24 CHAPTER 24 -Machilipatnam.
1538, Machilipatnam, Dharanikota Kingdom.
Machilipatnam was the primary port town of Dharanikota. The kingdom itself didn't sell much goods or send the ships to other lands, as it was not that invested in foreign trade. But the Port acts as a way for merchants who are willing to trade themselves.
The port was neither as busy as the ports in the lands of the Vijayanagara, nor as big as the one in Bengal. But it serves its purpose, and the trade volume it handles is enough for their kingdom, which was not focused on it.
So, in the all-encompassing wisdom of Rudra's father and his court, they decided to not properly develop it. The tax collection rights were given to lord Rameswara Nayaka, along with the right to tax the port trade.
It was not a coincidence that lord Rameswara was a strong supporter of Rudra's uncle Karana Deva. Although the man himself did not attend the Coronation, citing health reasons, he sent his oldest son to it.
After the Son was killed in the aftermath, Machilipatnam became the main staging ground for the attempted rebellion against Rudra Deva. The People started colluding here and planned for it here.
Weapons were imported from the Golconda sultanate, and the Portuguese were in the process of being hired as Mercenaries. If these people were allowed to plan any further, they may have posed a serious threat against Rudra's rule.
When the soldiers started killing the supporters of Karana Deva, Machilipatnam became the center of that. As it contained many of them, Surrounding them became a lot easier, and the soldiers managed to capture the town lord and his sons alive when they were escaping the town via the ports.
Rudra Did not feel that much remorse when he ordered Lord Rameswara Nayaka and his family to be Publicly hanged in the town center last month. All the sensitive stuff such as children were already taken care of by the soldiers, removing that burden from him.
'Public executions are brutal and a crime against humanity.' was something he may have said if he was not reborn in this life. He didn't remember much of his past life to begin with. But life was cruel here, and keeping control of the public was very important. The Public executions showed the people what would happen if they stepped out of line.
His only regret was the death of the children that took place, all across the kingdom during his campaign to weed out the opposers of his regime. There was an option to keep them alive, but Rudra did not want to risk it. What were they gonna tell them- "I'm sorry we killed your entire family, eat this roti now?"
Their blood will always be on Rudra's hands, and he accepts it.
Currently, Rudra is visiting the town again, after arriving last month for a completely different purpose. The port town was less than a day's travel on Horseback, from the Capital city.
Rudra, along with a contingent of Royal guards, are visiting the town to inspect it and recruit a few people.
After the execution of the town lord the last time he visited, Rudra appointed a man who supported him in charge of the town. Now that Rudra was forming a Royal council, he wanted to recruit him.
"The scenery is indeed a lot better than the one in the Capital city, Selvappan," Rudra said to the temporary governor of the town while standing on a balcony overlooking the sea.
"Lord Rameswara was particularly fond of the sea your majesty. This was his old office." Selvappan said nervously, as he brought up the old lord. They were currently in a mansion, which belonged to the dead lord Rameshwaran.
"It seems that he had great taste. A pity he didn't say it sooner. I would have given him a sea burial." Rudra said as he continued to look out. The visuals were beautiful, a sunny day accompanied by a cool sea breeze.
There were only two people on the balcony, not including the guards. Rudra and Selvappan. They arrived there a few minutes ago, and Rudra stayed quiet, not uttering a word, for the first few minutes.
"Do you know why I selected you as the town's Governor Selvappan? I don't recall you serving in such a role previously." Rudra questioned the man who was in his late thirties.
"No, Your Majesty. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity you have provided, and I am working day and night to make sure that earn it." Selvappan replied, in a very earnest way. The honesty in his voice was apparent.
"I first heard about you when your projects in the town started finishing. The water wheel implementations, Port restructuring, and repairing the fort walls. All excellent work, and was under budget and quickly implemented" Rudra was indeed very impressed with these projects.
Although Machilipatnam did not get much funding, it was one of the most developed areas in the Kingdom. It was not only because of the booming port but also due to previous developments.
Machilipatnam was the only town with a good drainage and drinking water system implemented, and these were developments from before the existence of the Dharanikota kingdom.
The lack of care from his father's court meant that lord Rameswara swallowed most of the profits from the port, and only sent a nominal amount back as taxes. To cover up the numbers, the lord also injected some of the money back into the town.
Old infrastructure was rebuilt, some of it was salvaged and reconstructed, etc. Being close to the port meant that the area also had access to new ideas and people. Such as Selvappan.
Although Selvappan was Tamil by heritage, he was not from modern-day Tamil Nadu. He was born to a Tamil merchant from Malacca and was half South Asian- half Southeast Asian, by birth.
After the fall of Malacca, to the Portuguese in 1511, racial tensions quickly broke out, and the ones who were most affected by it were Chinese and Tamil merchants. To the local people who could not take revenge on the Foreigners from Europe, the ones from South and East Asia became a quick target.
Some migrated back, and Selvappan who had lost his father there, came to Machilipatnam along with the rest of his family.
"You were involved in all these major projects, but you are not an architect by trade. You were openly telling everyone that, you only know the basics of it. But everyone was praising you for these projects. Why do you think, it was happening?" Rudra asked a question to Selvappan, for which he already knew the answer.
"I may be bad at the construction part, Your Majesty, but I am very good at managing a project. I'm sure you know, but the reason those projects were under budget, was because I hired the workers from outside the town. The architects and stone workers here were all in some kind of guilds, so I just removed them from the equation." Selvappan answered back.
"It is a very smart step. But it takes away the jobs from the locals. Don't you think they will be unhappy?" The king questioned again.
"I still hired them from the kingdom, so anyone from the capital has nothing to worry about. As for the local craftsmen? They only need a reminder that they are replaceable. My late father always used to say, to take care of the little things first, and the big obstacles will solve themselves." Selvappan concluded, answering Rudra's question.
"Your father is a smart man, much like you. That is the reason why I have come here. I am sure you have heard, but I am forming a new Royal Council. I want you to join it as my advisor on infrastructure. You will also have to manage all the construction projects that will come up in the future." Rudra said, and he looked into the man's eyes, waiting for an answer.
"I am happy to join Your Majesty, but What about Machilipatnam? If I am in the capital, or somewhere in the kingdom managing projects, who will take care of things here?" Selvappan answered, both eager and puzzled at the same time.
"You seem to misunderstand the role. Your job is not to manage these projects yourself, but to advise me on it and manage the people who manage these projects. Boss of bosses, so to speak. Kind of like my role actually. As for the Town, one day, managing both will become a lot, you simply have to choose a successor to one of the roles." Rudra explained, making sure Selvappan understood his role correctly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will do as you ordered. If I may dare to ask, who else is in this council?" the almost middle-aged man questioned the young king.
"You will be the advisor of infrastructure. Defence, Health, and education are already appointed. We already have some choices, but the ones left are for Trade, Treasury, Justice, and foreign affairs. The last two are basically selected, with only the final confirmation required." Rudra listed all the roles of Royal Advisors to Selvappan.
This new Royal council was something, that was based upon the old Royal court, but with some changes. It improved a lot upon it, removed a lot of redundant roles like "minister for the King's Royal Elephant" and "Minister of poetry and praises" etc. A lot of people who were directly employed by the crown were reorganized in these respective departments.
Rudra did a lot of work in the last two months when the soldiers were weeding out all that may oppose him. It will be the duty of the Royal Advisory Council to optimize the government he painstakingly built properly.
"If I may offer some advice, Your Majesty?" Selvappan asked Rudra, a bit tense, as he didn't know how he would respond.
"It is now your job to advise me Selva. Advise away." Rudra joked a bit, hoping to ease the tension a bit.
"A..Haha? Anyway, the Trade advisor role. I have someone Whom I wish to recommend. They are a bit unconventional, and not of these lands. Will it be a problem?" Selvappan replied, But the first part of it again confirmed to Rudra that, he sucked at making jokes.
Pushing down his feelings about it, he replied. "For the trade advisor, His only job is to increase the trade. As long as they are not working for the enemy, or siphoning away the kingdom's money, I don't care where he is from or what he does." Rudra answered earnestly. Increased trade means, increased money to implement his schemes. Why would he be against it?
"It's a 'She' your Majesty. I'm sorry if this is a bit untraditional, but she is the best merchant I know." Selvappan quickly answered, hoping to ease off any misunderstandings.
'Damn. Do people think I am a misogynist or something?' Rudra thought to himself. But it was to be expected. In the period he was in, women gaining influence and a position of power was an exception from the norm, not the norm itself.
But it would be stupid of Rudra or anyone for that matter, to ignore half of the theoretical workforce. Rudra would have implemented women's rights anyway after he got the governmental ball rolling.
"Selvaappa, do you know who my namesake is?" Rudra asked the man, who was now almost panicking because of his long pause, after the last response.
"Your Grandfather? Emperor Prataparudra of the Gajapathis?" The man answered back, confused because of the abrupt question.
"Well, yes. But it is only somewhat related. It is an answer that the general public would know, I guess. But the fact is, my mother was a huge fan of the warrior queen, Rudrama Devi of the Kakatiya Dynasty." Rudra said and gave Selvappan a moment to recollect before continuing. "She thought a girl would be born, and she wanted to name me that. But just as Rani Rudrama Devi was the opposite of what her family expected, I was also the same. So they named me Rudra Deva, the male name of Queen Rudrama Devi."
Rudrama Devi was the warrior queen of the Kakatiya Dynasty. Her parents expected a boy, but when a girl was born, they raised her a boy anyway with the Public name of Rudra Deva. It was Rudra's true namesake.
"So Selvappan, if you thought that I would shun away someone, just because they are a woman, you would be very wrong. I only care about ability, and if you say she is as capable as you say she is, arrange the meeting tomorrow." Rudra said as he turned to take a leave.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." was all that Selvappan said as he fell into contemplative silence.
