“And Avanti is one of the Rajyas, correct?” Tissa asked meekly. His knowledge of geography had been limited to the names of two to three cities that he heard again and again at the palace. “Avanti, where Avarak lives?”
“Where Avarak the one-eyed lives!” Sushem smiled as Tissa did not clutch him tightly again at the mention of the one eye. “Actually Avanti is a little bigger than a Rajya. It is a Maharajya, just like our Taxila here.”
“And it belongs to Avarak?”
“No!” His brother’s suddenly raised voice shocked Tissa and he held on tightly to the jacket again to avoid falling. “Avanti belongs to Father.” Sushem said angrily, without looking back. “That bloody rebel has just usurped it. Though, not for long.” He began to laugh. “Not for long.”
“Is that why we are going to buy weapons?” Tissa asked, impressed at his own intelligence. The whole thing had started to make sense for him. “So that we can ride south and teach the rebel a lesson?”
Sushem laughed again. “No, my dear brother. We are buying weapons for a different purpose entirely.”
“Which?” Tissa asked, disappointed that his deduction had been wrong.
“You’ll soon see,” Sushem said.
They were silent for the rest of the time as the horses laboriously climbed up the hill. Tissa could hear the strutting hooves and the neighs and whimpers of the horses as they finally reached the top of the hill. Rocky cliffs rose high around them on all sides, leaving only a pass to go in and come out.
“He is late!” Sushem said, as he climbed off the horse, picked up Tissa and placed him on the ground.
“It’s not wise to keep a Maharaja waiting,” Hariharan said, as he too climbed off his horse. The other soldiers veered their horses around them and made a protective ring.
“Ask some of the men to climb up those cliffs to keep watch,” Sushem ordered and Hariharan immediately complied. Tissa watched as some men got off their horses and climbed up the hills with their spears.
Sushem had bent down to his side, he realized, and Tissa looked at him. “Watch us closely, brother.” Sushem told him, ruffling his hair. “As I said, soon you’ll be a Raja too. And you must learn how older men conduct business. That is why I have brought you here with me. So you can watch and learn.” Then he stood up again and went off to stand by the side of Hariharan who was watching the other end of the pass.
Tissa stayed at his place by the horse and kept watching them. Soon he was bored as Sushem and the Minister broke into a talk of their own and the soldiers kept standing. He turned to look to the other side, to see if he could see the city, but he could not. They had crossed a few hills and the city now lay hidden behind them.
As Tissa watched the hills, he realized that this was the farthest he had come from the city ever. Sometimes he and his friends would go and play in the river and the farms by the city, but never had he crossed the adjoining hills.
He turned back when he heard a horn blow slowly. He watched Hariharan who had moved forward out of the protective ring of the soldiers. “He has come.” he said, and Sushem followed him. Tissa walked up to the edge of the ring to have a good look. A soldier looked at him, and picked him up on his horse so that Tissa had a very good view.
Three men were emerging from the other end of the pass. One of them who led was on a big horse, even bigger than the ones which they had come upon. As they drew closer, Tissa realized that the big horse was necessary because the man was quite big too, fat actually. The other two men were riding ponies, which were pulling wooden carriages with them.
“Kanakdatta the Buddhist!” Tissa watched Sushem greet the fat man loudly. “I hope you kept Avarak waiting too when you sold weapons to him.”
“Ah, the rumors.” The fat man called Kanakdatta said as he got off his horse. The robe that he was wearing was exquisite and sparkled in the early morning sunrays. Tissa was sure that the fat man would fall as he got off the horse, but he jumped down in one swift motion and bowed before the Maharaja.
Sushem looked amused as Kanakdatta got back to his feet and turned to give the men on the ponies instructions on where to stop. Minister Hariharan was immediately between the Maharaja and the fat man.
“I must check if you carry weapons,” he said.
“I carry a lot of weapons.” The fat man smiled. “In fact, I carry a sample for each masterpiece that I can offer the Maharaja from my caravan.” The last words were accompanied by a swift bow and Sushem smiled. Hariharan frowned however. “I meant on person.”
“Oh, relax, Minister,” Sushem said, walking forward. “A weapons dealer won’t kill his customers, will he?”
Hariharan did not look pleased at all as his own line was used upon him, and he stood to one side, folding his hands. Kanakdatta looked around everywhere, first at the bodyguards and then on the men upon the cliffs. “You brought quite an entourage, Maharaja.”
“I am the Maharaja of Taxila, and Governor of the Northwest in the name of my father, Bindusar, the Samrat of the Bharathvarsha.” Sushem said “What else did you expect?”
‘Sure, sure.” Kanakdatta laughed as the two ponies with the carts stopped just a few paces behind them. Then he looked straight ahead and Tissa realized that he was gazing directly at him.
“Who’s the small one?” He asked.
“My little brother, Vittasoka.” Sushem smiled. “He is my ward.”
Tissa took a moment to register his true name. Nobody called him by that name at Taxila. Everyone had learnt to call him Tissa, and his real name had become a long forgotten memory.
“A sweet child.” Kanakdatta gave him a coy smile and Tissa felt a shiver run down his spine. This fat man is evil was the immediate thought that crept into his mind, but Sushem was looking back at him and calling him forward.
The soldier on whose horse he was sitting on, picked him up by the waist and placed him down on the ground. Tissa felt his knees go heavy as his feet touched the soil. He took heavy steps toward the three of them. Over the cliffs, he could see their own soldiers standing with spears raised, looking at them unblinking. It’s safe! Tissa told himself as he went and stood by his brother’s side. Sushem ruffled his hair. Kanakdatta bent down to his knees.
“How old are you, Prince?” He smiled, keeping his distance from him.
“Seven..” Words somehow came to Tissa’s lips.
“Well, perfect!” Kanakdatta smiled. He stood up and went for the carts by the ponies. He ordered the two men in some foreign language and they started riffling through the contents of the cart. Tissa could hear the sound of metal upon metal. He could see the men search through various kinds of blades and spears. Then they brought out a leather scabbard and handed it over to Kanakdatta.
“I got my first sword when I was seven.” He smiled as he took the sword and handed it over to Hariharan who took it too, careful not to touch the man. “As the Buddha told us,” Kanakdatta said, smiling his coy smile again, “each business transaction should begin with a gift, and so here is my gift to your brother, Maharaja.”
Then Tissa understood. They were not touching him because he was a Buddhist. His brother had told him about the non-believers, the ones who followed the new way. He had told them that they should be kept at a distance. Sushem took the scabbard from Hariharan and pulled the blade out. It was a small blade and looked like a slightly elongated knife in his hands.
“This looks like fine work.” He said, and put it back again. “Do you like it, Tissa?” Tissa held the leather and felt his hands shaking as he took it. It was heavier than he had expected and he had to use the strength of both his arms to pick it up.
“Yes, I like it.” He said, looking up.
Kanakdatta smiled at him and looked forward. “Now, on to business, shall we?”
Tissa pierced the leather scabbard into his belt and pushed on it. The belt was tight and he had to push quite a lot to make the scabbard go through. Then he thought of going back, but observe us Sushem had said. Maybe brother wants me
to stand here and listen to them talk.
Kanakdatta had walked up to his cart and was pulling out blades one by one. Hariharan and Sushem were standing opposite the cart.
“It’s a pity that we couldn’t welcome you into the city.” Sushem said.
“Oh no, that’s not a problem at all.” Kanakdatta said, still riffling through the weapons in the cart, “I surely understand.”
“There really was no way I could have let a man of your, ah.. beliefs enter the city with the current Ashwamedha Yadnya going on,” Sushem said.
“As I said, Maharaja, not a problem at all.”
“If there was any other Yadnya, I would have made an exception for you,” Sushem said, playing with his beard. “But you must understand. It’s the Ashwamedha. The holiest of the Yadnyas! The horse sacrifice.”
“I understand!” Kanakdatta looked up. He was holding a curved blade in his hands, “And I am very glad for the Yadnya, Maharaja. Otherwise, why would you need these?” He smiled as he waved the curved blade in the air.
“Indeed.” Sushem said.
Kanakdatta showed the curved blade to them. “This one is perfect for horse riders.” He said, “Its curve makes moving it through the air easier while riding with the speed of a horse.”
Sushem frowned. “I’m afraid that the nobles that accompany the horse shall find this a little…”
“Savage?” Kanakdatta laughed. “Of course. Of course!” He said. “That’s why I brought this.” The next thing he brought out of the cart was a long great sword, so long that it crossed the whole length of the cart.
“And how are horsemen to use these?” Sushem looked at the fat man.
“Won’t there be foot soldiers?”
“But the foot soldiers will not be noble.” Sushem smiled. Kanakdatta smiled back at him. He was going through the contents of the cart again and pulled out another sword, half in size to the one he had pulled out earlier. “A broadsword, single handed, with two edges.” He handed it over to Hariharan, the handle side at him. “Forged from pure bronze, without any impurities!” He said as Hariharan inspected the blade by running his finger over it.
“This is good stuff.” Sushem said, “Tell me Buddhist, where do you get all your stock? Who are the master craftsmen that make these fine pieces of work?”
A smile had crept upon Kanakdatta’s face. “If I reveal that, then I’m afraid that the Maharaja is resourceful enough to go directly to the source.”
Sushem laughed at the flattery and took the broadsword from Hariharan. “We’ll take these.” He smiled. “The nobles will like it. For the normal soldiers, we’ll need spears of course.”
Tissa’s mind drifted away from the scene as they began looking into various kinds of spears, differing in lengths and sizes. He began looking at the soldiers atop the cliffs to their sides and those behind them. But his mind wavered right back to the front when he heard them discuss bows.
“Bows and arrows!” Hariharan was saying. “We prefer to buy them from local craftsmen rather than caravans like you.”
“Yes, I prefer to be sure about my bows and arrows!” Maharaja Sushem said. “Any fool can forge a broadsword with some practice, but to make bows! Now that takes a real artist.”
Tissa was listening intently now, as Kanakdatta turned to the next caravan which was bigger in size and started looking in it. Tissa didn’t really have much of an interest in swords and spears, but bows were something he knew about. His archery teacher made him practice at dawn every day, and Tissa had learnt to hit the arrow quite close to the bull’s eye by then.
“You belittle my products without giving them a try first,” Kanakdatta said, holding a wooden longbow in his hand that was almost as long as him.
“It’s not about belittling,” Sushem said loudly. “I don’t want to take a chance with so important a Yadnya being conducted.”
“The Ashwamedha is a very important Yadnya, Maharaja!” Kanakdatta muttered, lifting the bow up from the ground with one hand. Tissa gasped as he did that. Being used to lifting one every morning, he knew that these pieces of wood weighed more than they appeared to weigh. But Kanakdatta lifted it gracefully with one arm. “And I will say that you’ll be taking much more of a chance with the quality of the weapons if you buy your bows from Taxila!”
Hariharan looked at the bow intently. “It sure looks good!” He said. “But who knows how you Buddhists handle them while transporting them?”
Kanakdatta’s face changed very fast, but Tissa was sure he had seen a frown before it went back to being smiling again.
“Look!” he said, “I can prove that my bows are of the topmost make.”
“How?” Hariharan asked sarcastically.
“By using one right now!” Kanakdatta said, placing the bow back on the ground.
Sushem looked back at the soldiers standing behind them. “How?” He laughed, looking ahead. “I haven’t brought any archers with me. Who will use the bow?”
“I will.” Kanakdatta had lifted the bow up again. He looked to his two men who ran to bring him a quiver from the caravan. He took the leather pouch with arrows from them and slung it across his shoulder, drawing one arrow all by one hand. He placed it in the nook of the bow.
“Blindfold me!” He said loudly.
Both Hariharan and Sushem were looking at the fat man intently. They watched as Kanakdatta’s men brought a piece of rag and tied it across his eyes.
“What are you doing?” Hariharan asked loudly.
In response, Kanakdatta turned and began to walk away from them towards the other end of the plateau. He held the bow in one hand and stopped once he had walked almost a hundred paces away from them. Now he looked much smaller. Sushem looked intrigued.
Tissa could sense the tension in the air as Kanakdatta turned. He could hear his own heart thump loudly against his chest. But Sushem still looked relaxed. “What are you going to hit with the arrow?” He asked loudly. “You are blindfolded for the Gods’ sake!”
The next things happened so fast, that they happened before Tissa realized what had happened. Kanakdatta had lifted his bow up and pulled the string. The arrow launched from it had whizzed out so fast, that no one even had time to move. The arrow moved fast straight towards Sushem and slammed hard into the long iron helmet over his head. There was a loud metallic clang as the arrow pushed the helmet away and it landed on the ground beside him.
For a moment Tissa watched as Sushem’s hair stood straight on his head as he realized what had happened. It took a moment for all of them to register what had happened, and then Tissa’s heart started beating very fast as he heard almost thirty swords slung out of their scabbards from behind him. Hariharan had unsheathed his sword too now, and was pointing it at Kanakdatta who had by then made no effort to get another arrow from his quiver.
Nor had Sushem! He stood there, hands no longer on the hilt of his sword. Kanakdatta had placed the bow on the ground resting against his legs and was untying his own blindfold now.
Tissa looked back. The soldiers had their swords out and were looking at the Maharaja for an order. The soldiers on the cliffs had raised their spears and pointed it at Kanakdatta. All of a sudden, Tissa felt an overwhelming sigh of fear. He clutched one hand of brother Sushem with both of his little hands. Sushem clutched them right back and Tissa realized that his brother was shaking. Only for a moment though!
“What is the meaning of this, Buddhist?” Hariharan screamed loudly, looking at Kanakdatta who had now removed his blindfold and was smiling.
“Stop it.” Tissa heard words escape from Sushem’s mouth, but they were too low. Hariharan did not hear them. “You’ll die for this Buddhist!” He continued to scream. “You dare attack our own Maharaja in our own lands?”
“Stop it, and sheath your sword,” Sushem said, loudly this time. Hariharan looked back at him, confused. He shrugged at his soldiers as if to ask why.
“Sheath your swords for the Gods’ sakes,” Sushem said, folding his hands. “The
man was trying to make a point.”
“Indeed, Maharaja!” Kanakdatta said loudly, as he walked back towards them again. No one had sheathed their swords though. Kanakdatta’s men ran to him and he handed over the bow and the quiver to them.
“A Shabda Bhedi?” Sushem was certainly taken aback because his voice shook though he made it quite loud.
“I am!” Kanakdatta laughed. “I can hit targets based on the sound the target makes alone, which in this case was your loud voice. Let me apologize if I have frightened the Maharaja, but I never intended to hit even an ounce of your flesh.”
“How?” Sushem merely asked.
“It takes a little bit of practice!” Kanakdatta said, rubbing his own knuckles. “And a little bit of talent I suppose. But none of them are of much use without a perfectly crafted bow, which was my point.”
“Many of our legendary Gods were Shabda Bhedi.” Sushem said, thoughtfully.
Kanakdatta laughed heartily. “The Gods do not bother giving the talent to a man who does not believe in them, it seems.”
Sushem looked around and realized that no one had sheathed their swords yet. He let go of Tissa’s hands, and bent down to pick up his iron helmet from the ground. He dusted it with one hand and plucked out the arrow from it, before placing it back on his head.
With that, the soldiers sheathed their swords too. Hariharan was the last one to sheath his. As Kanakdatta turned back to the caravan, Hariharan leaned in and whispered to Sushem. Tissa heard those words as clear as air. “He should have been killed for his insult.”
“Not in front of Tissa!” Sushem growled back at him. “I’d say let us put these events behind us.”
“So have I proved the worthiness of my bows?” Kanakdatta asked them eagerly.
Sushem turned to him. “Indeed you have. We’ll buy from you.”
The Prince of Patliputra Page 2