''The Nine Unknown'' is a 1923 novel by

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...

. Originally serialised in ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'' magazine, it concerns the Nine Unknown Men, a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

founded to preserve and develop knowledge that would be dangerous to humanity if it fell into the wrong hands. The nine unknown men were entrusted with guarding nine books of secret knowledge.

Plot

In the novel the nine men are the embodiment of good and face up against nine

Kali Kali (; sa, काली, ), also referred to as Mahakali, Bhadrakali, and Kalika ( sa, कालिका), is a Hinduism, Hindu goddess who is considered to be the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change in Shaktism. In t ...

worshippers, who sow confusion and masquerade as the true sages. The story surrounds a priest called Father Cyprian who is seeking possession of the books but who wants to destroy them out of Christian piety, and a number of other characters who are interested in learning their contents.

Influence

The concept of the "Nine Unknown Men" was further popularized by

Louis Pauwels Louis Pauwels (; 2 August 1920 – 28 January 1997) was a French journalist and writer. Born in Paris, France, he wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 (including ''Esprit'' and ''Variété'') until the 1950s. He partic ...

and

Jacques Bergier Jacques Bergier (; maybe born Yakov Mikhailovich Berger (russian: link=no, Я́ков Миха́йлович Бéргер); Odessa, Paris, 23 November 1978) was a chemical engineer, member of the French-resistance, spy, journalist and writer. He ...

in their 1960 book ''

The Morning of the Magicians ''The Morning of the Magicians: Introduction to Fantastic Realism'' (french: Le Matin des magiciens) is a 1960 book by the journalists Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier. As the authors disclaim in their preface, the book is intended to challeng ...

''. They claimed that the Nine Unknown were real and had been founded by the

Mauryan The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until ...

Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

around 270 BC. They also claimed that Pope

Silvester II Pope Sylvester II ( – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a French-born scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Arab and Gre ...

had met the Nine Unknown, and that nineteenth-century French colonial administrator and writer

Louis Jacolliot Louis Jacolliot (31 October 1837 – 30 October 1890) was a French barrister, colonial judge, author and lecturer. Biography Born in Charolles, Saône-et-Loire, he lived several years in Tahiti and India during the period 1865-1869. Jacolli ...

insisted on their existence.

In popular culture

* In the first edition of Anton LaVey's ''

Satanic Bible ''The Satanic Bible'' is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It is the central religious text of LaVeyan Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been descri ...

'' (1969), The Nine Unknown were the final dedicatees mentioned in the dedication. * The "Nine Unknown" have since been the subject of the several novels including '' Shadow Tyrants'' by

Clive Cussler Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list ...

and

Boyd Morrison Boyd Morrison is an American thriller novelist, actor and former Jeopardy! champion. He has co-authored several books with The New York Times fiction best-seller Clive Cussler. Education Boyd Morrison has earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical e ...

; ''

The Mahabharata Secret ''The Mahabharata Secret'' is the debut novel by Indian author Christopher C. Doyle and was released on 21 October 2013 by Om Books. The story follows Vijay and his friends, as they try to decipher a series of clues which would lead them to a dev ...

'', a 2013 novel by Christopher C. Doyle; ''

Finders, Keepers Finders, keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders, keepers; losers, weepers, is an English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first can claim it for themself permanently. The phr ...

'', a 2015 novel by

Sapan Saxena Sapan Saxena (born April 5, 1985) is an Indian author, best known for his novels ''Finders, Keepers'', UNNS-The Captivation and ''The Tenth Riddle'' Early life and education Sapan was born on April 5, 1985 at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. His fathe ...

; and

Shobha Nihalani Shobha Nihalani is an Indian author of adventure and thriller novels: ''The Silent Monument, the NINE trilogy, Unresolved – A psychological thriller, Trikon – a medical sci-fi thriller,'' and ''The Blue Jade.'' Recently, she wrote two non-fi ...

's ''Nine'' novel trilogy. * The American television series ''

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

'' prominently features the number nine, and the writers and producers Aron Coliete and Joe Pakaski have credited the story of

and ''The Nine Unknown Men'' as one of the many influences for the series and as a clue to the mystery surrounding the number. * ''

JL50 ''JL50'' is an Indian Hindi-language sci-fi thriller web television miniseries which premiered on Sony Liv on 4 September 2020. The series stars Abhay Deol, Pankaj Kapur, Ritika Anand, Piyush Mishra and Rajesh Sharma. Plot Shantanu, a Centra ...

'' is a Hindi-language

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

web series launched in September 2020 on

Sony Liv SonyLIV is an Indian over-the-top freemium streaming platform owned by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it is carrying content from its local networks, includi ...

. The series centers around the Nine Unknown and the books they preserved. It relates that these books contain knowledge of political power, the origin of martial arts, communication with extra-terrestrial species, and time travel. The series mentions Project A (for ''Ashoka'') which involves time travel. * On 27 August 2020,''

Reflector Entertainment Reflector may refer to: Science * Reflector, a device that causes reflection (for example, a mirror or a retroreflector) * Reflector (photography), used to control lighting contrast * Reflecting telescope * Reflector (antenna), the part of an an ...

'' announced a video game ''

UNKNOWN 9 Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film * ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film * ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film) * ''The Unknown'' (1927 film), a silent horror film starring Lon Chaney * ''The Unknown'' (1936 film), a ...

'' presenting the story of the secret society formed by ''

'' to be published by ''

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...

'' for PC and next generation consoles.

References

External links

A Short Film based on ''Nine Unknown Men''HTML text
at Gutenberg Australia *
The Nine Unknown Men of AshokaLegend of the Nine Unknown Men
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nine Unknown Conspiracy theories Works originally published in Adventure (magazine) Novels first published in serial form Memorials to Ashoka Cultural depictions of Ashoka

Plot

Influence

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links