Welcome to the second post in a series to set the appropriate historical and cultural context for AGAINST THE ODDS OF TRADITION, my debut Historical Fiction novel scheduled for release on Sunday, March 1, 2026. In case you missed last week’s posts about Meena’s Story and/or The Historical-Cultural Context, you will find links to both, and to the first promotion for newsletter subscribers, at the bottom of this post if you are reading or in the description if you are watching.

Meena’s story begins in 1937 in an India still under what was called The British Raj[1], or British rule over India, which lasted from 1858 to 1947. The rule was transferred from The East India Company to the crown of Queen Victoria after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Bollywood fans might have seen the movie titled Mangal Pandey: The Rising starring Aamir Khan based on this historical event. It transitioned India from being managed as a business territory to direct rule as a colony.

By 1858, the previous “Raj” over India by the Mughals[2], originally from what is today Uzbekistan, had been on the decline since the early 1700s. Founded by Babur in 1526, the Mughal Empire was on the decline two centuries later due to succession wars and distrust within the family and its ranks. By then, India had become competing grounds for rival Europeans, including the Portuguese, until The East India Company took control of Bengal in 1757 and did not look back.

If you count the Delhi Sultanate[3], a series of Islamic dynasties that originated in the Central Asia region and ruled India from the early 1200s to the 1500s when Babur defeated them to establish the Mughal Empire, then, by the time we meet Meena in 1937, India had been ruled by foreign powers for over seven hundred years. Three mainstream religions, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, coexisted in a country where daily life had been shaped by them for centuries.

Naturally, orthodoxies like wanting widows to self-immolate and progressive thinking like wanting widows to rebuild their lives, and everything in between, would find a way to coexist as well. That is where we find our girl, Meena, when we meet her at the first piece of this puzzle called AGAINST THE ODDS OF TRADITION. Somewhere between surviving orthodoxies and seeking progressiveness, Meena is about to test how far she can push tradition.

How far will she go? You can find out on March 1, 2026. Until then, stay tuned for upcoming posts to continue connecting more dots. In the meantime, please reach out via a DM or comment on the platform you are using to view this post. I would love to hear from you. Check out more posts about this and my other work by going to www.jatinderkoharki.com. Thank you.

Meena’s Story (all posts-to-date): Meena's Story

The Historical-Cultural Context (all posts-to-date): Historical-Cultural Context

Promotions & Bonuses (all posts-to-date): Promotions & Bonuses

[1] British raj | Empire, India, Impact, History, & Facts | Britannica

[2] Mughal dynasty | Map, Rulers, Decline, & Facts | Britannica

[3] Rulers of India Before the Rise of the Mughal Empire