Who was Bahadur Shah? A new book unearths some history of Mumbai and the sultan

This new book unearths a little history of Bombay while tracing the journey of a misinterpreted young Sultan of 16th century Gujarat

We are familiar with the history that informs us how the islands of Bombay were sold to the East India Company in the 17th century by the Portuguese as part of a marriage alliance. But how did they come into the hands of the Portuguese and what made ‘Bom Baim’, as it was then called, such an important location? Kalpana Swaminathan and Ishrat Syed, who write under the pseudonym Kalpish Ratna, answer this, among other things, with nuance, in their new book, Bahadur Shah of Gujarat (Simon & Schuster). “Bahadur is missing from his own history,” say the author-surgeon duo, when we catch up with them over a call.

Written in the form of frame narratives, which bring the perspective of multiple narrators, the book traces young king Bahadur’s journey, from his teenage years of being exiled from the richest kingdom to his war days with the Mughals and death at the hands of the Portuguese. What’s interesting is that it locates Bombay on the map that captures the territory of the Gujarat Sultans. This idea of unearthing stories that show a glimpse into the port city that it was is something that the writers have often probed at in their writings. For the two, it’s important as readers and writers to ask ourselves: What’s the story of the ground where you stand?

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Kalpana Swaminathan and Ishrat Syed (Kalpish Ratna)

Their meanderings into the villages of the Shashti Islands (Salsette), curiosity about the replanting of the trees surrounding the area, readings of extant documents, visits to municipal offices for old maps, and conversations with historians and locals, all formed part of the effort that went into making of the book. “By that time, we were also neck-deep in our study of the 16th century, so how could we escape it?” exclaims Swaminathan. “We found out that there was a king in Gujarat who surrendered our islands to the Portuguese. We were eager to know why he did that, and who he was,” adds Syed. At the time Bombay was also, “on the trade route from the Dakshin to the port, and caravans passed through its bazaars,” they note in their introduction.

When they decided to write a book about their learnings, however, they didn’t want it to be textbook-like. They achieve this well by offering a microscopic nugget from history in the form of tales, dialogues, and poems sung by the bards, staying true to the incantatory nature in which ancient stories from India reach us. Entering this book is to be truly transported back in time and to really understand Bahadur the man from close quarters.

“We felt the immediacy of the character of Bahadur because he is like a lot of us: people growing up in an atmosphere, which is vitiated with prejudice, hate, and differences, and yet trying to assert dignity and identity which is all their own. We feel for young people today who are trying to grasp something rational, real, and meaningful. Bahadur had to do the same. And it is a struggle; so how do we arrive at our own truth through it all?” add the duo. 

Cost: Rs 674 (Available at all leading bookstores and e-stores)

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