Bhashyam Iyengar (6 November 1910 – 11 September 1987), better known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of Sandilyan, was an Indian writer known for his

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novels in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

. He is known for his

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...

and

adventure novel Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the introduction to the ''Encycloped ...

s, often set in the times of the

Chola The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

and

Pandya The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

empires.

Early life

Sandilyan was born in

Tirukoilur Tirukoilur also spelt as ''Tirukkoyilur'' or ''Tirukovilur'' is a city and the headquarters of Tirukoilur taluk in Kallakurichi District, Tamil Nadu, India. The town is located on the southern bank of Thenpennai River and famous for the Ula ...

(a town in present-day

Kallakurichi District Kallakurichi is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The district headquarter is Kallakurichi. Kallakurichi District was announced on 8 January 2019 and it came into existence on 26 November 2019. History During Ancient ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

) on 10 November 1910Datta, P.631-2 to Ramanujam Iyengar and Poongovilvalli. His family was from Thiruindalur village near

Mayiladuthurai Mayiladuthurai (formerly known as Mayavaram or Mayuram) is a :ta:சிறப்பு நிலை நகராட்சிகள், Special Grade Municipality and district headquarters of Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town ...

. He did his schooling in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Pachaiyappa's School and

Saidapet Saidapet, also known as Saidai, is a neighbourhood in Chennai, India, situated in the northern banks of the Adyar River and serves as an entry point to Central Chennai. It is surrounded by West Mambalam in the North, C.I.T Nagar in the North-Ea ...

Model School. His college education came from

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

St. Joseph's College. While in college, he was influenced by the visit of

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and Indian independence ...

and joined the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He became a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

(INC). He married Ranganayaki in 1929.

Early career

After finishing college he moved to T. Nagar in the 1930s. He became friends with his neighbours V.Swaminatha Sharma who was working in Thiru. Vi. Ka's weekly magazine ''Navasakthi'' and the noted Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy. With their encouragement he wrote his first short story titled ''Shantha Seelan''. Impressed with his work, Kalki published his short stories like ''Kannammavin Kadhal'', ''Adhirshtam'' in

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 was not publishe ...

. Encouraged by this success Sandilyan started learning the Tamil language formally from a Tamil Pandit named Thirukannapuram Srinivachariar. He started writing Tamil short stories in the Tamil Weekly ''Sudesamithran'' and also worked as a reporter in ''Sudesamithran'' from 1935 to 1942. Later he became a sub-editor at the English daily newspaper

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

Work in films

During his time at the

he became friends with B N Reddy of Vijaya Studios and V. Nagayya. This bought him into the world of films. He co-wrote the screenplays of films like Swarga Seema (1945) and

En Veedu ''Naa Illu'' () is a 1953 Indian Telugu-language film produced and directed by V. Nagayya. The story was written by Devulapalli Krishnasastri. The film had two dance sequences and full-length Hindi songs sung by Meena Kapoor. The film was simult ...

(1953). He later wrote about his film world experiences in his book ''Cinema Valarndha Kadhai'' (1985). Later he also produced a documentary titled "Birth of a Newspaper".

Novels

After his stint at the

he returned to work at ''Sudesamithran'' and started writing full-length novels. One of his first works was a self-published political novel called ''Balathkaaram''. He also started publishing in other magazines like ''Amudhasurabi''. ''Paalaivanathu pushpam'' and ''Sandha deepam'' were his earliest historical novels. Sandilyan's most famous novels were serialised in '' Kumudam'', a weekly Tamil magazine and was instrumental in increasing the circulation to a greater extent. He was one of the very few Tamil writers to get a monthly salary from ''Kumudam'' for his novels. After leaving ''Kumudam'', he unsuccessfully ran a weekly magazine called ''Kamalam''. His historical novels were published in book form by Vanadhi Padhippagam and became best sellers. As of 2009, many of them still remain in print, four decades after being first published.

Kamil Zvelebil Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology. Life and career Zvelebil studied at the C ...

once called him as the "fourth most popular Tamil Writer".

Nationalization Controversy

In 2009, The

Government announced its intention to nationalise Sandilyan's works (along with those of 28 other authors) and provide compensation to his legal heirs. This caused criticism from the legal heirs of Sundara Ramasami and

Kannadasan Muthiah Sathappan Chettiar better known as Kannadasan (; 24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a poet, film song lyricist, producer, actor, script-writer, editor, philanthropist, and is heralded as one of the greatest and most important l ...

. The Government soon retracted its position saying that the offer was optional and that it would force those who did not want to lose royalty. Sandilyan's legal heirs declined the Government's offer to nationalise and provide solatium.Legal heirs of 5 Tamil writers decline offer
/ref>

Partial bibliography

Autobiography

* Porattangal – போராட்டங்கள் (1978)

Biography

* Sri Ramanujar – ஸ்ரீ ராமானுஜர்

Short Story Collection

* Raniyin kanavu – ராணியின் கனவு (1963)

Non Fiction

* Cinema Valarndha Kadhai – சினிமா வளர்ந்த கதை (1987) * Kamban Kanda Pengal – கம்பன் கண்ட பெண்கள் (1979)

Non-Historical Fiction

* Balathkaaram (Puratchi Pen) (1958) * Shenbaga Thottam * Manamoham * Nangooram * Madhumalar

Historical Fiction

(45) * '' Kadal Pura'' ('' கடல் புறா'') – III parts (1967) :Chozha Commander Karunagara Pallavan (later became King Thondaiman) heads the invasion of Vijaya (modern-day

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

) and Kalinga (Modern

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

). 11th century Chozha Empire. * '' Yavana Rani'' ('' யவன ராணி'') – II parts :Eastern Chozhan army commander's love story set in the back drop of assassination of Ilanchetchenni and his son Karikala Chozhan's struggle to get back his kingdom. 1st century Early Chozha Empire. * ''Raja Perigai'' (''ராஜ பேரிகை'') * '' Mannan Magal'' (''மன்னன் மகள்'') * '' Kanni Madam'' ('' கன்னி மாடம்'') :Kannimadam is set in the later part of the 12th century during the reign of Second Rajathi Raja Cholan. It revolves around the family feud in the

Pandya dynasty The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

, Sinhalese army's entry into Pandya Nadu at the request of one side, the alleged atrocities of the Sinhalese army and the war between Sinhalese and Chola armies ending with the defeat of the former. * '' Rajamuthirai'' (''ராஜமுத்திரை'') II parts * '' Alai Arasi'' (''அலை அரசி'') * '' Avani Sundari'' ('' அவனி சுந்தரி'') * '' Chandarmathi'' (''சந்திரமதி'') * '' Chithranjani''(''சித்ரஞ்சனி''):Chithranjani was set in the later part of the 1st century A.D. during the reign of

Gautamiputra Satakarni Gautamiputra Satakarni ( Brahmi: 𑀕𑁄𑀢𑀫𑀺𑀧𑀼𑀢 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀓𑀡𑀺, ''Gotamiputa Sātakaṇi'', IAST: ) was a ruler of the Satavahana Empire in present-day Deccan region of India. He was mentioned as the important a ...

. The story revolves around

's efforts to check the invasion of

Western Kshatrapa The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi: , ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central parts of India (extending from Saurashtra in the south and Malwa in the east, covering moder ...

's Mahakshatrapa Chashtana. * '' Ilaya Rani'' (''இளைய ராணி'') * '' Indira Kumari'' (''இந்திர குமாரி'') * '' Jala Deepam'' ('' ஜல தீபம்'') – III parts (1973) * '' Jala Mohini'' (''ஜல மோகினி'') * '' Jeeva Boomi'' (''ஜீவ பூமி'') * '' Kadal Rani'' (''கடல் ராணி'') * '' Kadal Vendhan'' (''கடல் வேந்தன்'') * '' Madhahaviyin Manam'' (''மதஹவியின் மனம்'') * '' Malai Arasi'' (''மலை அரசி'') * '' Malai Vasal'' (''மலை வாசல்'') * ''

Mangaladevi The Mangaladevi Temple is a Hindu temple at Bolar (Location), Bolara in the city of Mangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is situated about three kilometres southwest of the city centre. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Sha ...

'' (''மங்கலதேவி'') * '' Manjal aaru'' (''மஞ்சள் ஆறு'') * '' Manmalar'' (''மண்மலர்''): It is the story of

Mewar Mewar, also spelled as Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasth ...

king Rana Pratap who consistently defied the authority of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. * '' Masthaani'' (''மஸ்தானி'') * '' Mohana Chilai'' (''மோகனச் சிலை'') * '' Mohini Vanam'' (''மோகினி வனம்'') * '' Moongil Kottai'' ('' மூங்கில் கோட்டை'') * '' Naaga Deepam'' (''நாக தீபம்'') * '' Naaga Devi'' (''நாக தேவி'') * '' Neel Vizhi'' (''நீள்விழி'') * '' Nila Mangai'' (''நிலமங்கை'') * '' Neela Rathi'' (''நீலரதி'') * '' Neelavalli'' (''நீலவல்லி'') * '' Pallava Peedam'' (''பல்லவ பீடம்'') * '' Pallava Thilagam'' (''பல்லவ திலகம்'') * '' Pandiyan Bavani'' (''பாண்டியன் பவனி'') * '' Raaniyin Kanavu'' (''ராணியின் கனவு'') * '' Raja Thilagam'' (''ராஜதிலகம்'') * '' Raja Yogam'' (''ராஜயோகம்'') * '' Rajyasree'' (''ராஜ்யஸ்ரீ'') * '' Rana Hammer'' (''ராணா ஹமீர்'') * '' Seran Chelvi'' (''சேரன் செல்வி'') * '' Udhayabanu'' (''உதயபானு'') * '' Vasantha Kaalam'' (''வசந்தகாலம்'') * '' Vijaya Mahadevi'' (''விஜய மகாதேவி'') – III Parts * '' Vilai Raani'' (''விலை ராணி'') * '' Raja Perigai''(''ராஜ பேரிகை'')

Notes

References

* *

External links

Sandilyan Biography in Kootanchoru Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandilyan 1910 births 1987 deaths Tamil-language writers Indian male novelists People from Viluppuram district St Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli alumni 20th-century Indian novelists Indian historical novelists Novelists from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian male writers