The story of Jassa Ram, the superintendent of police, who is a widower with one son. He must prevent a local gang from troubling local villages and find a new mother for his son. Samudra, the daughter of a prominent local landowner, may be able to help him with both problems.
Jean Bothwell was a Nebraskan who spent many years as a Methodist missionary living and teaching history in India. A lover of history, she eventually settled in New York City and wrote over 50 books, many of them about the India she loved, other historical novels, and juvenile mysteries.
This was a very enjoyable YA book older (1962), about a time that is long past, and never existed anyway (I actually read it as a fantasy novel, not really related in any real way to the actual India at any time or space). I read a lot of Jean Bothwell when I was young, and enjoyed every book I read and for some reason I thought about this novel decades later and had to re-read it (I expect I'll re-read some of her others as well). Samudra is a strong heroine and an interesting character.