'The Deriabad Chronicles' traces the lives of the offspring -- from different wives -- of the deceased ruler of Deriabad, a former princely state of British India
that has acceded to Pakistan. Nawab Sartaj Alam Khan, the eldest son, who succeeds his father, is a weak-kneed bumbler. His half-sister, Princess Bisma (daughter of the ruler's Hindu wife) who is separated from her husband, breaks family tradition by entering national politics, contesting an election and joining the cabinet. Success of her policy for providing housing for the poor earns her the wrath of the land mafia who plan her end. Her comrade-in-arms, peasant Ameer Bakhsh, also an election winner, is likewise targeted for tragedy.

Of two remaining twin princesses, one incurs Sartaj's displeasure for choosing a husband from an alien sect. Her twin gets enbroiled along with their French mother in a major Parisian scandal. Prince Meheryar, the ruler's second son, leads an expedition to discover a lost tribe, losing his heart en route to an intrepid reporter. The search uncovers many family mysteries.