The King who Lacked Learning and Other Stories

By Swapna Dutta

"""Ancient and medieval Indian history is full of stories. Many of the characters are real and the incidents are said to have happened. But there are hardly any historical records about them. It is difficult to say how much of it belongs to actual history and how much to tradition and local folklore because it all happened so long ago. Both have

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ukiyoto Publishing
• Release date: Dec 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9789360494407

Book preview

The King Who Lacked Learning And Other Stories

Legends from ancient and medieval indian history

Swapna Dutta

Ukiyoto Publishing

All global publishing rights are held by

Ukiyoto Publishing

Published in 2022

Content Copyright © Swapna Dutta

ISBN

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated, without the publisher’s prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

Dedication

The King who Lacked Learning, The Prince and the Farmer’s Daughter and The First Suryavanshi King were first published in Children’s Choice. The Just Ruler, Being Fair At All Costs, The Adventures of King Jayapir Vinayaditya, More Adventures of Jayapir Vinayaditya and The Last Poem were first published in Chandamama.

The book is dedicated with love to all my readers of yesteryears who grew up reading my stories.

Foreword

Ancient and medieval Indian history is full of stories. Many of the characters are real and the incidents are said to have happened. But there are hardly any historical records about them. It is difficult to say how much of it belongs to actual history and how much to tradition and local folklore because it all happened so long ago. Both have blended to create these fascinating legends, available in several versions. True or not, they are interesting and portray Indian culture and happenings of a forgotten era. Many of them are mentioned in standard works of history and important literary works. I found a few in Tod’s Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, Somdeva’s Kathasaritsagara and folk literature of various states. Wherever there is more than one version of the stories I have selected the ones I liked the best. The legends deserve to be remembered for the values they symbolize.

How did king Shatavahana react when one of his queens insulted him by calling him uneducated? Was he able to live down that insult? How and why did the prince of Mewar fall in love with a daughter of the farmer? What was his decision when the farmer refused to wed her to him? How did Shiladitya, the son of a humble temple attendant, become the first Suryavanshi king? How far would a king of Kashmir go to prove himself just and fair-minded? What were the adventures faced by Jayapir Vinayaditya, the dashing king of Kashmir? Why did the poet-king Matribandhu give up his throne? These are some of the legends portrayed in this collection.

Contents

The King Who Lacked Learning

The Prince And The Farmer’s Daughter

The First Suryavanshi King

The Just Ruler

Being Fair At All Costs

The Adventures Of King Jayapir Vinayaditya

More Adventures Of Jayapir Vinayaditya

The Last Poem

About the Author

The King Who Lacked Learning

L

ong ago, way back in the 1st century AD, there reigned a king named Shatavahana on the bank of Godavari. His kingdom was known as Pratisthana and the rulers of his kingdom were called Dakshinapatheswar which meant ‘ruler of the south’. His kingdom mainly covered the region we now know as Andhra Pradesh. There are many popular legends about