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Tradition Excavated!

I came across James Tod sometime in high school, when I discovered that his work had inspired Abanindranath Tagore’s Raj Kahini. I was also lucky enough to find the two volumes of Tod’s original work in the backroom of a club library. Much of it was fascinating, though a heavy wade through for a schoolgirl. Imagine my delight therefore when I found this new edition, as I thought of Tod’s Rajasthan.

Paul’s decision to take up the work comes from the fact that he grew up with it in his home. "Tod's book can be found adorning the shelves of several households but when asked if it has been read I am replied with laugh (at the proposition of reading through a book as voluminous as the one in question),” writes Paul in his introduction. The editor goes on to say that as he was brought up in Rajasthan where the book was a legend, he could not allow it to be forgotten from neglect.

Which is why this abridged edition attempts gallantly to be true to the spirit of Tod’s original work, retaining the archaic Anglicised spellings and Tod’s essential structure and style. An attempt, which in itself is truly praiseworthy. However, a great deal of the work has been omitted, the portions that Paul refers to as ‘the dreary bits and unnecessary meanderings’ that come between a modern reader and his smooth progress through the narratives.

What remains is a judiciously annotated version of Rajput history – the bits that Paul considers interesting, like the struggles against the Mughuls. What vanishes however are many of the stories that inspired a writer of Abanindranath’s calibre, tales of fingers sliced to anoint the forehead of a king, or stories of sweets concocted from shards of diamonds and served to deadly effect. Tod recounted those tales in fantastic meandering style, obviously as he heard and decoded them from the guardians of Rajput tradition.

Paul is certainly well aware that today’s readership is impatient of detail – he hurries through the text and condenses where required so that two fat volumes become one slim essence. He adds author’s notes that "examine historical authenticity, supplement additional information wherever found necessary, confirming what he has said and repudiate incorrect observations or conclusions."

This is not a book for the serious reader, though it could well make an interesting coffee table gift for the dilettante who can then sit back at a cocktail party and announce that he has dipped into Tod’s Rajasthan. The end is laudable, the means however could have been more judiciously done with more of Tod steered less obtrusively into readable territory. Of course, Paul does mention that serious readers are welcome to read Tod in the original, if they have leisure years to spare – to which he could also add the fact that the original volumes are nowadays becoming a vanishing breed, which makes the task of accessing them difficult.

With the media boom people are more interested in lifestyle brands and politics with a few snippets of bestsellers thrown in which may or may not be of historical importance. Tome is at a premium, whatever the reason. Given this situation, any attempt to revive an interest in the past deserves applause.

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