INTRODUCTION:

The Ibis trilogy written by Amitav Ghosh consists of three books. The first one is Sea of poppies, the second is the River of Smoke and the third one is Flood of Fire. Sea of Poppies is set in Bengal. On the eve of the opium wars while the River of Smoke continues the story and takes the action forward to same opium destination, the Chinese trading outpost of Canton. Ibis trilogy is his most ambition worth with third book Flood of Fire. Ibis trilogy is gigantic piece of work totaling about 1700 pages, with dozens of principle characters from very diverse background, moving from Bihar to China to Mauritius with the British opium trade in the 1830 to the first opium war in China as the backdrop. Ghosh has created characters and portrayed each and every minute details so accurately that it leaves behind a lingering sense of familiarity.

‘The Ibis trilogy (Ibis is the name of the ship on which most of the characters find themselves at one time or another.) wows us 19^th century Bhojpuri songs, minute details at opium cultivation, Chinese society and culture of peculiar language of Laskars,(Sailors) Botany, the engineering details of ships and intricacies of sailing them on high seas. The Indianization of the English spoken by East India company officials, Parsi customs and even early 19^th century pornography’^[1]

Life and career:

Amitav Ghosh, born in Calcutta on July 11, 1956 in Bengali Hindu family, got his education at the Doon school, St. Stephen College, Delhi, Delhi school of Economics and St. Edmund Hall oxford. He was awarded D. Phil in social anthropology by St. Edmund Hall oxford. He joined as an editor at the Indian express newspaper in New Delhi. He is the fellow of the Centre for student in social sciences, Calcutta. He worked as a faculty at Queens College, City University of New York as well as visiting professor to English Department of Harvard University since 2005. He was awarded ‘Padmashri’ by Indian Government in 2007 and he was selected as a fellow of the Royal society of Literature.

LITERARY REVIEWS:

His first novel named ‘The Circle of Reason’ published in 1986. Others are The Shadow Lines. (1988). The Calcutta Chromosomes (1995). The Glass Palace (2000), The Hungry Tide (2004) and The Ibis trilogy. His novels covers the period just before the Opium war which states the colonial history of east. In one of his interviews he said,

“I realize in hindsight that this is really what always interested one most: The Bay of Bengal. The Arabian Sea. The Indian Ocean, and the connections and cross connections between these regions.”^[2]

His notable nonfiction writings are based on different themes such as fundamentalism, history of novels, Egyptian culture and literature, which include in An Antique Land (1992), Dancing in Cambodia and at Large in Burma (1998), Countdown (1999) and The Imam and the Indian (2002).

Awards won by Amitav Ghosh:

His novels won various for literary awards in India and Abroad.’ The Shadow Lines’ won ‘The Sahitya Academic’ Award ‘Sea of Poppies’ was shortlisted for Man Booker prize in 2008 and it was co-winner of Vodaphone crossword Book Award 2009. The Calcutta Chromosome won the Arthur Clarke Award for 1997. He had to withdraw his novel ‘The Glass Palace’ from Commonwealth writer’s prize citing his objections for the term ‘Commonwealth.’

His Vision of History:

His novel Sea of Poppies is the first volume of Ibis trilogy, encapsulates the colonial History of the east. Ghosh combines history with vision of division free world. The prime concern of Amitav Ghosh is to view history with novel perspectives and not to pursue the issues concerning post colonialism having concentration on marginalized. The novels before First World War projected India’s heritage, tradition, cultural past and moral values but a remarkable change is found in the novels published after the First World War. The postmodern novels which are considered after Second World War are written in the late 20^th century. Salman Rushdie, Shashi Tharoor, Amitav Ghosh are the novelists using postmodern themes and emotions. Political and cultural scenario of independent India influenced Amitav Ghosh. Blending of fact fantasy, widening the gaps of human relationship, security and love, cultural degeneration, materialism are the major themes used by him and he got these theme after his travel across the world as a social anthropologist. The characters and their stories provide an entertaining window on the world dominated by post-colonial lives and history. In the novels of Ghosh we find a sense of historical reality in terms of time and space giving, elaborate dimensions of Universality. His emphasis is on globalization rather than nationalizations. Society and history have been conceptualized by Amitav Ghosh. Most of his novels deal with insecurities regarding the human existence. For him post modernism rejects western values and beliefs as only a small part of human experience and rejects such ideas beliefs, cultures and norms of westerns. The writers in postmodern fiction chooses the subjects like World War 2, communal riots and treats them ironically.

Amitav Ghosh is famous for his blurring of genres which is one of the postmodern traits. He disfigures by blending many genres. In the words of Girish Karnad

“Ghosh uses to great effect a mixture of mythology and history freely interpenetrate……A delight to read” ^[3]

He has an extraordinary sense of history and place and political consciousness. We recognize very early that Ghosh has found an historical parallel for today’s globalization. There is a focus on the clash of culture ambition, art, language, empires, profiteering and love in his novels. The characters of his novels are pushed and pulled by material and ethical concerns which are still relevant today. The books of Amitav Ghosh are of the category of Dickens, Hugo etc. According to Ghosh knowledge is produced by structures of dominance like colonialism, views are shaped by colonialism. In his novels he examines one specific form of knowledge in power structure of colonialism. Science and technology in west helped to establish the power in colonized countries as science is culturally neutral, but biased culturally, in Indian context it is reshaped. Amitav Ghosh has used native dialects in this trilogy, as soon as we go deeper into the story we find the native touch and readers can find themselves transported to that era, he has described it up to the last details.

‘Ghosh has united all his characters in the Ibis on their journey. It symbolizes India as a world composed of human needs and desires, and in extricable linked, in the India portrayed by Ghosh every path circles back. To its starting point ‘^[4]

There is a paradox between rich and poor. At first sight, Ghosh’s protagonists are insignificant powns in the great economic change sweeping Asia, but almost all of them are also courageous human beings and display they are separated from one another and settle in different countries and there is enough indication that many will spawn citizens of Indian origin across Asia and may be on even more distant shores.

‘The Ibis trilogy with its multiple plot lines, is an analysis of unfettered globalization and merciless economic bullying through the stories of ordinary people whose lives are deeply affected, changed beyond recognition. In fact by decisions made by fat cats at the top of international trade hierarchy’.^[5]

Ibis Trilogy at a glance:

Ibis trilogy by Amitav Ghosh is against the backdrop of opium wars in early 18005.

The trilogy includes The Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire. The characters are the passengers on the ship ‘Ibis’

The Sea of Poppies:

The novel is first in the Ibis Trilogy, was shortlisted for Man booker prize. Ghosh tracks the lives of collections of men, women peasants, sailors, and princes, all on American schooner called Ibis. It is politically forceful, historically fascinating and rarely subtle. Ghosh has taken all his historical knowledge and passion and gave in the mouth of his characters. The novel presents a tale of opium and pirates and cruelty and love. The little of the novel refers to the waving fields of white flowers that rolled over nineteenth century India. The plot of the book revolves around a woman displaced by British colonization of opium (poppy) in India, and the economic deprivation that it caused.

‘From that point on the Chinese knew the Europeans would remain determined to grab their property, and one thing we need to say in regards in the east. They are a practical people also that over yonder was their answer fanqui town. It was assembled not on account of the Chinese, wished to keep all outsiders under control. But since the Europeans gave them each purpose behind suspicion’.^[6]

This novel in particular traces the origins of the opium trade which Ghosh himself calls ‘the dirty secret of capitalism’ across the towns, cities and plains of 18^th century British India. It begins with chief characters Deeti, who is widowed of her opium addicted husband, soon after the novel begins and escapes from her relatives who are forcing Sati on her. In the end of ‘Sea of Poppies ’the clouds of war were looming as British opium interests in India pressed for the use of force to compel the Chinese mandarins to keep open their port’s in the name of free trade. Ghosh obviously wants to make a novel a literary excavation, digging up the stories of people last in history. Novels of Ghosh show the impact of displacement makes heavy burden on human minds and its strain on human relationship.

River of Smoke:

The River of smoke is the second novel by Amitav Ghosh which is entertaining and informative from Ibis trilogy. It is like grand scale of an historical epic, where storm tossed character of crowded harbors of China. In spite the effect of the emperor to stop them, ships from Europe and India exchange their cargoes of opium boxes, tea, and silk, proclaim and silver. The character including Bahram Modi, a wealthy Parshi, opium merchant from Bombay, his half Chinese son Ah Fatt, the orphaned Paulette and others in the pursuit of romance. Their struggle to overcome their losses and unimaginable freedoms. In the crowded waterways of 19^th century Canton transporting and mesmerizing an opiate induced dream. It is master piece of twenty first century literature. An incredibly high benchmark in this book is outstanding. The setting from India (Sea of Poppies) moved to Canton, China. This is not a story told in hindsight. It is told in real-time having real people’s reactions to real time event. The characters and their stories provide an entertaining window on a world dominated by opium and its impact on lives and history. The characters in the ‘River of Smoke’ are more complex than ‘Sea of Poppies’. Good people are corrupted by the opium trade and its proliferation. It is the historical fact that the trade for the four years ending in 1839 expanded several times ever and which net getting into numbers. The Chinese emperors allowed the opium trade for as long as English gave those service, but English people are not portrayed by Ghosh in this novel. Ghosh has explored the themes of global economy in ‘The River of Smoke’. In the comparison of today’s more regulated environment 19^th century featured freer trade globally which have been pointed out by Economic historians. Ghosh is finer story feller but this novel is more ethnography than adventure. There are vivid descriptions of places and conditions his erudite grasp of detail and marvelous facility with language. Though there is narrow historic and geographical focus in this message. It provides certain amount of objectivity and global contract to events. He has given full picture of canton through long letters. (Robert Chinnery to Paulette Lambert)

The Flood of Fire:

The final book of Ibis trilogy is the ‘flood of fire’. In this final book Ghosh tried to show the tension and conflict between a slate resisting the trade and a conjunction of personal and corporate interests as well as the transformation of the backwater port of Hong Kong into globally influential center of enterprise. In the Flood of Fire the stories of four characters rotate by an exuberantly ingenious blending of different language and registers. His stories are flipping between high seriousness and low humour. At the beginning of Flood of Fire. Zachary finds himself paying off some debts by working as a craftsman on an Indian River boat belonging to wealthy Burnham. It is highly amusing storyline, but sex is always politics. Mrs. Burnham’s Anglo Indian vocab is product of her colonial upbringing. The adultery of Mr. Reid and Mrs. Burnham is exposed but upsets the established hierarchies. As well as Zachary’s proximity to the Burnham’s wealth and power strengthens his own ambition to fellow in Mr. Burnham’s opium trading footsteps. Various scenes depict his first purchase of his commodity and marks the beginning of a long process of corruption. The comic deal in the novel as in dirty Bazars in Calcutta.

‘Through the odor of dust and dung he recalled the perfumed scents of Mrs. Burnham’s boudoirs, so this was the mud in which such luxuries were rooted the idea was strongly amusing’.^[7]

Ghosh sketches the larges sweep of history he commandeered the language of tiny details from novel to military terminology to food and clothes and interiors from harbor to battlefield. The enormous and wide ranging effects of this period of history and brutality of opium trade have greatly shaped international relations. Communities and pattern of migration.

CONCLUSION:

Earlier novels projected India’s heritage, traditions cultural past and moral values. But a remarkable change can be noticed in the novels published after the First World War, which is called modernism. The novels in postmodern present thoughts and emotions. Ghosh is immensely influenced by the political and cultural milieu. The comments on the present world scenario is passing through his novels as he got the opportunity of travelling foreign lands. Colonial power structures, ending of human relationship, blending of fact and fantasy are the major preoccupations in the writings of Amitav Ghosh. The elemental traits of post modernism as well as globalization rather than nationalization are the subjects of stress in the novels of Amitav Ghosh. Like Salman Rushdie, Aamitav Ghosh perfectly blends fact and fiction. Most of his novels deal with insecurities in the existence of humanity, which is one of the post – modern traits. Amitav Ghosh does not give any significance for picturesque description and ornamental use of language in Ibis trilogy.

REFERENCES:

1. Sandipan deb https://www.Livemint.com 30 July 2016

2. An Interview with Mohmood Kooria Wikipedia

3. www.thecriterion .com Indian Express Jun 3-2011

4. Swati Nandy 22April https://www.youthkiawaz.com/ 2014/04/8

5. Ghosh Amitav Sea of poppies 132

6. https://www.theguardian.com/book/2015/Jun/5/flood-of-fire amitav ghosh’s -

review-instalment-ibis-trilogy.

7. https://www.livemint.com sandipan deb 30 July2016Amitav Ghosh’s ibis trilogy: of trade winds and opium tales.

Received on 24.04.2020 Modified on 29.05.2020

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2020; 11(2):153-156.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2020.00027.3