The Two Wanderers cover
Historical Fiction

The Two Wanderers

byBappaditya Chakravarty

A ninth-century Viking and a Nalanda scholar converge in Tibet in a dual adventure about violence, learning, and what gives life meaning.

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Language
English
Binding / Format
Paperback
ISBN
9798885751032
Pages
—
Published
—
Category
Historical Fiction

Overview

In the ninth century, two men set out from opposite ends of the known world. Sriverma, a scholar-soldier trained at Nalanda, leaves Kanyakubja searching for something beyond learning and warfare. Snorre, a Viking warrior entangled in the politics of the Pechenegs on the Eastern Steppe, is trying to find a way out of a life defined by raids and killing. The logic of their separate journeys — across Central Asia, through the courts of merchants and monks, into the contested highlands of Tibet — brings them together in circumstances neither anticipated.

Bappaditya Chakravarty manages an unusually large cast across two parallel narratives, keeping the Viking north and the Indian subcontinent in tension before the stories converge. The Tibetan sections — involving rival princes, the destruction of Buddhist manuscripts, Nechung Gompa, and a politics of succession — form the centrepiece of the book's second half and give it a complexity beyond the adventure genre.

At its core, The Two Wanderers is about what a man of violence and a man of learning discover they have in common when the world strips them of their usual roles.

Contents PART- 1 Chapter 1 Snorre - Snorre the Unruly, a Viking Asa - Snorre's mother Bjorn - Snorre's brother Torgunn - Bjorn's wife Ulf the Greyhound - a famous Viking warrior who led raids into England. Also known as Ulf of Borresta. He was a famous Runemaster also Svein Gaptooth - also a famous Viking warrior. Not to be confused with Svein Forkbeard, who conquered England Burya - son of Chief Artiga of the Kyla Pechenegs Artiga - the Chief of the Kyla Pecheneg tribe who gives an assignment to Snorre Rybor - a rogue of the Uze tribe, killed by Snorre Chapter 2 Sriverma - scholar, soldier and traveller Charushila - a lady of Kanyakubja who takes Sriverma under her wing Shresthi Virbhadra - her husband 12 The Two Wanderers Mallarjun - an Army Captain and veteran soldier Acharya Prabuddha - a sage and a teacher Chapter 3 Erga - a Pecheneg soldier who later turns rogue Ishmail - a merchant Abu, Jamil, Ibn Salat - companion merchants of Ishmail Lyrga - initially, Snorre's deputy, and later, boon companion Zyov - another of Snorre's small band of faithfuls Martya - member of Snorre's band Prince Kurya - Pecheneg chief Aziz Beg - Aide to Karim Khan Khanid, Governor of Kashgar Chapter 4 Tribikram - son of Shresthi Gopaldas of Hansi Padmalobha - Tribikram's wife Shresthi Gopaldas - a rich merchant and financier of Hansi Chapter 5 Rabten Lama - a monk belonging to Nechung Gompa, who is charged with recovering copies of sacred books and manuscripts destroyed in the pogrom against Buddhists in Tibet Prince sung - Prince of Tibet, and successor to the throne Prince Ytride - Prince of Tibet and aspirant to the throne. Brother of Prince Osung Saif - a muleteer, and part of Sriverma's retinue Tsering - a Tibetan guide searching for his family Kuban - another muleteer PART - 2 Chapter 8 Tsewang Lama - Tibetan mystic and Sriverma's Guru Chapter 10 Ch-jor Lama - Abbot of Ritugembi Gompa and a mystic Pema - Daughter of Lord Wangmo, a noble high up in the court of Prince Ytride Chapter 12 Tokmeh - Captain of the bodyguard of Lady Pema Tsehten and Puntsok - bodyguards Kelsong - Lady Pema's handmaiden Tenzin Lama - Chief Lama of the Monastery of Teknang (Teknang Gompa) Chapter 13 Trinleh Lama - chief of the Nechung Gompa Wangmo - a noble, father of Lady Pema. An evil man Dargyeh - Captain of Wangmo's guards, who later switches sides Chapter 14 Rinchen Lama - spiritual adviser to Lady Pema and the go-between with Lord Wengbo Wengbo - a great noble high up in the court of Prince sung. Kūnchen - Wengbo's adviser Chapter 15 Jinpoh Lama - mystic, and senior Lama of Samye Gompa 14 The Two Wanderers Chapter 18 Joongneh - shaman of Lord Wangmo Karmeh - chamberlain of Lord Wangmo Tsehten - a noble in the court of Prince Ytride. Pema had been promised to his son Chapter 19 Yangkey - minister in the court of Prince Ytride Norgay - adviser to Lord Yangkey Chapter 20 Rigzin - a warlord Chapter 23 Adirath aka Jaipal - son of Charushila and Virbhadra Prabahan - Captain of Police Srimala - A girl who Sriverma proposes to marry, but is killed due to the miscarriage of Sriverma's plans Chapter 24 Oleg the Seer - adventurer and usurper of the throne of Kiev

Author

Bappaditya Chakravarty photo
Bappaditya Chakravarty

Born in 1951, Bappaditya Chakravarty was educated at Delhi University and at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. After a working life that saw him journey from a Faculty position in IIM Calcutta to Director of one of the premier Management Institutes in the country, and ending as Director in the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, he joined the World Bank as a consultant, ending up as the Task Team Leader for a large education project in Afghanistan. In between, he also worked at a couple of PSUs. He spent more than two decades in the field of education and a total of fifteen years plus in Development Management and Institutional Development. He has worked in many countries as an individual consultant and on behalf of the World Bank, from the West coast of Africa to the Southeast of Asia. The idea of writing a book first came to him when he was posted in Goa as Director (Planning) of the Mormugao Port Trust. While touring North Goa, he discovered ruins of mining machinery in the jungles. Much later, it gave birth to a thriller in Bengali that was published in 2012, and which has now been comprehensively revised and will shortly be published in English. Having published three thrillers in Bengali, and one in English, and two historical fictions in English, he now considers himself a storyteller and has settled down to writing after more than two decades of traipsing around the globe. He has published around forty articles in Bengali, many of them based on his personal experience in development management. Bappaditya Chakravarty lives with his wife-a Danish Diplomat - and their two rescued cats, switching between New Delhi, Rishikesh, Bishkek, and Europe.

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