Dream
Updated: 5 days ago
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom named Akhanda. Ruling it in peace and prosperity for about thirty years, the King of Akhanda was now intent on crowning his successors. Blessed with twins, the King considered both his children equally eligible to be crowned.
So the King planned to divide his kingdom and give each of his sons a portion based on their personalities. The elder one, in the King’s opinion, was more into war and conquest, while the younger one was more about welfare and a good living.
So he gave the elder son the northern part of the kingdom, which was self-sufficient in food, had a standing army, and resources. He gave the younger son the southern part of his kingdom, which was less prosperous than the northern part and lacked rainfall, sanitation, and basic necessities.
Both sons accepted what was given to them. The elder one, blessed with resources and an army, began waging wars on neighbouring kingdoms. He increased taxes to ensure the army was well paid, while selling resources to the southern kingdom in return for gold.
The younger one paid a good amount of gold to acquire farm animals and slaves. He started by helping the farmers and deployed slaves as sanitation workers. With food booming and health enriching, people became more efficient. Alongside this, the younger one also remodelled while building new universities to educate as many people as possible.
While his brother waged war, the younger brother began building an army to defend his borders and even conquered a small kingdom that separated his kingdom from the sea. This kingdom earned him territory and food.
With this triumph, most of the other kings began to notice the younger brother’s growth. They knew having him as a friend would help them, and soon alliances were offered and taken. In no time, most of the elder brother’s enemies were now in alliance with the younger brother.
With the alliance, trade began, and with it, the southern province grew rich. They reached a point where people’s taxes were just filling the coffers. Soon after that, many monuments, forts, towers, docks, and garrisons were built, making the southern province more secure and robust.
As he grew, the younger brother also advised his elder brother to stop his wars and join him to grow together. However, the elder brother declined, declaring cowering for peace is ungodly and a sign of weakness. After many pleas, the younger brother knew he couldn’t stop his brother, but hoping that his elder brother would not pay his life as a price, he declared war against him and dethroned him.
Through this act, he united his father’s kingdom and saved his brother as well.
Credits
This story was written by R. S. Chintalapati, edited by Sreekar Ayyagari and illustrated by Sravani Dhulipala.
Your Opinion?
Excellent
Good
Average
Bad
Comments