~ Book Blitz ~
Storm From Taxila by Shreyas Bhave
About the Book:
BHARATVARSHA,
LAND OF THE ARYAS: 270 BC
Bindusar,
theSamratChakravartin of all the
Aryas, ruler of the Indian subcontinent, is dead. Chaos rules across the
empire. The royal succession turns upon intrigue, dark coalitions, violence and
death. The realm stands divided and civil war ensues.
In
Vidishanagri: Asoka kills his brother’s Ashwamedha
stallion and marches to Patliputra with his army. The ancient Brahminical order
rises in his supports, awaiting his entry into the capital. Have they made the
right choice?
In
Taxila: The rightful heir, Sushem, raises an army to meet the challenge posed
by his ambitious and gifted brother, Asoka. He prepares to march to the capital
and seize the throne by force. Will history repeat itself; will Sushem achieve
what his grandfather Chandragupta did 50 years ago?
In
Junagarh: Guild Master Hardeo sets out on a private mission to acquire the
great salt pans of Sindh. Will he succeed in his secret enterprise?
In
Vidishanagri: Radhagupta travels to fulfill the task allotted to him by the
Order.Kanakdatta, the Buddhist, stands up to stop him. Will Radhagupta fail in
his mission?
The
winds of war howl over the sub-continent, blowing every last person one way or
the other. Blood will be spilled, secrets revealed and men ruined. History
shall be made.
In
Book II of the epic Asoka Trilogy,
the storm approaches; the harbinger of death and destruction. When the dust finally
settles, the great question will be answered: Who is the nextSamrat of the holy Lands of the Aryas?
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Read an Excerpt:
For
many centuries the holy books of the Aryas have preached everything from
eternal unity of one’s own kind to selfless service to one’s family and
society. But aeons after they were written, we still cannot practice what we
preach…
Our
lands lie fragmented, divided by everything from regionalism to tribal
sentiment and the petty selfishness of individual rulers. Our Rajas had fought
over everything from women, to land and pride; so much so that wars with their
neighbours has become a habit. And every time some powerful Arya rises above
these squabbles and seeks to unify our lands, he turns out to be an evil
monster rather than a rightful Samrat. Be it Jarasandha of yore or the
tyrannicalNandas of our times, those who have tried to unify our lands have
It is
not that the learned men of our society have accepted or become resigned to
this state of affairs. They have always attempted to stand against these evil
rulers. Beit Lord Krishna of a thousand years ago, or I the
humbleservitorof my people in these unsettled times.
My
name is Arya Chanakya, though I am known as Kautilya these days. Few are privy
to my past so take heed of what I say; then hold the words sealed within your
breast.
I was
born eight decades ago in the northwest of our subcontinent, where the Land of
theAryas ends and those of foreigners like the Mlechhas and the Yavanas begin.
For my entire youth I strived for only two things - to accumulate knowledge of
our world; and unite our race as a single entity.
People
considered me foolish and stubborn. The Rajas laughed at my advice and
continued to fight meaningless wars for worthless reasons. For three decades of
my life my efforts were in vain as I tried and failed to instill the virtues of
unity and service in our rulers.
Then,
everything changed. I recognized my mistake. I had been counting on changing
the mindset of our people from within. What I should have realized long before
was that change of such proportions can only be brought about by a powerful
external force.Fifty years ago, that powerful force arrived at the
boundaries of our Bharat, armed with insurmountablepower.
His name was Alexander, and he came from beyond the seven seas, from the lands
of the Greeks. His objective was simple – to conquer the whole wide world. And
our lands were next – the doorway to the far East.
The
Rajas of the northwest reacted as I had expected. They made deals with this
foreign foe in order to destroy the enemies of their own race. Even Raja Ambhi
ofTaxila, did so. Only one man refused to succumb to Alexander. His name was
Puru, the mightiest Raja of the region.
But
evenPuru’s might was no match for Alexander’s tactics and deceit. On the banks
of the holy Jhelum, everyone gasped with horror as Puru lost the battle to the
Greeks – everyone except me; I just smiled.
As Alexander spent time consolidating power in the northwest, I
travelled east to the greatest city of the known world – to Patliputra, ruled
by the Nandas. My plan was simple: to ask the Nanda Maharaja to take his army
northwest to defeat the Greeks. The people of the northwest were disgusted by
the unmanly conduct of their Rajas, almost all of whom had surrendered without
a fight. If The Nandas fought and won against the Greeks, the people of the
northwest would accept them as their saviours, thereby uniting the
subcontinent, north and south, east and west.
But my
plan had a serious flaw. While everyone knew the Nandas had the largest
standing army in the world, what few people beyond their borders knew was how they
used it. I discovered that the army was used to terrorize their subjects. The
Nandas were tyrannical kings who ruled with the force of an equally tyrannical
army. I witnessed and experienced their tyranny first hand. I was imprisoned
and tortured by Nanda lieutenants in Patliputra.
But I was rescued by an Ancient Brotherhood that had dwelled in
the tunnels below the city for five centuries. Since its founder, Maharaja
Ajatshatru, had laid down its mission, the brothers of the order had zealously
safeguarded the interests of the Arya race, secretly. They rescued me from
prison and inducted me into their ranks. They bestowed upon me their mission:
To bring down the evil Nandas from their thrones.
About the Author:
Shreyas is a 21 year old guy currently pursuing his B.Tech in Electrical Eng. from VNIT Nagpur. His love for history since his childhood prompted him to write his take on the story of Asoka who was one of the towering figures in the history of India, which has been taken up as ‘The Asoka Trilogy’ by Leadstart Publishing.
The first part of the trilogy called ‘The Prince of Patliputra’ has been published in January 2016 and garnered positive responses.
He is also presently working on several other manuscripts and completing the final year of his engineering Course.
