Book: Kohinoor Express
Author: Renil D'Silva
Pages: 413
Read on: Kindle
Read in: ~4 hours
Plot Summary: 1850. Governor-General Dalhousie has just won the Third Sikh War and he plans on gifting Queen Victoria the legendary Kohinoor.
But the route from Punjab to Bombay, from where it will set sail to England, is infested with bandits. The only person Dalhousie trusts with the mission is the highly decorated Captain James Ramsay. Accompanying him is his beautiful Anglo-Indian mistress, Tara.
Indian revolutionaries, however, are planning to ambush the train, because they know something that Dalhousie doesn’t: the Kohinoor is really the 5,000-year-old Syamantaka diamond. Lord Krishna’s stone.
To stop it from leaving Indian shores, they will need to enlist the aid of the most wanted bandit, Ajmera.
If he agrees, Ajmera will first have to break out of the dreaded Khoordah prison, where he has a date with the hangman. And he will have to face Ramsay’s forces and the wrath of Tara, a woman he abandoned on their wedding day, before he can get anywhere close to the Kohinoor.
Things I Liked:
1. A historical fiction book based in India. A historical fiction book about a heist. A historical fiction book about the Koh-i-noor diamond. What is not to like? So, when Westland were very kindly giving out a free ebook a day, we happily downloaded this book from Kindle and only got around to reading it now. After all, it is Indian Books in August time!
2. The story of this book follows the bloody history of the Koh-i-noor diamond all the way up to when it fell into the hands of the East India Company when they defeated Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab in 1850. The stone has left a series of deaths and suffering in its wake and is believed to be cursed. The author has used this belief and history of the stone to craft this tale and has done a decent (and entertaining) job out of it too!
3. The bulk of this book is focused on the misadventures of a band of convicts as they try to steal the Koh-i-noor from the East India Company before it is sent off to Queen Victoria. So, we have the three bandits (Ajmera, Kana Arjun and Birju) and two revolutionaries (freedom fighters), two prison guards (Liaquat Ali and Govind) and one woman- Tara (an Anglo-Indian mistress of the British Captain in charge of transporting the Koh-i-noor)- who manage to steal the Koh-i-noor but struggle to get it to safety. Their misadventures as they journey through a thick Central Indian (?) forest is detailed but fast paced.
4. In the midst of all this action-adventure and running-from-the-law business, the author has done a decent job with character development. We do get to know the 2-3 main characters at the heart of this story. Ajmera- bandit turned protector of the diamond- a man of principles, who is true to his word and is afraid of no one. Tara- an Anglo-Indian prostitute turned mistress to Captain James Ramsay and Ajmera's love interest. Liaquat Ali, an East Indian Company prison guard, who is helping the Koh-i-noor get to its rightful place. We get to know enough about these characters to form a bond with them, which is always a nice thing.
5. The book also has some nice little twists. Some you may see coming, some may take you by surprise. It also has a good blend of mythology, superstition and magical realism (sort of), which may feel like a lot with all the action, but is nicely done so that it doesn't feel disingenuous.
Things I Didn't Like:
1. Okay, so, historically, all this is, obviously, wishful thinking! We wish we could've stopped the Koh-i-noor from leaving our shores. We wish what belonged to this subcontinent stayed here and not locked up in the Tower of London. So, the events in this book are fictitious and a little over-the-top. Also, there are depictions of tribes and of the hijra community that are less-than-flattering that could've been done without. The author has romanticised the 'thieving tribes and communities' of India without bothering to understand that several communities turned to thieving due to abject poverty and exploitation at the hands of local kings, landowners etc. It is a bit minimising to just refer to them as a 'community of thieves' or 'tribe known for stealing' as if that was their primary identity. This did not sit well with me. I understand this is fiction, but we can still do better in this day and age when a lot of great information is available online and in many of our libraries.
Rating: 3.5/ 5
This book is a fun read if you enjoy historical action-adventure books but not bother too much with historical authenticity. :)
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