In the middle of the night people living in a small village far away from Hastinapur could hear the sound of a horse running through the bushes, making its way towards the land of Anga.
Karna rode on his favourite horse Taritgati with lightning speed in the middle of the night to reach Anga Desh as fast as he could. His journey has been delayed by two weeks already there is no more time to waste. He needed to reach his land as soon as he could and take charge as the new king.
Over these two weeks, he has been going through the records and documents of Anga. The province of Anga hasn't had a king for almost a decade now and has turned into a barren land devoid of people. After the death of the former king, it fell under the ploy of the king of Magadha who wants to take over the entire aryavarth. Hastinapur didn't do almost anything to protect or look after the people of Anga, only sending a few number of soldiers to prevent Magadh from completely taking over Anga. The capital city of Anga, Champa Nagari has turned into a ghost town with constant invasions of Asuras and soldiers from Magadha.
Anga shares its biggest border with Magadha. Although Anga comes under the rule of the Kururastra, Magadha Naresh Jarasandh has his utmost control over the land and its people. While Hastinapur is miles away from Champa, the capital of Magadha, Girivaraja only takes a few hours to reach.
When Duryodhan first gave away the land of Anga for Karna to rule, Bhishma and Vidur were livid with him. But after the Kala Pradarshan when they sat down to discuss the matter with Dhritarashtra, it didn't seem all that bad. Kururastra shares its biggest borders with Panchal and Magadha. Where there are problems with Panchal, Kurus know that Panchal wouldn't initiate a war as both the states share trade interests. But Magadha is a different story, the history of Magadha and Kuru has always been a bloody one. Jarasandh has tried to invade Kuru borders multiple times and it took the full force of the Kuru army to prevent the invasion of the Magadha army.
Karna is a Formidable worrier there is no denying that, so perhaps having him as the king of Anga has actually a good side after all. Anga not having a king for the longest time and them not giving the province much importance has made the once buzzing beautiful region into an abandoned land. The few people who still live in the land have almost zero respect for the Kurus. The land is now unofficially ruled by Jarasandh, while actually being a part of Kururastra. Jarasandh hasn't taken over the land officially yet, and the kurus wonder why.
Vidur had a theory, that Jarasandh had been at constant war with the Yadav clan of Mathura After his Son-in-Law Mathura Naresh Kamsa was killed by Vasudev Krishna and his elder brother Balabhadra who happened to be Kamsa's nephews. Jarasandh thought it was just not of immediate importance to take over Anga completely. But he kept on creating problems from time to time on the land to have the Praja of Anga under his control. He has passive control while not having the responsibility of the Praja. He didn't have to spend money from his treasury on the land of Anga. Taking over the land means he has to take on the responsibility. So it was just a political game Jarasandh was playing where he had no responsibility to the people but had the rule over them. Vidur has heard rumours from his informers that Jarasandh charges taxes from the people. It was not confirmed as the Praja refused to open their mouth. They were clearly afraid of Jarasandh. If the rumours were true then that explains why the majority of the Praja of Anga left their motherland and immigrated to either Magadha or came more inland in the Kururastra.
Having a new king might improve the situation. Anga was a very fertile and rich province of Kururastra when it had a stable system. Karna being the king will provide protection on the Magadha borders and also have extra income being added to the Rajkosh of Hastinapur. So at first, it may have appeared as a rushed decision from a child ruled by emotions but it was actually a win-win situation for Hastinapur, so they didn't oppose Karna being the king of Anga anymore.
After almost an entire day and a half Karna reached the borders of Anga at noon, and reaching the capital city Champa took him another prahar as he navigated through the land to see the exact condition of his kingdom.
He didn't expect Anga to be as grand as Hastinapur but the sight in front of him has him completely astounded. Village after village was left abandoned. He saw only a couple of people on the destroyed roads of the capital city who looked at him and turned their heads the other way. He climbed down from his horse and walked down the streets. A single man named Bhupendra came to take Karna to his palace. Karna was absorbed in looking around the distant and ruined memory of the once-prosperous city of Champa. Karna asked Bhupendra a few questions about the current situation of Anga which Bhupendra answered sounding bored.
They were walking down the street when an old woman decided to stop in front of them. She looks up and down at Karna. Karna decided to dress as a commoner when he set for his journey because he thought people would accept him more if he presented himself as one of their own. But the clothes worn by a mere commoner of Hastinapur looked like royal clothes in the ruined city of Champa. So the old woman easily guessed that it was their new king whom they had been hearing about for the past two weeks.
Karna folded his hands in front of the old woman but she scrunched her face and spat on Karna's face. Although Bhupendra was sceptical about the new king who was very young and clearly inexperienced, he was shocked, and angry at the old woman's behaviour. He was also afraid of how the king would react to this.
He was about to say something but Karna stopped him. Karna lowered his head and took a deep breath. He looked up at the woman and still folding his hand said, "Mata, I don't know what made you hate me so much, but I promise I will try my best to restore this land to its old glory." The woman snarled at him turned her face and walked passed them.
-"Forgive her Maharaj, it is hard for people to trust an outsider..." Bhupendra trailed off as he called Karna an outsider, "...I am sorry Maharaj."
-"You said nothing wrong Bhupendra. I am an outsider. You should not be sorry for speaking the truth." Karna said smiling at him.
Bhupendra was starting to like Karna. He first assumed Karna must be some arrogant proudy warrior, who would just come and after seeing the situation of Anga wouldn't care to fix anything and return to the prosperity and comfort of Hastinapur. Anga has been left into ashes after the death of their former king. No interest was shown by Hastinapur towards Anga. So when they heard the news of the appointment of a new king they couldn't care less. They thought he might even choose to not visit Anga once while holding the title of Angaraj and living a lavish life in the palace of Hastinapur.
They reached the ruined palace of Anga, which only had two or three rooms suitable for living.
Bhupendra said, "Maharaj, we managed to clean and prepare three chambers, I hope that would be enough."
Karna smiled, "More than enough Bhupendra, I am only one person."
Karna hesitantly asked Bhupendra, "Bhupendra...umm...do you happen to have any messenger birds, I need to write to someone at Hastinapur."
The small ray of hope which appeared in Bhupendra's heart disappeared. He sighed, so he was right the new king was already planning to go back. He kept a straight face and answered, "Yes Maharaj." He whistled and a large eagle appeared at sat on Karna's windowsill.
After Bhupendra took his leave Karna sat down writing a letter stating the conditions of Anga and asking for help.
He has been given a broken province, he needs to start from scratch and for that, he needs her help. Before he left, she told him to write to her as soon as he reached stating his safety and if he happens to have any kind of problems, she will be at his help in whatever way possible.
So that's what he did. He tied the letter on the eagle's leg who had been waiting patiently and told her to reach Hastinapur.
-XX-
Hello guys, this chapter isn't much, I will update another one very soon, I hope you liked the chapter.
Thank you so much for reading, I am just a wee bit away from reaching 1k votes. Keep commenting guys, your comments bring me back to write more.
Take care, Adiós, my lovely readers ❤️.
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Beyond Times
Historical Fiction-"And where do I reside?" -"You reside in my heart, Priye!" Two broken souls, who endured pain and loneliness all their life. Destiny united them and they became one. they healed each other. But in the restless time of chaos and distraction what aw...
