I Read Books: The Nizam's Daughters

The Nizam’s Daughters

Matthew Hervey having done some heroics at Waterloo is now aide-de-camp for the Duke of Wellington. He expects to be named Governor-General of India* so sends Hervey out to take care of some business for him, under the guise of learning about lancers. In fact he has orders to find out what the situation there is like, especially with the (real) princely state of Hyderabad and the (fictional) Chintral. This interferes with hervey’s personal life as he had intended to get married rather than sail off on a six month voyage.

Hervey manages to get himself invited in Chintral with a slightly contrived set of coincidences when his ship has to stop at Madras, he joins an expedition to chase some marauding Pindarees, he rescues the Rajah of Chintral’s elephant and it turns out an old comrade is now the chief veterinary officer for the Rajah’s cavalry. Hervey, already uncomfortable with being sent to do the Duke’s dirty work, gets caught up in mutiny, corruption, spying, betrayal, the Rajah’s daughter etc. Chintral is threatened by the Nizam, and particularly his artillery, which are known as the “Nizam’s Beautiful Daughters” (title drop).

Hervey has to balance doing what’s right and what’s necessary with his orders and also his honour and even his desires. (India sweats people down to their true selves, or something like that as one character muses).

Read This: For a bit of 19th century adventure
Don’t Read This: Although several Indian characters are well drawn, including a hijra, it defaults to Hervey’s frame of reference, slightly flattening the country to an exotic backdrop for derring do

* Those lightly into the history will raise an eyebrow here, those deeper into it might stroke their chins thoughtfully.