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THE WEEK|September 06, 2020
Suheldev, the king who slew the Turk Salar Masud in the Battle of Bahraich in CE 1033 has been, in recent years, resurrected from his part historical, part legendary oblivion.
REKHA DIXIT
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LEGEND OF SUHELDEV: THE KING WHO SAVED

INDIA Author: Amish

Published by Westland Books

Price 1399 Pages: 352

In a country where the history of battles is always about the brave local hero that loses to the superior invader, Suheldev’s is that one story where one can proudly get vocal for local.

There is not much in historical texts about him, except in the Persian Mirat-i-Masudi, ironically, a hagiography of Masud. However, in recent times, many communities have tried to appropriate the non-Kshatriya ruler. Amish has, therefore, freely fictionized his latest book. It allows him to play with history, and introduce a range of imaginary characters. There is not much to complain about this literary approach.

The problem with Amish’s latest offering is the writing. When he wrote his Shiva trilogy, the narrative was fantastic, even though the writing was rather plain. This time, he has used Immortal Writers’ Centre to script his story, sharing credit with the group of writers. Despite employing so many writers, or rather because of them, the storytelling has suffered.

This story is from the September 06, 2020 edition of THE WEEK.

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This story is from the September 06, 2020 edition of THE WEEK.

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