The Tattooed Fakir

It’s a great premise for a novel: Muslim fakirs and Hindu sanyaasis teaming up to fight the British gora sahibs. These Indian Robin Hoods live in the jungles of northern Bengal and help the poor by stealing from the rich. The rebellion involves armed warfare, intelligent tactics and the dream of defeating the British, and is bound to appeal to any patriot.

It’s also a rebellion that isn’t to be.

Biman Nath’s The Tattooed Fakir promises a story about a rebellion and ultimately it becomes about how the lives of the powerful and the powerless are interlinked. Set in late eighteenth-century India, the novel begins when Roshanara, the daughter of a Muslim fakir, is kidnapped by Kali babu, the zamindar of Jahangirpur. The British Ronald MacLean (Makhlin sahib or burra sahib), the owner of a Neel Kuthi (Indigo Estate) intervenes and takes Roshanara as his mistress. Roshanara’s solace are Anne, the sister of the plantation manager Pierre Gaubert, and a servant named Gopal.

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