''The Nine Unknown'' is a 1923 novel by
Talbot Mundy
Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...
. Originally serialised in ''
Adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
''
magazine, it concerns the Nine Unknown Men, a
secret society
A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ...
founded to preserve and develop knowledge that would be dangerous to humanity if it fell into the wrong hands. The nine unknown men were entrusted with guarding nine books of secret knowledge.
Plot
In the novel the nine men are the embodiment of good and face up against nine
Kali
Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In this tra ...
worshippers, who sow confusion and masquerade as the true sages. The story surrounds a priest called Father Cyprian who is seeking possession of the books but who wants to destroy them out of Christian piety, and a number of other characters who are interested in learning their contents.
Influence
The concept of the "Nine Unknown Men" was further popularized by
Louis Pauwels and
Jacques Bergier in their 1960 book ''
The Morning of the Magicians
''The Morning of the Magicians: Introduction to Fantastic Realism'' (french: Le Matin des magiciens) is a 1960 book by the journalists Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier. As the authors disclaim in their preface, the book is intended to challenge ...
''. They claimed that the Nine Unknown were real and had been founded by the
Mauryan
The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
Emperor
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
around 270 BC. They also claimed that Pope
Silvester II
Pope Sylvester II ( – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a French-born scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Arab and Gre ...
had met the Nine Unknown, and that nineteenth-century French colonial administrator and writer
Louis Jacolliot
Louis Jacolliot (31 October 1837 – 30 October 1890) was a French barrister, colonial judge, author and lecturer.
Biography
Born in Charolles, Saône-et-Loire, he lived several years in Tahiti and India during the period 1865-1869.
Jaco ...
insisted on their existence.
In popular culture
* In the first edition of
Anton LaVey's ''
Satanic Bible
''The Satanic Bible'' is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It is the central religious text of LaVeyan Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been descri ...
'' (1969), The Nine Unknown were the final dedicatees mentioned in the dedication.
* The "Nine Unknown" have since been the subject of the several novels including ''
Shadow Tyrants
Shadow Tyrants is a novel by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison, first published September 11, 2018. It made it to The New York Times Best Seller list, topping out at the number two spot.
Shadow Tyrants is book 13 in Cussler's The Oregon Files s ...
'' by
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list ...
and
Boyd Morrison
Boyd Morrison is an American thriller novelist, actor and former Jeopardy! champion. He has co-authored several books with The New York Times fiction best-seller Clive Cussler.
Education
Boyd Morrison has earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical e ...
; ''
The Mahabharata Secret
''The Mahabharata Secret'' is the debut novel by Indian author Christopher C. Doyle and was released on 21 October 2013 by Om Books. The story follows Vijay and his friends, as they try to decipher a series of clues which would lead them to a dev ...
'', a 2013 novel by Christopher C. Doyle; ''
Finders, Keepers
Finders, keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders, keepers; losers, weepers, is an English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first can claim it for themself permanently. The phr ...
'', a 2015 novel by
Sapan Saxena
Sapan Saxena (born April 5, 1985) is an Indian author, best known for his novels '' Finders, Keepers'', UNNS-The Captivation and '' The Tenth Riddle''
Early life and education
Sapan was born on April 5, 1985 at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. His fa ...
; and
Shobha Nihalani
Shobha Nihalani is an Indian author of adventure and thriller novels: ''The Silent Monument, the NINE trilogy, Unresolved – A psychological thriller, Trikon – a medical sci-fi thriller,'' and ''The Blue Jade.'' Recently, she wrote two non-fi ...
's ''Nine'' novel trilogy.
* The American television series ''
Heroes'' prominently features the number nine, and the writers and producers Aron Coliete and Joe Pakaski have credited the story of
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
and ''The Nine Unknown Men'' as one of the many influences for the series and as a clue to the mystery surrounding the number.
* ''
JL50
''JL50'' is an Indian Hindi-language sci-fi thriller web television miniseries which premiered on Sony Liv on 4 September 2020. The series stars Abhay Deol, Pankaj Kapur, Ritika Anand, Piyush Mishra and Rajesh Sharma.
Plot
Shantanu, a Centra ...
'' is a Hindi-language
sci-fi
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
web series launched in September 2020 on
Sony Liv
SonyLIV is an Indian over-the-top freemium streaming platform owned by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it is carrying content from its local networks, includ ...
. The series centers around the Nine Unknown and the books they preserved. It relates that these books contain knowledge of political power, the origin of martial arts, communication with extra-terrestrial species, and time travel. The series mentions Project A (for ''Ashoka'') which involves time travel.
* On 27 August 2020,''
Reflector Entertainment'' announced a video game ''
UNKNOWN 9'' presenting the story of the secret society formed by ''
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
'' to be published by ''
Bandai Namco Entertainment
is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
'' for PC and next generation consoles.
See also
*
Ascended master
*
Eight Immortals
The Eight Immortals () are a group of legendary '' xian'' ("immortals") in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel () that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the "Covert Eight ...
*
Illuminati
The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...
*
Navaratnas
Navaratnas (Sanskrit dvigu ''nava-ratna'', ) () or Nauratan was a term applied to a group of nine extraordinary people in an emperor's court in India. The well-known Nauratnas include the ones in the courts of the Hindu emperor Vikramaditya, the ...
*
Seven Brahmarshi
In Hinduism, a Brahmarshi ( Sanskrit ', a tatpurusha compound of ' and ') is a member of the highest class of Rishis ("seers" or "sages").
A Brahmarshi is a sage who has attained enlightenment (Kaivalya or Moksha) and became a Jivanmukta by com ...
*
Vaimanika Shastra
*
Emperor Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
A Short Film based on ''Nine Unknown Men''HTML text
at Gutenberg Australia
Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free eboo ...
*
The Nine Unknown Men of AshokaLegend of the Nine Unknown Men
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nine Unknown
Conspiracy theories
Works originally published in Adventure (magazine)
Novels first published in serial form
Memorials to Ashoka
Cultural depictions of Ashoka