Kalpaka stood in the middle of the hastily prepared shivir around half a mile away from the Pataliputra fort. The Ganges river flowing beside the shivir is indifferent to the human activities taking place along the length of its bank. He had only few specific details that he mentioned to the soldiers putting up the shivir regarding the direction of the doorway, the specifics of what part of the fort needs to be visible from where his guest sits. He had also made sure few fruits and water is available for the guest. The adversary was going to arrive pretty soon to the shivir . He moved out of the shivir and gazed at the fort which was getting ready for the battle ahead. He could see the cavalry taking its position just outside the fort. His instructions before he left the fort was very clear; any person, a peasant, farmer, mason, either male or female who could ride a horse should be dressed as a soldier and out there representing the cavalry, the rest who could not ride were dressed to take the position in infantry. Women and children were disguised and mixed to increase the number of infantry outside the fort. He was a master of deception, but he was always deceptive to appear weak when he was strong, never the other way. He could not risk a war, war would mean the end of Magadha. The enemy had to be subdued without fighting. He laid his eyes on the arrangements inside the camp once more and moved to take his seat.
The united armies of Panchalas, Kasis, Vidarbhas, Avanti,
Kurus, Surasenas had camped just a mile away from the fort, safe distance from
where they could plan an attack on the fort. They were attacking under the
banner of Panchalas led by their Prime Minister Aruni. The shivir where Kalpaka
had arranged for the meeting with Aruni had couple of openings, one for Kalpaka
to see the biggest of the enemy shivir and another behind to the left of him so
that Aruni can see one part of the fort when seated with Kalpaka. The soldiers
had left and should have entered back into the fort now. In a short while, he
could see that there was some movement in the enemy camp and he could see Aruni
coming towards him. He had met Aruni previously 3 to 4 times under different
circumstances when they visited universities to lecture or pick the brightest
of the students to serve their kingdom and them. Kalpaka had grown a liking
towards him, the conversations they had always left him with a sense of
satisfaction. In the eyes of Kalpaka, Aruni was as good a prime minister as any
in the history of Bharath. Though Kalpaka was highly regarded as the wisest
prime minister of all times, today he felt he was unprepared for this meeting.
He would have never got into the current situation if not for the insecurities
of the king and incompetence, sycophancy of the ministers in his own kingdom.
He knew this could be the war he might lose. As he saw Aruni approaching
closer, he shook himself out of negative thoughts, got back his composure and
reminded himself that he had a kingdom to defend.
Aruni reached the shivir, washed his feet and entered into
the camp. Kalpaka could see a glint of surprise in Aruni’s eyes when he saw him
sitting for negotiations on behalf of Mahapadma Nanda, the Nanda king of
Magadha. Kalpaka welcomed his guest and asked him to take a seat. Aruni smiled
and said, “I really did not hope to see you on the negotiating table”
“I know you were expecting Govisanaka to be here, but the
role of Govisanaka is done. He doesn’t need to be present for anything that
happens from here on”
“Very well. But in our view, there is nothing left for
negotiations here”
Kalpaka smiled. “There is always something worth
negotiating. I think we need not hurry to decide on what is left to negotiate.
I believe we both know we have enough time for it.”
“I agree, we are not pressed for time”
“We are meeting at the apt moment. For some time now, I was
trying to solve the problem of spies. Also you might agree if I say that there
are not many people with whom you and I can discuss our problems.”
“The problems of spies! I believe they are the most
efficient problem solvers”, Aruni said returning the smile
Kalpaka nodded. “I agree with you on this, but what if the
spy is compromised”
“What do you mean by compromising the spy? The first thing
any king does on finding a spy or someone suspicious to be a spy, is try him
for treason and make a spectacle of his death. The inhumane way in which he is
killed both thrills the common people and sows seeds of fear so strong that
they pledge never to think of treason. That is why there are not many takers
for this profession.”
“I agree, but what if a spy or a chief of these spies is
identified, but not reported to the king, but is maneuvered to spread
disinformation and used to our advantage?”
“That is a very risky prospective. You are suggesting to
base the politics and foreign policies of the state on one person whom you do
not completely trust, neither know where his allegiance lies. I am more
comfortable in getting all the information out of him, bring down his network
and making a spectacle of his death. I would not want to rely my plans based on
someone whom I cannot trust”
“I agree, but even though it is riskier, don’t you think the
returns are high if you are able to successfully convert. Moreover how can you
trust your spy residing in the enemy country for decades, having a family
there, listening to the false propaganda against his real king? He too can be
untrustworthy and risky for the state right? ”
“You and I both know what goes into placing a spy. You would
be the last person I would have to explain the details to, but I would say with
confidence that we can trust the person who has successfully cleared the
training and our personal approval. The elite of the spies whom we trust are
not working for the king, but are working only for us. Moreover we provide for
his family’s luxuries and he knows what will happen to them even if the thought
of double-crossing comes to his mind. Personally, I would never trust your spy
even if he pledges he has changed his allegiance. I would still prefer making a
spectacle of his death rather than putting my state at risk by looking at his confidential
information.”
“Yes, it is complex, I have been trying to solve this
problem for nearly a year now in vain.” He pointed towards the opening in the
camp and asked Aruni to look at the fort. He pointed towards where Yajnavalkya
was standing holding a position on the fort and said, “You believe Yajnavalkya
is your spy and I believe I successfully converted him to mine”
Aruni felt a little uncomfortable knowing that Kalpaka knew
the identity of his spy, but he didn’t let the reaction show on his face. “I
believe our army standing by the doorstep of your fort when the main army of
yours is down south-west readying itself for a fight with Asmaka clearly tells
us whose spy Yajnavalkya is. Even if you had managed to send a message to your
army before the siege, it will take at least a month for them to come to your
rescue. But my estimation is we will be able to take this fort in a week”
Kalpaka smiled “What if I told that the words coming off
your mouth confirms Yajnavalkya and Kamandaka being successfully converted by
us. Our army is there in the south-west, but what if I told you Kamandaka has
exaggerated the numbers and intent of my army based on my instructions. The
army I sent below is strong enough to rout the Vidarbhas but it is not strong
enough to threaten the Asmakas. Our intent was never to attack Asmaka”
Aruni calmly said, “I won’t believe you. I would just
believe that you have identified our spies. It doesn’t give any indications
that you were able to convert them. Since we are talking so frankly, can you apprise me of why you are here but not in the dungeons where you were rotting for the past year?”
“I had to go to dungeons for you to be here. I couldn’t continue
to be the prime minister and catch you off guard. You were too good for that. I
had to change something, wherein I could see you lowering your guards. What
better way than to put Govisanaka at the helm. You had measured him long back
when you were in Takshashila with him and we both don’t have much respect for
his abilities in defining the state policies”
“So you want me to believe that the mighty Magadhan army is still
in the fort and not down south-west. Then why did you call me for the
negotiations here, you could have just allowed us to attack you and rout us in
the battlefield and fulfill the wet dreams of your king to be an Ekachhatra of this land. Don’t try to fool me Kalpaka.
Looking at you, I don’t see a prime minister who was ruling from the dungeons,
but I see a person starved in the dungeons for a year. You know what I believe
and is true. Your ego-centric king came under the persuasion of sycophant
ministers like Govisanaka and put you in dungeons. He was insecure about your
allegiance and was scared of your wisdom and moreover you are not good at flattery
which is scarily becoming the most important trait a king sees in his minister
these days. On seeing us in preparation of a united attack on Pataliputra, your
King came back to his senses and remembered who made him, a low born son of a
barber, a King to rule over and defeat the Kshatriyas. He came running to you
to save the state. But O Kalpaka, I am sorry to say but this time things have
gone too wrong for even you to save the king.”
“I would not make any comments on what you believe as it was
something which I instigated“. Kalpaka went on to explain in detail every
activity of Yajnavalkya and Kamandaka for the past two years. He explained in
details the turn of events which led them to have the meeting now. He said it
in a way that Aruni felt that his spies were converted two years ago and were
used to spread disinformation. Kalpaka hid the fact that though the spies were
identified and monitored, they were not converted. Before any attempt to
convert the spies were made, Kalpaka was thrown into the dungeons partly because of
the successful infiltration of Aruni’s spies in high offices in the Nanda
Empire. He had lost all the power to influence in the matters of state for the past year. He knew
Aruni was confident that he had won the war even before their army had reached
Pataliputra. In reality, he was correct; the war was already won, he just had to execute his plans. The only thing Kalpaka was attempting was to sow seeds of doubt in
the mind of Aruni on what he believed. Kalpaka took an educated gamble and to
prove he had successfully converted the spies revealed the attack plan which
Aruni had decided on. Yajnavalkya was a mid-ranking soldier in the Nanda army.
Based on this, Kalpaka drew an attack plan which Aruni might have thought of
through the smuggled information from Yajnavalkya. There was silence in the
camp for few minutes. Kalpaka’s confidence increased.
Kalpaka broke the silence, “You ask me why I called for the
negotiations when everything was going as per my wishes. These negotiations are
to stop the war.”
Aruni sarcastically said, “Why stop the war when you were
the one who instigated it? Now don’t tell me that there is an uncontrollable
out pouring of brotherly love from you.”
“The negotiations are to stop this war and to start a more
profitable one down south, on the other side of the Godavari River. You and I
both know of the wealth present there beyond the Asmaka kingdom, we know of
their naval strength and weak army. If we unite under a treaty and head south,
it would be the easiest way for all our kingdoms to get wealthy and flourish.
Our influence will spread across the seas. The infightings among us has always
made us weak and vulnerable. Let us make each other strong. Not one of us have enough
resources to both head south and maintain a strong hold up here. But if we
unite there is enough wealth in the south to be shared among all of us. We have
to bind under a treaty which I have had ready, prepared during my time in the
dungeons. If you agree on it, we can stop the current conversation and start
negotiations to sketch a plan on how do we share army, wealth and under whose
command we make inroads into southern India. Also, we have to start acting on
the plans decided in another three months. We don’t have time to spare.”
“I will convey your messages to my King. We will let you
know our decisions on your proposal once we discuss it amongst us.”
Kalpaka raised his voice a little and said in a clear
authoritative tone, “The message is not yet over. Tell this to the king of Vidarbha, if he doesn’t agree to our proposal and plans to unite with you guys in
this war, then our small army in the south west, which you guys think have went
to wage a war against Asmakas, will change its course and take over the Vidarbha
rajya. Even if he disagrees with the treaty and runs back, he will not have a
home to go back to as it will be taken by us and I promise him that he will
never be able to take his fort back from the Nandas. The message to the rest of
the Kings is this, you will be annihilated in this war and we would take each
of your territory, we would destroy your families, your palaces and will build
our empire on the bones of your deceased. The Nanda King will be Ekachhatra and we will conquer the southern India too. If you
agree to help us, we will ride south this year as allies, else we will vanquish
you, build another army and ride south, maybe 5 years from now.”
Aruni raised, bowed a little to Kalpaka and turned to leave.
It was getting dark outside. He didn’t like how things were turning out now. He
had expected Govisanaka to be on the negotiating table, he had expected him to
make offerings of rich Magadha provinces to the Kings to avoid the war. He had
decided how he would disregard the offer and take over Pataliputra and bring
the Nanda king to his knees infront of the Panchala King. Once the fort and the
King is captured, the Nanda army would have no choice but to come under the
Panchalas. If he succeeded, he would be acclaimed as the greatest prime
minister in the history. He still did not believe Kalpaka, but he had enough
doubts to believe he was fed disinformation. Kalpaka, who was in the dungeons
for a year, magically representing Nandas, he knowing the details of every
activity that Aruni was doing had thrown him off-balance. He started doubting
his spies. But he did not want to return without a war. He had planned and
worked too hard to let it go at this point.
In Pataliputra, in the King’s chamber, Govisanaka was
furious over Kalpaka when he came to know that he did not try to negotiate by
giving away the rich provinces of Magadha to the aggressors. Govisanaka was
convinced that the only way to avoid a war would be to give away rich provinces
of Magadha and letting Aruni know the profit he was reaping without even
shedding blood of a single soldier in exchange. Kalpaka didn’t have the
patience to explain Govisanaka why that would be considered weakness and why
Aruni would have enjoyed such diplomacy and would have started the war just on
return to his camp if he had tried to talk in that manner. He asked Govisanaka
to leave the chamber. Govisanaka felt insulted, but when Mahapadma asked him to
leave, Govisanaka left the chamber without a word. Kalpaka apprised the King of
the situation and mentioned the details of how his disciples are completing a
treaty regarding the southern invasion. He explained the details of the treaty
and the common understanding of it. He mentioned who will be the involved
parties, what will be the terms and the agreeable conditions. The King was
excited by the details of the plan and he was enthusiastic about venturing into
southern India. But he had his reservations. He asked Kalpaka, “What if they
double cross us when we are venturing towards the south?” Kalpaka replied saying
“We will cross that bridge when we come to it”
Aruni hated this part. The relaying of information to the
Kings, but more so when the news is such that it throws the current plans into
a state of indecisiveness. This was going to be a long night for Aruni. Before
he had started, earlier that day, he had convinced the Kings that he would not
agree to any of the negotiations and war is inevitable. Few of the Kings didn’t
even want Aruni to go for negotiations as they felt there was nothing to
negotiate on. The Vidarbha king was the most vociferous of all wanting to show
a low born Shudra King his right place in the society. Now, he would have to
relay the information to 6 Kings with varied level of interests in the war and
who have united to bring the Nanda ruler down. He knew the war would not happen
if he said he was unsure. He had to be sure and convince the Kings to wage the
war in spite of all the new information which has been uncovered in such small
duration.
The mention of Kalpaka representing Nanda’s caused a brief
commotion. Aruni went ahead and reported the claims of Kalpaka, regarding the
conversion of the spies, the disinformation, the brief points regarding the
attack plan, the proposal of the new treaty to be negotiated and finally the
threat directly against the Vidarbha King and generally against others. There
was silence in the camp for an extended period of time with all the kings
trying to absorb the new information. Finally, the Panchala King asked Aruni
for his opinion. Aruni said that he doubted Kalpaka’s words and he believed
that this treaty is just to keep Pataliputra and Magadha from falling. The Vidarbha
King impatiently interrupted Aruni asking, “How do we believe you now as
everything you told us till now has proved untrue. Kalpaka is still at the helm
of affairs. Weren’t you the one who had suggested that with Kalpaka being the
prime minister, we cannot take Pataliputra? With what you said, it feels like
he has trapped you while you were thinking you were trapping him and putting
him into the dungeons”. The Kasi King started, “If the army sent to the south-west
is indeed small, then we don’t have a chance to take the fort here. We will be
losing our major strength and we will not be able to defend our forts in case
we are met with a rebound attack”. Aruni again said, “I still don’t believe
this elaborate plan. Kalpaka might be a master politician, but this is
far-fetched even for him. I still would say we should prepare a newer attack
plan and attack the fort. It does not make sense to not get into the war after
we have committed so much into it”. Aruni felt that the Kings were not giving
the same attention to him as they had few hours before. After hours of intense
discussion, the kings were divided in their opinions. The Panchala and Avanti
kings sided with Aruni and agreed that they should change the attack plan and
go ahead with the war. They felt Kalpaka had bluffed through many of the
battles before and they should not trust a word uttered by him as this might
just be a ploy to save the kingdom. The Vidarbha, Kasi and Kuru kings were of
the belief that the treaty put forward by Kalpaka was a win-win situation. It
would allow them to weasel out of the war and not look bad in front of their
army or their people back home. Moreover they can follow the treaty to invade
south if it is mutually beneficial else they can break the treaties or reassess
and plan attacks when they are not in such state of confusion. The Surasena
King was about to say something when the Vidarbha king interrupted. If you are
not agreeing to negotiate on the treaty, I am afraid I would have to side my
army with the Nandas and fight against you. I can’t risk losing my home and
family and everything I care for on a war with such lapse of intelligence where
we do not even know who is the prime minister of their state. I am the most to
lose if we go for a war here and I will take a stand against you if you plan
for a war. On hearing this the Kasi and Kuru Kings who were not willing
mentioned that though they will not fight against the coalition, they will
return back to their respective kingdoms if they plan for a war. After a few
more hours of discussion, just before the dawn broke, the Panchala, Avanti Kings
and Aruni didn’t have any other choice but to reluctantly agree to make a
treaty for united invasion of the southern India.
The next two days were of intense negotiations for both
Kalpaka and Aruni. Both did not sleep for the 48 hours with their disciples
churning out a treaty beneficial for their Kings. All the Kings had their
representatives in the negotiation and all felt they reached an agreement on
the afternoon of the third day. Magadha and Panchala were supposed to take the
majority of the gains obtained from invading south as theirs were the biggest
army set to venture into the South. The Panchala military commander was
designated to lead the army into the south and it was agreed upon that they
will start their journey 3 months from now. Once the treaty was finalized,
there were celebrations for another day. Aruni tried his best to contact Yajnavalkya
or any one of his spies, but Kalpaka had taken enough precautions in the matter
and Aruni could not clear his hunch that all this was an elaborate lie just to evade
the war.
The camaraderie between the kings and the ministers in the
past three days was exceptional. It didn’t feel like there was a war averted
here, but felt like old friends meeting to celebrate their next planned joint
venture together. The people of Magadha and armies on both the sides were left
baffled by the turn of events but were happy nonetheless. On seeing the enemy
armies returning, a legend started to spread in Pataliputra saying “Kalpaka was
the war god himself in the form of human on whose sight the enemy ran away”.
Kalpaka loathed the fickle mindedness of the common people. A year ago the same
people had cheered when he was taken to the dungeons and flung stones and filth
at him. They had called him corrupt, greedy, unlawful while welcoming the new
minister as though he would bring the much needed prosperity into their lives.
Now they compare him to a demi god.
The day after the armies returned from Pataliputra’s fort,
Kalpaka urged the King to send a messenger to his army in the South West. Ask
the commander to first kill Kamandaka and retreat back prepared for a war.
Meanwhile we will follow the retreating armies here and send regular message to
our army regarding where to retreat and intercept King Panchala and his united
armies. We will annihilate them for thinking of taking over Pataliputra. We
will then take over their Kingdoms and you can become the Ekachhatra of
Bharath. The King was surprised, “so we don’t hold our end of the treaty, wont
we venture towards southern India.” Kalpaka just said “No”. The Magadhan army
intercepted the unaware army under Panchala and destroyed them. The Kings were taken
by surprise and were already fighting a losing battle when they realized the
treachery of the Nanda King. The army was annihilated and all the 6 kings along
with Aruni were killed in the battle. With this victory, Mahapadma Nanda, laid
the foundation to establish the first great North Indian Empire with its
political centre in Magadha, which would in the following years lead to the
largest empire in Indian Subcontinent built by the Mauryas.
The King planned to depose Govisanaka and reinstate Kalpaka
back as the prime minister. Kalpaka refused the offer and shared his desire to
go live as a monk with few of his disciples in Takshashila University. The King
agreed to the request and bid his goodbye to a Guru who had made him, a son of
barber to an Ekachhatra of Bharath. Kalpaka had made him a King, he now had
saved his Kingdom and made him a true “Chakravartin”. He was indebted to
Kalpaka and wanted to show his thankfulness. Kalpaka declined the gifts showered
on him along with the titles conferred to him by the King. He saw the indebted
King on his knees and remembered the same King indebted to the same Guru 2
decades ago in similar way, but still throwing him in the dungeons when he did
not flatter the King enough as much as the other ministers.
Kalpaka started his long journey with few of his disciples
from Magadha to Takshashila. In the background he could hear the sycophantic
voices screaming as loudly as possible “Long live the King, May the King live
forever, May the kingdom flourish forever”. He wagered against one of his
disciples saying that the King and his kingdom will not last for another 10
years. The kingdom will be taken over and the King will be deposed by another ambitious
young lad under tutelage of another learned man. After many years of
prosperity, the learned man will be either killed or deposed either by the
young lad or his son or his relatives. Once again people will forget about
Kalpaka and Mahapadma. They will remember the new king and the new minister
till another one arrives. History will repeat itself. Kings might not live
forever, Kingdoms might not flourish forever, but the politics of power, the
diplomacy of deception and the stupidity of the common people are something
which will remain in this land forever and ever.
The Map used in the blog is courtesy of: World History Maps by Thomas Lessman
The Map used in the blog is courtesy of: World History Maps by Thomas Lessman
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