Rushdie's Imperishable Empire of Words in Victory City

 

Salman Rushdie’s Victory City continues the undaunted artist spirit of the novelist who combines history, magical realism and blending of fiction and facts in enchanting language. The 'Bisnaga' empire,  a corruption of ‘Vijayanagar’ is seen in its glory and decline and fall  through the eyes of Pampa Kampana. The miraculous beginning, the  change of dynasties of rulers, intricate palace coups , politically convenient l marriages, the marriage of the east and the west, the glorious rule of Krishna Deva Raya , the flourishing of literature, the fortification of the empire, the struggle for gender equality, the prophecy of future, the ingratitude of the king towards his chief Minister Timmarusu and Pampa Kampana, the Progenitor and loving partner and immortal beauty  who rescues and recluses herself at the end of her life. Her work Jayaparajaya  records the history of the empire, the glorious golden age recedes and a melancholic ambience prevails. It is the result of inefficient final rulers like Achyuta Raya and Aliya Ram Raya. Cities and Empires rise and fall but  the words which  offer different narratives   never die. It is a novel of a medieval empire and a warning to  modern India when exclusivism reigns and integration of cultures disintegrates and power games outdo  morality of  a culture or  civilization. in the Past the ancient civilizations such as the Greek , Roman and Egyptian disappeared through internecine warfare, savage attacks by the barbarians and  the rise of new religions. The lesson is that humanity is more significant than erecting walls and creating rigid boundaries  among nations of the world.