Adrishya - True Stories of Indian Spies

by EPIC Television's popular

Not all wars are won on the battlefield and not all soldiers fight in combat. Some remain invisible, away from direct combat and yet risk their lives to protect the honour of their king and country. These are the faceless heroes of war—the spies—who collect classified information about the enemy, skilfully helping the ruler and the government of the land to safeguard their own territory.
Packed with action, Adrishya is a collection of India's greatest spy stories. It captures the lives of spies—extraordinary men and women—through the danger, the fear and the triumphs. It narrates their heroic acts and follows them as they travel through dangerous landscapes, slip into disguises and hoodwink enemy soldiers. Starting off with India's first spy from the Mahabharata to the RAW officials of the 1971 war, this book is a collection of real spy stories which will entertain and inspire at the same time.

Genres: Nonfiction, India

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2017

Reviews

[Ravi Prakash · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book, it may be more interesting describing the historical situation in some details concerning the spies.

[Sumit · Rating 5 out of 5]

In history, success stories of rulers, kings, rajas and chhatrapatis are known to all. However, history doesn’t say much about those people who have followed their masters’ strategies, worked alongside them, done the necessary groundwork and even made enormous sacrifices. Unfortunately, these are the lesser-known voices of history.




This book is based on EPIC Television’s popular show by the same name—‘Adrishya: True Stories of Indian Spies’. It features 10 heroic stories of the greatest Indian spies from the times of the Mahabharata to the last century, written by historians/ experts/ lecturer of that specified time period.

1. Kacha, the spy of the gods, was sent by Lord Indra to learn mrit sanjeevani vidya from Guru Shukracharya, a knowledge which would make the gods immortal, but it came with a heavy price.

2. Jeev Siddhi, Chanakya’s spy who assisted his guru Chanakya in saving Chandragupta Maurya’s life and expand his kingdom by strategically defeating King Nanda’s minister, Rakshasa.

3. Chand Bardai, a court poet and a jester help his king, Prithviraj Chauhan of Ajmer, in eloping princess Sanyukta of Kannauj from her Swayamvar and later when Prithviraj was blinded and imprisoned by Mohammad Ghori of Ghazni, he plotted a way for him to seek revenge from Ghori.

4. Bahirji Naik, Chhatrapati Shivaji’s chief intelligence officer, was a master of disguises and the practitioners of guerrilla warfare who helped him in killing Afzal Khan, conquering Lal Mahal from Shaista Khan & plundering Surat.

5. Sharan Kaur, who was saved by the army of Hari Singh Nalwa, the great commander of the Sikh empire, returned the favor by becoming a warrior spy, helping Nalwa counter the ferocious attacks of the Pathan tribes.

6. Aziz-Un, a courtesan of Lucknow who traveled to Kanpur just to maintain the independence of her choices, turned against the British, started out as a spy, and actively participating in the planning of the uprising of 1857.

7. Durgavati Vohra, married to a freedom fighter at an early age, was a revolutionary Indian woman spy who actively involved in the planning and execution of several of the HSRA activities and helped Bhagat Singh when the Britishers were looking for him for the murder of Saunders.

8. Noor Inayat Khan, a princess by birth and a children’s author. She despite her Sufi background, becomes the sole link between the rebel groups of France and their support system in England during World War II by working for the elite secret services of WAAF.

9. Saraswati Rajamani was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s spy in the INA who at an early age infiltrated British army ranks to gather intelligence for Netaji which helped him in his active resistance to the British Raj.

10. R.N. Kao and K. Shankar Nair, 2 RAW officers - one planned meticulously from the RAW headquarters and another work from the field - save countless lives and became instrumental in the creation of Bangladesh by intercepting the West Pakistani's intelligence.

These myriad stories give us a glimpse into the dangerous lives of the unsung heroes of wars while reaffirming the importance of their roles in the safety and security of the nation. The book also contains some detailed maps, photographs, and paper cuttings. All of this not only inspire and entertain us but also informed us about our nation's history.

Among all these stories my personal favorites are Bahirji Naik, Durga Bhabhi, Saraswati Rajamani, and R.N. Kao and K. Shankar Nair. I would recommend everyone to read this book.

𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Hitesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adrishya is a book about spies, featuring a collection of short biographies of spies from both ancient and modern India. The narration takes the form of engaging stories.

I enjoyed all the biographies, but my favorites were:

-Saraswati Rajamani
-Durgabhabhi
-Chand Bardai
-Noor Inayat Khan

While I appreciated each story, I felt deeply saddened reading about Saraswati Rajamani, whose incredible contributions went unrecognized by the Government of India. Noor Inayat Khan’s story, in particular, left a lasting impression—the tale of a brave woman who worked in the Gestapo and endured a tragic end in a Nazi camp was truly horrifying.

That said, the book could have been written much better. While the characters and their compelling stories kept me hooked, it was hard to ignore the numerous grammatical and spelling errors (and I’m not even a grammar purist!).

Despite its flaws, I loved this book and plan to revisit it someday.

I already got my hands on Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan. And will be reading it soon.

[Surender Negi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read

Very short stories of Indian spies. It's entangled Mahabharata to Mukhti Bahini in single thread and shows that India was not only great civilization but has history of brilliant spies who can turn the table in any war. Bravo

[Chandni Mathur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am the official transcriber and translator of this book. It's a book full of interesting stories of spies and their valor and bravery. A must read.

[Sonali Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello Readers, I just downloaded this book to read having watched parts of it on screen in EPIC channel. It has some beautiful stories talking to us over the pages of history and one can definitely get to know our rich culture and history in glimpses. Though one should have an understanding of Indian history and mythology.
A very entertaining read indeed. Also, it got me looking up and searching to related links which is a bit rare these days.
My opinion - You can read if you are into these things...
:-)

[Abhishek Prakash · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a collection of brief accounts of Spies of India starting from ancient days and ending on the spies of RAW. Since the book is fashioned on a television series, all the accounts are like episodes of a anthology tv series.
An average read.
The chapters are as below:

1. Kacha the Spy God
2. Jeev Siddhi Chanakya's Spy
3. Chand Bardai
4. Bahirji Naik
5. Sharan Kaur
6. Aziz-un-Nisa
7. Durga Bhabhi
8. Noor Inayat Khan
9. Saraswati Rajamani
10. R.N. Kao

[Niraj Khandwala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it's a nice book ...but it could have been much much better if it would have got into the details of what the spies did and how... I think those details would have made it much more interesting along with the details of the era and the historical background provided. The concept is great and definitely got to learn a bit about various spies across generations

[Suman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, short stories of Indian spies from ancient time to modern ages, some from Indian epics. Many were women spies and we learn about their great courage and skills. I have not watched the television serial on this, but found the book interesting.

[Sanjay Banerjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The serial on TV was definitely more interesting than the book!

[Riddhi Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic

Must read !! True stories of spies who played crucial role in freedom struggle 😊
These stories should be part of academic curriculum.

[Prashant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling tale of the undercover spies. I highly recommend this book.

[Aayushi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nicely grouped stories about the spies in Indian culture. The stories from the era of Mahabharata to the RAW spies. They are written in a total layman's language - easy to understand and relate to. I have not seen the show on the EPIC channel, but now I will try to have a look on that too.