#535 - History Hunters : Chandragupta Vikramaditya and the Shaka Conspiracy
by Shruti Garodia & Archana Garodia Gupta and illustrated by Priya Kuriyan
“Chandragupta Vikramaditya and the Shaka Conspiracy” by Shruti Garodia & Archana Garodia Gupta and illustrated by Priya Kuriyan. Published by Hachette. An adventure filled story of time travel in which a group of four friends and their pet elephant find themselves transported 1,600 years ago to the Gupta empire.
Zoya, Noor, Ansh and Rohan are good friends. A mysterious billionaire who lives next door to their resort in Goa offers them a chance to travel to the past with a mission. They need to go to the Gupta period and get a strand of hair belonging to the great king Chandragupta Vikramaditya. Tempted by this irresistible offer, the children agree to go to the past along with their beloved pet elephant Elfu.
The children find themselves transported to the grand city of Pataliputra, the capital of Magadha. It is the late fourth century CE. They are overwhelmed by the sights of the city and its people dressed up in dazzling finery. They meet Prabhavati Gupta, a rebellious teenage princess who is crazy about horses and get to see a Shaka horse show with her. It is the day of her engagement with the Vakataka Prince Rudrasena. They also meet interesting characters such as Gangaraja who is the King of the ancient kingdom of Champa, an absent minded mathematician on his way to calculating Pi (Who else but the great Aryabhatta!) and the renowned playwright Kalidasa whose famous play Abhijnanashakuntalam is about to be staged for the first time in front of the King. They manage to find out about a plot to kill the king being hatched by the Shakas. They also stumble upon a super precious gem which is missing and will be in danger if they are seen with it. How can they get out of this sticky situation without getting caught? How can they save the king? Can they succeed in their mission and return back to the present? Read the thriller of a story that transports you to the fabulous times of the Guptas giving a peek into the lives of the ancient times.
The story proved to be a roller coaster ride through the ancient times giving us a lovely glimpse into the glorious and formidable Gupta empire. My almost ten year old and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The plot was full of twists, surprises, conspiracy and secrets. The fast paced action together with such interesting characters and incidents kept us engrossed. My son was happy to see Aryabhatta in the story as he already knew about him. We couldn’t wait to find out what happened next as we read. The beautiful illustrations enhanced the reading experience. There is an elaborate section at the end which tells us many things about the different aspects of the Gupta period. How these facts have been woven into the story, along with some amount of fiction of course, has been explained. This book is the third one in the “History Hunters” series. We had already read and loved the first book called “Chandragupta Maurya and the Greek Onslaught”. This book gave us a much needed opportunity to get started on a dynasty and king about which we did not know much. Looking forward to more interesting books such as this in the series.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 9 and above.