Victory City

Hukka and Bukka do as Pampa commands. They take their seeds to the designated place and, after the seeds are planted, they retire to a nearby hill to watch as a “miracle city” (15) begins to appear. The city arrives fully formed with temples, palaces, and thousands of citizens, including soldiers and guards for the palace. The brothers debate what they should do next. They plan to become godlike rulers of the city. Since Hukka is the elder brother, he argues that he should rule the city as king. They agree that Bukka will succeed him. They also agree to exclude their three other brothers. They debate the policies of their new city, agreeing that an army “can be a force for peace as well as war” (18) and that neither of them particular cares about religious differences or sectarian conflict.

As the brothers begin their rule, they notice that the newly created citizens seem unsure about their “sudden existence” (21). The brothers fear that they may be attacked, so they plan to make defenses for the city. As their unsure citizens struggle with their newfound existence, Hukka is crowned. In the following days, Hukka begins his rule. His citizens act “as if everyone had lived there for years” (25), even though they did not exist just a few days earlier. Pampa Kampana arrives in the city and both brothers realize that they are in love with her. She tells Hukka that she will “whisper [the citizens’] dreams into their ears” (26) to give each of them a story and a history. Hukka proposes to make Pampa his queen, but she refuses to be queen of a city without a name.

A Portuguese man named Domingo Nunes arrives. He has a stutter and loves to travel, telling stories about his adventures to his rapt audiences. He stays in the loft of a stable as he feels an affinity to horses. Bukka does not take kindly to Domingo but introduces him to Pampa and Hukka. Pampa takes a break from her work to meet Domingo, and her relationship to Hukka and Bukka becomes immediately complicated. At this time, she is whispering stories to all the citizens of the city. She invents myths to give the city life. These stories allow Pampa to shape the city’s culture. She plans to create a society where women are treated equally. At the same time, Domingo teaches his hosts about Christianity, which is unfamiliar to them. His struggles to pronounce the local words also lead to the naming of the city: Bisnaga, based on “the noises of his twisted tongue” (33). The rulers of Bisnaga quiz Domingo about the “pale-faced” (34) Europeans and, in particular, the English. Domingo says that the English “may end up being the worst of the whole bunch” (34) of Europeans.

Hukka slowly learns how to be a king. He is jealous of Pampa’s attraction to Domingo, but he knows that he cannot execute the Portuguese traveler—as he would like to do—because this will anger her. Pampa is eventually finished with her whispering. She has created a society where women are able to do work in whatever jobs they please. She visits Domingo, who reveals to her that he knows the secret of gunpowder. He hopes this knowledge will provide him with some protection from the jealous king, as his knowledge of military technology will allow Bisnaga to conquer many surrounding kingdoms. He demonstrates his gunpowder for Hukka and Bukka, who are impressed.

The “three disreputable brothers” (40) of Hukka and Bukka arrive in Bisnaga. They are named Pukka, Chukka, and Dev. They are “determined not to be cut out of history if there [is] easy wealth to be had” (41). They are surprised by the imposing, muscular women who form Hukka’s royal guard. When they are taken before Hukka, he is still “learning how to lounge regally” (43). To deal with the demanding brothers, Hukka assigns each of them a small army and a member of his trusted female guards. They are given the task of conquering the surrounding cities, which they will then be allowed to rule over as kings (though they will still be subservient to Hukka and be part of the Bisnaga Empire). The female guards are also told to kill the brothers if they do anything to threaten Hukka and Bukka’s power.

As they prepare to depart with their armies, Pukka, Chukka, and Dev debate whether Hukka and Bukka are “in the grip of some wizard who can make the unliving live” (47). As they wage their wars, each of the brothers falls in love with his respective female guard. Chukka falls in love with Commander Shakti; Pukka falls in love with Commander Adi; and Dev falls in love with Commander Gauri. The commanders speak to each other in a secret language, but the brothers cannot help but fall in love. The military expeditions are intended to unite the surrounding kingdoms under Bisnaga’s authority.

Aware of the king’s jealousy, Domingo makes sure to spend time away from Bisnaga. The empire continues to expand thanks to Domingo’s gunpowder, which makes his value clear. Pampa and Hukka marry, but she continues her sexual relationship with Domingo. She is pragmatic, telling her husband that her marriage with him is essential to “establish the bloodline of the empire” (54) but she refuses to give up her lover. Hukka fears Pampa’s magical powers, so he does not confront his wife. Though his empire expands, Hukka is not happy. Pampa has three daughters, though their resemblance to Domingo means that their parentage is an unspoken secret in Bisnaga. When she cannot provide Hukka with a son, he becomes increasingly unhappy and interested in religion.

On arriving in Bisnaga, Vidyasagar sets up a temple. Hukka partners with him to pursue demonstrations of religiosity. Bisnaga is a city with many religions. Though the “alien faith” (59) of Islam seems strange to polytheistic men like Hukka. Despite the warnings of Pampa and his brothers, Hukka encourages Vidyasagar to expand his temple. During this time, Bukka spends an increasing amount of time at a tavern named the Cashew, which is secretly owned by Domingo. There, Bukka drinks with an old soldier named Haleya Kote, who is not originally from Bisnaga. Bukka is pleased to have someone to talk to, as he and his brother have grown apart. Though they agreed that Bukka would succeed Hukka as king, Bukka is concerned that Hukka plans for one of his children to succeed him. Pampa assures him that the original plan will be followed, but he fears a civil war.

Unknown to many people, Haleya Kote is the author of a critique of religion in the city known as Five Remonstrances. Pamphlet criticizes the decadent, warlike, corruption of the city, as well as practices such as mass religious ceremonies and sodomy. No one suspects that the man who drinks with Bukka in the Cashew is “the empire’s most notorious underground rebel” (64). During this time, Domingo shares his beliefs about Christianity with the people of Bisnaga and documents Bisnaga in his own writing, though he claims that this record is only for his own private interest and not for public consumption. Pampa takes this writing as a sign that he fears Hukka and is preparing to leave the city. She admits to him that she struggles to love people since she will not age at the same rate as others, meaning that she will outlive anyone she loves. Her lovers, her children, and anyone else around her will die. She begins to see her prolonged youth as a curse.

Perturbed by Pampa’s warning, Domingo drinks heavily with Hukka and Bukka. Domingo dies of a heart attack shortly after Pampa predicts his death, causing the people of Bisnaga to become fearful of her magic. Hukka organizes a Catholic funeral for Domingo, then plans how he can win back his wife’s affections. As his empire continues to expand, his own views become increasingly puritanical. Pampa feels unlike herself. She feels stronger and her sexual desires increase, so she begins to wonder whether she is “sucking the life and beauty” (72) out of her lovers. She becomes attracted to Bukka and, beginning an affair with him, assures him that he remains first in line to the throne.

Hukka prepares his army for a military expedition to kill the sultan of Madurai. He feels as though he is going to his death, as though the holy ghost of Christianity and other armies of phantoms are pursuing him. During this time, the formerly devout Vidyasagar has become corrupt and decadent. He is the closest advisor to Hukka, and Bukka suspects that the religious man is trying to influence the king. When Vidyasagar encourages Hukka to limit the other religions in the city and introduce collective worship, Vidyasagar tells Hukka that this will reinforce his power. Pampa begins to ally herself more firmly with Bukka while Hukka departs on his campaign. He wins an easy victory over the sultan and prepares to return to Bisnaga. Sensing danger, Pampa is concerned that either Chukka, Pukka, or Dev may try to seize power.

Hukka dies while returning to Bisnaga. In spite of competing claims to the throne, Bukka is proclaimed as the next king. His 21-year reign is considered a golden age. He abandons his brother’s increasing puritanism for religious pluralism and tolerance. This displeases Vidyasagar, whose power in the city is diminished. Pampa, who was sexually abused by the monk for many years, is pleased to be able to ignore him.

On the first day of his reign, Bukka sends for Haleya Kote and tells his old drinking buddy that he knows everything about his secret radicalism. He knows that Haleya is the author of Five Remonstrances. Rather than punish Haleya, however, Bukka reveals that he has fired Vidyasagar as his prime minister. He offers Haleya two-fifths of Vidyasagar’s former duties, in accordance with his belief that two of the five remonstrances are valid. Bukka also marries Pampa. They have three sons together. Pampa has never forgiven Vidyasagar for sexually abusing her as a child. In his newly demoted position as a religious leader, she tells him her plans for the religious future of the city. Her plans for a sexually liberated, egalitarian Bisnaga contrast with Vidyasagar’s conservative puritanism. They become enemies.

Pampa’s ambitions for a sexually liberated Bisnaga include a proliferation of sexually explicit decorations and woodcarvings around the city. Haleya Kote warns Bukka that Pampa’s plans may be backfiring, as people do not want to feel sexually liberated just because Pampa tells them to. They resent her imposition on their lives. Besides, Haleya says, Vidyasagar continues to have many supporters in the city, even in his diminished role. Later, Bukka carefully suggests to his wife that her ideas may be too progressive. She rejects the idea that their empire should be constrained in any way. If the rest of the world is in the 14th century, she says, then Bisnaga should be in the 15th century.

The three daughters of Pampa and Domingo are named Yotshna, Zerelda, and Yuktasri. By the midpoint of Bukka’s reign, the girls are in their late twenties. Pampa allows her daughters their freedom. She does not force them to marry. Pampa believes that women should have the same rights as men, meaning that she wants her daughters to be able to take over following Bukka’s death. At this time, the three sons of Bukka and Pampa are still children. Their names are Erapalli, Bhagwat, and Gundappa. Motherhood does not come easily to Pampa, particularly as she is always aware that she will outlive her children. Her three boys argue with their mother about the proposal for women to inherit the throne. The princes demand that they alone can inherit the throne, causing Pampa to disown them. Bukka must choose between his sons and his wife. He delays, refusing to commit to either side. Soon, the whole city is enraged.

Eventually, Bukka sides with his wife and sends his sons into exile. Bisnaga becomes “the first and only region in all the land where people could contemplate the idea of a woman sitting alone upon the throne” (99). There is dissention within the empire, however, and Pampa resents that she cannot whisper new stories into their ears because these people now have free will. The three sons are sent to live in exile with the king of Jaffna. The king of Jaffna, resenting his subservient status to Bukka and Bisnaga, helps the three boys to plot a coup. He helps them keep in contact with their disreputable uncles, and Bukka soon has six relatives who all covet the throne. Bukka is distracted by the demands of his empire. While quelling the Zafarabad sultanate, he leaves Pampa in Bisnaga. There, she grows concerned for her daughters’ safety. She hires a Chinese swordsman to teach them combat skills. Grandmaster Li Ye-He helps the daughters and Pampa to develop skills so extraordinary that they appear supernatural. Pampa confesses to her daughters that the growing political unrest signals how she may have overreached with “the equality thing” (106). Vidyasagar’s influence in the city grows, and soon his sermons sound like a call to arms. On learning that her husband’s campaign is not going well, Pampa begins to plot an escape, and Haleya Kote helps her. Bukka eventually signs an uneasy truce with his enemy, but when he returns to Bisnaga, he is sick. Pampa nurses him but understands that he is dying.

With Bukka on the verge of death, his three sons and his three brothers converge on Bisnaga with their armies. Haleya tells Pampa that even though her daughters are legally meant to succeed Bukka, this cannot be guaranteed, especially as many people believe that their true father is Domingo, rather than Hukka. Bukka dies and, after the funeral, Pampa and her daughters are forcibly sequestered in the palace. The daughters have heard a rumor that they will be made to throw themselves on the king’s funeral pyre. The rumor makes Pampa think of when she watched her mother burn herself to death. Haleya Kote and Grandmaster Li Ye-He help the four women to escape to the Enchanted Forest.