Theatre
Nil Darpan, or The Indigo Planting Mirror
নীল দর্পণ
Dinabandhu Mitra · 1860
Synopsis
In Svaropur, a village in Bengal, the family of Golok Chandra Basu, a well-off peasant, and of his sons Nobin Madhab and Bindu Madhab is caught up in the indigo system: the English planters Wood and Rose, their steward Gopinath and their surveyor demand that the land bear their crop, and the neighbours, the peasant Sadhu Charan and his brother Ray Charan, suffer the same fate. Refusal is paid for in violence; Torap, a rebellious peasant, stands up to Rose when he attacks Kshetramoni, Sadhu's daughter.
Context
The play was written in 1858 and 1859, during the revolt of the cultivators who refused to sow indigo, and appeared in Dacca in 1860 under the signature of “a traveller”. The English translation, which appeared under that of “a native” and is attributed by tradition to Michael Madhusudan Dutt, which researchers dispute, was published by the missionary James Long, and earned him in July 1861 a conviction for libel, a month in prison and a fine of a thousand rupees. In 1872, the National Theatre of Calcutta gave its first performance of it; in 1875, in Lucknow, British soldiers climbed onto the stage and interrupted the moment when Torap overpowers Rose.
Who it is for
A play in Bengali, which assumes knowledge of the forced cultivation of indigo imposed on the peasants of Bengal. No French translation.
Prizes and reception
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay compared it to Uncle Tom's Cabin; in 1872 it was the first play given on a commercial stage in Calcutta.
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