Victory City Summary, Characters and Themes
Victory City (2023), written by Salman Rushdie, is a vivid blend of historical fiction and magical realism. Framed as a translation of an epic Sanskrit text, it imagines the rise and fall of a feminist utopia inspired by the Empire of Vijayanagara in southern India.
The narrative revolves around Pampa Kampana, a poet and prophet, whose magical powers shape the destiny of the city of Bisnaga. As a sprawling tale of empires, love, and betrayal, the novel weaves together mythology, politics, and spirituality, offering readers a sweeping saga that contemplates power and equality, particularly for women.
Summary
Victory City recounts the story of Pampa Kampana, a young girl who becomes a mystical force behind the creation and growth of the Bisnaga Empire in southern India.
At just nine, Pampa witnesses the destruction of her town and the self-immolation of its women, including her mother. Lost and traumatized, Pampa is visited by a goddess who bestows her own powers upon the girl, granting her an extraordinarily long life and magical abilities. From that moment, Pampa’s destiny intertwines with the fate of a new city and empire.
Years later, Pampa meets two brothers, Hukka and Bukka, who are wandering in search of spiritual guidance.
Recognizing their potential, Pampa instructs them to plant seeds that will give birth to a great city. In a miraculous event, the city of Bisnaga emerges from the soil, complete with a population that has no past memory.
As the city’s guiding spirit, Pampa whispers to its citizens every night, shaping their consciousness and subtly steering them toward a more just and equal society, particularly in terms of gender.
Hukka and Bukka rule as the first kings of Bisnaga. Pampa, who marries both brothers in turn, gives birth to daughters with Hukka and sons with Bukka. Her daughters, fathered by a Portuguese trader, represent the future she envisions—capable women who can rule.
However, her sons grow into arrogant, entitled men. When Pampa attempts to raise her daughters to succeed on the throne, conflict arises, and her sons are banished.
With Bukka’s death, Pampa and her daughters must flee the city to escape the ambitions of Hukka and Bukka’s power-hungry relatives.
They retreat to an enchanted forest, where they live for years. Pampa’s daughters each follow different paths—one marries a martial arts master, another joins a band of wild women, and the third falls in love with an older man who ultimately dies, causing a rift between her and Pampa.
During this time, Pampa uses her magic to defend against invaders but is drained into a deep slumber.
Years later, she is awakened by Zerelda Li, a descendant of her lineage, and they return to a Bisnaga now ruled by King Krishna. Zerelda becomes romantically involved with Krishna, leading to tension with his primary wife, Tirumala.
After Zerelda’s death in childbirth, Tirumala consolidates power, while Pampa, temporarily Queen Regent, establishes a golden age of cultural and artistic prosperity in Krishna’s absence. However, political scheming and a series of military disasters lead to Pampa’s eventual downfall. Accused of treason, she is blinded.
In her final years, Pampa dictates the story of Bisnaga’s rise and fall to Tirumalamba, Tirumala’s daughter. Bisnaga crumbles under the rule of Krishna’s corrupt brother and other power-hungry leaders.
The once-great city is destroyed by enemy forces, and as Bisnaga is reduced to ruins, Pampa buries her epic poem and dissolves into the earth, bringing her long life to an end.
Characters
Pampa Kampana
Pampa Kampana is the central figure of Victory City. A poet and prophet, she experiences a transformative moment of divine intervention in her childhood when the goddess Pampa possesses her.
This supernatural connection grants her extended life and magical abilities, positioning her as the creator and guardian of the Bisnaga Empire. Her character is driven by a vision of a more equitable society, particularly concerning the rights and roles of women.
She is both a maker of worlds and a mother, embodying immense creative power but also enduring immense suffering—loss, exile, and betrayal. Her progressive ideals often clash with the political realities of her time, and her attempts to empower women are thwarted by a deeply patriarchal society.
Pampa’s life is a series of oscillations between hope and tragedy. She both builds and witnesses the fall of the utopian city she hoped to create.
Her character arc culminates in her eventual blindness and death, paralleling the downfall of the empire she created. She symbolizes both the futility and beauty of visionary idealism.
Hukka and Bukka Sangama
The two brothers, Hukka and Bukka, are pivotal in the founding of Bisnaga, the city born from seeds they plant under Pampa’s guidance. Both brothers begin as simple cowherds, illustrating their humble origins before they rise to kingship.
Hukka, the first king, is portrayed as more aligned with Pampa’s vision. Although he marries Pampa and fathers three daughters, their relationship is complicated by Pampa’s affair with the Portuguese trader, Domingo Nunes.
Hukka’s death leads to Bukka taking the throne. Bukka, though loyal to Pampa, does not fully share her ideals.
His sons embody masculine entitlement and aggression, ultimately becoming a source of conflict. The brothers represent both the rise of the empire and the internal flaws that contribute to its decline.
Domingo Nunes
Domingo Nunes, a Portuguese trader, serves as a critical yet somewhat enigmatic figure in Pampa’s life. As her lover and the father of her daughters, Domingo complicates the dynamic of royal legitimacy.
His presence introduces an element of cross-cultural interaction, adding layers to the narrative’s exploration of power, identity, and heritage. Domingo’s children, marked by their mixed heritage, reveal the tensions that arise from their complex lineage.
Domingo’s character is not deeply explored beyond his role in Pampa’s personal and familial life. However, his importance lies in his function as a bridge between Pampa’s inner world and the external forces that shape the Bisnaga Empire.
Pampa’s Daughters: Yotshna, Zerelda, and Yuktasri
Pampa’s three daughters, Yotshna, Zerelda, and Yuktasri, represent her hope for a future in which women can lead and inherit power. Each daughter’s journey reflects different aspects of Pampa’s aspirations and disillusionments.
Yotshna, who falls in love with Haleya, is the daughter most connected to her mother’s personal tragedies. Her bitterness over Haleya’s death creates a rift between her and Pampa.
Zerelda, who marries Li Ye-He, embodies a more adventurous spirit. She travels the world before returning to Bisnaga and dies tragically in childbirth.
Yuktasri’s departure to join the wild women of the forest speaks to an alternative form of female empowerment. Together, the daughters illustrate the fragility of Pampa’s dreams and the persistent resistance to female agency in a male-dominated world.
Krishna
Krishna is one of the later kings of Bisnaga. He rules during a period when the empire is on the brink of collapse.
His character is marked by ambition and vulnerability, as he is caught between personal desires and political necessity. Krishna’s decision to marry Tirumala for political reasons, despite his feelings for Zerelda, exemplifies the compromises and betrayals that define much of the royal court.
His eventual downfall, spurred by Tirumala’s manipulations and his own blind rage, reflects the decay of Bisnaga’s ideals. Krishna’s trajectory from king to ignominy parallels the larger decline of the empire.
Tirumala and Tirumalamba
Tirumala is Krishna’s politically motivated wife. Her ambition and cunning contrast sharply with Pampa’s more idealistic and compassionate rule.
She becomes an antagonist to both Pampa and Zerelda. Tirumala’s manipulations lead to Pampa’s blinding and exile from power.
However, Tirumala’s rise to influence does not translate into success with her own family. Her daughter, Tirumalamba, grows distant from her.
Tirumalamba represents the future generation that, while benefiting from Pampa’s progressive policies, is caught in the same cycles of violence and betrayal. Her eventual alignment with Pampa suggests she is more aligned with her grandmother’s ideals than her mother’s schemes.
Achyuta and Aliya
Achyuta and Aliya are the final players in the power struggle that marks the end of Bisnaga’s glory. Achyuta, Krishna’s seedy brother, and Aliya, Tirumalamba’s husband, are both opportunistic and unprincipled.
Their conflict is not one of ideals but of personal greed and ambition. Their rivalry accelerates the collapse of Bisnaga.
These two figures represent the corrupt and decadent forces that lead to the empire’s ultimate downfall. They contrast with the idealism and vision of Pampa.
Grandmaster Li Ye-He and Haleya Kote
Grandmaster Li Ye-He is a martial arts instructor who aids Pampa and her daughters during their exile in the enchanted forest. His relationship with Zerelda brings a sense of adventure and romance to the story.
Their eventual departure from the main narrative signals the beginning of the end for Pampa’s family. Haleya Kote, an older man who accompanies Pampa and her daughters, becomes Yotshna’s lover but dies when he helps Pampa investigate Bisnaga’s fate.
His death symbolizes the passage of time and the inevitability of loss, which further distances Yotshna from her mother. Both characters serve as temporary allies to Pampa, representing moments of respite in her long and tumultuous life.
Themes
The Confluence of Myth and History in the Creation of a Feminist Utopia
In Victory City, Salman Rushdie blurs the lines between myth and history, crafting a fictional Sanskrit epic that mirrors the rise and fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, but through a lens that challenges traditional gender roles and societal expectations.
Pampa Kampana’s role as both a poet and prophet places her at the intersection of legend and historical narrative, positioning her as a creator of reality, not just a chronicler. The mythological elements, such as the goddess imbuing Pampa with divine power, become integral to shaping the course of history, elevating the creation of the city of Bisnaga into a mystical event rather than a mere political or territorial expansion.
This blending of history with myth serves to underscore the idea that the societies we inherit and their foundational myths are, at least in part, constructs. Pampa’s attempt to weave a feminist utopia into the historical fabric of Bisnaga speaks to the possibility of reshaping the past, present, and future through both art and belief.
By choosing to frame this empire-building as an act of a woman empowered by a goddess, Rushdie makes a subtle critique of the patriarchal nature of historical narrative. He suggests that histories written by women, or at least from a female perspective, could present radically different social orders.
The Intricacies of Power Dynamics: Gender, Monarchy, and Prophecy
The theme of power in Victory City operates on multiple axes—gender, political rule, and prophecy, all of which are intricately intertwined in the lives of Pampa Kampana and the rulers of Bisnaga.
From her tragic childhood to her role as a queen and regent, Pampa is constantly negotiating her position within a male-dominated hierarchy, both as a woman and a seer whose visions guide the fate of an empire. The city of Bisnaga, birthed through the magic of a woman, is paradoxically governed by men—first Hukka and Bukka, then later kings like Krishna and Achyuta—who benefit from Pampa’s prophetic gifts but ultimately betray her attempts to establish a more equal society.
This dynamic showcases the constant tension between matriarchal creation and patriarchal rule. Pampa’s efforts to make her daughters eligible for the throne, and her sons’ banishment, reveal the deep misogyny embedded within royal succession and governance.
While Pampa envisions a world in which men and women share power, the male rulers of Bisnaga, particularly in the later stages, undermine this dream. The novel reflects how entrenched systems of male dominance persist even in a world birthed by a woman with divine powers.
The Complex Interplay of Magic, Politics, and the Fragility of Utopian Ideals
One of the central themes of Victory City is the fragility of utopian ideals, particularly when they intersect with the pragmatic realities of political rule and human ambition.
Pampa’s magic, which literally seeds the city and whispers history into the minds of its citizens, represents the power of imagination and idealism in shaping a society. However, the eventual corruption of Bisnaga by power-hungry rulers and the encroachment of external enemies highlights the inherent tension between utopian visions and the flawed nature of human institutions.
Pampa’s initial dream for Bisnaga is a city where equality and justice reign, especially for women. Yet, this dream is consistently undercut by the greed, violence, and selfishness of those in power.
The deaths of her daughters, the exile of her sons, and her eventual blinding are emblematic of the ways in which magic and idealism can only go so far in the face of human fallibility. Even her progressive rule as Queen Regent, which briefly transforms Bisnaga into a cultural and artistic hub, is undone by Krishna’s paranoia and the machinations of other power players like Tirumala and Aliya.
Rushdie presents a nuanced meditation on the limits of utopian thinking. While magic and prophecy can offer glimpses of a better world, they are inevitably tempered by the darker realities of human nature and political intrigue.
The Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma, Legacy, and Identity
A striking theme in Victory City is the way trauma, legacy, and identity are passed down through generations, particularly in the context of Pampa Kampana’s extended lifespan and the succession of rulers who come to power in Bisnaga.
The novel explores how the initial trauma of Pampa’s childhood, witnessing her mother’s self-immolation, is compounded by the sexual abuse she suffers at the hands of Vidyasagar. These experiences shape her desire to build a new kind of society.
Pampa’s daughters, especially Zerelda and Yotshna, inherit this legacy of both magic and trauma, but in different ways. Zerelda’s love for Li Ye-He and Yotshna’s eventual estrangement from Pampa illustrate the complex ways in which identity is formed in relation to one’s parents and their legacy.
The novel also examines how trauma is embedded in the political history of Bisnaga itself. Each successive generation of rulers struggles to reconcile the empire’s founding ideals with the brutal realities of maintaining power.
Krishna’s descent into tyranny and Achyuta’s corruption reflect how the city’s legacy of greatness is tainted by violence and betrayal. This generational cycle of trauma and failed ideals culminates in the collapse of Bisnaga.
Pampa’s own body crumbles into dust, signaling the end of an era but also a profound continuity. Tirumalamba helps to preserve her story, ensuring that this legacy lives on.
The Role of Art and Literature as Tools of Resistance and Memory
Rushdie’s novel is, at its core, a reflection on the power of storytelling, art, and literature as tools of resistance against oppressive regimes and as means of preserving memory.
The framing of Victory City as a “translation” of the fictional epic Jayaparajaya places the act of writing and storytelling at the heart of the novel’s thematic concerns. Pampa Kampana’s creation of Bisnaga is itself an act of storytelling—she literally whispers its history into existence, shaping the memories and beliefs of its inhabitants.
Throughout the novel, her poetry and storytelling serve as forms of resistance against patriarchal power structures and violent regimes. Even after she is blinded, Pampa continues to write her epic, with the help of Tirumalamba, ensuring that her version of history will survive long after the fall of Bisnaga.
This reflects the novel’s broader commentary on the role of art and literature in challenging dominant narratives and preserving alternative histories. As Bisnaga collapses and its rulers betray the ideals on which it was founded, Pampa’s poem becomes a lasting testament to what was once possible.
By burying her poem, Rushdie suggests that literature has the power not only to resist but to endure. It offers a form of immortality that transcends political and historical collapse.