By Vishnu Mahesh Sharma
Who would have thought that a physician’s treatment of an emperor’s groin would lay a cornerstone for one of the decisive battles of Indian History? Who would have thought that a helpless nymphomaniac widow would cast a spell of doom on one of the richest provinces of India? Who would have thought that a commander, who would not pick a sword in the battle, would end up picking up the mas and the battle? Who would have thought that a slap on the face of a banker in a court would come back haunting in the form of cannons and grapeshot to serve poetic justice against a spoilt brat, warmongering prince? Who would have thought that battle decades apart from the Plassey would serve as a template and precursor to one of the most economical British Victories on the subcontinent? Who would have thought that a kite seller and a Persian tutor would become the ears to the ground and would write the fate of the war even before it was fought? And most importantly, who would have thought that a battle that altered the game of European one-upmanship in India was less about a Nawab vs the Company but more about Britain vs France, in which subha and subhadars of Bengal were the collateral damage?
There are two ways to look for answers. First, where a due diligence is done, scores of archive, documents and books have been read, researched, and then compiled in a logical and historical order with a document like approach that is factual backed and devoid of unwarranted imagination. The second, where all due diligence has been done but compilation is replaced by interpretation and document like approach gives way to a story telling like method in which literary richness and flourishes are preferred to a tonal, formal and dry approach. While the latter undoubtedly makes for a more gripping and entertaining read, the former makes a more scholarly and textually rich content as a formal history.
So if one is looking for thrill and flamboyance of a tale while exploring scopes of the above questionnaire, then “Plassey by SudeepChakravarti” is not his/her cup of tea. Because here, the author shows tremendous restraint by not giving way to imagination and interpretation. For a book that is based on a historic event that had so many colorful and grey characters, this is an achievement that Chakravarti is able to keep the tone measured yet interesting.
Wherever there is a scope of taking creative liberty, Sudeep cleverly refers to a work that has already taken that liberty in that context. He provides verbatim of snippet from that work and doing so; he comes across as a formal historian of the highest integrity. Though, at places, this formal approach, of not taking sides, works as a downside for a book that is otherwise so remarkable. The most glaring loophole, in this regard, is his description of Siraj-Ud-Daulah. In this work, he cites that how the book A, B and C have shown Siraj as a cruel price, incorrigible alcoholic, amorous bisexual philanderer and, greedy property grabber but how book X, Y and Z shows him as someone who was betrayed by his confidantes, stood for his subhaship, was determined to eliminate English from the east provinces of the subcontinent. ButSudeep never tells or guides us, the readers, that how we should read Siraj’s character or how Sudeep himself looks at Siraj.
Contrary to this, when it comes to figures like Ghasetti Begum or MurshidQuli Khan or Alivardi Khan, we get glimpses of his readings of these Plassey characters. But, to his defense, it can be argued that the book is not a biographical work on Siraj, but a document about events before and after the Plassey War.
And in that regard, this work is one gem of a read. The author starts from the time of Mughals and successfully establishes the geopolitics of that time by highlighting the relationships (and their background) between Delhi and Bengal Suba, between Bengal Suba and John Company, between John Company and French Company and, between French Company and Bengal Suba, at and around the Plassey years. When required, the writer in Sudeep ditches the historian in him by making socio religious commentary and doing foreshadowing (a few of instances where author uses style to iterate that he could have gone through story telling route as well but chose to be formal).
The formal approach is evident from the word go where the subheadings of the chapters are quotes from other official letters or documents. Though, with this kind of approach the book could have become convoluted in establishing connections between different individuals, organizations and places, which range from British to French to Dutch to Armenian to Company Sepoys to three generations of Nawabs to wicked females to loyal (disloyal) and influencing bankers (seths) to deceitful commanders to military strategist to spies to eunuch to mango groves to rivers to what not.But, talking about a player and his/her back story at a time, Chakravarti connects all these dots very carefully and sets the stage for the battle with resounding success.
The book marries geography of the time seamlessly with the politics and economics of the time. Thus, wherever opportunity presented itself, lighter comments and anecdotes are passed about local flavor of food, language and lifestyle. It is truly a touch of genius and the work of an observational brain that one of the motives of the war is tracked back to the financial record keeping of individuals and organizations.
The credit must also be given to the author for describing Robert Clive in a manner that he neither comes across as an unsurmountable, god sent, gifted commander nor as an outright villain who was driven by greed. Here he remains a colonel who had moments of anxiety and vulnerability, who made some blundering and some brilliant war decisions and used both battles and bribe as tools to win advantages.
With so many intertwined events, Sudeep could have easily taken the chance to show off his knowledge and flair by digressing to the famous and riveting rivalry of Clive and Dupleix. But he merely, and rightfully so, hints at it, and never goes that route to remain focused on Bengal and its residents (non -residents).
The historian in Chakravarti doesn’t shy away from giving small life accounts of co-conspirators who the Company believed to be minor players but who end up profiting the most from the revolution. Two such Characters are Canto Babu and Raja Naba Krishna. Justifiably, Sudeep dedicates a few cartridges of ink to their life story.
By the end when fate and afterlife of each major/minor player or conspirator or warrior is described with tinge of travel blog combined with hearsay I ended up deliberating that who would have thought, a reading that at the surface appears to be more of a dissertation would slowly grow up on a reader and end up refilling the artilleries and muskets of the understanding about such a historic event?It is a perfect pick for a curious mind who is patience enough to read history as more of a profound document and less of a story based on the past. Though there is nothing wrong with the second approach, but it is just that this book works better as the former and the first.