Prashanth Gopalan

In an increasingly post-Western world, old identities and networks of cultural and commercial exchange are now being revived (and new ones created). In this context, many states, nations, and cultures in the non-West are looking to their own past, rather than to the West, for inspiration in conducting their own affairs.

In an increasingly post-Western world, old identities and networks of cultural and commercial exchange are now being revived (and new ones created). In this context, many states, nations, and cultures in the non-West are looking to their own past, rather than to the West, for inspiration in conducting their own affairs.

It is the year 1799 in the besieged Kingdom of Mysore, and Patrick Saunders is in hiding. Masquerading as a Spaniard living with his Indian wife Usha and their son, Kuruppan, he spends his days farming a plantation of eucalyptus trees to provide the Kingdom with a vital supply of wood for its siege engines, rockets, and buildings. The armies of the British East India Company have been at war with Tipu Sultan, the ferocious Sultan of Mysore, for several decades.