Seven Lives Together-The Mughal Warrior, Page 7

Chapter 5

  Hooghly- The Portuguese

  City of Eastern India

  Lioness started its journey to Hooghly.

  This was the second time for Nadirah to visit Hooghly. Last time she was transported to Hooghly as a prisoner of Niyaz. Niyaz was not in the ship of course. Luckily he was called by his brother, to further his nefarious activities against the Mughal Empire, and he couldn’t accompany. He decided to move Nadirah to Hooghly, where both the brothers were planning their activities in an old and rejected bungalow away from the city. Nadirah was kept as a prisoner with twenty-four hours strict supervision by his trusted maids and armed guards, so that she couldn’t jump into the river, to commit suicide.

  The scenes came as a flashback to her. She was not planning to jump into the river. She was waiting for the opportunity to take revenge, even though it was inevitable that she would have been killed after that. Purujit arrived, and she survived. It was just her good-luck.

  The struggle of survival with honour was not finished yet. Only difference was this time she was not alone. Her daughter Saira, son-in-law Suraj, Suraj’s sister Aditi, all were magnificent fighters. Her mind was full of courage; ‘either victory will be ours, or we will die with pride’; she thought and enjoyed the scenic beauty of river Ganga from the deck of Lioness.

  Lioness arrived at Hooghly. There were many people who were working for Purujit and Farooq’s transportation business in Hooghly. Suraj and his family didn’t feel alone in a city full of foreigners. He was aware of the history and significance of the city. Farooq’s assistant Rizwan arranged a large bungalow for them. The bungalow had three floors and was not particularly far from the river. The perimeter walls were high enough to make it a mini fort. The back side of the castle was facing the river.

  Nadirah looked at the bungalow, ‘I have seen this before!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Yes,’ quickly replied Rizwan, ‘I was with Purujit when he arrived here with your brother Iqbal and his friend Rafiq to capture Niyaz.’

  ‘This is the place my mother killed Niyaz, her tormentor,’ said Saira with enthusiasm as she hugged her mother. Suraj and Aditi knew the fact, but now felt they were now a part of all this. Time has now come a full circle. They were going to start from the place where Purujit and Nadirah once finished the chapter of Niyaz and Wasim.

  Rizwan was a man in his late sixties. Farooq had sent a letter to him detailing everything. He approached Suraj, ‘I am a faithful servant of your father all my life,’ he explained, ‘and this business also belonged primarily to your father, now to you. You can rely upon me. I am not like Ashfaq.’

  Suraj became emotional and hugged him. For the first time after the death news of his family he cried and tears came down on the shoulders of Rizwan.

  Rizwan squeezed his shoulders gently, ‘You are all tired,’ he advised, ‘and there is a long way to go. Please get enough rest. I have arranged everything for your comfort, but if you need anything I am just a call away.’

  Two days later. A horse carriage stopped in front of the bungalow. By now Aditi had already chosen a name for the bungalow: Vijay Bhavan (Victory House). Rizwan got off the carriage with a white man. He introduced him, ‘Suraj, this is Ronaldo of Portugal.’

  ‘Hello Ronaldo,’ Suraj said, ‘when did you come from Portugal?’ Then he looked at Rizwan expecting he will translate his language.

  Rizwan realised his reluctance, ‘He is living in Hooghly for last five years. He knows many languages including yours.’

  Suraj now felt comfortable and nodded. He invited all inside Vijay Bhavan (Victory House).

  Aditi and Saira also joined them.

  ‘I am sorry to know about your parents,’ Ronaldo expressed his concern, ‘your father was extremely close to some top Portuguese officials in Hooghly.’

  Rizwan started, ‘Hooghly is practically a little Portuguese dominance within the vast Mughal Empire. Other than collecting some tax from them, Mughal never interferes in any of their affairs. This is the best place for you to plan your upcoming activities. Mughal forces may never even suspect that you are here.’

  Ronaldo smiled. It was a meaningful smile.

  Suraj thought he would make his position clear, ‘I have no intention of a rebel against the Emperor Akbar. My father has been loyal to him all his life. What I didn’t like is: he should have been taken to Akbar’s court if there were allegations against him. My father had done the same years ago, when he came to Hooghly and captured Wasim. He didn’t kill Wasim. Rather he was sent to Akbar and he got a fair trial before meeting his fate.’

  ‘I can see,’ Rizwan continued, ‘the situation is quite different in case of your father. Ashfaq somehow has already convinced Akbar that Purujit helped Anarkali to escape. I am not sure if it is true. It might have been possible, instead of burying Anarkali alive; a dead woman’s body has been buried.’

  ‘I will be genuinely happy if Anarkali has actually escaped,’ Suraj said, ‘even if it goes against Akbar. But in case she is not alive that may be the best case to prove my father’s innocence.’

  ‘Bad idea, for that you may have to go to Lahore to search her,’ Rizwan said, ‘and before you succeed in your venture, you may even be kept in prison by Akbar.’

  ‘Can’t he get me if I am here?’ Suraj asked, ‘I am still within his empire.’

  ‘He doesn’t know the Portuguese impact in India,’ Ronaldo gave a brief comment.

  Rizwan started, ‘When Portuguese started settling down in Hooghly, they were merely traders. Akbar allowed them to set up the city here. This trading body is getting military assistance from the king of Portugal. They have much better navy than you can expect. Akbar’s navy can do combat only in rivers like Ganga and Yamuna but ….’

  Suraj almost snatched Rizwan’s sentence, ‘I know that, in the year 1572, Akbar occupied Gujarat through sea. My father has told me how the Mughal Navy went through Arabian Sea and landed in Gujarat. In fact, he was a member of the whole team. Only after that he started dreaming of building Nagin of Yamuna. He had plans to build a Navy for the Mughals which would have operated in Bay of Bengal, and I am planning to carry on his dreams.’

  ‘You are right that Mughal Navy occupied Gujarat,’ Rizwan agreed, ‘and only after that he came to see the presence and the power of the Portuguese in western India and the Persian Gulf region of the Indian Ocean. Can you imagine even Emperor Akbar had to beg for a permit so that his ships could sail in the Persian Gulf Region?’

  ‘What!’ Aditi was surprised, ‘I don’t believe this.’

  ‘That is true Aditi,’ Saira confirmed.

  ‘How did you know?’ Suraj enquired.

  ‘My uncle had visited Hooghly when I was a child,’ she started, ‘he accompanied your father to Hooghly in Nagin of Yamuna. During that time, he acquired lots of information from different sources about Portuguese. He has told me so many things about Portuguese in India.’

  Suraj and Aditi were surprised to see that Saira was aware of so many things, ‘I truly envy you Saira,’ Aditi praised, ‘your uncle has given you all round education including military training.’

  Saira felt flattered and continued with a smile, ‘Even Akbar had to seek permission from them so that Mughal ships carrying his family could go on Hajj to Mecca and Medina.’

  ‘This is a real surprise to me,’ Suraj couldn’t believe, ‘so far I thought the Mughal army is one of the most powerful in the world.’

  They saw a suggestive smile on the face of Rizwan, ‘If you are thinking Portuguese obliged the Emperor by issuing a permit, you are wrong.’

  ‘You mean Akbar’s family couldn’t go on Hajj?’ Suraj asked.

  ‘They did,’ Rizwan replied, ‘but Akbar had to compromise. Besides having a colony in Goa, Portuguese was also occupying Daman, close to Gujarat. Mughal force in Gujarat was planning to invade Daman. Akbar directed Mughal administrative officials in Gujarat not provoke Portuguese. Only after that the permit for Hajj was issued.’

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€˜Didn’t Portuguese try to capture Gujarat from the Mughals?’ Aditi asked.

  ‘No,’ Ronaldo interfered, ‘our people in Goa and Daman were also aware about the superior military strength of Mughals in India. Our superiority is usually in the ocean. So, we adopted diplomacy rather than war. Akbar also didn’t want a conflict. I must admit he is one of the most talented Emperors of this period. We have seen many Emperors in Europe, and we can clearly see the difference. On the request of Akbar, the Portuguese Governor sent an envoy to establish friendly relations.’

  ‘I can now guess what the intention of Akbar was,’ Suraj said.

  ‘Your guess is correct,’ Rizwan interfered, ‘Akbar was aware of the naval supremacy of the Portuguese. He was trying to obtain some modern artillery pieces from them. He was also trying to buy ships from them. His eyes were to occupy the South India with the help of a modern Navy and compact artillery.’

  ‘And he was unsuccessful in that.’ Suraj said.

  ‘How did you know?’ Aditi asked.

  ‘Had he been successful,’ he replied, ‘the great Mughal empire would have expanded to South India by now. I am now clear about the equation of power between Mughal and the Portuguese.’

  ‘Akbar was still trying to please Portuguese,’ Rizwan said, ‘and now you can see why he granted permission to them to set up a city in Hooghly. For common people, this is a trading city of the Portuguese who pays tax to the Mughal exchequer. But the truth is different. The powerful and skilled Portuguese soldiers protect this city as well as the entire river and sea route where their ships sail. The Emperor is aware of this and can do little. In fact, he granted permission to set up a Portuguese city out of compulsion rather than compassion.’

  Ronaldo got up and said, ‘On behalf of Portuguese community, I welcome the family of our best friend Purujit to Hooghly. We are happy to offer any sort of service you need.’

  Suraj and Rizwan went up to the door to see him off. Rizwan came back as Ronaldo entered into his horse carriage and vanished into the darkness of the evening.

  Meanwhile, Nadirah also joined them. So far she was inside but was listening to the discussion carefully. She was sceptical about the purpose of Ronaldo.

  ‘My son,’ she addressed to Suraj, her son in law, ‘your father might have a strong relationship with the Portuguese because of his and his partner Farooq’s shipping business. I have heard from my brother Farooq that they are terribly cruel and not to be trusted.’

  ‘He must have told you about the cold-blooded murder by Vasco Da Gama,’ Rizwan said.

  ‘Yes,’ Nadirah confirmed, ‘that wicked old man has killed nearly four hundred pilgrims who were travelling from Calicut to Mecca for Hajj. He even didn’t spare women and children.’

  ‘I know about that,’ Rizwan said, ‘but you can’t blame all the people of a country for the barbaric act of one individual. In the past rulers like Genghis Khan, Mahmud of Ghazni have killed thousands innocent people in our country. People are not blaming their community for these atrocities.’

  Suraj made his views clear, ‘Certainly I am not going to make a sort of rebel against the Emperor Akbar. My father was faithful to him till his last breath, and I am not going to be different. My goal is to find out the fact that led to my family’s slaughter. I will also seek justice from the Empire. I know the time is against me, and if I approach the Emperor I may not even get a chance to prove my father’s innocence. Until I find time is in my favour, I will not approach the Emperor. Rather I will devote time in developing the shipping business my father had started in partnership with Farooq. This may bring me an opportunity to learn more about the Portuguese, their weapons and combat tactics.’

  Saira nodded with a satisfactory smile.

  Saira was extremely happy. For the first time in her life, she got a chance to travel in a sea with Suraj. Portuguese offered to take him to Goa. The ship would start from Hooghly and enter the Bay of Bengal, then move southwards, almost till Sri Lanka. The ship would reach the southernmost part of the country, Cape Comorin (modern day Kanya Kumari), where Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea meet one another. You can see both Sunrise and Sunset in the sea. One can sense the presence of all three oceans from bands of varied colours of their water. The ship would make a stop there to refill foods and water. Then the ship would enter the Arabian Sea and move again north till Goa, the Portuguese colony.

  Amelia, Ronaldo’s wife, was now a close friend of Saira. She started narrating about her experience to her after there was a proposal that Suraj and Saira would travel to Goa with Ronaldo and Amelia.

  Suraj first accepted the idea but was of a double mind after that. The idea originated from Farooq, Purujit’s friend and partner in his shipping company. Suraj’s visit could open the opportunity of expanding their shipping business till Goa. He could even gain knowledge about the weapons used by Portuguese soldiers, study ocean warfare etc.

  The proposals were thrilling, but, he was not happy. He had more urgent jobs in mind: to expose the motives of Ashfaq Khan. For this, he required to find out the truth, ‘what happened to Anarkali? Whether she is still alive? If so where is she living now? She can only tell whether Purujit helped her escape against the wishes of Akbar, the Emperor. If she is certainly not alive, then how Akbar got the news that Purujit helped her escape?’

  Nadirah suggested, ‘I will go to Lahore and investigate the facts about Anarkali’.

  Suraj objected, ‘I will be enjoying the trip to Goa and you will take all the risks of discovering what happened to Anarkali. This is unfair. There should be someone to help you.’

  Nadirah was not pleased. There was a sword kept on the side. Unknowingly, she put her hand on the handle of the sword. Her blood was boiling. She tried to calm down and said, ‘Do you think I should not do this adventure because I am a woman?’

  ‘Yes, no,’ Suraj couldn’t know what to say, ‘I know you can fight, but you will be alone there. There should be someone to help you in case of need.’

  Aditi jumped at this suggestion, ‘I will be with her. I will help her.’

  Nadirah nodded in appreciation, to indicate that she liked the idea, ‘If Anarkali is actually alive she must have stopped singing and dancing. She must be hiding somewhere. It will be difficult for her to go outside the Mughal Empire as it is too large. Be sure no outside person can see her face. Only a woman can go inside the harem (in a traditional Muslim home, the separate private quarters reserved for wives and concubines) of some family and can find her. You, being a man, are of no use in such a situation. My suggestion is you and Saira, both go to Goa in the ship. You can expand your father’s shipping business and discover new combat techniques. Your father Purujit once gave me new life after rescuing me from the captivity of Niyaz. From that day, I have considered him as my brother. Now, it is my responsibility to find out the truth and pay tribute to his soul.’

  Suraj was convinced.