The Nawab's Tears  (Paperback, Ajit Mani)

Professor Avaran Kuriakose specialises in the history of the Deccan. A former colleague and friend calls him to the erswhile princely state of Arcot to decipher a set of clues contained in a Masonic Lodge Minutes Book and a 250 year old diary. Avaran locates a long-lost family heirloom with a gory past. He is a Freemason and Knight Templar and knows his life is in danger because of his involvement in this assignment. The plot and the characters in the story are fictional, in an historical setting. Everyday political discussions give an insight into some of the tensions created by the spillovers of British rule. These include the English language; and 'Anglo-Indians' of mixed parentage, most of whom have migrated to the UK and Australia. Avaran's life is endangered when he visits the medieval Gingee Fort and again when he is assualted in a moving train by a jealous family member. A historically credible reconstruction of events attempt to explain the mysterious disappearance of the vast treasure of the Vijayanagara Empire.