Prem'sJourney

What Anirudh Kanisetti has Presented in his Magnum opus, “ Lords of the Deccan” is a dramatic and sensational narration that keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to finish the book at one go. Make no mistakes, Kanisetti is no academic Historian. He is a History writer who builds a chosen narration out of historical research by others. So it is natural it comes with a POV that is built on his interpretation and supposition. In this narration, Kanisetti purports to present a view on Medieval Deccan Powers, their rise, their expansion and their sunset. The Powers he means are the Chlaukyas and Rashtragudas. Every other Dynasty is presented from the viewpoint of the above mentioned Dynasties. He also Speaks about Cholas but about that, much later. So with that in mind, he sets out to outline the Rise of Vatapi Chalukyas, and their Conquests over Pallavas. The popular narrative of Narasimha Varma Pallava taking revenge on Pulikesin II and the Sacking of Vatapi after which popular narra

The issue with trying to pick up a Historical Narrative from the Sangam and Pre-Sangam era is less to do with the Scarcity of the source than the credibility of the information. Hagiography, Poetic Reading and Epigraphy from the Royal Inscriptions pepper the landscape of time and how a narration is pieced from these, separates a historian from a common bard. So someone who needs to trace a thread from such a past has to tread very carefully. The secondary Sources one quotes have to be stellar and non contentious. In this I would say Kanakalatha Mukund has walked a tightrope trying to paint the picture of the inception of the Tamil trading community. In doing so, whether she succeeded in that effort is a question that gets answered when we read the book. The book initially talks about the Tamil society, the evolution of its social and cultural structure. Most part of the book talks about the information gleaned from the literary source by triangulating the information from those sources