised too; he never featured in my history books in school unlike the more famous Shivaji or Prithviraj Chauhan.

I started looking around for books on the Peshwa and chanced upon this one. I had not heard of the book or the author before, but loved the way it was presented. the synopsis sounded good and the reviews helped it as well.

Amazon seemed to provide access to the copy and I looked forward to reading it with great anticipation. It was a relief that it satiated my curiosity and expectations from the novel.

Gist:

The story starts with introducing the ongoing maratha tryst with the Mughal dynasty.

The Peshwa in the Maratha hierarchy is considered to be the right hand man of the Emperor offering him military and emotional support.

The original Peshwa - Balaji Vishwanatha Bhat, is the fierce Maratha warrior who helps Shahu, the grandson of Shivaji to rescue his mother from Mughal custody. His son, Bajirao a young lad accompanies him on the trip, keen to imbibe his father's qualities. Later, the experience holds him in good stead as he moves on to take over the reins of the kingdom as a Peshwa.

What works:

• The narrative is smooth and detailed. The introductory chapter takes you right in the middle of action. 

• The character of the Peshwa is beautifully developed through a series of events.

• The change of guard from one Peshwa to another is also well presented.

• It was easier to see how the movie Bajirao Mastani took pieces of Bajirao's life to fit the movie. It made sense of many scenes which seemed a bit odd in the film. Like for the instance, it explains how a close aide betrayed him by planning to take over in a coup and had to be killed in order to stop him. This doesn't prevent Bajirao from displaying love and affection towards the slain aide's family and treat them as his own.

What doesn't:

• The very detail that gives such depth to the story can bog it down sometimes. There are passages which offer a lot of information - at the cost of affecting the pace of the narrative.

Overall, a very original story about a such an underrated character.