Book Review

The Mountain of Light

By Indu Sundaresan

From the same author who revealed little known but fascinating stories of the lives of Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Nur Jahan and Mumtaz, through the Taj Mahal trilogy, we now have “The Mountain of Light”, an equally fascinating story built around the biggest diamond on earth, the Kohinoor.

In Light, Indu has drawn out the characters, differentiating one from the other very clearly– readers can picture each character and form likes and dislikes very quickly. Indu has added many characters, both real and fictional, who come to India as part of the East India Company or as part of the master plan to colonize India. Glimpses of their life in India bring yet another dimension of interesting detail to the story.

The story starts with the Afgan ruler Shah Shuja and his wife living in comfortable captivity in Punjab, as Ranjit Singh, the Maharajah of Punjab, waits for them to hand over the Kohinoor to him.  Cunning tactics are employed and the diamond is handed over to the Maharajah.   Ranjit Singh dies and the empire passes on to Dalip Singh, his 6 year old son.

Several little anecdotes built around the key characters make the story intriguing.  The sad story of how Jindan Kaur the wife of Ranjit Singh and the mother of Dalip Singh, is a great mother to Dalip when he is young, but forgets to be a mother to him once he becomes king; or the amusing scene where she presents her British guests with emeralds and diamonds but is fascinated by and wants their lace handkerchiefs in return, add touches of reality that connect the reader to the characters. 

True to legend, the Kohinoor brings only bad luck to the man who owns it and Dalip Singh is reduced to nothing, The East India Company soon takes away everything from Dalip Singh, except his empty title of Maharajah. The Kohinoor is shipped away secretly to England and handed over to the Queen.

Dalip Singh moves to England, to be close to the Mountain of Light.  Diary of a Maharajah, the last section of the novel, completes the novel and fills in all the gaps around his life story.  Even though most people know where the diamond is today, and this is a tale of the diamond, Indu has still managed to create an air of suspense that makes you want to turn to the last page! And as you get to the very end, you are sure to experience both sadness and anger.

The 186-carat diamond has been out of India for over 160 years now, but after reading this story, one can’t help hoping it will be returned some day to the land it came from.

Indu has once again produced a book that is a remarkable combination of history and fiction.  And as with her other books, she has added a section at the end that separates the two for the reader – make sure you read that section.

While all of Indu’s earlier books have been bestsellers, this book is one that I think has the potential of bringing her a nomination to one of the “big” awards.  A definite go-buy-it-if-there-is-a-long-wait-at-your-library!

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