Raj

by Gita Mehta

Novel set in Indian state on culture, nationalism and Independence.

Genres: India, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Asia, Contemporary, Audiobook

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Gita Mehta (born in 1943) is an Indian writer and was born in Delhi in a well-known Odia family. She is the daughter of Biju Patnaik, an Indian independence activist and a Chief Minister in post-independence Odisha, then known as Orissa. Her younger brother Naveen Patnaik has been the Chief Minister of Odisha since 2000. She completed her education in India and at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

She has produced and/or directed 14 television documentaries for UK, European and US networks. During the years 1970-1971 she was a television war correspondent for the US television network NBC. Her film compilation of the Bangladesh revolution, Dateline Bangladesh, was shown in cinema theatres both in India and abroad.

[...]

Her books have been translated into 21 languages and been on the bestseller lists in Europe, the US and India. The subject of both her fiction and non-fiction is exclusively focused on India: its culture and history, and the Western perception of it. Her works reflect the insight gained through her journalistic and political background.

Gita Mehta divides her time between New York, London and New Delhi.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Pragya Bhatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving it 3 stars because of the quality of writing and the immense research that went into the book. It really did bring Royal and British India to life. However, I wish the main character had been a stronger woman. Throughout the story she kept on going from one man to another for advice. When there weren't any more men to go to she went to her mother, mother-in-law and even to an old female-sooth sayer! And when these women were unable to help her she went back to the British resident of her kingdom, who she knew had spies after her and who was sending detailed reports of her liason with some freedom fighter back to Delhi. When the princess was growing up the writer makes her out to be a princes who has great prospects and who will make a change. A royal princess who, despite being a woman, would become a leader of her people, or at least who had it in her to do so. But as she grew up and got married, she just became a woman who looked to her husband for approval. Even going as far as to modify her clothes, eating habits, way of speaking for him. When her husband dies she starts to hope that the British Resident or the Gandhian freedom fighter will be around to support her. As a reader I felt the writer built up a story about a supposedly great woman, and then had her fall, only so that readers would think 'o what a surprise! wasn't expecting that!' But for me it was more like, ok, this woman acts and thinks like an idiot, why is the writer trying to make her deep and intellectual?

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

"RAJ" is a historical novel written to span the years between 1890 and 1970. I REALLY liked the history. The author did an excellent job of providing a lot of information in a succinct and interesting way. She also accurately wove cultural dynamics into the history - minimizing the obvious (Ghandi era) but filling in the gaps that history books leave void. For this reason, I would recommend the book. However, if you are looking for a good novel with a captivating plot and a believable female heroine, I'd skip this one.

[Elena Sala · Rating 4 out of 5]

RAJ is a novel about colonialism, a saga of the British Raj in India. It covers half a century of British-Indian history using a great deal of factual information.
One of its most important aspects is the relationship that existed between royal India and the Raj. In the novel, feudal India has been laid bare in its anxiety to hold onto a power not on its own strength, but pleasing the British. The complex and painful situation of the Indian rulers became more and more traumatic with the increasing interference of the British in their affairs. In a very subtle way Mehta depicts the growing tension and mutual suspicion between the British and the Indian ruling class.
The story is told through the life of Jaya, Princess of Balmer, a Princely state in Rajasthan who was born to this world of uncertainty and profound change. Her father, a forward looking King, brought her up in the modern way because he thought that the zenana tradition was becoming completely irrelevant in the changing times. Jaya received, then, a proper education in all aspects of statecraft and this will enable her to become an active participant in the ongoing process of the history of her people.
There are at least four histories in this novel: of British India, of feudal India, of India's nationalist struggle and of Jaya's own personal history, often intersecting or moving in parallel with each other.
RAJ is an engrossing novel which deals with the Raj neither with nostalgia nor bitterness. The life in royal India is captured in rich detail as well as the tense human relations in a colonial society. I warmly recommend this novel to all readers interested in colonialism, the history of India and feminism.

[Becky Marietta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would've been better if it were 200 pages shorter. Mehra does a good job describing Royal India and outlining the dissolution of both the Raj and the British rule, but man, does she get stuck in loops! Discussing Pratap's "long eyes," for example--what the heck are long eyes? And why does she need to remind the reader of the prince's long eyes every time she mentions him? Also favorites of hers: glass bangles breaking, "that Angrez boy," even when he's clearly no longer a boy, and Lady Modi's "darlings" while she agonizes over her stupid dogs.

Beyond that, I had a hard time liking the main character. Early on, the reader is sold the idea that Jaya is a strong, warrior-hearted woman, then Jaya spends the rest of the novel letting men run all over her, merely "flushing with rage" when they misbehave. Not until the very (and I do mean VERY) end does she show some moxie, and by then I had stopped caring.

[Diane Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dense, fascinating and wonderful book telling the story of the British Raj from the point of view of an Indian princess in one of the Royal Indian states. Moving from desert to northwestern frontier, and revealing a life spent both within zenana walls and in purdah, which then moves out to public political rule of an Indian kingdom before the fall of the Raj and the obliteration of the kingdoms at the time of partition.

If you want to hear an authentic and moving tale about the Raj and its ongoing effect on India without wading through a history of hundreds of years, this is the novel for you. Excellent.

[Annette Koster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik twijfelde tussen 3 of 4 sterren. 3,5 dus eigenlijk. Ik moest me af en toe wel door het boek heen worstelen. Al die rituelen, al die details, veel namen. Vooral moeilijk om je in te leven in de personen. Maar ook heel boeiend en interessant. Ik wist helemaal niets van die bijzondere positie van de Indiase vorstendommen ten opzichte van Brits-Indië. Het leven van een prinses uit een oud vorstendom binnen de complexe geschiedenis vanaf ongeveer 1900 tot en met de onafhankelijkheid van India(en Pakistan) van 1947. Een goed boek in het kader van onze reis naar het gebied van de Maharadja's.

[KOMET · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel reads as a chronicle, not only of Princess Jaya's life, but also of an India in transformation from the late 1800s up through the early years following Independence in 1947.
I enjoyed reading this book and found Princess Jaya to be a remarkable woman. She weathers a lot of trying experiences and shows herself to be resilient.

The only fault I found with the novel, however, was in the sequencing of historical events. For instance, some of what the author stated about the placing of some events during the First World War were not accurate. When I read a historical novel, I get a better appreciation for the novel when the historical events it describes are true and placed in the proper sequences. Perhaps for some other readers, that matters little. But for me, that took away from me giving this novel 5 stars.

[Chanpheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the sweep of Indian history but it really bogged down in some places where the POV character got in the way. 2023 note: I re-read it when I learned of Gita Mehta's passing. Much more interesting this time around, as it weaves the personal lives of the characters with India's tumultuous history in the 20th century.

[Kristin Maillard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Epic tale of the demise of the Maharajah's and their many, many kingdoms, and the British in India. I feel I have looked a bit deeper into a past that has always fascinated me. Lost a little respect for Winston Churchill if, in fact, his quotes are truly his. Great read. Looooong.

[Tamiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

the ending felt a little rushed but overall a good book

[Malina Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweeping historical epic.
Gita Mehta conjures the grandeur of a lost era as new technology and Western ideas clash with the ancient traditions of Indian kingdoms. The book focuses on the life of Jaya, a Rajput princess, though it begins before she was born with the arrival of a caravan of storytellers and the birth of her older brother, Tikka. It begins in 1897, the time of Queen Victoria.

Jaya grows up in a changing era. Everywhere, the clash between East and West is visible, and Jaya is caught in between. The conflict manifests in the royal siblings' tutors. Her brother's tutor, Colonel Osbourne, supports the glory of the British Empire while her own tutor, Mrs Roy, decries its evils in favour of the growing nationalist movement. Jaya is taught both by the Purdah ladies, who focus on which ointments to use to attract a husband, and by an advisor in the ancient art of rule.

Mehta is deft at moving through the years, and the book never drags. She covers an impressive span of time from 1897, before Jaya's birth, all the way to 1950. Though she skips years now and then, the narrative remains continuous and never gets bogged down with unnecessary or tedious detail. Scenes come alive with concise details and vivid images.

Though the main characters are fictional, they come to life on the page as they mixed with historical figures. I like that she focuses on the women of the kingdom more than the men, allowing the reader to glimpse behind the closed door of the zenana, the abode of the palace women.
Mehta's main focus is on the traditions that mark each important event, from birth, to war to marriage to death and many in between, such as Diwali, when the royal women dance for the husbands in a whirl of jewel-encrusted skirts.

It's fascinating to witness the attitudes of the women. The Maharani who fears to remove her veil, allowing her subjects to gaze on her exposed face. Another Maharani who does pujas to expel the evil influence of a film star over her son. A third woman ruler states: "I find the veil gives me a necessary distance from the meddlings of outsiders."

Western influence challenges Jaya, pushing her to change in ways she does not want to. It is a fascinating struggle that Mehta presents very well. When Jaya does marry, her marriage is very unusual, and I won't spoil it by telling why.
I was a little disappointed to find out that Balmer was not a real kingdom, though it is based on the Rajput kingdoms of the time. The rulers of Indian kingdoms move by horse and by motor car, by aeroplane and by elephant.

Sometimes it is not clear where the characters are sitting, standing or talking. They make a sudden interaction with their environment and the reader discovers the characters are somewhere different than they had imagined. In the second half of the book, interiors of buildings are hardly described at all, and I am left wondering what they look like.
Chapter 38 disappointed me. The poor Lady Chelmsford gets no description at all and a bunch of characters sit like talking heads around a table. There are other clear descriptions which are quite well done, but the dance at the end gets no description and the chapter ends abruptly with a silly comment.
I wish Jaya's mother, who is known only as the Maharani, was given a name. There are many more Maharanis who appear after her, with hardly any description to tell them apart. A few times the Maharani of Cooch Behar pops up, described only as 'beautiful' with no indication why.
At the end of the book, an important and life-changing moment for Jaya occurs, but Mehta gives it only one small paragraph and does not give the reader access to Jaya's emotions. I feel this is a missed opportunity.
Towards the end, time speeds up but the weight of political events drag it down. The book would flow smoother if it was lighter on politics and went deeper into the characters' emotions.
Lady Modi's appearances serve to lighten the mood with her distinctive voice and love of frivolity. Unfortunately Mehta does not describe her facial expressions. She very rarely describes characters' faces and expressions, and by the end I am missing this. It would be a more satisfying read if Mehta did not try to cover so much time in so many short scenes.
However, she does have some beautiful character details, such as eyes that change from black to green.

The beauty of the book lies in its details. As you read you can see the march of elephants and mounted lancers, and the crowds throwing marigold blossoms, smell the incense wafting up from the temples and hear the pounding of the nagara drums as they signal the march to war.

Quotes:

"Sometimes she felt safe only inside the carved walls of the zenana, fearful that if she stepped outside the world of women, she would be swept away by the restlessness blowing through the ancient Fort like the hot winds that warned of desert sandstorms." 62

"She could not count the times she had stood on her balcony watching the muddy water trickle past the crocodiles sleeping on the white sandbanks of the summer riverbed, or the black monsoon clouds scudding like herds of angry elephants over the flooded river, waiting to hear her husband's footstep outside her door." 287

"Dusk fell and still the songs continued, while the insistent drumbeat filled the terrace... Clay lamps and bronze candelabra were brought onto the terrace. Bats dipped over the courtyard like great black kites swooping in a monsoon breeze. As night descended on the courtyard the music turned melancholic. Songs of unfulfilled desire hung heavy in the air." 107

“Warm breezes carried the sound of laughter from the city as the Maharani rose to dance for her husband. For a long moment the Maharani danced alone, glass bangles shining on her narrow wrists. One by one the purdah women joined her... By now the women dipped in the dance of the peacock, the jewelled ornaments which held their veils to their foreheads throwing coloured patterns onto the gold canopy of the tent. Turning round and round, her skirt ballooning against the others, Jaya saw fireworks appear for a bright moment in the sky, then fragment into coloured ash, and she imagined that Balmer was like a great Catherine wheel, spinning through the night for the pleasure of the Goddess.” 151

Ultimately, this book is quite an accomplishment, and if you would like to gain a deep understanding of the history of India from the Rajput kingdoms to India's birth as a nation, I recommend it.
It presents a rich, vivid history, providing a vantage into a perspective that is rarely glimpsed, in an era that has too soon been forgotten.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Die Maharani“ von Gita Mehta erzählt detailgetreu indische Zeitgeschichte des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts. Bei der Protagonistin und Fürstentochter Jaya handelt es sich zwar nur um eine fiktive Figur, es liegt aber im Verlauf der Handlung stets ein großer Fokus auf der Schilderung von politischen Ereignissen und deren Rezension, sowie die Wiedergabe historischer Lebenswelten. Besonders spannend ist dabei die ausschließlich indische Perspektive, aus der u.a. die angespannte Lage zwischen Britisch-Indien und dem Indien der Fürstentümer, bedeutende Weltgeschehen wie die Weltkriege und Gebräuche und Sitten bewertet werden. Ist man hauptsächlich mit der westlichen Rezeption des vergangenen Jahrhunderts vertraut, gibt der Roman ganz neue und faszinierende Einblicke, wie die gleichen Ereignisse in einem anderen kulturellen, historischen und gesellschaftlichen Kontext beurteilt werden können. Zusätzlich führt Gheta Jani auch regelmäßig den englischen Kolonialismus und Rassismus vor, in dem sie ihre Figuren starke Vergleiche und Schlussfolgerungen ziehen lässt.
Die Charaktere bleiben jedoch insgesamt sehr oberflächlich und dienen eher dazu, politische und gesellschaftliche Standpunkte und Lebensentwürfe widerzuspiegeln, als tiefgründige und mehrschichtige Personen darzustellen. Gelesen habe ich das Buch vor allem für die detailreichen Beschreibungen und dem vielen Wissen und neuen Perspektiven, die es vermittelt. Wikipedia hatte ich regelmäßig geöffnet, um historische Ereignisse, Personen oder andere Details nachzulesen.

[Sally Boots · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed an audio book to keep me busy during stupid tasks and chose this one because it was 16 hours long. Raj is about the life and times of Jaya, the daughter of the Maharaja of Balmer; it’s a story that starts before her birth in the 19th century and ends late in her life in the post-partition 20th century. Jaya’s personal story is heavily interspersed with exhaustive and luscious descriptions of palaces and landscapes, and awkwardly stuffed with historical information. Maybe it’s a function of listening to a book rather than reading it, but I spaced out a lot during these non-plot moments. They were very long. Every now and then I’d notice what I was listening to and think, “Why, what a lovely description!” or “Interesting historical moment,” and then space out again. The main character was pretty engaging but as the book slogged along it became less and less about Jaya and more and more about the history of India, delivered in an increasingly ham-handed way.

[Sha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walaupun buku ini merupakan sebuah cerita fiksi, tapi menggambarkan latar belakang sejarah yang sangat akurat. Menggambarkan ketika inggris masih bercokol di daratan India. Hingga sampai akhirnya India (dan pakistan) berada pada ujung kemerdekaannya. Dibumbui dengan cerita pertautan hati antara sang Maharani dengan sahabatnya sejak kecil, sayangnya perbedaan ras (yang satu ningrat india, sementara yang lain adalah pejabat Inggris) menghalangi mereka. Perjalanan Maharani dari sejak kecil, kemudian kehilangan kakaknya, ibu dan ayah, hingga akhirnya ditinggal suaminya sangat menarik disimak. Karena setiap momen dibubuhi latar belakang sejarah yang kuat. Sehingga anda tidak hanya mendapatkan cerita fiksi, tapi juga pelajaran sejarah pada saat yang sama. :)

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel about Jaya, born at the very end of the 1800s as the princess of an (imaginary) independent Rajput kingdom, who marries the king of another (imaginary) independent kingdom, this one near Bengal. It's a novel about the Indian independence movement, but nearly everything I've previously read (both fiction and non-fiction) about it has focused on British India, so it's really interesting to see a perspective from the Princely States. There's a lot also about changing gender customs (both Jaya's mother and several other important women in her life live in purdah, while she herself doesn't). Unfortunately, the characters aren't nearly as good as the setting, but it's still a worthwhile book.

[Lawrence Snouffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A vivid confirmation of the depravity of human nature. Well written; sometimes compelling. India seems a land of millennia of multiple, contemporaneous and often overlapping upheavals, wars, injustices and violence at all levels of society. The reader is unable to relate well to any of the characters. The author uses an abundance of indian words, not all of which were in my unabridged dictionary, and the precise meanings of which were not always easily inferred from the context, and I felt a small glossary would have been helpful. A map would also have been helpful as looking up place names on google often proved inexact, confusing, or fruitless.

[Sarah W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel chronicles the life of Jaya, an Indian princess traditionally raised in a time of change and upheaval. Jaya is born in the 1890s, when British rule in India is well-established, and during her lifetime, Jaya sees this authority challenged and crumble. Jaya tests her own strength, as she experiences a loveless marriage and the struggles of motherhood, but also when she becomes the regent of an Indian kingdom after her husband's death. Raj is an interesting portrait of Indian royalty during the struggle for independence and the collapse of the British empire.

[Aparna Dubey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book provides a great introduction into the lives of the rich princely families during the advent of the British into their kingdoms as well as their lives when they visited/studied/represented the British outside India; their interactions with Queen Victoria, the slow but strong rise of the Gandhi followers from Bengal. At times, the flow of the book meanders into too many trivial details, taking it away from its powerful theme. It was interesting for me to research later, that Gita Mehta is the daughter of the late Biju Patnaik.

[B. Hache · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesantísima novela histórica que nos arrastra a la situación de la mujer en la India del S.XIX hasta principios del S.XX. En Occidente hacen falta estas novelas para que podamos ver más allá de nuestras narices y de paso, podamos comprobar cual ha sido la situación y la vida que han llevado estas mujeres.
Hacía años que no leía novela histórica, incluso pensando que no podría engancharme otra vez y he errado.
Recomendable 100% (siempre que te guste la histórica)

[Feral · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very long historical novel that offers a feminist perspective on the history of India during the last years of the British Raj. It is skillful storytelling steeped in the complexity of this history. Why didn't I read this in High School history class? The story is told from the perspective of a young Indian princess in Royal India, and tracks through her life.

[Matthijs · Rating 2 out of 5]

More interesting than entertaining. The book stories about the time when the British ruled India and aspects as cultural differences and the struggle/transition to an independent India. At the same time the main character is a maharani and I found it interesting to read about the life of an Indian royal family.

[Trudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy books about India. This fictional tale included a lot about the history of India at the end of the 19th century and on into the 20th century. It is told through the life of a Princess whose parents marry her off to the son of a Maharaja. In the narrative, we learn a lot about life in Royal India and about the British attitude to India and Indians.

[Nancy Farrelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one just before the honeymoon to India, Thanks Sandra for a geat recomendation! When in India picked up a biography of one of Indias real life princesses called "A Princess Remembers" Also a great book to give you an incite as to what it might be like to have actually lived that life.

[Fawnxiaoyu Chitrudi amphai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that make you dive into fantastic imagination of exotic Indian Harem at the turn of the centuries. You get to follow the live of a princess since her birth to the day she become a great modern women.

[Angeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit uneven. Some chapters were really good, some seemed to drag on forever. It does span the entire life of the main charachter (a little girl-to queen-to displaced queen once the British invade) and Lord knows I love a chronological story.

[Nora · Rating 1 out of 5]

This historical novel fails both as a novel and as history. The narrative catalogs the momentous events in India from roughly 1900-1950 in the most rote way possible, while the main character is unconvincingly drawn.

[Goldie Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! I must agree with an earlier reviewer, some chapters tested my will, but then completely made up for it in the long run in such a masterpiece! I enjoyed the overall impression of this novel. In fact it's one of the novels that I absolutely enjoyed!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recommend this book to people who are interested in learning about the history of India. The story itself wasn't enough to keep me going, but reading about the real history of Ghandi etc. made me finish the book.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

a good beach book, but honestly not the greatest work of south asian fiction, religious or otherwise.

[Ej · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It gave me a completely different perspective of the hellish lives of other non-whites of the world. It is both tragic and inspirational.