Bharat

Bharat is the third novel in Dr Vineet Aggarwal's retelling of India's ancient past, following Vishwamitra and The Legend of Parshu-Raam. This one turns to the king who gave the land its name. Parshu-Raam's campaign against corrupt Kshatriyas has left the kingdoms of Nabhi-varsh scattered. The evil has been cut away, but nothing has yet been built in its place, and the work of forging a nation is still to be done. In the forest of Naimish-Aranya, the king of Hastinapur comes upon a boy playing with lion cubs, utterly unafraid. Who is this child, and what ties his fate to that of an old and troubled kingdom? As invaders gather along the borders, the question becomes whether he can bring order to the land and defend it. The boy is the son of Dushyant and Shakuntala and the grandson of the Brahmarishi Vishwamitra. The novel reimagines his story as that of the man who changed the course of the country's destiny and gave it the name Bharat.