~ Present 2018
It was a serene afternoon in the town of Rangarh. The market place was bustling with vendors selling their goods and the sweetmeat sellers were busy cradling the golden - orange jalebis in their huge oil pots with an equally large ladles. Tourists were busy capturing the marvels of this town.
" yes,yes come right here. Now this beauty you're seeing is the 296 years old fort of Rangarh. It was built in the year 1722 by the late Maharaj Aryaman Verma I. This fort has a lot of rich history and valour apart from all the wars the kings and the princes of this fort had fought as history sometimes forgets about a tragic love the Princess of this colourful town once had."
A voice echoed from the streets by a female tour guide with doe - eyed brown eyes, dark long hair and olive skin who seemed to be in her early twenties , pushed through the streets followed by a group of tourists both foreign and native that consisted totally of 10 people, while pointing towards a part of the fort wall high atop a small hill in the centre of the town.
The fort wall was indeed a magnificent work of art as it was made of ochre sandstone and hints of blue and turquoise paintings on the exterior that hasn't faded even after 296 years.
" The name of this town Rangarh , was actually inspired from this fort and it's architecture . Rang means colour in Hindi and Garh means fort. This town was actually colourful in the previous era and the Hindu festival Holi was a big deal here because well.....Holi was the festival of colours. But everything changed when the British finally annexed the kingdom in 1862 and the people here forgot about their culture. Now the present generation are trying to bring back the lost glory of Rangarh," the tour guide explained with a sigh in the end.
The tourists were captured at the marvel of the fort wall and the surrounding ethereal beauty of the town.
" This architecture is just a masterpiece! And the colours contrast greatly along with it", a middle -aged foreign tourist man exclaimed with joy.
" Why yes sir ! The designing was exclusively designed by Maharaj Aryaman Verma I himself! He was a great lover of art and culture," the tour guide beamed.
" You're so lucky to live in this beautiful town! I would give anything to escape this city life of Delhi", a mother of a toddler girl voiced her opinion and wiped her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand.
" Can't say lucky but blessed, yes. Even though this place is simple it's elegant at the finest", the tour guide smiled at the lady and continued guiding the visitors throughout the town.
She veered them through the entrance of the fort after a tiresome climb from the hill steps. After they collected their tickets she took the tourists throughout the first explaining each intricate details about the fort and it's palaces.
" The reason this fort was situated on top of a rocky hill was to protect it from Invaders and enemies from capturing the kingdom and inflicting harm on the Royal family. Even though it was a small and simple kingdom, it was the strongest. The Verma family of Rangarh reigned for a 139 years without losing to anyone expect the British East India Company because of their high fortified kingdom and defences. The Mughals were a huge treat during the those times in Uttar Pradesh but Rangarh managed to keep a low profile and the terrain at the time was difficult to venture in."
" The British too had a hard time in conquering Rangarh, they tried for 5 years and finally won. The Rangarh soldiers were battle hardened people who would never go down without a fight, that's why their patron goddess is Durga, the Hindu goddess of protection, strength, motherhood, destruction and wars. Saraswathi was worshipped for her domain in arts, culture, music and knowledge. Both these goddess were important in Rangarh and still do till this date."
The tour guide recited the entire history in one breath. The foreign tourists were in awe of the story behind the simple town of Rangarh while the Indian visitors were shocked at the fact that was hidden from them for a long time.
They all entered into a part of the fort which was decorated extensively with a huge throne sitting in the front of the room along with another throne beside it, except that it was smaller than the other throne beside it. Both the thrones were made of gold and were decorated with precious stones such as emeralds, rubies and sapphires.
Paintings and intensive traditional carvings adorned the room along with plush carpets.
" This is the Royal durbar or the Royal courtroom of the late Vermas and the throne belongs to the Kings of the dynasty. There used to be a Queen's, Prince's and Princess's throne but their origins are unknown. The hearings of the locals or other important matters with the King would take place in the Durbar", the tour guide yapped away to the tourists excitedly, clearly showing that she was proud of her town's history.
"You said something about the Princess earlier.....something happened to her. What happened"? A teenage Indian girl asked from the crowd.
Before the tour guide could reply a man cut her off by saying, " Oh beta, the Princess is no big deal! She was just a traitor to her own kingdom and her countrymen. That's why even our own townspeople don't remember much about her. All that is known in history was that she was that she turned her back against her own country and sided with the British for her own safety and greed but when she didn't get the power that she desired, she turned on the Britishers too."
The tour guide was aghast at the man's accusation and tried to intervene, " that's not true Chacha! What you heard was wrong. The Princess never turned her back on anyone, it's just lies!
" Oh really Kriti? All those stories that you heard from your dadi are the real lies. Everyone in this town knows that Princess Aditi was a traitor."
The man turned to the group of tourists who were listening to the heated conversation intently, and continued his accusation, " The Princess wanted the throne all for herself and desired power, that's why she became a spy for the British when they promised her to make the Queen of Rangarh. She wanted to overthrow her own brother, Maharaj Neelsingh Verma II, the last King of Rangarh, by giving him slow poison that deteriorated his health. When the king found out that his sister was plotting behind his back, he banished her from the Kingdom all together. You can go ask this to anyone in this town and they will all say the same as this is the truth."
The visitors believed the man which made the tour guide, Kriti, upset. She had no power to tell them that this was all wrong because of the fact that she had no proof of it.
When the sun went down in Rangarh and the fort had to close it's gates for the day, Kriti returned back to her family Hotel in one of the streets of Rangarh along with some of the tourists who stayed there.
After having dinner she went to the library in the hotel to read some books. When scrounging through the shelves a book fell near her with a loud thud. Kriti bent down to pick it up where the book lied. It looked quite odd that Kriti was sure it was a journal of some sort but never has she seen this in her library.
She thought that it might be a new addition to the library that one of her family members brought in, but what perplexed her was that it was too old to be new as leather bits were tearing up at the front and back of the cover. The book was bind close with a ratty leather string.
Kriti removed the leather string and opened the book to find pages that yellowed in time, as she guessed it indeed was a journal due to writings in the pages with ink. The writings were in English but the handwriting was too swirly for the normal cursive.
" Whoever owned this journal sure did have a beautiful handwriting. Wish mine was like that," Kriti murmured while flipping through the pages.
She wasn't the one to pry into other people's diaries but this one had a mysterious and vintage aura around it that Kriti just couldn't help herself but steal the old diary and hide it in her jacket.
On reaching her room on top of the hotel where there was a small apartment for her family members, Kriti shut door to her room and hopped on the bed flipping to the first entry in the diary.
April 16, 1848
I've reached India as a Captain heading the 7th Queen's own hussars for the East India Company, taking up after my father Colonel Richard Smith. I've been trained my entire life for this, serving my country just like all of my family did.
After a long sail in the HMS Crown Jewel I finally made it to India at a cost of losing thirty crew members in a horrible plague. By the God's Grace, I did not contract any of that disastrous plague.
As the first task of being the head officer of the 7th Queen's own hussars I'm supposed to go to this princely State of Rangarh near Bundelkhand region, to collect taxes for the Company and take charge of the battalion's office.
I have no idea why on earth I've been put up with this desolate Indian kingdom . I don't want anything to do with these Indians that are under our control but I must continue to hold up our family's honour and name.
The Crown's sole reason to dispatch the 7th Queen's own hussars from the British Army was to reinforce the East India Company's armies and to maintain control in Rangarh.
The General told me to march into the Palace of Rangarh to collect the tributes from there and pay a visit to the Royal family. Especially the King. I know the main motive is to silently survey the defence system of the fort and the condition of Aditya Verma's heir, the Crown Prince Neelsingh Verma II. Even though it's a desolate princely state, it has good defensive measures to avoid attacks and make the Company's job even harder.
As per the Doctrine Of Lapse any kingdom that is without an heir and the current ruling monarch is dead, the kingdom can be annexed via the doctrine. We have been keeping an eye upon that kingdom for ages...anything that might help us to catch hold of that state for good.
Jhansi, another kingdom is under the same situation but except that the young king is not with an heir despite being married to his Queen, Rani Laxmibai. Rangarh and Jhansi are near to each other which is an advantage for me as my good friend Captain David Hollers is in - charge of the 15th regiment stationed at Jhansi, which makes life not too mundane as I thought earlier.
I must get ready to meet the Royal family tomorrow, For England.
~ Varian Smith
Kriti couldn't believe her eyes. " Dear gods, this can't be true! ....All that dadi said ....oh my".
She stuttered and re-read the entry thrice and kept her eyes trained on the name that was signed in the end.
She turned the pages to various entries, trying to see if whatever written in it was true.
April 17, 1848
Today was the starting year in India as the new commanding officer of Rangarh and I have been insulted by the Princes in front of....
April 18, 1848
Coming here was the gravest mistake of my life. I shouldn't have agreed to this. What is happening with me? I have no answers. Aditi Verma's life was on edge and I don't know what came over me that I had saved the young women's life from...
The journal was full of entries marked with different dates belonging to another life. It was an old one and Kriti knew it. Almost dating more than a hundred years. But what she couldn't believe was the owner of this journal and it's clues to history thought to be long lost by the citizens of Rangarh.
" How did this even come in my possession. I thought this was long lost", Kriti suddenly gasped and collapsed on the bed as flashes of unfamiliar scenes that yet felt so familiar captured her eyes for good. A swirl took her mind to the past memories of April 17, 1848.