The Heroes and Their Storyteller

Author Amish Tripathi, who was in the city for a reading last week, is in utter awe of Rajendra Chola—the man he was, the conquests he made, and the beautiful temples and city of Gangaikonda Cholapuram he built.

- ANUSHREE MADHAVAN

Author Amish Tripathi, who was in the city for a reading last week, is in utter awe of Rajendra Chola—the man he was, the conquests he made, and the beautiful temples and city of Gangaikonda Cholapuram he built. "What a man he was!" he exclaims. This sheer awe of one of the mightiest emperors of India comes across in Amish's latest book The Chola Tigers: Avengers of Somnath, which is a part of his Indic Chronicles. The first in this series was Legend of Suheldev, released in 2020, which recounted the role of a king from Shravasti who mobilized Indians to fight the Turkic army after the destruction of the Somnath temple.

The book mentions the Chola general Narasimhan telling King Suheldev that they got vengeance from Mahumd as well. The king then asks to hear that story too, to which General Narasimhan hints that perhaps an author will write about it.

"I'm here. The author is here," laughs Amish.

Along with Narasimhan, the other passengers in this journey of revenge sought against Mahumd are a Chalukya king whose father was a rival of the Cholas, a Gujarati merchant, a member of the Vavar community of Kerala whose sole duty is to protect Lord Ayyappa, and a Chola officer. Their story, told in The Chola Tigers, is a celebration of a dynasty and a piece of history that hasn't gotten its due.

Excerpts follow:

Why did you plan on the Indic Chronicle series?