River Of Fire Analysis

A nation is based on a common culture and shared history rather than geographic boundaries. The idea of a nation can be broadly defined in the words of Joseph Stalin: ‘A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in common culture (Smith 1994: 20’ Quarratulain Hyder’s River of Fire locates a cultural-historical nation in the pre as well as the post-Partition India by creating a socio-religious-historical space thus forming a nation through the text. River of Fire is a multi-layered composition of histories, civilizations and cultures. The times in Quarratulain’s works range from the Golden period i.e. Maurya period to the twentieth century. Thus the novel thus can be seen as forming of the nation India as it is based on the rich historical evolution, and cultural

Hari, introduced as ‘The Greek Traveler’, reveals the trans-cultural movement of masses that was taking place around the world. The narration also shows the cultural contributions made by the Iranians in the medieval India. Tracing the causes of the arrival of the Iranians, Hyder explains, ‘...Persian horsemen. They had fled Iran after Alexander’s invasion and lived in the land of the Five Rivers for many years (43).’ A progeny of an Arab father and a Persian mother, Kamaluddin arrives in India to seek wealth and knowledge. The attire gives Kamaluddin the distinct identity of being a vilayati, ‘...turban, Persian half-coat, rolled up the sleeves of his linen shirt called ‘kurta’ in Turki. He tucked his baggy Central Asian shalwar, discarded his pointed high heeled shoes...(54).The narration remarkably explores the causes and factors that led to the foreign invasions of India at various times in history; foremost being the prosperity and richness of