Section 3

In the middle of the city, there is this nondescript street, away from the hustle of the city.

In the second floor of an old building, lives Mohammad.

The living room is tiny. It is almost dark, the only light is the Sun breaking in from the holes of the broken old wooden window.

Patrick was sitting in a dilapidated  sofa, he was visibly upset. Out of frustration he was repeatedly hitting the sofa with his fist. 

In the same room in a corner, Mohammad was sitting quite. The only sound that was coming was from the slow rotating ceiling fan.

Patrick got up and looked at Mohammed. Why the HELL did this happen?

You told everything will be alright, you bribed the security guard at the fort. We were almost caught yesterday night.

Mohammad was murmuring, I did what I could do, let me check what happened.

He flipped the phone out of his pocket and punched numbers. He held the phone near his ear and waited for the other person to pick up.

No response from the other end.

Must got drunk and did not report to duty, that is why we had a new guard on duty Mohammad told Patrick.

Patrick blurted, that is why I told you not to pay before the work.

Anyway, did you study the pictures we took in the temple?

Mohammad moved uneasily, yeeeaaaahhh.....but I am afraid there is nothing I could find in those pictures.

Patrick looked directly into the eyes of Mohammad, Nothing you could find? or Nothing you could understand? 

I guess this is beyond my ability , Mohammad confessed.

What do we do now? I did not come flying 5000 miles to  go empty handed, find a way out!!!  Patrick shouted.

Mohammad said calmly, I know a person who can help us?

Who is he? 

Akira, only he can help us.

Where can we meet him?

He lives in Kolar some 75 Kms from here.

Patrick and Mohammed left the building, in their Innova. 

How much time? Patrick asked while negotiating the traffic.

An hour or two depending on the traffic replied Mohammad.

Section 2

What is Ganj-i-sawai? Narendra was curious.

Ganj-i-Sawai meaning "Exceeding Treasure",was a heavily armed trading ship belonging to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb which, along with its escort the Fateh Muhammed, was captured on 7 September 1695 by the English pirate Henry Every en route from present day Mocha, Yemen to Surat, India. The ship contained some 500,000 gold and silver pieces. 

Now I understand, Narendra nodded his head.

The foriengners must have bought this piece of paper from some antique shop.

Anyway nothing was stolen from the temple, I guess it is a closed case.

Thanking me for my time, Narendra was about to leave.

I calmly said, there seems more to it.

Narendra lounged himself into the chair. What more?

This paper what you have shown me does not belong to Aurangzeb era. They never used this type of paper. This is a more recent one.

Narendra was rubbing his eye brows. What do you think it is? he asked.

There is legend, which I believed to be a legend, until today, you showed up with this paper.

Sultan Fateh Ali Khan, fought numerous wars and with kings of Travencore, Navab of Nizam and Marathas. Of all the loot he collected, there was this prized possession from King of Travencore "Samantaka" which yields, 16 ounces of gold everyday when shown against the Sun.

Which he called Ganj-i-Sawai or Exceeding Treasure. He hid that in a secret place known only to him. He beheaded those who helped him hid, so that no clues are left.

Like all kings he worried about his death, without letting his heirs knowing about the trasure he hid. 

He was a scholer, he learnt different languages, mathematics and science. His personal library consisted of more than 2,000 books in different languages.

He wrote 5 poems in 5 differnt languages and the clues to the treause are supposed to be hidden inside those poems.

No one knows waht happend to those writing after his death.

I guess someone knows where they now.

Who is this Sultan Fateh Ali Khan?

He is also known as Tipu Sultan.

WHAT? Narendra was aghast, as if struck by lightening.

Section 1

Present Day : 

Department of Linguistics and History , Bangalore University.

I received a call from reception, the police are waiting for me.

A thousand things started running in my mind, like did I jump traffic signal in the morning? For that cops do not come knocking at your office.

Nervously, I went to the reception area.

Contrary to my expectation, there was only one policeman. I was  more puzzled now. He did not look like a typical policeman with tummy hanging out, he was rather stout and in civil clothes.

Hi, I am Agasthya, I introduced myself.

I am Inspector Narendra Goud, from Crime Branch.

Again a surge of thoughts, Crime Branch? What crime had  I committed?

Already  the receptionist, security and other visitors  were looking at me as if I am a criminal.

Can we talk in a meeting room? Goud asked, looking at the empty meeting room in the reception area.

I nodded , at least I would escape the probing looks of the people around.

We sat in the meeting room.

What can I do for you, I asked sheepishly. I do not want to get into trouble with the police.

Goud started, Mr Chari recommended your name.

Chari is a old friend of mine.

Thank god whatever it is , it is not about me. I regained my composure.

There has been break in , at the Tipu fort a week ago, some miscreants forced their way into the main mandap of Ganesh Temple. The temple has been locked for so many years.

I wonder, what made them to break in?

It seemed like they were looking for something, they rummaged the whole temple.

They managed to run away before the security showed up. In the ensuing melee the security st managed to catch hold of one of the intruder’s backpack.

These foreigners they do not respect our religion, for them everything is playful.

He paused to check my attention, and satisfied that I was listening, he continued...We could not immediately ascertain who were the pranksters,  still looking for them. The backpack did not have much information about them.

However we found a note, written on paper, old paper, very very old paper.

This is a piece of evidence, usually I am not supposed to be carrying, but curiosity got better of me.

He pulled out a polythene bag which contained an old piece of paper. 

Can you read it?

Can you read it? Narendra was asking again.

I was not paying attention to what he was saying, in disbelief my eyes were glued to the paper he was holding.

Yes, I murmured, it translates to "let Ganj-i-Sawai be never discovered".

And this cannot be true, I said loudly, completely ignoring his presence.

What cannot be true? Narendra became more curious, What cannot be true Agasthya?

Ganj-i-Sawai, it cannot be real.

Prologue

4th May 1799 :  Seringapatam

The sky was dark, thunder storms were sweeping the area. The weather was menacing, foreboding the events to come. Shaukat Ali had never seen anything like this before. However, the weather was least of his concerns.

He was riding on the horse as fast as he could. Haa...Haa.....he was whipping the horse.

Though the horse was running as fast as it could, it was not enough for Shaukat. 

He’d been in the army since the last 6 years. This battle threw him a rare opportunity, to fight along with the bravest, Sultan Fateh Ali Khan. 

Shaukat Ali had seen from close quarters how bravely the Sultan had been fighting the British. The unthinkable had been happening over the last 3 days. The British were slowly closing in and supplies had dwindled for the Sultan's army. Shaukat observed that amidst the deteriorating scenario, the Sultan showed no signs of fear, he was as valiant as ever.

Then Shaukat was summoned by Sultan, he was to carry an important message to Mysore. Shaukat wanted to fight with Sultan but could not refuse the orders. He kneeled, took the missive and tucked it in his belt.  He jumped onto his horse and darted towards Mysore.

His instructions were to deliver the message, at God speed..

Zzzzzzzzzzzzaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt...........................

Shaukat felt a pinch in the body, but he ignored it to be another large drop of rain relentlessly hitting his armor and body. But in  a few seconds, he was panting for breath, something must be wrong, he looked down at his armor and his horse, there was blood flowing out of his chest. He lost consciousness and fell off the horse.

Richardson, the mercenary marksman, was happy to kill another enemy soldier. And he preferred to operate alone, so he need not share the loot.

He came out of the camouflage satisfied, and slowly walked towards the dead Shaukat. He kicked the body with his legs. He removed the emerald pendant, and gold ring from the body. He also noticed  a tiny cylinder tucked in the belt of the body. He picked it up too and tossed into his backpack.

The message from Sultan was NEVER delivered.