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The Savage Family Chronicles #3
Nightrunners of Bengal
First published in 1951, The Nightrunners of Bengal is one of John Masters' series of seven novels which followed several generations of the Savage family serving in the British Army in India.
Nightrunners of Bengal focuses on the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The central character, Captain Rodney Savage, is an officer in a Bengal Native Infantry regiment, based in the fictional city of Bhowani. When rebellion breaks out, the British community in Bengal is shattered. Savage's empathy for the Indians is shaken, as the British try to discover who is loyal to them and who is not.
One of the great novels of India, Nightrunners of Bengal combines John Master's mastery of story-telling with an intuitive sense of history. This was the first novel that Masters wrote in the series, though not the first novel chronologically, and alongside Bhowani Junction is one of his best-known works.
Nightrunners of Bengal focuses on the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The central character, Captain Rodney Savage, is an officer in a Bengal Native Infantry regiment, based in the fictional city of Bhowani. When rebellion breaks out, the British community in Bengal is shattered. Savage's empathy for the Indians is shaken, as the British try to discover who is loyal to them and who is not.
One of the great novels of India, Nightrunners of Bengal combines John Master's mastery of story-telling with an intuitive sense of history. This was the first novel that Masters wrote in the series, though not the first novel chronologically, and alongside Bhowani Junction is one of his best-known works.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
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428 people want to read
About the author
John Masters
148 books52 followersMasters was the son of a lieutenant-colonel whose family had a long tradition of service in the Indian Army. He was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst. On graduating from Sandhurst in 1933, he was seconded to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) for a year before applying to serve with the 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles. He saw service on the North-West Frontier with the 2nd battalion of the regiment, and was rapidly given a variety of appointments within the battalion and the regimental depot, becoming the Adjutant of the 2nd battalion in early 1939.
During World War II his battalion was sent to Basra in Iraq, during the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria and Persia. In early 1942, he attended the Indian Army Staff College at Quetta. Here he met the wife of a fellow officer and began an affair. They were later to marry. This caused a small scandal at the time.
After Staff College he first served as Brigade Major in 114th Indian Infantry Brigade before being "poached" by "Joe" Lentaigne, another officer from 4th Gurkhas, to be Brigade Major in 111th Indian Infantry Brigade, a Chindit formation. From March, 1944, the brigade served behind the Japanese lines in Burma. On the death of General Orde Wingate on 24 April, Lentaigne became the Chindits' overall commander and Masters commanded the main body of 111 Brigade.
In May, the brigade was ordered to hold a position code-named ‘Blackpool’ near Mogaung in northern Burma. The isolated position was attacked with great intensity for seventeen days and eventually the brigade was forced to withdraw. Masters had to order the medical orderlies to shoot 19 of his own men, casualties who had no hope of recovery or rescue. Masters later wrote about these events in the second volume of his autobiography, The Road Past Mandalay.
After briefly commanding the 3rd battalion of his regiment, Masters subsequently became GSO1 (the Chief of Staff) of Indian 19th Infantry Division, which was heavily involved in the later stages of the Burma Campaign, until the end of the war. After a spell as a staff officer in GHQ India in Delhi, he then served as an instructor at the British Army Staff College, Camberley. He left the army after this posting, and moved to the United States, where he attempted to set up a business promoting walking tours in the Himalayas, one of his hobbies. The business was not a success and, to make ends meet, he decided to write of his experiences in the army. When his novels proved popular, he became a full-time writer.
In later life, Masters and his wife Barbara moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. He died in 1983 from complications following heart surgery. His family and friends scattered his ashes from an aeroplane over the mountain trails he loved to hike. General Sir Michael Rose, the former UN commander in Bosnia, is a stepson of Masters.
During World War II his battalion was sent to Basra in Iraq, during the brief Anglo-Iraqi War. Masters subsequently served in Iraq, Syria and Persia. In early 1942, he attended the Indian Army Staff College at Quetta. Here he met the wife of a fellow officer and began an affair. They were later to marry. This caused a small scandal at the time.
After Staff College he first served as Brigade Major in 114th Indian Infantry Brigade before being "poached" by "Joe" Lentaigne, another officer from 4th Gurkhas, to be Brigade Major in 111th Indian Infantry Brigade, a Chindit formation. From March, 1944, the brigade served behind the Japanese lines in Burma. On the death of General Orde Wingate on 24 April, Lentaigne became the Chindits' overall commander and Masters commanded the main body of 111 Brigade.
In May, the brigade was ordered to hold a position code-named ‘Blackpool’ near Mogaung in northern Burma. The isolated position was attacked with great intensity for seventeen days and eventually the brigade was forced to withdraw. Masters had to order the medical orderlies to shoot 19 of his own men, casualties who had no hope of recovery or rescue. Masters later wrote about these events in the second volume of his autobiography, The Road Past Mandalay.
After briefly commanding the 3rd battalion of his regiment, Masters subsequently became GSO1 (the Chief of Staff) of Indian 19th Infantry Division, which was heavily involved in the later stages of the Burma Campaign, until the end of the war. After a spell as a staff officer in GHQ India in Delhi, he then served as an instructor at the British Army Staff College, Camberley. He left the army after this posting, and moved to the United States, where he attempted to set up a business promoting walking tours in the Himalayas, one of his hobbies. The business was not a success and, to make ends meet, he decided to write of his experiences in the army. When his novels proved popular, he became a full-time writer.
In later life, Masters and his wife Barbara moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. He died in 1983 from complications following heart surgery. His family and friends scattered his ashes from an aeroplane over the mountain trails he loved to hike. General Sir Michael Rose, the former UN commander in Bosnia, is a stepson of Masters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 3, 2013
A re-read for me. After almost three decades, it turns out I forgot almost all the details of the plot, other than the setting at the time of the Indian Sepoy Uprising in 1857. It is also apparent that the first time around I was more interested in the adventure elements of the story (opulent tiger hunts, harrowing escapes from blood crazed savages, gruesome murders, valiant cavalry charges, naked girls dancing, etc) than in the political implications and the evident bias of the narrator for the British point of view in the conflict.
Briefly, Captain Rodney Savage is an officer in a Native regiment in Bhowani - an imaginary town bordering Kishanpur, a still independent Indian kingdom. After the Rajah of Kishanpur is murdered, Rodney is sent to pacify the city and to support the succession of his wife Sumitra Devi, who may have ordered the killing in the first place. In between dealing with his own social climber wife, corrupt political officers and saving the Rani's life during a tiger hunt, Rodney begins to gather intelligence about mysterious messages passed from village to village in the night, illegal arms smuggling, secret meetings, prophecies of doom from a holy man and general unrest among his soldiers and the general population. Rodney is assisted in his investigations by Caroline Langford, an earnest young lady who seems to have more empathy for the country and its people. When hell breaks loose, Rodney and Caroline try to escape towards a larger British garrison where a large scale confrontation with the rebels offers a grandiose finale to the novel.
For the positive aspects, Masters knows his history stuff, not surprising given his five generations background in the Indian Army. He is also a skilled storyteller - this may be a debut novel with some unsubtle characterizations and forced plot twists, but the scenery, the unforgiving climate, the social life in the cantonment jump off the page in vivid and convincing colours. The pacing is good, although I believe too much time was spent in the build-up to the rebellion and too little afterwards.
For the less savoury taste, Rodney is too evidently a product of the British Empire, strutting around Bengal as if he owned the place, taking for granted the numerous servants in every household and the loyalty of his troops. Much of the novel is spent in trying to find excuses for the excesses of his compatriots, to put the blame on bad apples and envy on the part of the Sepoys, to lionize the few Indians who remained loyal to their overlords. While acknowledging several of the mistakes in policy, like the forceful removal of native rulers and the indifference to local customs (see the issue of greased cartridges to caste conscious soldiers) , the major tonality of the argument is that the British are the best thing that could have happened to India, as they are the superior race with the better morals and better experience in governance. In my opinion, the only thing the British were better at was in fact ruthlessness and killing power. Here's an example of the delusional arguments Rodney likes to embrace:
If the people here in Kishanpur rebelled and threw off the Rani, they would then ask the British to rule them in her stead - for they would never, of course, imagine they could rule themselves.
and in another place:
The English were conquerors here, not friends, and it was a ghastly mistake ever to forget it. There must be no peace and no quarter until every last Indian grovelled, and stayed grovelling.
I may be accused in cherrypicking the quotes that best serve my own line of argument, and in all honesty, Rodney's views will be tempered towards the end of the novel, but I can't help positioning myself in this conflict on the side of the underdog, and this underdog is definitely not the smug, autocratic Brit officer. My final quote is a reply from a guru in a dialogue with Rodney:
How would you like to be ruled at home by an Indian Company of merchant-adventurers?
As an alternative read, Masters has two better novels set on the subcontinent (The Deceivers for adventure and Bhowani Junction for a more modern look at Anglo-Indian relations). My favorite romance epic of 1857 remains Shadow of the Moon by M M Kaye.
November 9, 2015
Five stars because it is well-written, not because Rodney Savage is a racist, murderous psychopath who lives up to his surname. I'm so glad that his equally offensive descendant gets sidelined by the heroine in 'Bhowani Junction'.
Also hateful and unbearable - the tiger hunt scene - the world would be a much nicer place if the Imperialists and the Royalists had just hunted each other into extinction.
Also hateful and unbearable - the tiger hunt scene - the world would be a much nicer place if the Imperialists and the Royalists had just hunted each other into extinction.
July 19, 2012
Page 199:
It was not even yet an exact word, but a curse and a warning: This is the night. The word ran across the plains, leaped wide rivers, and raced through the jungles as a fire races under dry leaves. A woman tapped on a city wall and whispered it to her neighbor. One man cried it to another as their bullock carts passed in the fields. It set out at sunset from every place where sepoys were stationed; it traveled in every direction; and before the morning of Sunday, May 10, 1857, it had crossed and recrossed itself many times. People hurried home when they heard it, or bolted their doors, and waited. They did not know who was threatened this night, but it might be they. Some prayed; some shrugged; few went abroad.
Page 215:
"Remember Mangal Pande! Mangal Pande! This is the night of the raw flesh...Kill! The guns are coming. Kill them all! Kill or be hanged! Remember!"
Page 269:
A hundred years hence the inscriptions must be there to read on the memorials: Here English children were burned alive in theirs cots, and English women cut in pieces by these brown animals you see around you. DO NOT FORGET.
After have listened to the BBC dramatization based on this book, I decided I MUST read its printed version.
It was not even yet an exact word, but a curse and a warning: This is the night. The word ran across the plains, leaped wide rivers, and raced through the jungles as a fire races under dry leaves. A woman tapped on a city wall and whispered it to her neighbor. One man cried it to another as their bullock carts passed in the fields. It set out at sunset from every place where sepoys were stationed; it traveled in every direction; and before the morning of Sunday, May 10, 1857, it had crossed and recrossed itself many times. People hurried home when they heard it, or bolted their doors, and waited. They did not know who was threatened this night, but it might be they. Some prayed; some shrugged; few went abroad.
Page 215:
"Remember Mangal Pande! Mangal Pande! This is the night of the raw flesh...Kill! The guns are coming. Kill them all! Kill or be hanged! Remember!"
Page 269:
A hundred years hence the inscriptions must be there to read on the memorials: Here English children were burned alive in theirs cots, and English women cut in pieces by these brown animals you see around you. DO NOT FORGET.
After have listened to the BBC dramatization based on this book, I decided I MUST read its printed version.
May 4, 2010
Like other John Masters book, an extraordinary adventure period novel. This one is a classic must read. I have just gone through three of his books like a prairie fire. He draws painstaking portraits of personalities and characters who are firmly placed in their time period, but gives a clear eyed view into their motivations and life experiences.
May 8, 2015
Paternalistic, but a tightly engineered story. Masters writes with the descriptive depth of a professional soldier and a son of India. Surely as a child born (in Calcutta) during the Raj, of a family that had been there since the 18th century, Masters must've heard stories of the Rebellion from the outset of his life. I imagine he must've turned the possibilities and history of the event over and over in his head endlessly, and felt an overwhelming urge to make it the subject of his first novel. The end result is a page turner, written in an anguished tone. Fantastic book.
February 12, 2022
Excellent historical novel by someone who knew and loved India (as it was).
It's about love, loyalty and madness
I've lost count of the times I've re-read it.
I supect it may be regarded as too old fashioned these days
(NB I read the 1969 Penguin edition)
It's about love, loyalty and madness
I've lost count of the times I've re-read it.
I supect it may be regarded as too old fashioned these days
(NB I read the 1969 Penguin edition)
March 6, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2019
This story was published in 1951, and I often find books this old come across as a bit aged in style. I’m happy to say this was not the case with this one; I quite enjoyed Masters’ voice.
Now, Masters’ values and obvious admiration of the British Empire is dated, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t and exciting and engaging story. Rodney’s decent into paranoia is very well done, and when he’s hopelessly and involuntarily commanding his beloved 88th from across the battlefield, it broke my heart a little.
Now, Masters’ values and obvious admiration of the British Empire is dated, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t and exciting and engaging story. Rodney’s decent into paranoia is very well done, and when he’s hopelessly and involuntarily commanding his beloved 88th from across the battlefield, it broke my heart a little.
October 7, 2018
Review: John Masters, Nightrunners of Bengal
This was a captivating read. From the start, Captain Rodney Savage, a complex character both appealing and puzzling, provides the lens of an Englishman with a particular affinity for India. His explanations of the intrigue within factions, the balance of power and the threads tugging upon it is masterful (pun intended). There are some curious female characters, so strong as to be out of place in the mid eighteen hundreds.
The Rani is clearly the historical character of Rani Laxmibai, herself heroic and repulsive, fascinating and passionate, which surprises one, given the compelling traditional roles of females of the time. Early on she admits to murder, yet makes no apologies! Savage sees her as a mistaken patriot, a curious position for Masters, the author. The love triangles here, were, I felt, a bit contrived.
The military characters are drawn so clearly as to be obviously historical persons. In this, Masters is brilliant, with dialog revealing much of the characters’ internal make up.
In both the precursor to, and the mutiny itself, the action sizzles off the page. Masters is entirely believable with the military sequences, the interplay between Indian Sepoys and British officers, and their servants. The foolish competitions and slurs the wives of English officers throw at each other, the 'shikar' tiger hunt, the parties, the day to day living of the officers, even life in the Indian palace, are entirely believable. India's heat and dust and sweat drip off the pages, so vivid as to singe one's cheeks. One can hear India's forests, and birds and animals in his descriptions, dripping with the sounds of crickets and chatter of monkeys.
Criticism: why did Masters give the Silver Sadhu western origins? Could such an influential personage not be truly Indian? Perhaps this odd character is the distillation, a true blend of east and west, with prophetic tragic consequences.
Savage endures the horrors of the mutiny and suffers awful hardships to save the day. The cholera epidemic sparks too much of the need of the English not to be masters but friends, to be heroic, to save others, thereby redeeming themselves. It is there to show the partnership of races, but for me, this device smacks of convenience, not credibility.
Masters retains the final balance, the success or failure of the final battle to Indian hands, as if to balance the plot, for without it, the English are the betrayed, and Indians, the betrayers. Reality was far more complex.
This was a chilling tale, one I would read again, since in the first go around, my need to move through the story was so urgent that it kept me from fully enjoying its literary flair.
This was a captivating read. From the start, Captain Rodney Savage, a complex character both appealing and puzzling, provides the lens of an Englishman with a particular affinity for India. His explanations of the intrigue within factions, the balance of power and the threads tugging upon it is masterful (pun intended). There are some curious female characters, so strong as to be out of place in the mid eighteen hundreds.
The Rani is clearly the historical character of Rani Laxmibai, herself heroic and repulsive, fascinating and passionate, which surprises one, given the compelling traditional roles of females of the time. Early on she admits to murder, yet makes no apologies! Savage sees her as a mistaken patriot, a curious position for Masters, the author. The love triangles here, were, I felt, a bit contrived.
The military characters are drawn so clearly as to be obviously historical persons. In this, Masters is brilliant, with dialog revealing much of the characters’ internal make up.
In both the precursor to, and the mutiny itself, the action sizzles off the page. Masters is entirely believable with the military sequences, the interplay between Indian Sepoys and British officers, and their servants. The foolish competitions and slurs the wives of English officers throw at each other, the 'shikar' tiger hunt, the parties, the day to day living of the officers, even life in the Indian palace, are entirely believable. India's heat and dust and sweat drip off the pages, so vivid as to singe one's cheeks. One can hear India's forests, and birds and animals in his descriptions, dripping with the sounds of crickets and chatter of monkeys.
Criticism: why did Masters give the Silver Sadhu western origins? Could such an influential personage not be truly Indian? Perhaps this odd character is the distillation, a true blend of east and west, with prophetic tragic consequences.
Savage endures the horrors of the mutiny and suffers awful hardships to save the day. The cholera epidemic sparks too much of the need of the English not to be masters but friends, to be heroic, to save others, thereby redeeming themselves. It is there to show the partnership of races, but for me, this device smacks of convenience, not credibility.
Masters retains the final balance, the success or failure of the final battle to Indian hands, as if to balance the plot, for without it, the English are the betrayed, and Indians, the betrayers. Reality was far more complex.
This was a chilling tale, one I would read again, since in the first go around, my need to move through the story was so urgent that it kept me from fully enjoying its literary flair.
February 8, 2009
Interesting look at the Indian Mutiny through the eyes of the Raj. The book starts in 1856, in the fictional cantonment of Bhowani in Bengal India.
The POV is Rodney Savage. He is a Captain of the 13th Rifles, Bengal Native Infantry. He is the leader of the Indian Sepoys, who make up the rank and file. He has spent years with them, and has respect and affection for them, though he believes in British superiority. His world is destroyed when he has to face that these same men want to kill him, and do kill other British.
Rodney muses on the narrow and repressed life they must lead as Victorians. He blames it on Albert, and longs for the easier (socially) days of his father and grandfather.
The book also brings up one of the secrets of the Raj, that those of middle and lower class were accorded 'Upper Class' status (grudgingly) in India because they were British and white. That group of people never wanted to go home, where they would return to their former lower-order life. In India they had servants, large houses, power and prestige.
The country is divided into different British zones, with some princely states (they are dependent on the British to survive). Savage visits the Rani of Kishanpur, after her husband is killed. He spends time in the princely state and interacts with Indians who are technically their own masters.
This book is 3rd book (Story Order) in the Savage Family series.
The majority of the book looks at life in the cantonment, how the various Brits interact with each other and with the Indians all around them as soldiers and servants. There are British men, women and children, a whole mini social structure.
Masters shows how they are beset by the little things, and miss or don't care about the important things. He also explores how the East India Company (which ran India), with remote businessmen make decisions that drive the Sepoys and their officers apart.
About 2/3 of the way through the mutiny happens and the pace picks up. There is very little of the aftermath in the book.
I thought the writing was a bit stiff, not sure if Masters was trying to be Victorian, or if it is because it is the first book in the series published.
The POV is Rodney Savage. He is a Captain of the 13th Rifles, Bengal Native Infantry. He is the leader of the Indian Sepoys, who make up the rank and file. He has spent years with them, and has respect and affection for them, though he believes in British superiority. His world is destroyed when he has to face that these same men want to kill him, and do kill other British.
Rodney muses on the narrow and repressed life they must lead as Victorians. He blames it on Albert, and longs for the easier (socially) days of his father and grandfather.
The book also brings up one of the secrets of the Raj, that those of middle and lower class were accorded 'Upper Class' status (grudgingly) in India because they were British and white. That group of people never wanted to go home, where they would return to their former lower-order life. In India they had servants, large houses, power and prestige.
The country is divided into different British zones, with some princely states (they are dependent on the British to survive). Savage visits the Rani of Kishanpur, after her husband is killed. He spends time in the princely state and interacts with Indians who are technically their own masters.
This book is 3rd book (Story Order) in the Savage Family series.
The majority of the book looks at life in the cantonment, how the various Brits interact with each other and with the Indians all around them as soldiers and servants. There are British men, women and children, a whole mini social structure.
Masters shows how they are beset by the little things, and miss or don't care about the important things. He also explores how the East India Company (which ran India), with remote businessmen make decisions that drive the Sepoys and their officers apart.
About 2/3 of the way through the mutiny happens and the pace picks up. There is very little of the aftermath in the book.
I thought the writing was a bit stiff, not sure if Masters was trying to be Victorian, or if it is because it is the first book in the series published.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2017
The Indian Revolt of 1857 against the East India Company's rule was a two-year-long series of crimes and brutal acts against mostly civilians, first by the Sepoy mutineers and then by the English. It began as a revolt against the Company's officials and military leaders, but spread almost immediately to include the dependents and hangers-on of those first targets. The English reprisals that followed were brutal, and the overall effect of the mutineers' (revolutionaries') defeat was a complete takeover of India by the British Crown, and the creation of what we know as the Raj. Masters, who rose to the rank of colonel in the British Indian Army, has sympathy for both sides, though he recognizes the Company's distance from the people of India. His recreation of the mutiny is centered on the town of Bhowani, a fictional place that occurs in a couple of his novels, though it is situated roughly where Jansi is located. (The fort in Jansi, and the Rani's palace, both still stand, and have been well maintained, as does most of the fort at Gwalior where the mutineers were broken.) His main character, Rodney Savage is both headstrong and sympathetically drawn, though he is torn between vengeance and sorrow. I first read the book in 1959, and it stands up to rereading.
January 27, 2015
This is a really interesting exploration of India and the relationship between the East India Company and the Indian people. Masters knows the country intimately well. While he wrote this book many years ago, it speaks to many details concerning the emotional and cultural complexity of foreign occupation, made relevant to America's occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.
September 24, 2018
This book is overly romantic in patches (especially in patches concerning colonial justifications), and might be difficult to read because of that - but if you go with the flow, it's an interesting adventure with a brutal edge to it.
January 2, 2025
I paired this book with E. Said's Orientalism, both as a way to balance the academic with something fun, as well as an expectation that some orientalism may be found here as well. I think it did in shades, but not overbearingly so. In fact, there was a balance within the book of viewpoints through different characters that even impressed me.
Author John had served in the British military when it was the global empire and this book was published just after India and Pakistan had actually attained their illusive and much-strived for liberation following WWII. As someone who hails from Bengal region, I remember reading about the "nightrunners" in a poem by Sukanto Bhattacharya "Runner", describing the messengers who traveled on foot by night's darkness carrying information about for a living. The title thus naturally grabbed me at the old books store and I grabbed it in turn. The story is set in the 1850's when there was a riot by the Indian soldiers the empire employed to, keep order there and protect it's interests.
Our protagonist is Rodney Savage and the book opens with his account of his work and life in Bhowanipur, between the native soldiers he commands for whom he shows a slight fondness or affection for as he's such a romantic, and the social life with the other white people who form the upper echelons of the empire. He is slightly bored or tired with the latter, the dances, the gossiping, his marriage and so on. The books has Yin and Yang in the form of the female protagonist Caronline Langford to go against Rodney's views. Caroline is shown to understand they are unwelcome inhabitants who also don't take much interest in the local people or customs. As such she is an annoyance of sorts in those parties Rodney describes.
The major element of this book is of course the Sepoy Mutiny which became a major challenge for the empire which used the local men as soldiers. The story finds us at a time when Mangal Pandey has already been captured and hung for attempting a revolt. His actions had however caused undercurrents which the Brits fail to clearly spot or act on. Rodney hears of the mysterious runners going about taking Capatis (flat bread) from village to village in the night. There are murmurs but not translated to any clear and present danger by the commanders and decision makers and Rodney is caught by suprise when he see fires and killings taking place in one night. Some of the Brits from that station are able to run away, including Rodney, Caroline, Rodney little boy and few others. The story from here is about their survival and journey to another station to warn them about the revolt and fight the mutineers which includes a Rani of a small province within Bengal.
Reading a book that was publised in 1950 about an event from 1850s, I had hoped to gleam some historic elements of that time and I feel these will stick with me -
* the N-word being used for Indians
* Piroo a local man who tried to warn Rodney about the impending attack on this station who is first brushed away and then mistrusted most of the way though being loyal to the empire and Rodney and killing other Indians for that reason
* things aren't black and white in history - there were those for and against the British for various reasons (I believe William Dalrymple touches on this in his books)
* a statement about the Irish loyalties when a wandering hermit thought to be Indian was found to be not so, and was plotting with the revolting forces
* the mention of upper-caste Hindu women wearing burkhas (would need to look into this one)
* Rodney's internal musings on the application of German moral values on the company men by Prince Albert which he felt weighed on him preventing him from taking bribes or looting to improve his financial standing which his ancestors could do (he also muses that there weren't any viable thing anyone could bribe him for either, sadly)
All in all, it was a great read - some of the beginning is a bit boring, esp. the parties, but it did pick up pace. The inclusion of Caroline as mentioned presented a sense of a grounding and not turning it into a total one-sided revenge or military success story and transforms it into an interesting and revealing story of that time.
Author John had served in the British military when it was the global empire and this book was published just after India and Pakistan had actually attained their illusive and much-strived for liberation following WWII. As someone who hails from Bengal region, I remember reading about the "nightrunners" in a poem by Sukanto Bhattacharya "Runner", describing the messengers who traveled on foot by night's darkness carrying information about for a living. The title thus naturally grabbed me at the old books store and I grabbed it in turn. The story is set in the 1850's when there was a riot by the Indian soldiers the empire employed to, keep order there and protect it's interests.
Our protagonist is Rodney Savage and the book opens with his account of his work and life in Bhowanipur, between the native soldiers he commands for whom he shows a slight fondness or affection for as he's such a romantic, and the social life with the other white people who form the upper echelons of the empire. He is slightly bored or tired with the latter, the dances, the gossiping, his marriage and so on. The books has Yin and Yang in the form of the female protagonist Caronline Langford to go against Rodney's views. Caroline is shown to understand they are unwelcome inhabitants who also don't take much interest in the local people or customs. As such she is an annoyance of sorts in those parties Rodney describes.
The major element of this book is of course the Sepoy Mutiny which became a major challenge for the empire which used the local men as soldiers. The story finds us at a time when Mangal Pandey has already been captured and hung for attempting a revolt. His actions had however caused undercurrents which the Brits fail to clearly spot or act on. Rodney hears of the mysterious runners going about taking Capatis (flat bread) from village to village in the night. There are murmurs but not translated to any clear and present danger by the commanders and decision makers and Rodney is caught by suprise when he see fires and killings taking place in one night. Some of the Brits from that station are able to run away, including Rodney, Caroline, Rodney little boy and few others. The story from here is about their survival and journey to another station to warn them about the revolt and fight the mutineers which includes a Rani of a small province within Bengal.
Reading a book that was publised in 1950 about an event from 1850s, I had hoped to gleam some historic elements of that time and I feel these will stick with me -
* the N-word being used for Indians
* Piroo a local man who tried to warn Rodney about the impending attack on this station who is first brushed away and then mistrusted most of the way though being loyal to the empire and Rodney and killing other Indians for that reason
* things aren't black and white in history - there were those for and against the British for various reasons (I believe William Dalrymple touches on this in his books)
* a statement about the Irish loyalties when a wandering hermit thought to be Indian was found to be not so, and was plotting with the revolting forces
* the mention of upper-caste Hindu women wearing burkhas (would need to look into this one)
* Rodney's internal musings on the application of German moral values on the company men by Prince Albert which he felt weighed on him preventing him from taking bribes or looting to improve his financial standing which his ancestors could do (he also muses that there weren't any viable thing anyone could bribe him for either, sadly)
All in all, it was a great read - some of the beginning is a bit boring, esp. the parties, but it did pick up pace. The inclusion of Caroline as mentioned presented a sense of a grounding and not turning it into a total one-sided revenge or military success story and transforms it into an interesting and revealing story of that time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2017
I had read a previous book by John Masters that was just great, so I promptly put this well-reviewed book on my want list. Masters uses the Savage family (interesting choice of name) throughout his India chronicles, so in this book, we have Rodney Savage, with a front row seat to his Sepoy battalion rebelling within the local fort.
Within the English community, Savage is surrounded by ignorance, with oblivious and bigoted colleagues; he has a wife he doesn't love - one of many idle women nitpicking pettily about each other - and is the recipient of difficult questions he doesn't want to hear from an annoying bluestocking (he and I both disliked her early on, but she grew on us). The questions she asks ultimately make him sense the rot within the system, and make him re-examine his place in India, his life, and himself.
Rodney is left with the choice to hide with additional English survivors and friendly? locals until rescued, give into the blood lust and seek revenge whenever possible, or attempt to prevent subsequent rebellions that he knows will occur as local rajahs work to systematically - and bloodily - eradicate all Europeans from their lands and the organized rebellion works its way through India.
As he works through emotional and physical survival, Rodney also looks with new eyes at how his colleagues respond to the emergency and India.
Lately I've been counting the number of pages left in a book to see how far I have to go before I'm done. I don't know if this is because I'm tired when I read or because many of the books on my stack looked good, but just aren't that fascinating once they're cracked open. Regardless, I didn't do that once with this 373-page Souvenir edition. The best novel on the rebellion I've read.
Within the English community, Savage is surrounded by ignorance, with oblivious and bigoted colleagues; he has a wife he doesn't love - one of many idle women nitpicking pettily about each other - and is the recipient of difficult questions he doesn't want to hear from an annoying bluestocking (he and I both disliked her early on, but she grew on us). The questions she asks ultimately make him sense the rot within the system, and make him re-examine his place in India, his life, and himself.
Rodney is left with the choice to hide with additional English survivors and friendly? locals until rescued, give into the blood lust and seek revenge whenever possible, or attempt to prevent subsequent rebellions that he knows will occur as local rajahs work to systematically - and bloodily - eradicate all Europeans from their lands and the organized rebellion works its way through India.
As he works through emotional and physical survival, Rodney also looks with new eyes at how his colleagues respond to the emergency and India.
Lately I've been counting the number of pages left in a book to see how far I have to go before I'm done. I don't know if this is because I'm tired when I read or because many of the books on my stack looked good, but just aren't that fascinating once they're cracked open. Regardless, I didn't do that once with this 373-page Souvenir edition. The best novel on the rebellion I've read.
August 6, 2017
I first read this book when I was in India in the early 1970's, knowing nothing of the history of this complex country; the Mughul rulers, the British Raj, the fight for independence or anything really. With this re-reading of the book I find myself more critical of the British in India and favor the "rightness" of India Home Rule. Though it was interesting to note that villagers were acccustomed to being ruled and really, it didn't matter who they were. Were the British better or more fair than others? Hard to say. Judging by the behavior exhibited by the British military and their paternalistic attitude to their native troops, I would tend to be on the side of the sepoys. They, however, were caught up in the intrigue of the Rajahs, Ranis and other local rulers. The situation was highly complex.
Masters writes of a brutal time with atrocities committed on both sides. I found myself searching the the internet for the history of the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. For me the sign of a good book is if it prompts me to learn more about the time, the place or the events. This book did this.
Masters writes of a brutal time with atrocities committed on both sides. I found myself searching the the internet for the history of the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857. For me the sign of a good book is if it prompts me to learn more about the time, the place or the events. This book did this.
August 17, 2017
Nightrunners of Bengal has its immersive world as its true protagonist and its main focus is the emotional turmoil of the main character. It is a breath of fresh air to read something about a grey world, a foreigner describing their foreign home and how dark it can become in war. While the first half of the book is gripping and wonderfully put together to create many wholesome, imperfect but sympathetic characters, it is the change from white women in petticoats playing crochet to sepoys murdering babies in their cribs that grips you into the true message of the story, almost being convinced with the main character that these people who are trying to reclaim their homeland are monsters before remembering the reality of the situation and it’s bigger picture. Something that was also refreshing is how unheroic the main character is. He’s not a saviour but a broken man in a country that wants him dead and he is not about to the day, he can barely save himself and those he loves. He’s a complex character that changes throughout the story’s events.
August 12, 2017
Wonderful historical fiction told in the classic style, woven with threads of truth about man, men, fraternal love, lust, philanthropia, and ethnocentric ignorance. Though we know the outcome, the tale of the simmering Sepoy Rebellion in one presidency of the East India Company is told with suspense. Along the way to its conclusion, beautiful prose puts the reader into the exotic settings and into the head of a British Captain.
January 8, 2025
A gripping, fast-pace story from the off, with twists and turns to the last. Whilst the narrative voice reflects the over bearing patriarchal era the author is writing in, the awakening of the book’s hero as the story progresses is refreshing - nobody emerges as victor and hero except perhaps the lowly, community minded village folk and several strong female leads. It also serves to show that we never learn and history will always repeat.
February 14, 2023
I came to this book wanting to learn of the British occupation of India for a story I want ro write.
This was a challenging read, not because of the quality or lack there of but because the way in which it was written; vocabulary, descriptive passages unfamiliar writing styles meant that it wasn't something I was used to but I knew the more difficult read, the more rewarding.
I never felt a better reflection of the author themselves in their writing than in this book. I felt I learned as much about John Masters and his exploits and experience in India as I did about it's landscape and the revolution which at times was utterly pleasant.
Suffice to say I got what I came for, along with a plethora of knowledge about India's rich culture and history of the time. All told in such a beautifully vivid manner uncommon (thus far, as I've experienced) in modern literature.
This was a challenging read, not because of the quality or lack there of but because the way in which it was written; vocabulary, descriptive passages unfamiliar writing styles meant that it wasn't something I was used to but I knew the more difficult read, the more rewarding.
I never felt a better reflection of the author themselves in their writing than in this book. I felt I learned as much about John Masters and his exploits and experience in India as I did about it's landscape and the revolution which at times was utterly pleasant.
Suffice to say I got what I came for, along with a plethora of knowledge about India's rich culture and history of the time. All told in such a beautifully vivid manner uncommon (thus far, as I've experienced) in modern literature.
January 18, 2024
Very slow to develop. Gives insight into life in the army in British India. When the mutiny occurs the gore is overwhelming and I felt it distracted from the novel. Yes these were horrific times and slaughter was a dreadful part of the real mutiny.
February 26, 2019
The anguish of trust betrayed - the heat and beauty and savagery of a vast and ancient land - reading pages my dad had read, a world away
December 19, 2021
John Masters brings India at the time of the Mutiny vividly to life, in this dashing story of adventure.
March 12, 2017
I initially found this book difficult to focus on, while beautifully written, I am not particularly interested in subject of India, never-mind the 19th century mutiny.
However, two thirds in the story suddenly explodes and it was all I could do to finish it!
I recommend sticking it out, definitely worth the effort!
However, two thirds in the story suddenly explodes and it was all I could do to finish it!
I recommend sticking it out, definitely worth the effort!
April 5, 2017
John Mastersin "Bengalin ratsastajat" (Otava, 1953) on sepoy-kapinan aattoon sijoittuva historiallinen romaani kapteeni Rodney Savagesta, joka joutuu fiktiivisen Bhowanin varuskunnan upseerina temmatuksi mukaan veriseen myrskyyn, jonka merkit jäävät valtaosalta huomaamatta, mutta joka saattaa pahimmillaan vaarantaa koko brittiläisen imperiumin olemassaolon Intiassa. Savagen yksityiselämässä kuohuu myös, mistä pitää huolta peräti kolme eri naista, joista yksi on Kishnapurin ruhtinaskunnan rani.
Mastersin romaani on parhaimmillaan mukaansatempaavaa luettavaa, etenkin kuvatessaan kapinan puhkeamista, ja vaikka kirjailijaa onkin moitittu (ainakin kaikkitietävän Wikipedian mukaan) imperialistisesta asenteesta, onnistuu hän kuitenkin selvittämään melko hyvin sitä syytaustaa, joka sepoy-joukkojen kapinaan johti. Ymmärrystä riittää muillekin kuin englantilaisten asialle - toisin kuin vaikkapa Jules Vernellä Höyrytalossa. Kapteeni Savage ei ole hänkään mikään puhdas pulmunen, vaan melko kompleksinen hahmo, jonka toimintaa ajaa myös puhdas kostonhimo ja muut alhaisemmat tunteet.
Niin, kyllä tätä kelpaa suositella niin historiallisten seikkailu- kuin sotaromaanienkin ystäville.
Mastersin romaani on parhaimmillaan mukaansatempaavaa luettavaa, etenkin kuvatessaan kapinan puhkeamista, ja vaikka kirjailijaa onkin moitittu (ainakin kaikkitietävän Wikipedian mukaan) imperialistisesta asenteesta, onnistuu hän kuitenkin selvittämään melko hyvin sitä syytaustaa, joka sepoy-joukkojen kapinaan johti. Ymmärrystä riittää muillekin kuin englantilaisten asialle - toisin kuin vaikkapa Jules Vernellä Höyrytalossa. Kapteeni Savage ei ole hänkään mikään puhdas pulmunen, vaan melko kompleksinen hahmo, jonka toimintaa ajaa myös puhdas kostonhimo ja muut alhaisemmat tunteet.
Niin, kyllä tätä kelpaa suositella niin historiallisten seikkailu- kuin sotaromaanienkin ystäville.
September 11, 2016
I loved this book. I was writng The Jasmine Sari at the time that I read it and I found it really useful in helping me to see how India felt about colonialism. The book describes what we British call the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Indians call this event The First War of Independence and it's these two starkly different perspectives, occupier and occupied, that I have tried to convey in The Jasmine Sari, albeit through the less obviously visible "occupation" of the developing world by global businesses. Masters says in an author's note that his objective was to "make the fictional whole present a true perspective of fact - the facts of the environment, circumstance and emotion." In my view he achieves this admirably. His descriptions of the violence on the first night of the uprising are vivid and disturbing, some of the best writing of this type that I've encountered. The book deserves to be much more well known and acclaimed.
May 29, 2016
I have read and enjoyed other novels that plunge the characters into history during the Mutiny; in this one the historical facts are a background where a fictional group of people in a fictional place come to terms with the cultural and human shocks that caused the mutiny, and the ones that followed. It is more about the difficulty to find a balance between your background and tradition, and conflicting loyalties. This is why the history of colonialism is so interesting, and far from straightforward.
July 14, 2015
This is at least the third time I've read this book. I can remember reading the scene where Rodney Savage, along with his son and lady friend, Caroline, goes down the chute to escape being killed twice before. The book takes place in India in 1857 at the time of the sepoy (Indian troops being commanded by British officers) rebellion. Savage is a captain over sepoys and finds himself right in the middle of the uprising. Almost nonstop action, which John Masters is very good at, with a lot of history thrown in.
February 25, 2016
This was a book we read in the 5th year in grammar school and it was the subject of our GCE English Literacy exam in 1975! My English teacher was Mrs Drina Parker (hard name to forget), she was harsh but fair!
I enjoyed it... very vivid, I can still remember some of today and I havent read it since!
I enjoyed it... very vivid, I can still remember some of today and I havent read it since!
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January 28, 2017Another John Masters adventure, mystery - British undercover agent (turned his skin brown), racy, trying to discover Indians planning for a revolt - or "Mutiny" which Indians prefer to call "the first war of Indpendence." What is it with passing those loafs of bread or chapatis?
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