Jazeera- Legend of the Fort Island

by Yash Pawaskar

  ‘Yes, Keshav. It is indeed time to die,’ said Guru Ashwath. The Adivasis hidden in the forest surprised the inattentive soldiers with a volley of arrows, which killed them instantly. The other soldiers picked up their weapons and started attacking the Adivasis.

  Keshav picked up a sword from the ground and slashed hard at Guru Ashwath. However, the Guru moved away quickly and searched for a weapon. Keshav kicked the dhoti-clad Guru in his stomach. He doubled up and his angavastram fell off. Keshav went for Guru Ashwath’s bent head with his sword but another quick move saved the Guru. However, he couldn’t evade Keshav’s punch.

  The ageing Guru was rattled and blanked out for a few seconds. This time, Keshav had a clear target. His sword pierced through the Guru’s thighs. He screamed in pain and knelt. Keshav set his sight on the Guru’s neck. He held his sword with both hands and swung it from right to left. But the Guru bent backward.

  Keshav missed his mark and the force of his swing made him spin. His back was now facing Guru Ashwath. The agile Guru straightened his back and grabbed Keshav by his knees. Guru Ashwath, pulled Keshav towards him and Keshav fell face-forward onto the ground.

  Guru Ashwath leapt on Keshav’s back and reached for the sword that had fallen from Keshav’s hands. He had Keshav pinned to the floor. He held the sword and sliced Keshav’s neck, killing him in one go. Just as he did that, one of the Sultanate soldier’s sword entered his chest and his mouth was filled with blood.

  Guru Ashwath was dead.

  The Adivasis and Junglees, continued battling with Keshav and Sultanate’s soldiers in the Mahavan, but no one won. The Adivasis and the Junglees were determined to kill the soldiers until their hearts beat. The Sultanate soldiers eventually overpowered them but not before losing out a significant number of their warriors.

  Guru Ashwath and others laid down their lives to stop Keshav and his men, and Sultanate’s soldiers from marching to Jazeera. The battalion sent from Daulatabad had lost several of its soldiers. Those who survived were severely wounded. They were in no position to move into the Mahavan and fight another battle. They retreated towards Daulatabad.

  11 – Outside Jazeera

  Avni, Brinda, and the group leaders from the Adivasi, Junglees and village battalion huddled to reassess their battle strategy. They had observed that the War Chariots were not agile. Also, if the chariot riders were killed, the War Chariot would halt. The Mahavanis split up into small batches of ten and spread out in the battlefield. Avni and other Shadows mounted the elephants and rode into the battlefield.

  The Island Guards saw the soldiers emerging from the Mahavan and prepared themselves and the War Chariots for another round of heavy attack. Bakhtiar unleashed a thousand Island Guards in ten batches to defeat the Mahavanis. He also readied the fire-arrows on the fort walls.

  The trick of splitting up worked in favour of the Mahavanis, as the War Chariots did not get a single line of attack to maul them. Avni and seven other Shadows rode on elephants towards the War Chariot.

  A new batch of Island Guards on horses and on foot continued to battle the Mahavanis. Avni and the Shadows on elephants, came close to the four War Chariots and looked for the right opportunity to crush the killing machines.

  The Shadows each brought their elephants close the War Chariots and jumped onto them. Two Shadows landed on one Chariot each. They struggled to maintain their balance but held on to the rider’s casing, the enclosure that was meant to protect the chariot riders from arrows.

  It was now used against the guards as they were trapped inside it. They tried to swing their swords, but the trained Shadows were in a position of power. They killed the chariot riders with their daggers. The juggernaut was stopped.

  When Bakhtiar saw this, he lost his temper. He doubled the fire-arrows and sent more Island Guards onto the battlefield. He failed to realise that the number of Island Guards at his disposal had declined drastically.

  He had already lost some men when the water receded, and when the elephants took them by surprise and blew them away. Hamid, Goraksh, Urmila, and others were steadily killing off Island Guards inside Jazeera. A batch sent to the cave tunnel was taken care of by Kashvi and the women warriors. Almost fifteen hundred guards were on the battlefield either dead or alive. The rest were on the fort’s boundary, patrolling Jazeera and the palace.

  Comparatively, the Mahavanis had lost fewer lives in the battle. They did lose Kashvi and the women, Bagha and his men, Guru Ashwath and the Adivasis. They also lost some lives because of the War Chariot, fire-arrows, and attacks by the horse-riders and foot soldiers. But the Mahavanis were still going strong because of their spirit and their strategy.

  Avni realised that this was the right time to go inside Jazeera to kill Commander Bakhtiar, as with dwindling numbers and no one to guide them, the Island Guards would be demoralized. She ordered for four fresh elephants to be brought out into the battlefield. These had been safely tucked away inside the Mahavan, as they were designated to pull massive slingshots.

  The specially designed slingshots were as huge as the elephants carrying them. They weren’t meant to throw balls of fire as typical of them. These had fishing nets and machinery that created a propeller to launch the Shadows up into the sky. The Shadows held crossbows in their hands and daggers tucked away near their shin.

  The elephants pulling the slingshots were protected by horse riders on either side as they marched towards the fort’s boundary. The Shadows took their position and settled inside the propeller.

  The Island Guards on the battlefield were shocked by what they saw. It took time for them to process what was going on. But they couldn’t come near the elephants because the horse riders were busy keeping them at bay with their spears and swords.

  Avni and the Shadows rode the elephants close to the fort. They analysed the distance to be covered and at the right distance from the wall, released the wooden trigger that had kept the propeller tense. The slingshot launched the Shadows high in the night sky.

  Bakhtiar watched four Shadows soar to his eye level and open their wings. With the open wings, the Shadows descended and glided towards the fort’s boundaries, particularly towards Bakhtiar. The archers fired fire-arrows towards the gliding Shadows, but the moving target evaded them.

  The Shadows had practiced this feat for the past five years. They were not only used to gliding and evading the attack but launching one as well. Seizing the right opportunity, the Shadows used their crossbows to hurl arrows at Bakhtiar.

  He looked up left to right and saw that the four gliding Shadows had fired arrows in his direction. He knew that if he evaded one or two, he would certainly be hit by the other two. Bakhtiar roared in agony on realising that he had lost his battle. He raised his arms and yelled, as four arrows pierced his skull, eye, neck, and chest.

  The Shadows glided over the fort’s boundary walls and landed on the roof of buildings inside Jazeera. The slingshots were used again, and another batch of Shadows was launched inside the fort. However, this time, the Island Guards did manage to get two of them down and only two of the four could make it inside. Six Shadows hopped, skipped, and jumped their way to Zorawar’s palace.

  With the War Chariots halted and their commander killed, the Island Guards were fighting a losing battle. There was no one to guide them, and the elephants continued to trample the soldiers on the battlefield. The horse riders and foot soldiers couldn’t keep the Mahavanis away from Jazeera.

  The news of Bakhtiar’s death and subsequent defeat had reached Zorawar. He didn’t believe it at first but was convinced on hearing that the South Gate was being burst open by two raging elephants. He refused to accept that the Mahavanis had defeated the Island Guards.

  The Mahavanis barged inside the fort. Jazeera’s soldiers on the inside continued the resistance, but they were no match for the highly motivated Mahavanis.

  Zorawar panicked. He did what he always did when he needed answers. He took a bottle of toddy along with the Sin Serum and went into
his Mirror Room.

  12 – Mirror Room

  The Island Guards along with the palace servants had deserted the Sultan’s abode. Jahanara was free from her room arrest. She came to know what had transpired. The Queen knew that the Shadows were coming for her and the Sultan.

  Jahanara was drained. Without her son and brother, she had no motivation to live. The weight of her sorrow was so much that even lifting her legs to take a step forward felt like walking a mile. She moved slowly towards the Sultan’s room. The Queen found a robe haphazardly thrown on the bed and understood that Zorawar must be inside the Mirror Room.

  Jahanara entered the room and saw a broken man reflected on the mirrored walls. Zorawar was lying naked on the floor. Tears rolled down from his blood-red eyes. The tube carrying the Sin Serum lay empty beside him. He had already gulped two bottles of toddy and wasn’t in his senses.

  Zorawar looked up and saw Jahanara in the tiny square-shaped mirrors. She stood behind him and waited there with her hands behind her back. Zorawar tried to reach Jahanara’s reflection in the mirrors. And when he couldn’t, he caressed Jahanara’s image in one of the square mirrors.

  He looked at the reflection and said, ‘Jahanara, the mirrors are not giving me an answer. They always did. But now, when I need them the most, they are not helping me.’

  Jahanara took a step forward and asked, ‘You always ask the mirrors what to do?’

  ‘Yes. Whenever I was confused, the mirrors spoke to me. I owe them everything. They have been guiding me throughout my life, but I don’t know what has happened now. Can you help me?’

  ‘Yes, Zorawar. I can help you,’ said Jahanara taking another step ahead.

  ‘Please. Please do. Ask. Maybe, if you ask, they will respond. Ask them,’ pleaded Zorawar.

  ‘I will ask. Before that, I just want to know. Since when have the mirrors been assisting you in making decisions?’

  ‘Ever since I was a child. I take the Sin Serum, and then my eyes turn red, and I do what the reflection tells me to do. In my childhood, I killed my Master at sea because the mirror inside his cabin told me to do so. I took over from Gaffar and built Jazeera because the mirrors told me to do so,’ said Zorawar.

  ‘Did the mirrors tell you to marry me?

  ‘Yes.’

  Did the mirrors tell you to kill my three daughters as soon as they were born?’

  Zorawar hesitated but said, ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did the mirrors tell you to kill my son?’

  Zorawar howled in pain. The flow of tears didn’t stop. He said, ‘Yes.’

  ‘Alright,’ said Jahanara.

  Zorawar gathered himself and asked again, ‘Will you ask them what needs to be done next?’

  ‘Yes, I will,’ said Jahanara. She asked, ‘Oh mighty mirrors, please tell me what should be done next?’

  Zorawar looked intently around for any movement in the mirrors but couldn’t find any. He tried to listen closely but couldn’t hear a thing. He looked at Jahanara’s reflection and asked, ‘Did you hear anything?’

  She lied, ‘Yes, Zorawar. The mirrors are saying that it is time to sleep.’

  ‘Yes. I want to sleep. I want all of this to be over.’

  Jahanara came closer to Zorawar. She bent down and caressed his hair with her left hand. He continued gazing at her reflection in the mirrors without turning back to the real her. She continued moving her hand through his hair, and Zorawar closed his eyes.

  Jahanara brought her right hand forward. She held a dagger in it. She clutched Zorawar’s hair tightly and slashed his neck from left to right. The mirrors turned red. Once she confirmed that Zorawar had died, she rammed the same dagger into her stomach and embraced death.

  Avni and the other Shadows killed the guards who resisted their entry into the palace and reached the Sultan’s bedchamber on the third floor. They looked around but couldn’t find him. Avni saw an open door in his room and entered the Mirror Room. She saw the Sultan and the Queen lying dead and prayed for their souls.

  The Mahavanis had taken over Jazeera.

  News of Zorawar’s death spread like wildfire. People of Jazeera were elated when they came to know this. Finally, they were free from their tyrant ruler. The remaining Island Guards had laid down their weapons and surrendered. Jazeera’s civilians came out of their homes, onto the street, and welcomed the Mahavanis, their liberators.

  Avni and the Shadows burned down the palace and all of Jazeera watched, as its past turned to ashes.

  13 – Market

  The day after the battle of the fort island, the Mahavanis and the Jazeera civilians had spent resting, celebrating, and cleaning up. After sunset, the seawater was back where it belonged. The sea rushed back towards the shore with powerful waves and damaged a major part of the village on the coast. Fortunately, the villagers were inside Jazeera, protected by its strong walls. Jazeera’s children were also back with their parents. The Island Guards had been gifted with freedom; with no master, there were not slaves anymore.

  From the stage in the market, Avni was addressing the new and old citizens of Jazeera. She was surrounded by Hamid, Goraksh, Brinda, Urmila, and others.

  Avni said, ‘Today, as we stand here together, this fort island doesn’t belong to an individual or one family. It belongs to every one of us. Just look around you. There are different kinds of people here. There are people who have been calling Jazeera their home for the past twenty years. Island Guards who are now free. Villagers. Adivasis. Junglees. And then there are people like me, the original inhabitants of this island.

  ‘We are here because we fought valiantly together. Twenty years ago, I lost my father, my brother, and my home. Twenty years later, I found my home, but I had to pay a price for it. I lost my mother and my Guru.

  ‘Numerous people have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. And we must keep that in mind and stay together. We must uphold what Guru Ashwath taught us: the strong do not prey on the weak; strength lies in living together as a community and in harmony with nature. This is our dharma.

  ‘We must respect Mother Nature and undertake developments that do not harm her. There is no glory in progress if it is achieved by exploiting our natural resources. We stand here because Bhoodevi intended it to be so. Maybe, the Timingila did answer our prayers.

  ‘We won this battle because of a combination of factors. It took years of planning and an arrogant and ignorant enemy. We cannot repeat the same mistakes. We were able to defend the Northern Sultanate’s reinforcements from the east because of Bagha, Guru Ashwath, and other brave warriors. Giant waves shielded us from the reinforcements sailing from the north. But they will come back. And this time, we will not have the geographic advantage of the receding sea. But what we will have is our unity and this Island Fort.

  ‘The new Jazeera doesn’t have a palace. We will function the way the original inhabitants of the island functioned, by electing a governing Council. You, the people of Jazeera, will decide the chosen few who seek to serve the island and not become masters.’

  The crowd agreed in unison, ‘Hooh, hooh, hooh.’

  Avni chanted, ‘Jai Bhoodevi!’

  The crowd echoed Avni’s sentiment, ‘Jai Bhoodevi!’

  14 – Epilogue

  A few weeks later, the people of Jazeera had elected a Council comprising of three women and two men from among them. They restored balance in the fort island and the economic activity shot up. Jazeera was no longer a den of toddy, gambling, and prostitution. Seeds were sown for the right balance.

  The women-driven Council removed the vices and focused on empowering the economy through trade and industry. Jazeera’s key source of revenue, the toddy, was produced but in a regulated way. Slowly and steadily, Jazeera regained its position as a stopover for merchants and traders. It flourished, and this time, the people who worked hard were rewarded.

  Jazeera had become a self-governed state. It had declared freedom from the Northern Sultanate, which wasn’t well received. The Sultanate was hurt
due to the humungous losses faced in the battles with the Sujaynagar Empire, the moving of the capital back to Delhi from Daulatabad, and the battle of the fort island. They were licking their wounds and were looking for an opportunity to strike back.

  Jazeera needed allies. And they again turned to the Sujaynagar Empire for support. The southern rulers had refused to fight the battle of the fort island against Zorawar and the Northern Sultanate, as they didn’t want to invade lands but focus on strengthening their defence. They had supported only with elephants and weapons. But now, things were different.

  The Mahavanis had achieved the unthinkable. They had defeated Zorawar in his own backyard and snatched it away from him. This gave the Sujayanagar Empire a lot of confidence in the new Jazeera.

  Avni, accompanied by Hamid, visited the southern rulers and extended their gratitude towards them for supporting them during the battle. They discussed trade routes and other economic strategies, which would be beneficial for the people of Jazeera as well as the Sujaynagar Empire.

  An alliance was also formed on the army and the naval front where Sujaynagar Empire declared open support to Jazeera.

  When this news reached the Northern Sultanate’s ruler, King Taufiq Muhammad, he realised it was not about a small fort island anymore. His vision was to rule entire Bharatvarsh and blocking him relentlessly from realising his vision was the Sujaynagar Empire.

  All events pointed towards a battle for Bharatvarsh.

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  Dedication

  This story is dedicated to all those who fought for their freedom, swarajya!

  About the Author

  Yash Pawaskar is a short-story writer and novelist. He also writes columns and is an avid reader.