Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Amitav Ghosh’s River of Smoke (2011) is the second installment in the acclaimed Ibis Trilogy. This sweeping historical saga explores the interconnected lives of individuals caught in the tumult of 19th-century trade, colonialism, and migration. Following Sea of Poppies (2008), this novel shifts its focus to the bustling port city of Canton (modern-day Guangzhou) in 1838, a time when the opium trade was at its peak, and tensions between Chinese authorities and foreign merchants were reaching a boiling point. Through vivid storytelling and meticulous research, Ghosh immerses readers in a world of commerce, cultural clashes, and personal destinies shaped by larger historical forces. The title itself—River of Smoke—evokes the haze of opium that clouds judgment and the smoldering tensions leading up to the First Opium War (1839–1842). This conflict reshaped global trade and imperial dominance in Asia.
Characters of River of Smoke:
Bahram Modi is the central character of the novel. He is a wealthy Parsi merchant from Bombay, known as "Barry" among the foreign traders in Canton. He is a senior member of the Hong (trading house) and deeply involved in the opium trade. Bahram is a complex figure—charismatic and shrewd in business, yet torn by personal guilt and the moral weight of his trade. Neel Ratan Haldar, once a Bengali aristocrat (from Sea of Poppies), is now a fugitive working as a scribe for Bahram. Paulette Lambert is a French-Indian botanist and the daughter of a former employee of the East India Company. She travels to Canton in search of rare plants, disguising herself as a boy to navigate the restrictive world of foreign traders. Zadig Karabedian is an Armenian merchant and Bahram’s close friend. He serves as a voice of reason and moral conscience, often questioning the ethics of the opium trade. Frederick "Fitcher" Penrose is a British horticulturist obsessed with finding the rare golden camellia. His subplot intersects with Paulette’s, adding a botanical dimension to the novel’s exploration of exploitation and desire. Robin Chinnery is a half-Chinese, half-British artist and chronicler of Canton’s social life. His letters and sketches provide a vivid, often satirical commentary on the foreign traders and their world. Chi-mei (Ah-med) is a Chinese flower-boat courtesan who becomes romantically involved with Bahram. Ah-Fat (Sea of Poppies) is her and Bahram’s illegitimate son. Her tragic fate underscores the human cost of the opium epidemic. Seth Rustamjee Cowasjee is another Parsi merchant, representing the older generation of traders. He is the father-in-law of Bahram Modi. Commissioner Lin Zexu is a historical Chinese official sent to crack down on opium smuggling, whose actions triggered the First Opium War.
Summary of River of Smoke:
As River of Smoke begins, a violent cyclone tears through the Bay of Bengal, where three fateful ships converge on their separate journeys to Canton. The Anahita carries history's largest opium shipment from India to China's bustling port. Meanwhile, another vessel (Redruth) transports the eccentric horticulturist "Fitcher" Penrose, obsessed with studying China's rare medicinal plants. The third ship, the familiar Ibis, carries its cargo of indentured laborers across the storm-whipped waters.
Aboard the Ibis, familiar faces from Sea of Poppies battle for survival. Deeti, the widowed poppy grower now pregnant with her lover Kalua's child, fights alongside him to escape their circumstances. As matriarch of her growing family, Deeti's flight from her homeland to an uncertain future forms a central thread of the trilogy. In a desperate bid for freedom, they commandeer a lifeboat with several fellow fugitives: Ah Fatt, the troubled son of a powerful Canton opium merchant, and Neel, a disgraced raja convicted of embezzlement.
Their paths inevitably intersect with Bahram Modi, Ah Fatt's estranged father, and a Parsi merchant who has built his fortune on the opium trade between India and China. Bahram's complex backstory reveals how he entered this lucrative but morally ambiguous business through his father-in-law, the influential Indian shipbuilder Rustamjee Mistrie. Though initially a low-status family member, Bahram's cunning negotiations secured his father-in-law's financial backing for multiple China voyages, setting him on the path to becoming a key player in the opium trade that would reshape empires.
While Bahram's opium ventures bring prosperity to both himself and his in-laws, his personal life grows increasingly complicated. His secret relationship with Chi Mei, a Cantonese boat woman, produces a son - Ah Fatt - whose existence remains unknown to his Indian family. This carefully maintained double life collapses when his father-in-law dies unexpectedly, prompting the Mistrie family to forcibly exclude Bahram from their business empire. In a bold gamble, Bahram prepares one final, massive opium shipment aboard the Anahita, hoping its profits will secure his independence by buying out his scheming in-laws.
Meanwhile, China faces a national catastrophe as opium addiction ravages its population. The crisis enriched European traders while sparking a political firestorm between the British Empire (controlling Indian opium production) and the Qing government. British merchants hide behind imperial privilege, declaring "not even the Grand Manchu himself can claim jurisdiction over a subject of the Queen of England," while Chinese officials witness their society crumbling under addiction's weight. This escalating conflict places opium traders in dangerous limbo - their valuable cargoes suddenly becoming contraband.
Caught in this geopolitical storm, Bahram faces challenges on all fronts. He competes against entrenched European and American trading houses while navigating the Chinese crackdown. In a moment of paternal connection (or perhaps calculated business sense), he brings Ah Fatt into the family trade. Simultaneously, the disgraced Raja Neel, concealing his identity, secures employment as Bahram's munshi (Persian for secretary), adding another layer of intrigue to this high-stakes commercial drama.
Ghosh immerses readers in the sensory tapestry of 19th-century China—its bustling harbors, pungent spice markets, and the rigid hierarchies of its foreign enclaves. One pivotal scene captures Bahram’s induction into the Canton Chamber of Commerce, where tradition reserves a seat for a Parsi merchant. The all-male committee greets him with exuberant embraces, a custom Bahram observes with wry insight: "Such warmth might raise eyebrows if displayed by a European, but in an Oriental of high standing, it is taken as proof of confidence." The novel peels back layers of this insular world, revealing not just commerce but clandestine romantic entanglements among the traders. A poignant subplot follows the separation of Matheson and Mr. Wetmore, whose bond is severed when Matheson departs for England to fulfill societal expectations with a marriage.
A parallel narrative follows Paulette, the French-Indian botanist’s daughter, who disguises herself as a male deckhand to accompany the eccentric horticulturist Fitcher on his obsessive hunt for the mythical Golden Camellia. Her journey is punctuated by letters from Robin Chinnery, the illegitimate, openly gay son of the famed artist George Chinnery. Through Robin’s witty, melancholic correspondence, Ghosh unveils facets of Canton life beyond Bahram’s mercantile sphere—lively tea houses, clandestine queer spaces, and the fragile coexistence of cultures on the brink of war.
At the heart of the novel lies Bahram’s fractured identity. In India, he plays the role of the devout Parsi husband, bound by duty to his wife, Shireenbai; in China, he reinvents himself, even adopting a Westernized alias. Though he fathers children in both worlds, he remains emotionally distant—until Ah Fatt, his estranged son with the Cantonese boatwoman Chi-mei, enters the opium trade, forcing Bahram to confront his paternal neglect. His relationships with both women are marked by cycles of abandonment and fleeting returns, revealing a man who prizes autonomy over intimacy. In a revealing dialogue with his Armenian friend Zadig, a watchmaker with his own foreign wife, Bahram debates whether love—or mere convenience—drives such transnational unions.
As Bahram and other foreign merchants (British, American, and Parsi) continue smuggling opium into China, Commissioner Lin Zexu takes drastic action. He blockades Fanqui-town, trapping the foreign traders and demanding the surrender of all opium stocks, leading to a standoff. He destroys thousands of chests of opium in a public display, shocking the merchants. The arrival of Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu - a man of unshakable integrity - shatters the carefully constructed illusions of Canton's trading community. As Lin methodically exposes the Chamber of Commerce's corruption, Ghosh reveals the merchants' true nature: beneath their polished manners and lofty rhetoric about free trade, they are little more than profiteers feeding China's addiction. The Commissioner's uncompromising stance forces a dramatic confrontation, leading to a humiliating agreement where the traders must surrender their opium stocks to British authorities for compensation.
Bahram, torn between profit and guilt over his role in the trade, faces personal turmoil. His secret relationship with Chi-mei, a Chinese courtesan, ends tragically when she dies from an opium overdose, forcing him to confront the human cost of his business. In this moment of collective capitulation, Bahram emerges as the lone dissenting voice. His rebellion, however, comes too late. The novel's devastating conclusion finds the once-proud merchant emotionally shattered, haunted by the realization that he has sacrificed his moral compass for fleeting wealth. The promised rewards of his trade, status, family legacy, and personal fulfillment - all dissolve like opium smoke, leaving only bitter ashes of regret. Ghosh's final image of Bahram serves as a powerful metaphor for the destructive nature of colonialism itself: a system that corrupts all who participate in it, leaving both conquerors and conquered spiritually impoverished.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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