• ISBN13: 9788193393536
• Binding: Paperback
• Subject: English Literature
• Publisher: Niyogi Books
• Publisher Imprint: Niyogi Books
• Publication Date: September 16, 2017
• Pages: 168
• Original Price: INR 350.00
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 0 grams

Published in 1865, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s first Bengali novel Durgeshnandini revolutionised Bengali prose writing. Many consider it to be the first modern novel in an Indian language. Durgeshnandini is set in the sixteenth century during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, when the Mughal army was fighting the Pathans for control over territories in eastern India. Many characters in the book—Mughals, Rajputs and Pathans—are historical figures. With this as the backdrop, the author skilfully sets up a romance between a young Rajput commander of the Mughal army and the daughter of a minor ruler. The romance becomes layered when a charming Pathan princess also falls in love with the Rajput commander in defiance of her suitor, the Pathan army chief. Prevailing social norms barred love across caste and religion. Bankim Chandra seems to question this in this novel in an indirect way. The novel ran into thirteen editions during BankimChandra’s lifetime and was translated into several languages.

Sunanda Krishnamurty was educated in Kolkata, Delhi and Oxford. She was a college lecturer in economics in India and a consultant with U.N. organisations in Bangkok and Geneva. She has published articles in several professional journals and books. As a literary translator, Sunanda has earned a name by translating the stories and novels of Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, which were published under reputed banners. Interested in art and art history, she, along with two others, has written Dictionary of South and Southeast Asian Art, published both in Thailand and in India. Sunanda is an active member of the Geneva Writers Group and has published several short stories in its literary publication, Offshoots.