Bidyunmala, the princess of Kalinga, is on her way for a marriage of political convenience with Devaraya, the king of Vijaynagar, when a mysterious young man called Arjunvarma makes his appearance in her life and becomes part of her entourage. While preparing to wed the beautiful Bidyunmala, Devaraya is threatened by a treacherous brother within and enemies preparing for war without; worse still, Bidyunmala seems to be in love with Arjunvarma, a man Devaraya has come to trust.

And so begins Saradindu Bandyopadhyay's classic tale of intrigue, love and war, set on the banks of the river Tungabhadra in fourteenth-century India. A gripping narrative that blends romance, politics and intrigue played out against an authentically etched backdrop, By the River Tungabhadra, superbly translated from the Bengali original, Tungabhadrar Teere, represents the pinnacle of the writer's oeuvre.