Seventeenth century Malabar. Law and order lay in shambles as the Portuguese terrorize the locals. Native kings troop in separate camps-for and against the foreign invaders. The rift is so deep that Samoothiri of Calicut, the sworn enemy of the Kochi kingdom, has finally decided to join forces with Kochi to fight the outsiders.

In a dramatic turn of events, the heir to the Kochi throne, Kerala Varma, and his brother, Veera Kerala Varma, go into exile in guise of sanyasis to escape the Portuguese. During their journey, Veera Kerala Verma falls in love with Unnimaya, the gorgeous niece of the army chief of Chempakassery Raja, a major Portuguese ally.

Another storm is brewing in the horizon. The Dutch, seizing the opportunity to topple the Portuguese rule, plan to partner with Kerala Varma and Samoothiri. Will they succeed? Who will rule Kochi next? Will Veera Kerala Varma's and Unnimaya's love triumph above duty?

Anuradha is the pen name of Radha Narayana Menon, an eminent writer from Kochi, Kerala. She is the author of The Saga of Black Gold and has also published two short story collections and ten novels in Malayalam.

The Portuguese gradually became the custodians of Kerala's coastline and then the rulers soon after the second visit of the Portuguese captain, Vasco da Gama, who reached the Indian shores in search of spices. They monopolized major portions of the spice trade and took control of the coastal waters. To maintain their supremacy, they built ammunition depots, forts and bulwarks and installed cannons to strengthen the forts. By appeasing those who supported them and mercilessly punishing those who opposed them, they made their policy clear. Confronted with the Portuguese military might, the local rulers became mere puppets in the hands of this foreign power. Though it lasted for 150 years, the Portuguese rule faced numerous challenges in the second half of the 17th century, when the Dutch East India Company commenced efforts to establish control over the spice trade in Kerala. When a dispute arose over the successor to the throne of Kochi, the displaced heir, Kerala Varma, and the ruler of Kozhikode, Samoothiri, along with many other kings and chieftains came forward to support the Dutch after being fed up of the Portuguese tyranny. The army of the Kottakkal Marakkars and the naval army of the Kannur Ali Raja were also a constant threat to the Portuguese ships. After an intense battle that lasted for a year and a half, the Dutch captured all the Portuguese forts, thus banishing the Portuguese from Kerala's soil. The period when Portuguese supremacy was challenged by another foreign invader forms the backdrop of this story.