Sud Dulhan

Tale of Robbery, Murder and Self-Sacrifice by a Young Bride Legend of Jatheri at Gagret

This book is a suspense thriller of a historical event where the reader stays glued to the book to see what comes next. The happenings described in the book are real, events related are real, only a story has been tailored to make the forgoing more interesting. It is story of 50 wealthy families who dare the odds and leave their familiar surroundings after repeated Muslim invasions of their hometown, during 1730-1760 AD period, after the collapse of the Moghul Empire in India. They migrate to the Hills of Punjab, now Himachal Pradesh in search of safety and security. They travel 130 miles to another kingdom with their bag and baggage. Secure in their new surroundings, they prosper again. Within a few years after their arrival they are wealthy but their prosperity became a thorn to the local unsavoury people. They conspired to grab some of their money. The conspiracy they hatch was to rob a returning wedding party fully laden with gold & silver and decamp with the money and jewellery. They succeed in their conspiracy but unfortunately kill the groom in the process. Heartbroken, the bride, only 17 years of age, jumps into her husband's funeral pyre. The book in two parts, covers both their travel while braving the elements as well as danger of wayside marauders and the growing up of a young accomplished girl during these unsettled times. Finally she is married and on her wedding day finds her husband dead, a victim of robbery. The place where all the forgoing happened is a place of worship and pilgrimage to her descendants. The site is marked by a century old stone structure and is visited by the family to remember her supreme sacrifice.