Pandunath had known only three things in his life, his farm, his family and his caste, beyond this he cared little or knew little of the world beyond his meagre holding. But life is a cruel teacher and he would learn that his farm, his family and his caste were not merely his concern.
Pandunath was a peasant who lived off a farm East of Pataliputra. Most of the village were hard working peasants or workers, most were shudras and vaishyas by caste. When the war of lion came, he saw his brother taken away from him to fight an alien enemy in a far away land. After the war, came the taxes.
The village was not known for its prosperity, but the merchants of Pataliputra were always ready to pay a fair price for grain, the guild masters were always ready to give work to the workers, and artisans could sell their produce, that was before the war. The war needed additional funds, the disruption of trade burdened the treasury, and it was the poor hard working men of Bharata who would have to pay.
The tax collectors were vicious, but more vicious than them were the usurers. Those who lent with interest rates of a hundred or two hundred percent. The war made them raise loans of a thousand percent and Pandunath was one of their victims. To pay the tax of the state, he took money from the usurers, then to pay the usurer he had nothing but his land.
Walking by the charred remains of what was once his hut, Pandunath recollected the day the usurer came with his goons. "Please I beg you sire, don't take away our home, it is all we have. Please show mercy" his wife begged on the usurer's feet, as his child cried
"You took money, you could not pay, so I take your land. That is the deal, even you lot can understand that."
"Please, I can get you the money. Just give me a little more time.." Pandunath pleaded
"I gave you enough time ! You think you're the only one that doesn't have money ? You don't have money , I don't have money, the whole of Bharatvarsh is poorer. I gave you enough time, you didn't pay now I want my land!"
"Please, have mercy, I have a child."
"Enough talk! If you won't give your land peacefully I will take it with my men."
"I cannot let you do this."
"I'd like to see you try and stop me." Said the usurer with a smile.
His dozen armed men proceeded with sticks to evict Pandunath and his family from their home. Pandunath responded with closing the door of his hut. "Ugh! You are making this difficult Pandunath! Come out peacefully and this will end well for all of us." the usurer screamed.
"I won't give my land and see my family starve!"
The wife was wailing, the infant child cowered in her bosom and cried out loud. Pandunath would rather not remember that day, but it stayed with him like an ugly scar.
When it became clear that Pandunath would not leave meekly, the usurer ordered his men to burn down the hut. The men threw torches at the frail thatch hut and he saw fire engulf his home, burning down his shelter. "Lock them in. Let this village see what I do to deadbeats!"
He survived, but his family did not. The fires suffocated his infant child and his wife soon died of an illness brought on her by her grief. Pandunath then wondered from place to place surviving on animals and bushes as he contemplated his losses. In his mind, he contemplated vengeance.
Later on he would kill the usurer who took his land, but that did not satisfy Pandunath. He went to a mahant at the Mahabodhi sangh in Pataliputra "Bhante, why am I not satisfied ?" he asked
"Pandunath, you are dissatisfied, because you sought vengeance. You killed the man who was responsible for the death of your child and your wife. But did that bring them back?"
"No.. it did not."
"Yet the fire that has been lit in you won't subside."
"No it won't Bhante… what must I do ?"
"You must channelize your fire Pandunath, your rage, your anger, will remain like a curse in you, till you purge it out. For the injustice that was brought upon you, you must answer with justice."
"But how will I do this.."
Pandunath would find this answer in the fire of rebellion. The gathering had no less than three thousand, they were peasants workers and artisans, there were men and women. All of them were armed with pitchforks and torches or clubs. They were all poor and nothing to lose, except their misery. All of them were gathered to hear the words of the man named Krantiguru, the man who promised them freedom. He spoke :
"Many centuries ago, on this soil of Magadh, there arose a rebellion, a blessed war cry which inspired thousands to self-sacrificing valor. This was the rebellion of the oppressed against a wicked and cruel king of Magadh. Their war cry was Justice, vengeance, fire and blood!
It is today as it was then, that another cruel king sits over Magadh, who has deprived you of your land, destroyed your lives, and brought you misery. You who till the land, whose labor has built wonders over Bharata, you without whom the very life of Bharata would end. Samrat Pulovami is guilty before you all, guilty of failing you, him and his dynasty.
We who work for all and feed all, deserve our place in this world no less than the brahmins and the Kshatriya. What has the nobility done but gorge on the fruits of our sacrifice ? How many here have a brother or a father or a husband or a friend, who was not taken to the wastelands of the West to fight for nothing but this emperor's pride ? Why then are our lives valued less ? No more !
We will rebel ! We will raid the palace treasury, we will raid the houses of usurers and we will raid their granaries and take their ill gotten wealth. We will take it and share it among the poor to our brethren.
The martyrs of the first enlightened rebellion have cast their blessing on us, let us honor their spirit by invoking their call "Nyay, Pratishodh, Rakt aur Agni!"
"Nyay Pratishodh, Rakt aur Agni!'
"Nyay Pratishodh, Rakt aur Agni!"
'This is it.. ' Pandunath thought, 'Now it will end.'
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Queen Nayanika feared her husband's wrath much more than the rebels themselves. The peace that had transformed Samrat Pulovami into a human being had been ended, now she feared the monster would return. She stayed hidden in her quarters, but did not have her son to comfort. "May the gods be kind to us.." she prayed.
The rebels seemed to have appeared from nowhere and stormed through the Northern gate and spread out Southwards to the palace. As they marched the rebels incited the city's poor, and the rebel leader who called himself "the Krantiguru" sought the blessings of the mahant at the Mahabodhi Sangh.
Nayanika saw the rage in the eyes of Samrat Pulovami when he heard the report.
"How dare they ! These peasants, these .. these pests ! These vermin!"
"And that incompetent commander of the garrison ! I will have him flayed!"
"Call the Senapati, I will teach these shudras a lesson they won't forget for a hundred years."
He looked at his son and smiled his sly smile, "This will be your first true lesson in war son. Come!"
"No samrat please don't take Hãla. I don't want him in danger." Nayanika hugged her boy and pleaded before the emperor
"He is coming with me that is his duty and it is my order!" Pulovami snatched Hala from his mother's arms
"Don't worry for me mother,.."
Nayanika had seen the rage in Pulovami's eyes before, it was a memory she tried hard to forget but now it came back to her. The women of the household took refuge in the palace while the samrat prepared to take charge of the situation. Prince Hãla went with his father.
"Oh Mother durga protect my son.." Nayanika prayed
The garrison of Pataliputra was concentrated around the Southern and Western walls leaving no more than five hundred on the Eastern and Northern wall. Only a hundred of them defended the North, and they had been overwhelmed. The city guards were ill equipped to handle the tumult in the North. The samrat had lost two fifths of the city.
The garrison was concentrated in defending the South side of the city, but this was no ordinary battle. The city's defenses had been planned and designed to repel invaders from the outside, but this was an enemy that came from within. The soldiers at Pataliputra had to fight from door to door, house to house against an enemy that was unidentifiable.
The Samrat summoned his ministers in the war room and planned out their strategy to deal with the rebels.
"The rebels are heading Southwards samrat, I believe they intend to take the palace." Senapati Virappalli spoke,
"They are aiming for our treasury, but it may not be the palace alone that they want." Amatya Aditya pointed to the map showing the South side of the city,
"This is the most prosperous region of the city, the wealthy of Magadh reside here. Samrat, I believe they would attack these houses first."
"What kind of forces do they have ?"
"They are lightly armed Samrat, but it has been reported that a few of them wield iron weapons and wield it with mastery of a skilled swordsman. Krantiguru himself is among them."
"Seal off the South side of the city. Concentrate our forces to defend the palace and the areas around it. Take as many men as you need. Fight ruthlessly and spare no one." Those was the Samrat's final orders.
Four and a half thousand of Magadh's remaining garrison of archers concentrated on the South side of the city. The palace guards were doubled, there were soldiers everywhere, in the gardens, in gates, at the hall, and a hundred defending the emperor's harem.
"Soldiers are everywhere… The palace has never been like this.."
"These rebels will never succeed."
"Never has any enemy of Pataliputra come this close to the palace grounds!… I'm afraid Shubhde."
Queen Nayanika sat mute staring across the window overlooking the palace grounds, praying and hoping for her son's well being and for the well being of the city. 'I pity these rebels..' she said to herself, Pulovami would react cruelly she knew.
"Ha! You fear too much Lakshmi, if anyone must be afraid, it is the rebels, and their so-called leader krantiguru. I know what the samrat will do once he is angered, and these men have aroused his demon."
Nayanika broke her silence, "I wished they hadn't.."
"What do you mean to say Nayanika?"
Nayanika rose up, "This rebellion is no one else's fault but the emperor's own. The burden of his ambitions had to be paid by the blood of the toiler. He never cared for them, never cared to listen to their concerns, never heard their cries. Now they have taken arms and the emperor will unleash his demons. If he means to stoke anger and slaughter Pataliputra, then he will do so, but Bharata will bleed and when this rebellion ends, another will take its place, and then another. Has this soil not seen enough bloodshed that it must see more ?.."
"Nayanika.. do you actually feel for these rebels?" asked Shubhde.
Nayanika was silent for a moment and looked at the stub that was once her little finger on her right hand. She shed a tear before answering, "Samrat Pulovami will win this battle, either through cruelty or treachery, that the rebels will lose I am certain. But what after ? Samrat Pulovami will become the feared one, I would lose the man he became after Hala.."
There was a strange silence in the room, Lakshmi turned away and scorned, but Shubhde rose and walked to her and embraced her. A moment later, they heard an explosion from the North. Nayanika's heart stopped beating for that one terrifying moment, "What was that!…"
Fire was billowing from the North, a thick cloud of smoke visible only for the immense fire that accompanied it. "We need more men.. send them to the gates!" yelled a guardsman, and dozens of soldiers ran over to the Northern gate of the Palace compound.
"This is the end.." Lakshmi whimpered,
"Be brave Lakshmi."
Fear gripped the three queens. They prayed together and prayed more sincerely than they ever did in their lives.
The soldiers of the Pataliputra garrison fought with waves after waves of rebels, but bows and arrows were useless in melee. The rebels climbed over rooftops and came through alleyways. It was estimated that the rebel army would number not more than three thousand, but it seemed like all of Pataliputra's hundred thousand inhabitants were joining in this rebellion. Every house and every math seemed to spawn new armed rebels. Some armed with nothing more than rocks and bricks. The situation was not improving.
"Burn the houses ! If the whole of Pataliputra will rebel, then we burn down Pataliputra !" Pulovami shouted out,
The vicious melee battles on the streets of Pataliputra continued unabated, and it seemed like neither the rebels nor the army was winning. The inner walls of the palace gave enough advantage for the archers to fire volleys after volleys against the enemy, but many of Pataliputra's own soldiers were caught in the hail of arrows.
Four hours later it seemed like the rebels were losing steam, but more and more citizens came flooding in. However, the South side of the city had been secured, and the garrison of Pataliputra was now on the offensive. "Flush them out like rats" the Samrat had said, and the soldiers did as they were told. They lit fire to the market area and all areas near the Mahabodhi Sangh. Pataliputra burned, the fires raged on for the rest of the night and into the wee hours of the morning.
The remainder of the rebels had fled the city and camped outside, but the cost of the repression was huge. A third of the city was permanently destroyed, and the outer section of the Mahabodhi burned to the ground. Many maths were destroyed by the cruel action of the Samrat, but the rebellion did not end.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The rebellion of Pataliputra would go on for another year. While the insurrection within Pataliputra was a failure, the rebellion and the ideals it espoused continued to live on.
Krantiguru had fled after the defeat at Pataliputra and went to organize rebellions in other towns and cities of the empire. News of the rebellion was spreading throughout the realm and protests were breaking out in Takshashila and Indraprasth expressing their solidarity with the rebels of Magadh.
After the insurrection at Pataliputra, Samrat Pulovami ordered an investigation into the Mahants of the Mahabodhi, those who were complicit in aiding the rebels would be given the severest of punishments, and Pulovami intended for this to be a public spectacle.
"Samrat, I would advise you against this."
"Oh ? And why is that Amatya Chakravarty?" The emperor asked derisively,
"The rebellion, will only feed on it and grow in strength. The mahants are holy men, they have respect among the people of the realm. Any harm on them, and it won't just be Pataliputra that will erupt."
"These men challenged me, they threatened the safety of my own family! And you ask that I show clemency?"
"Amatya Chakravarty is right Samrat, Pataliputra is also near ruined and we must not punish this city any further." Amatya Aditya said,
"You too? Does everyone here feel the same?"
"Many brahmans were killed in the rebellion samrat. Three maths and two gurukuls were burnt to the ground by the rebels. But if we massacre the Mahants at the Mahabodhi sangh, all chance for peace would be ruined and the city would never re-emerge. We must be cautious and exercise clemency."
"So Amatya Aditya, Brahmagupt and Chakravarty believe in showing clemency.. and you ? Senapati ? Amatya Nayanjyot ? "
The ministers said in unison, "We agree."
Samrat Pulovami looked at them with scorn, "You are all weak ! I shall not go down in history as a samrat who did not have the spine to use the rod to discipline his subjects. My word is law, and none of what any of you.."
"Forgive me father, but I must agree with our ministers."
Pulovami turned to his son in a stunned look, "What … You too?"
"This is the city of Pataliputra, the great capital of the land of Magadh, and by the blessings of providence has become the crown upon Bharatvarsha. What picture will we give to the world if this city and this province stand in ruin ? No father, we must show clemency. This is the land of the Buddha, and these are his disciples. His followers come to the Mahabodhi from all across the world. It is not weakness to see wisdom in the words of our learned ministers. We must be cautious."
Hãla had once soothed his father's demons with his tender touch, and now had done so once again with words of wisdom far beyond his age.
Amatya Chakravarty was most pleased by the Prince's answer "The Prince is wise beyond his years Samrat. He speaks the truth."
"Much of our finance comes from the land of Magadh and from Pataliputra. The revenues we gain from foreign pilgrims have aided much to our finances. It would be unwise to cast it away." Amatya Nayanjyot added.
"Very well then ! We shall spare the Mahants. Senapati, focus your efforts at bringing order to the countryside and free the roadways and waterways leading West, bring extra troops from Kashi. We must first deal with this rebel leader who calls himself Krantiguru. I will announce a bounty on him."
"But no one knows what he looks like. He is always cloaked and changes his appearance. Some even say he is a woman!"
"Pay no heed to rumors Amatya Aditya, if the man is there he must be found. The day we get this Krantiguru I suspect will be the day this rebellion will finally end."
The Mahabodhi was spared, but the countryside was not. Every rebel village was put to the torch, Senapati Virappalli despised his work more than ever, but it was a duty he owed to his lord. He had hoped he would not have to ask these uncomfortable questions, that the sands of the Parad kingdom would bury his doubts with it. Indeed fifteen years of peace had made him forget the most unsavory chapter of his life, but the ghosts which lay buried have come back to haunt him now.
'I did not become a soldier to terrorize my own people… how much more would fate test my resolve…' he said to himself whilst ordering an assault on a rebel village.
Several bloody skirmishes were fought in the countryside before the region could finally be pacified, but Krantiguru was still at large. Reports spoke of him making his way through Kashi journeying to Indraprasth. Pulovami now used his guptachr (spies) to hunt down Magadh's most wanted man.
Krantiguru was ultimately discovered in an inn at Varanasi. It was a young man in his thirties, who was revealed to be a scholar from Indraprasth. He had witnessed the misery and poverty of the masses of Bharata and donned the identity of Krantiguru with the intention of overthrowing the ruling dynasty.
Pulovami sentenced him to death by boiling. Rebel prisoners and their families and friends were brought to the central square of Pataliputra to watch the spectacle of their hero being brutally executed. As expected, the rebellion came to an end with the death of Krantiguru and Pulovami returned to his ways.
That night Samrat Pulovami brutalized Nayanika in a fit of rage. That would be the last time he would hurt her.
, what's happening here? Is it this new civ messing the stuff?
It's okay though 
.
So I'm the dad of a bastard son who is now emperor, that's a pretty cool title if I do say so myself 
