Before I could write the story, I had to be able to see the world. These illustrations were made as part of that process — not for the book itself, but for me. A way of making the places real enough to inhabit.

Amaravati under construction
Amaravati. A city of architects and scribes, built at the confluence of empire and river.
The cave temples of Ellora
Ellora. Stone cut away to reveal what was already there.
Chidambaram
Chidambaram. The southern city, where the gopuram rises above the streets like a second sky.
Kannauj
Kannauj, city of perfumes and contested thrones, seen from across the water.
The Khyber Pass
The Khyber. Every army that ever moved through the subcontinent passed this way.
The Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea at first light. The world arrives and departs by ship.
The Deccan Plateau
The Deccan. Plateau of basalt and old fortresses, where the rock remembers everything.
Asom — the workshop by the river
Asom. A workshop on the water's edge, where metal and fire and knowledge converge.

The novel spans all of these places and the long distances between them. More on each one as I write my way through them.