Summary of Sara Jeannette Duncan's "The Story of Sunny Sahib" (1894)
Tags: 1857 Mutiny, Going Native; Adventure Fiction, Princely States
The story of Sonny Sahib begins amidst the terror of the 1857 Indian Mutiny in Cawnpore (Kanpur). As the rebellion flares, a British doctor orders an ayah named Tooni to prepare her mistress and a three-day-old baby for a journey to safety by river. The mother is consumed by fever, and the doctor-sahib, exhausted and haggard, provides Tooni with money to secure milk for the infant. However, Tooni, terrified by the sound of guns and witnessing the death of many British residents, doubts the safety of the evacuation plan. While the official word from Nana Sahib is that the English will be allowed to leave in boats, Tooni and her husband, Abdul, decide to hide in the bazaar instead. The baby's mother dies in the ox-cart before reaching the river, and Sonny’s father—a captain stationed elsewhere—remains unaware of his family's fate. Believing there is a "protecting charm" in her mistress’s small black book, Tooni slips it into her pocket and flees with the child.
Tooni and Abdul escape hundreds of miles across the desert to the state of Chita in northern Rajputana, a place where no English soldiers have yet ventured. They settle in the town of Rubbulgurh, raising the child as a native boy named Sunni. Despite his yellow hair and blue eyes, Sonny grows up immersed in the local culture, learning the vernacular, driving buffaloes, and eating chupatties. He is a merry, strong-tempered child who refuses to speak English, knowing only three words: "bruss," "wass," and "isstockin". After Abdul dies, Tooni continues to care for him until a horseman arrives with a summons from the Maharajah.
The Maharajah, having heard of the "gold-faced" child, desires him as a companion for his son, Prince Moti. Sonny and Tooni move into the opulent palace at Lalpore, a city built on a hill with walls ten feet thick. Sonny becomes an inseparable friend to Moti, though he struggles with the strict Rajput manners and the "clumsy" armlets he is forced to wear. One afternoon, Sonny inadvertently saves the Prince's life. A rival in the palace, Matiya, sends a poisoned cake intended for Moti. Because Sonny’s shadow falls across the cake, the superstitious Moti refuses to eat it and instead gives it to the fountain fish and a pet monkey. When the fish die and the monkey refuses the crumbs, it is revealed that the cake was toxic. The Maharajah, believing Sonny was a divine instrument of protection, grants him a permanent place near the throne.
Years later, a medical missionary named Dr. Roberts (referred to as "ee-Wobbis") is permitted to live in the palace to teach the boys English. Dr. Roberts is stunned to find a British child living in the heart of Rajputana and begs the Maharajah to allow the boy to return to his people. The Maharajah refuses, fearing that reporting the boy's presence to the British government in Calcutta would lead to military intervention and the "binding of the foot" of his independent state. Under Dr. Roberts’ tutelage, Sonny begins to learn his true heritage and his own language. However, palace intrigue led by the corrupt minister Surji Rao eventually leads to the missionary’s death; he is falsely accused of killing a sacred bull and is murdered by the General, Maun Rao.
Following the death of the missionary, the British government sends Colonel Starr with three hundred Midlanders and two guns to "arrange" the Maharajah. The Maharajah initially prepares for war, but his plans are foiled when he discovers that the ten thousand rounds of ammunition Surji Rao purchased are largely defective duds. Realizing his defenselessness, the Maharajah shuts the city gates and refuses to communicate. Sonny, hearing the English bugles from the camp, feels an instinctive pull toward his countrymen. He decides to escape the palace to join them. In an act of integrity, he leaves behind all the jewels and gold given to him by the Maharajah, taking only his mother’s Common Prayer book, which Tooni had hidden in the thatch of her hut for years. He uses a long festival turban as a rope to descend from a palace balcony, eventually wading through the river to reach the British lines.
When Sonny is brought before Colonel Starr, the officer is immediately struck by the boy's appearance. Hoping to gain a military advantage, the Colonel asks Sonny for details regarding the fort's water supply, the number of soldiers, and the location of the arsenal. To the Colonel’s surprise and frustration, Sonny refuses to betray the Maharajah. He tells the Colonel, "The Maharajah is my father and my mother. I cannot speak against the Maharajah". Even when the Colonel threatens him with being shot as a spy or returned to the palace as a deserter, the boy remains firm. Starr is deeply moved by the child’s loyalty, secretly hoping the boy will not break under pressure.
The Maharajah eventually emerges for a parley, convinced that Sonny must have already revealed the city's weaknesses. At the durbar, the Maharajah initially insults Sonny as a betrayer and refuses to let him share the ceremonial opium. Colonel Starr defends the boy, giving his "word of honour as a soldier" that Sonny refused to say anything despite threats. The Rajputs are stunned and moved by Sonny’s loyalty, and the Maharajah reinstates him into his favor.
The climax occurs when Tooni appears at the durbar, recognizing Colonel Starr as the "Captan Sahib". The Colonel, looking at the old woman in a daze, asks what happened to his wife, the memsahib. Tooni explains the mother's death and presents the boy as the "chota baba" (the little baby). Sonny hands the Colonel the Common Prayer book, and when the officer opens the fly-leaf, he sees his own handwriting: "Evelyn Starr from John Starr, December 5th, 1855". Colonel Starr realizes that "Sunni" is actually his own son, Sonny Sahib. The story concludes three weeks later as the Colonel and his son prepare to leave Lalpore. The Colonel’s final words to the Maharajah serve as a tribute to his son’s character: "Your Highness will remember... he did not tell".
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