Tags: Maharajahs, Hindus and Muslims, Hindu religious practices, Interracial romances and Eurasian Anglo-Indians, Hunting (Shikar)

The novel Hindupore: A Peep Behind the Indian Unrest serves as both a romance and a political commentary on the tensions in British India during the early 20th century. The narrative begins aboard the steamer Nur-Jehan, where Lord Tara, a young Irish Member of Parliament, travels to India to visit his friend Herbert Harvey and gain a deeper understanding of the "Indian Unrest". On the voyage, he meets Celitia Scott, a lady doctor seeking to serve female pilgrims at the Temple of Jagannath, and Raja Ram Singh, a distinguished Rajput prince returning from Europe.

During the journey, Raja Ram Singh engages his English companions in discussions regarding Hindu medical science and philosophy. He points out that ancient Hindu surgeons performed complex operations long before similar innovations appeared in Europe and that European medicine was largely based on Hindu works like those of Charaka. These conversations establish a theme of cultural pride and intellectual equality that persists throughout the book.

Upon arriving in Bombay, the Raja is met by his Prime Minister, Mohan Lal, a former intelligence officer who possesses a deep understanding of the "Secret Branch" and the hidden motives of official transactions. Lord Tara travels with them to the Raja’s estate, Hindupore, located near Allahabad. At the palace, Tara becomes infatuated with Princess Kamala, the Raja’s niece, whose spiritual beauty matches an "ideal" he had cherished since seeing Chateaubriand's "Atala" as a boy. Kamala, a devout Hindu of pure Rajput descent, has had a prophetic dream that she would find her husband at the shrine of Jagannath, where he would risk his life to gather lotus flowers she had cast into the water.

The novel places a heavy emphasis on the political grievances of the Indian people.

“In theory, Hinduism makes no converts,” said Mohan, “yet it converts more than most missionary agencies. For instance, the Mahomedan of India, tempered by Hindu associations, is quite a different being from his co-religionists in Central Asia. His fiery iconoclastic practice is so much softened that not seldom he himself reverences the Hindu gods. Hindu associations have taught him the superiority of spiritual to natural man.”
“The Raja seems very popular with his people,” said Tara.

“So he ought to be; he is their friend, and they know it. Loyalty in India, if founded on sentiment, is a very real fact, but the Hindus are the most conservative people in the world. They cling to their beliefs with incredible steadfastness, and, next to God, they have faith in their native Rajas. That is why the manner of espionage in British India is so much to be regretted. It estranges the masses of the people when one of their Princes of ancient and honoured descent, whose loyalty to the Sovereign Power has been proved in the willing submission of his followers for more than a century, is subjected to slight and indignity. For instance, just before the Raja Ram Singh went to Europe his name was actually entered in what is called the ‘Black Book’ of the Secret Branch of the Intelligence Department as a person not above suspicion, because he had not chosen to receive a verbal request for an elephant, sent through a chaprasi — whose pay is two shillings a week — from Mrs. Ironside, wife of Colonel Ironside, the Resident at Hindupore. The Raja sent a polite message, in return, that if Mrs. Ironside would write a request he would accede to it with pleasure.”

Through characters like Mohan Lal and the Nabob Shamshere Khan, the author critiques the arrogance and ignorance of certain British officials, such as Colonel Ironside.

“Order to attend?” exclaimed Tara in astonishment.

“Well, it was an invitation; but we regard such invitations as orders, for woe betide him who does not accept an invitation from the Government. I told my people that there would be a grand elephant procession to celebrate the occasion, and I had the honour to ride one of the elephants. The procession took place during our Ramazan Fast.”

“You mean your Lent?”

“There is a vast difference between the two. You observe Lent by not eating meat only. Our Ramazan is much more severe. From sunrise to sunset we must not let water touch our lips; smoking a cigarette is out of the question. And we Mahomedan Nabobs had to ride elephants, and reach the railway-station through the blinding dust of Delhi. All the arrangements made at Delhi failed to cope with the dust. We read of your London fog, which one could cut with a knife. Well, the clouds of dust during the Durbar were worse, in all conscience. And in that dust for days — while fasting — we had to practise and rehearse our elephants, so that the ‘Grand Elephant Procession’ might go off without a hitch. Well, Lord Tara, we did everything to please the Lat Sahib. But, as you are kind, I will tell you in confidence that there is a wound in my heart. We are sixty-two millions of Mahomedans, including reigning Princes and Princesses. Surely a little attention might have been given to respect our religious feelings so far as not to appoint the season of our solemn Fast for the Great Elephant Procession of the Durbar. There was no hurry, for the Durbar was some months after the Coronation itself.”

Ironside is depicted as an official who treats Indian princes with indignity and lacks the linguistic skills or cultural empathy of his assistant, Herbert Harvey. The text argues that the "Indian Unrest" is largely caused by these "Ironsides" who trample upon local loyalty through petty slights, such as conducting high-profile processions during the sacred Ramazan fast.

“So you have a good opinion of Sircar?” asked Colonel Ironside.

“Very good indeed,” said Mr. Harvey. “He is the most loyal Hindu I know.”

Colonel Ironside did not like it at all. He hated Sircar because the latter did not waste his time in running after him, and refused to join the nonentities who flitted about him.Colonel Ironside was incapable of appreciating the rare gifts and cultivation of a learned Hindu; these were incomprehensible to him.Colonel Ironside had hardly a definite policy. His idea was to see that every Englishman in India was respected, but the result of his actions was that, instead of the English name being respected, it was cordially disliked. In his zeal for something to do Colonel Ironside closed an old public thoroughfare by the side of the Legation. The result was a great deal of inconvenience to the public for several years, but he was reckless of consequences — the public had no voice; he could exert his power of annoying people with impunity. His ways estranged many a loyal British subject and conciliated none, yet an appreciative Government made him a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire, and found for him a snug sinecure at Aldershot when he returned home.

A central antagonist is Superintendent Charles Hunt, a prejudiced Eurasian official of the Intelligence Department. Hunt is tasked with shadowing Raja Ram Singh, whom the government views with suspicion despite the Raja's clear loyalty. Hunt's character represents the failure of the British "Secret Branch," which often relies on bazaar rumors and bogus reports from low-paid spies rather than authentic understanding.

A significant portion of the story revolves around a Rajput tiger hunt in the Bhairon Forest, which houses a sacred temple. This hunt is contrasted with the "fake" sport of officials like Ironside, who shoot tigers from the safety of high scaffolds (machans) while villagers beat drums to drive the animals toward them. In the Bhairon Forest, the hunt is a matter of real danger; Lord Tara distinguishes himself by killing a tiger that threatened the party, an act that cements his status as a "hero" in the eyes of his hosts.

As the party moves toward the pilgrimage site of Jagannath at Puri, racial tensions flare in a "railway row". A British merchant named Mr. Toddy attempts to eject Raja Ram Singh from a first-class carriage, calling him a "black man," and subsequently suffers a broken wrist when he tries to strike the Raja’s attendant.

He had hardly finished the sentence when they heard the third bell rung. In India, before a train starts, a bell is rung three times. The third bell means that the train is really off. As the third bell rang, in came Tara with Mr. Long and Father Browne, followed by the Raja. As Tara and the two clergymen entered the carriage Mr. Toddy looked hard at Lord Tara, as if to say, “You are an English gentleman.”

No sooner did Ram Singh put his foot into the carriage than up jumped Toddy, shouting.“Out you go, black man!” and then, for the edification of Kellner’s waiter, repeated in Hindustani, “Kala admi bahir jao!”

Tara was struck dumb. Mr. Long was ashamed of such muscular Christianity. They both spoke to Toddy, but Toddy was a sahib. What would his two friends say if he travelled with a nigger! He exclaimed: “I’ve never travelled in my life with a nigger — I’m a gentleman.” Sukhdeo signed to Toddy to move away from the door, and let the Raja enter, as the train was about to start.

This incensed Toddy. He said:“D—d soor ka bacha!” (D—d son of a pig), and aimed a blow at Sukhdeo.

The incident is witnessed by sympathetic missionaries, Mr. Long and Father Browne, who lament that such behavior by "low Europeans" destroys the work of Christian missions.

The climax occurs at Jagannath, a "Holy Land" where caste distinctions vanish and all worshippers are equal before the "Lord of the World".

“Until I knew you, Tara, I should not have believed it possible to entertain for a moment the idea of allowing Kamala to marry an Englishman. You are so unlike most of your countrymen in your sympathy with us, that I will not oppose your wishes, should Kamala herself care for you. My only brother left her to my care before she was a year old, and when she lost her mother, a few years later, I promised that Kamala should be free to choose her own husband under our ancient rite of swayamvara (personal selection). She has not yet used her privilege, and has refused every offer proposed to her. As she knows that the Rani and I are anxious that she should decide this important question, she asked me to let her go to Jagannath this year to pray for help and guidance. As you may have heard, at that sacred shrine we lay aside all earthly distinctions of rank or wealth. No caste exists there, and we meet our fellow-creatures on equal terms. As you intend to visit the Festival, you may perhaps have an opportunity of speaking to her there.”

In a dramatic turn of events, Superintendent Hunt encounters a poor pilgrim woman who is revealed to be his own mother, Dukhia.

He said, as he dangled his gold-mounted cane that he was there on behalf of the British Government to see that the pilgrims behaved themselves properly, and did not get up any disturbances of the public peace. Presently an elderly Hindu woman passed by. She looked several times at Mr. Hunt while she went along slowly, as if wearied from a long journey.

This was too much for him. How dare a shabby native woman stare at a gentleman! He raised his cane to strike her — she had just recognized his voice.

“Charlie!” cried the poor woman. She was Mr. Charles Hunt’s mother, Dukhia — now neither gay nor giddy. Her Mahomedan lover had deserted her long ago, as her English lover had done. She had at last determined to turn over a new leaf, and was going on pilgrimage to Jagannath to pray for the forgiveness of her sins.She had not seen her son for years, but she had often heard of him, and was glad he was getting on in the world. On the way to Jagannath she heard that Charles Hunt was the police-officer the pilgrims dreaded the most. Should she meet her son? A mother always cares for her son, and Hunt was Dukhia’s only child.

When Hunt strikes her with his cane to avoid the embarrassment of being associated with a "native," an infuriated mob of pilgrims kills him by throwing him down a well. The event is officially recorded as an accident through the manipulation of witnesses.

In the final chapters, the romance between Tara and Kamala reaches its resolution. Tara gathers the lotus flowers Kamala casts into the water, fulfilling her dream. After receiving the Raja’s blessing and consulting the great astrologer Vishnu Pandit, the two are married in a dual ceremony—one Hindu and one Christian—symbolizing a union between East and West.

So Mohan had no alternative but to let the religious ceremony be performed that very day, and let the marriage festivities be reserved for Hindupore. Everyone agreed with Mohan’s views, and so it was to be.

It was a lovely evening. There had been no rain, and the ground was dry. There was a cool, refreshing breeze.The wedding took place in the open air, under the canopy of the starry heavens. Thousands of fire-flies lighted up the trees all round.It was an intermarriage. No Rajput Princess had ever married an Englishman before. Notwithstanding the encouragement of Mohan Lal and Sircar, and his own strong regard for Tara, Raja Ram Singh looked anxious. An alliance with the orthodox Hindu family of Jamuna Bai might be all right, but what would the Brahmans of Benares say to this? Mohan and Jamuna Bai, who had seen much of each other at Jagannath, put their heads together, and the solution they arrived at was to induce the great astrologer Vishnu Pandit to act as officiating priest. That would silence all Hindu India.

The wedding is described as a "patriotic and diplomatic alliance". Celitia Scott also finds happiness, becoming engaged to the missionary Mr. Long.

The novel concludes with Tara and Kamala departing for England. Tara intends to introduce his "Lotus Queen" to British society and use his position in Parliament to advocate for a more sympathetic and respectful British administration of India. The book ends with a Persian romance recited by the poet Khusru Khan, mirroring the themes of destiny, the transmigration of souls, and the eventual triumph of love. Throughout the text, the author weaves in subplots and stories, such as that of Nala and Damayanti, to highlight the moral and cultural depth of Hindu literature. Ultimately, Hindupore serves as a plea for mutual respect and sympathy between the British rulers and their Indian subjects, suggesting that the "Unrest" can only be solved by a return to a more chivalrous and open-minded British approach to colonial power.