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Story of forbidden love in 1800s India set against the revolution for India's freedom from England.

As an Indian-born British boy, Ashton Pelham-Martyn was rescued at the time of the Mutiny by his Indian nurse and raised by her until the age of 11. Discovered by the commanding officer of a frontier regiment, he is sent to England for his education but returns to the regiment as an officer some years later. On the trip to India he meets the very comely Belinda Harlowe who does not turn out to be the girl he thought she was. Ash proves to be a capable officer going absent to accompany some of his men when they are banished from the regiment until they recover guns that were stolen from their encampment. As a punishment for being absent without leave he is assigned to an English regiment where be befriends another officer, Wally. Ash is eventually assigned to escort two sisters, one of whom is to be married to a maharajah in a nearby prince state. To his great delight, he is reunited with Koda Dad, the man who was a surrogate father in his youth and the now quite beautiful Anjuli, who adored him as a child and is one of the princesses he is escorting.

Ash returns to his Regiment but his heart is no longer in the work. The Commandant is prepared to accept his resignation but orders Ash to undertake one last task. He goes to Kabul undercover to gather intelligence in support of the British delegation that is establishing itself there. Wally is in Kabul with the Regiment but he and Ash have had a falling out. The head of the legation ignores Ash's warning that unpaid Afghan troops will riot if not paid and soon enough, they attack the small British force. The British Residence is overrun and Ash is the only survivor. Now free from any obligations to his former Regiment, he must return to Bhitor when he hears that the Rana is seriously ill and that his wives will need to commit suttee and join him on his funeral pyre should he die. His only concern now is to save Anjuli.

The journey to Bhitor continues with Ash coming face to face with the enemy from his youth, Biju Ram, who had taken great pleasure in branding him. He arrived at the camp with the princesses' younger brother but a riding accident convinces Ash and Koda Dad that Biju Ram is behind the attempt to kill the young boy. Ash also reveals his identity to Anjuli and when forced to spend the night together due to a severe storm, they become lovers. Their arrival at Bhitor is an unhappy one for both of them. Ash wants her to run away with him but she cannot leave her sister who is terrified at the prospect of eventually having to join her elderly husband on his funeral pyre. The prospective groom tries hard to improve the business deal of his marriage but Ash does his duty and ensures that the original marriage contract is followed.