Twilight in a Knotted World

by Siddhartha Sarma

The soil of central India hides more than the bones of long-dead giants.

The East India Company is master of almost the entire subcontinent, but real power is now with the Crown. Far from the great games of the empire, Captain William Henry Sleeman is content to administer Jabalpur district and dig for remnants of petrified bones with his charming and knowledgeable wife. Until he is tasked with investigating the activities of an obscure group of criminals who are said to strangle their victims.

As Sleeman uncovers the many layers of the Phansigar problem, he finds a language unlike any other, and a set of beliefs, lore and superstitions seemingly drawn from the soul of the countryside. He finds orchards of corpses, and a hierarchy of stranglers, but also ordinary men driven to murder. He hears subtle murmurs of discontentment at the changes which have come to a land believed by some to be unchanging. He finds auguries of a conflict to come. And behind it all, the legend of a mysterious, beautiful man, whose capture might be the key to understanding the Phansigars.

Sleeman’s inquiries will make him confront the nature of his beloved adopted homeland and of the mighty people in Calcutta who he serves. Through the prism of caste, the consequent web of intricate social and cultural relationships, and the nature of travel in the hinterland, he will see the real face of India and come across its uncomfortable, bleak truths.

But to unravel such truths is not easy…

Genres: India

296 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2020

Reviews

[Jeyanthi Manokaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

TWILIGHT IN A KNOTTED WORLD
by
Siddhartha Sarma

He's done it again! In characteristic impeccable prose, Siddhartha Sarma breathes vivid life into the dry bones of history. The heart of rural Central India is seen through the eyes of the benign Captain Sleeman during the 19th century British reign in India, before the advent of the railways, when transport was a horse, a palanquin, or your two feet and a lonely traveller was vulnerable to dacoits and murderers.

Swept along by a tide of currents that unearth the mysteries of ancient Indian traditions and myths, Sleeman is called upon by Governor General Bentick for his administrative skills and love of the Indian people to manage operation Thuggee - 'a political Gordian's knot' that cannot be sliced through and needs careful unraveling. Piecing together the story of the stranglers or Phansigars, 'there is nothing mystical' or 'macabre' about them, 'except the pile of corpses they leave behind. It is not a tale of who committed such crimes, but why and what created these circumstances.' Historical fiction at its best, the novel highlights 'crimes masked by tradition and myth, by cruelty and apathy, by the self regard of dangerous men in the hinterland and in Calcutta.'

The author has consciously underplayed the suspense. 'I would not suggest a sensational account, for it would take away from the true tragedy of the matter,' he advises a writer who is fascinated by 'the Thugs, their rituals, the Goddess they worship, the atmosphere of the cult and its dark deeds.' The story traces Captain Sleeman's relentless quest for the Kingpin - 'the man who was many men.' In a series of twists and turns, when Sleeman escapes being murdered and finally discovers his hideout, the Chief of Thugs is captured and the penal code for such crimes is later amended. The Ramasi script used by the Phansigars as a secret code, is researched by Captain Sleeman's erudite wife Amalie. Sarma provides a glossary of Ramasi words and phrases including some of their superstitions that guided the Thugs.

Sarma also touches upon other Indian mysteries - the discovery of precious dinosaur bones in Madhya Pradesh. The practice of 'Sati' and the thoughts of a woman with grown up sons who want their mother to live. But she would rather die than carry on in a patriarchal society. A feral boy raised by wolves is rescued by Sleeman and Amelie who partially succeed in communicating with him.

Through all this, the conversational tone of the narrative masks the underlying wealth of research. Exploring India with Siddhartha Sarma is indeed a treat not to be missed.

[Siddhant Agarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot of the book is extremely interesting in the manner it is constructed. The author took up the main plotline of the idea of the problem of the Phasigars to talk about our society as a whole. Through the eyes of the characters, we journey through a transitional time in the Indian Modern History. While the plot is fictional, the contexts seem oddly real with the social commentary on the practice of Sati, the Indian Caste system and the idea of creating a penal code for the country. The book opens with an interesting scene that sets the context of the entire book in a very wonderful manner, and specially the callback to the first chapter of the book in the later parts is quite interesting. Siddhartha’s storytelling is not pacy, rather it lets the reader soak in the events that have passed, making sure that one does not miss out on the nitty gritties of the book. I loved the manner in which the central plot of the book unfolded slowly, after setting up the scenes around it. Personally, I loved the part of the book where the salt traders are stopped at the check post and the manner in which things unfold post that. Another aspect of the book that I liked was that of Captain Sleeman’s summary of the events in the climax and how that ties up the entire plot. The story has infact now motivated me to go and read up a bit more about the Thugs of India and the legends that surround them.

Coming to the characters, I admired the manner in which the characters have been sketched through the course of the story and how each scene is important to each character that lives through it. Captain Sleeman is an interesting character study as we see him graduate from looking for bones of animals to searching for the victims of the Phasigars. His eye for detail, and following the letter of the law, and yet choose the right thing on a crossroad is extremely commendable. Another character that I liked was that of his wife, Amelie, who supported Sleeman in all his endeavors, and acted as his moral compass during testing times as well. I liked the fact that she added the much-required human touch to the entire plot. Lastly, the Phasigars as a group add to my list of favorites in the book because of the dedication they had towards their craft, as well as the sheer brilliance of the planning and execution they exhibited in the crimes they committed.

[Deepan Maitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical fiction is a genre that sparks readers with a lucrative charm, maybe because it establishes a pathway to re-visit the past. Historical fiction isn’t precisely just history, it’s not so factual, neither is it so tactically organized. Likewise, ‘Twilight in a knotted world” seems to be a magnification of the pages of history textbooks that talk of the colonial times.

The main focus of the book is the 19th century India, frivolous and shaking with ambiguous notions of loyalty, foundation, independence and division. It bases itself around an erudite British captain William Henry Sleeman, and the notorious band of dacoits and plunderers called Phansigars, who were known for looting plunderers. But the book isn’t just this. It serves to be a complete exploration of the colonial enterprise at that time, putting up a revealing picture of the changing faces of Indian overruled sentiments, of the prevalent casteism, rigidity of thought and the crudeness of law and order. Sarma’s book isn’t a work rooted deep into just fictional ideologies, it is equally equipped with real-life, true evidences, cutting edge incidental references and even some characters who have actually walked the earth.

Sarma’s viewpoints are marked by a panoramic view of the life of the late 19th century, crafting a fine balance between portraying the British Raj in a neutral light and also highlighting some of the grievances they had invoked within the general public. With a writing style that weaves intricate and many-faceted dimensions of the plot, the author never let’s go of a gratifying simplicity and empathy that flows out of his pen. Gliding over social issues, social evils, fierce patriarchy, harmful caste division and many more—this book convinces us to wrap our heads around history a little more pointedly, and much more sympathetically.

Thanks Simon and Schuster India for the copy.

[Divya Pal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different perspective of the villainous cult of Thuggee as compared to Confessions of a Thug. Whereas Philip Meadows Taylor gives a gruesome picture of the heinous exploits of Firangee, here the author has elevated this cruel looter to an enigmatic, messiah-like heroic figure who is the “spiritual” head of a cult of murderous thieves. The colonising British are depicted as wise, just and paternalistic entities tolerating the foibles of the squabbling masses of natives. Sati, its justification, archaeology, feral children brought up by wolves are pointless digressions. Giving four star rating for the glossary and detailed superstitions of the Phansigars.