The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - In this post you will get all the information about ‘The Devil's Wind’. The proper and easy explanation of the novel is written below, i hope will read the summary and know everything about ‘The Devil's Wind ’. The Devil’s Wind is Manohar Malgonkar’s sixth novel. He calls it Nana Saheb’s story, and justifiably so, because it is more the story of Nana Saheb the last Peshwa than of the Mutiny of 1857. In the “Author’s Note” Malgonkar points out, “This ambiguous man and his fate have always fascinated me. I found thate d stories of Nana and d revolt have never been told from the Indian point of viewa. This, then, is Nana’s story as I believe he might have written it'himself. It is fiction;but it takes no liberties with verifiable facts or even with probabilities.”

Introduction

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - The Devil's Wind is a historical novel by Manohar Malgonkar that tells the story of Nana Saheb, the heir of the last Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy, who played a leading role in the 1857 War of Independence. It provides a sympathetic portrait of a man whom the British portrayed as a great villain, and is based on historical sources as far as possible. The book is written as an autobiography in which Nana Saheb describes his life in his own words. The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation

About the Author

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - Manohar Malgonkar was an Indian author of both fiction and nonfiction in the English language. He was also an army officer, a big game hunter, a civil servant, a mine owner and a farmer.

Malgonkar was born in Jagalbet village Karwar dist, near Londa in Belgaum district. From his maternal side, his great-grandfather had been governor of Gwalior State. He began his education in Belgaum. He later attended school in Dharwad and graduated from Mumbai University. After, he joined the army and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Maratha Light Infantry. He retired from service at the age of 39. He also stood for parliament.

Manohar Malgonkar (1913-2010) occupies an important place in the canons of Indian literature in English, particularly for his historical fiction with political undertones. History was his forte but he was a writer and artist first and as such artistic integrity coupled with depth of historical sense make the works interesting and authentic. Born on July 12, 1913 near Belgaum, Manohar Malgonkar was the grandson of the Prime Minister of a former princely state of Dewas.  The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation , The Malgonkars were close to the rulers of Dewas and young Manohar got an opportunity to experience life in the royal households closely which is reflected in The Princes and The Devil’s Winds. Often acclaimed as a master story-teller for his narrative skill, Malgonkar has the uncanny knack of transmuting his felt experience into an artistic piece. The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation , The corpus of his work is rich with eleven novels that have a blend of history, romance and military life, two light romances/thrillers, a detective novel, a play, innumerable essays/ articles, two historical accounts, a travelogue and a large number of short stories collected in several anthologies. Indeed, his works are as varied and colourful as was his life–a stint in the army, a time spent as a big game hunter, a miner, a tea garden manager and an adventurer. 

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - Most of that activity was during the build-up to Indian independence and its aftermath, often the settings for his works. The socio-historical milieux of those times form the backdrop of his novels, which are usually of action and adventure. He also wrote non-fiction, including biography and history.

Malgonkar lived in a remote bungalow called 'Burbusa Bungalow' located at Jagalbet in Joida Taluk in Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka. His only child Suneeta, who was educated at the famous Lawrence School, Sanawar, died in 1998.

Manohar Malgonkar is clear about his priorities. Metaphysics does not interest him nor does psychology appeal to him. Psychological novels like those of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce and nearer home of Anita Desai and Arun Joshi are not his cup of tea. He is a story-teller who identifi es with plot, action, characterization and dramatization than with the whimsicality of the mind. “I do strive deliberately and hard to tell a story well…”, he says. 

    The psychological novel with its “interminable ramblings about the day in the life of someone or other” does not appeal to him. Scoffi ng at it he equates it with “counting veins in every leaf of cabbage.” Yet, his novels have strong individualized characters who can be studied from the angle of psychology. Characters like Hiroji, Abhayraj, Debi Dayal, Aslam Chisti and Henry Winton are not abstractions meant to serve a thesis but human beings with a motivational system, moving within the conceptual system of their time; they are human beings with goodness or meanness, contradiction or unpredictability. The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation

    Many a critic avers that Malgonkar analyses his characters with the detachment of a historian and draws “faceless” and “conventional” characters; they fail to emerge as living human beings; have no conviction of their own, nor do they affi rm their identity. My contention is, however, to the contrary

Works

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - For many years, Malgonkar wrote a weekly column covering a wide range of topics, which was published in Indian newspapers like The Statesman and Deccan Herald. Most of his books were published in India by Orient Paperbacks or by Rupa Paperbacks. Th e novel beautifully blends facts and fi ction, art and history to create a character who is generous, noble, understanding and aff ectionate but weak, albeit, unwilling to shed blood. In his ‘Author’s Note’ Malgonkar says, “Th is ambiguous man and his fate have always fascinated me. I discovered that the stories of Nana and the revolt have never been told from the Indian point of view. Th is, then, is Nana’s story as I believe he might have written it himself. It is fi ction; but it takes no liberties with verifi able facts or even possibilities.

Distant Drum, his first novel is a military novel. It was published in 1960 when Manohar Malgonkar was 47, and the experiences of army life and the soldiers’ espirit de corps were fresh in memory. Understandably, the novel throbs with a mood of musing over, of recall, though certainly not of nostalgia. It is motivated by the martial code that is in the blood of every soldier. Honesty, integrity, loyalty to duty and discipline form its core. Religious and communal tensions fade away when Kiran Garud, the protagonist, and Abdulla Jamal, his friend help each other and each saves the other’s life on diff erent occasions. The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation

The Princes, his third novel, has been hailed as an epic saga of our contemporary history. It is about the princes who were on the verge of losing their roots; and it takes up the ticklish question of their identity. Malgonkar shows remarkable ability to present an insider’s view of princely life.

Novels

·         The Sea Hawk: Life and Battles of Kanhoji Angrey (1959)

·         Distant Drum (1960)

·         A Combat of Shadows (1962)

·         The Princes (1963)

·         A Bend in the Ganges (1964)

·         Spy in Amber (1971)

·         The Devil’s Wind (on the life on Peshwa Nana Sahib) (1972)

·         Shalimar (1978) [Novelization of the film Shalimar]

·         Bandicoot Run (1982)

Summary

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - Nana Saheb was the adopted son of Bajirao II, the last Maratha Peshwa, and heir to his position as "prime minister" of the Maratha lands. He is raised in an immensely wealthy family and educated as a Brahmin and a prince, although his father's power had been taken away by the British. On his father's death the British do not recognize his title, but allow him to continue in his comfortable exile in the town of Bithoor. An urbane and sophisticated man, Nana Saheb is sympathetic to the British, several of whom are his close friends, but cannot accept their right to rule and exploit India.

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - When the mutiny breaks out in May 1857, Nana Sahib finds himself forced to accept a position of leadership. After a long and ultimately futile struggle in which both sides commit many atrocities, Nana Sahib flees to Nepal where he receives a grudging sanctuary, taking with him an English woman he has rescued and with whom he has fallen in love. Many years later, he revisits India and then travels on to safety in Istanbul, the place where he sets down his memoirs. The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation

Malgonkar samples three western views as ‘Prolegomena’ to substantiate his statement. Th e British view of Indian ‘mutiny’ (for us it is our First War of Independence) given by A. Miles and A. Pattle in 1885 says, “Few names are more conspicuous in the annals of crime than that of Nana Saheb, who achieved an immortality of infamy by his perfi dy and cruelty at Cawnpore.” Th e French records make him a man-eating monster who “had a roasted English child brought in occasionally on a pike for him to examine with his pince-nez.” 

    The American view refers to, “Nana Saheb massacring entire British colony at Cawnpore.” On the contrary, in India, he became a revered fi gure; “parents privately warned their children not to believe the history taught in schools” and in villages folk songs and ballads were composed extolling him as a patriot.

Th e Novel is divided in three parts: ‘Bithoor’, ‘Kanpur’ and ‘Gone Away’. Within this framework, the author presents the course of events that ultimately led to Nana’s defeat and escape, the end of East India Company’s rule and the promulgation of the British Queen’s rule. Th e fi rst two parts deal intensively with documented history, while in the last part (Part III) Nana Saheb Peshwa’s present is seen in the light of his past.

    The history of the Revolt starts with the widespread discontent and distrust of the British — their behavior and policies. The British stratagem to exploit Indians was well-planned and calculated. Dalhousie’s The Doctrine of Lapse came as a great shock to the rulers; the farmers and taluqdars were unhappy with land reforms, the people saw socio-cultural reforms as interference in their traditional ways of living and were afraid of conversion to Christianity; the Sepoys were apprehensive of animal fat on cartridges. In brief, the discontent could be seen in all sections of the society: the nobility, who dreaded the Doctrine of Lapse; the taluqdars, who had lost their land to farmers as the result of land reforms and the masses who feared conversion. Things took a grim turn when Oudh (Avadh) was annexed and its treasure was looted with impunity.

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Major themes

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - The Devil's Wind is a painstaking literary work that blends beautifully the artist and the historian. The book is both an epic and an autobiography. Malgonkar's purpose is to rehabilitate Nana Saheb, maligned as a monster by British propaganda, by telling the story from the Indian point of view in Nana Saheb own words. Malgonkar's Nana Sahib is an affectionate, soft-hearted, generous and cultivated nobleman, free from prejudice and governed by common sense and reason. The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar Novel Summary , Introduction , About the Author & Explanation

With skill and reticence, Malgomkar reconstructs the picture of India, with Kanpur as its microcosm, growing suspicious, aggrieved, alienated, hostile, rebellious, enraged and vengeful by degrees. He presents a convincing picture of the Indian reaction to British provocations, describes their hesitance and disunity at the time of the early "rebel" victories, and their growing determination mingled with despair as the tide turns against them.

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - Nana Saheb inherits from his adoptive father a delight in sex, and this theme recurs throughout the book. Malgonkar treats the women in his book sympathetically, and grants their right to sexual choice. The book gives a powerful portrayal of Kashi, Nana Sahib's third wife, who remains a virgin while with him because of his fear of a curse that says if he consummates a marriage the wife shall die, which had happened with his first two wives. Later, Kashi gains her freedom to love as she chooses in the court of Nepal.

Explanation of the novel's title

The Devil's Wind By Manohar Malgonkar - "The Devils Wind" is the name the sepoys gave to the mutiny, a barbaric, uncontrollable fury that swept across the hot plains of India as if blown by the Devil. It is another name for the Loo, the hot dry and gritty wind that blows in the plains of India before the monsoons bring relief. The protagonist's uncle was murdered by his own relatives for acquiring the throne. He haunts the subsequent rulers of the Maratha kingdom. Nanasaheb's predicament is this devil's wind and that explains the title, Devil's Wind.

 Reference

@Wikipedia

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