On an old slaving Ship named "The Ibis", fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians and Westerners. The motley crew of sailors, coolies and convicts includes a bankrupt Raja, a Chinese opium addict, a lissom French runaway and a mulatto freedman from Baltimore. As their old family ties are washed away, they, like their historical counterparts, come to view themselves as "jahaj-bhais" or ship-brothers. Against the backdrop of the Opium Wars an unlikely dynasty is born which will span continents, races and generations.