Secret Documents Archive
Document 2: Royal Order 401
Sivagami, daughter of former Bhoomipathi Devaraya, has been promoted from her current post as the Upapradhana to become the youngest and first woman Mahapradhana of the kingdom of Mahishmati in recognition of her talent and the valuable services she has rendered to the state.
Royal Seal of Maharaj Somadeva, King of Mahishmati.
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Document 3: Royal Order 402
Prince Mahadeva, the youngest Prince of Mahishmati has been deputed on a diplomatic mission to establish contact with the rebel group of Vaithalikkas and open communication channels with them. We authorize him to act on our behalf and diffuse the situation of civil war. We would like to listen to any demands or grievances the Vaithalikkas and other rebel groups supporting them have against our administration. The entire sovereignty and integrity of the state depends on the success of this diplomatic mission. It is a very difficult and tricky mission and requires a huge amount of patience, diplomacy and tact. Hence we depute the Mahapradhana of Mahishmati, Sivagami to accompany the prince and assist him with her valuable advice and resourcefulness.
Royal Seal of Maharaj Somadeva, King of Mahishmati.
Copies to: Prince Mahadeva and Mahapradhana Sivagami
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Document 4: Account of Court Proceedings of Case 287
The court proceedings of the case of Crown Prince, Bijjaladeva whipping law-enforcement officer, Dandanayaka Kashi, conducted by the orders and interrogated in the presence of the King of Mahishmati, Maharaj Somadeva.

Somadeva: Let the proceedings begin!

The public prosecutor rested his case, "The accused, Crown Prince, Bijjaladeva was caught red-handed by Dandanayaka Kashi while the latter was attempting to sell several state secrets to an envoy of the King of Sivagiri in an attempt to depose Maharaj Somadeva from the throne."

Somadeva: Are both the accused and victim in the court?

Prosecutor: Yes, Maharaj. Both the Prince and the Dandanayaka stand before you.

Somadeva: Kashi, do you have any witnesses who can testify what exactly happened apart from yourself?

Kashi: All the soldiers who were with me when this happened will testify in my favor.

Somadeva (in a crestfallen tone): Crown Prince, Bijjaladeva do you wish to tell anything else in your favor?

Bijjaladeva (boastfully rattled): I am the heir-apparent. I am the eldest son of the family. This throne is my divine right. What I do with my kingdom or its state secrets is my wish. I owe an explanation to none.

Somadeva: So this is all that you have to tell this court? Crown Prince, Bijjaladeva you accept whatever you have been accused of doing?

Bijjaladeva: I do...So?

Somadeva(with a heavy heart): Dandanayaka, have the state secrets been retrieved and kept in safe custody?

Kashi: Yes, your highness. Those secrets are safe now. It was while trying to do this, the Crown Prince unleashed his whip on me. Being a State officer, I could not break protocol and retaliate against the Prince.

Bijjaladeva: A lash or two from my whip will do you no harm, Watchdog!

Saying so, the Crown Prince brought out his whip from beneath his folds of clothing and launched anew in a fresh bout of whiplashes on the body of the security officer, Dandanayaka Kashi.

Somadeva: Soldiers hold him back! Take away Kashi from here and get him treated by the royal medical practitioner.

This time, the Crown Prince launched himself against the soldiers who were trying to get him under control. A few soldiers fell down injured. They were handicapped by the fact that the unruly accused was also their Crown Prince which prevented them from adopting sterner measures to restrain him.

The Royal monarch had had enough. It was his very authority in question. Hurt as it might the father in him, he had to make an example of his unworthy son that nobody was above the law of the land.

Somadeva roared: Kattappa control him at any cost....Use your special talents...I want him immobilized for now.

Special talents were a cue from the King for Kattappa, the loyal retainer and slave to the throne of Mahishmati to use the 'Varma Kala', the special art of targeting the nerve endings or special acupuncture points of the opponent's body to bring them under control. It was a deadly martial art; in most cases absolutely fatal, and in some cases ended up causing a permanent physical disability. Its effects could rarely be reversed.

The Crown Prince was instantly immobilized by Kattappa using a lightening move and stroke of Varma Kala. This case snowballed into an even bigger controversy and resulted in several landmark judgements and pathbreaking changes.

Except the Mahapradhana, Sivagami and the younger Prince Mahadeva who were absent from the court proceedings as they were currently on a diplomatic mission to alleviate the aggrieved tribe of Vaithalikkas, the entire cabinet of ministers unanimously proclaimed that they couldn't serve or accept the Crown Prince as their future king and threatened to resign from service. The soldiers in the law enforcement department also followed suit.

There was a huge uproar.

"No, we cannot serve in a cabinet where the Crown Prince sells state secrets!"

"We are resigning. We cannot serve a king in whose court the law enforcement officer is whipped before his own eyes."

"Do you know our prince is a rapist?.....While the Vaithalikkas were attempting to stage a military coup five years back, he was busy with that poor young lady of the royal orphanage....Just because Kattappa tried to stop him, he flogged him so badly....All the lies and cover ups fool nobody."

This whispered rumor was a new piece of information even for Maharaj Somadeva. Why hadn't anybody told him any of this before? Even Kattappa had remained silent all these years without revealing these grievous offenses of his elder son. Somadeva, his eyes red with anger, looked at a Kattappa who hung down his head in shame. It broke the back of the camel. The Helicon was crossed. Somadeva sighed with regret. There was no going back from this point.

Somadeva proclaimed:
"1. Bijjaladeva has been found guilty of all the charges against him.

2. I am going to do something which no sovereign king of Mahishmati has ever done before. I hereby abolish the right of the eldest son to succeed to the throne after the father. All the heirs of the royal family, sons and daughters will have an equal right to aspire for the throne. The worthiest among them will be chosen after the death of the former king by the Mahapradhana of Mahishmati, taking into consideration the wishes of the entire cabinet of ministers, the army and the people as the new of King of Mahishmati.

3. In view of the offenses committed by Prince Bijjaladeva; I, Maharaj Somadeva, proclaim him ineligible for the throne of Mahishmati. Bijjaladeva will be permanently debarred from the right to stake a claim for the throne for his act of treason of trying to sell state secrets.

4. In view of what happened in the court today, the accused whoever they are, even if they belong to the royal family, will be chained and produced in court for interrogation. They will not be freed until they are proved innocent. This is for the sake of the safety and security of the law enforcement officers.

5. Since in the attempt to contain him from creating further mayhem or destruction to life, Bijjaladeva's right hand has been permanently disfigured and immobilized, we deem this sufficient punishment for him and advice him to mend his ways and behavior.

6. We give him a second chance to redeem himself. If any more suspicious acts or acts of treason are reported against Bijjaladeva, he will be banished from the palace. The same rule will be implemented against any royal family member who commits Rajdroh or treason. Idhe naa maata, na maate sasanam! (This is my word, and my word is law!)"

The whole populace of Mahishmati, the cabinet of ministers and the soldiers loudly cheered at this landmark judgement. That day Bijjaladeva's screams and protests got buried under the huge wave of public support and popularity, "I protest....this throne is mine...it can't be my brother's....you cannot snatch my dream from me...You are all taking advantage of my physical deformity....."

That day nobody heard what Bijjaladeva was trying to tell. They had all had enough of him and his tyrannical ways even as a Crown Prince.
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Disclaimer: This entire book is about the past of Mahishmati as I visualize it. It is entirely my fanfictionesque vision of the past and how it is relevant to the present in my story. It is not the officially approved version. Why people acted in a certain way, the factors that culminated in Bijjaladeva who was the then heir-apparent being ignored and passed over for kingship and his younger brother becoming the king of the kingdom even though there seems to be no earlier precedent, the reason for Bijjaladeva's crippled right hand when he was not born a cripple, why Bijjaladeva hates the common people of Mahishmati. And in the next generation, why two royal cousins, Baahubali and Bhallaladeva compete against each other to prove themselves worthy of the same throne. In the next chapter, I will be unraveling the story of Amarendra Baahubali's father, Mahadeva, Sivagami and Bijjaladeva and why a strong and self-respecting lady like Sivagami ended up marrying Bijjaladeva, and why while Sivagami is almost revered as the mother goddess of Mahishmati by the masses and her authority absolutely obeyed, her own husband, Bijjaladeva is very much despised. I have used ideas and names but I have not copied or plagiarized or lifted off stuff from anywhere. I make no profit or money out of this.

Author's Note: If you are following this story, please vote, comment and share your views about the story with me.