A Princely Impostor?

A Princely Impostor?

Product ID: 12826

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Author: Partha Chatterjee
Publisher: Permanent Black
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 429
ISBN/UPC (if available): 817824084X

Description

Now in paperback edition, this extraordinary book represents an immensely valuable addition to the literature on South Asia. Richly documented, absorbingly developed, and beautifully written, this is narrative of the highest order.

In 1921, a half-naked sannyasi appears in Dhaka and is identified as a hunting-shooting-womanising zamindar-the Second Kumar of Bhawal-who was believed to have died in Darjeeling twelve years earlier. This fakir is persuaded to visit his estate, where he is interrogated. He is disowned as an impostor by his widow, but his sisters swear he is their long-lost brother.

Now begins a legal battle in which the sannyasi seeks to prove his identity while others seek to destroy his claims. Soon the whole of British India is divided on the identity of the sannyasi, and indeed on what constitutes identity-specially in relation to a man back from the dead.

This book tells the incredible story of the prince as pauper, of pauper as resurrected prince. Chatterjee’s retelling of the notorious Bhawal Sannyasi Case-one of India’s best-known and most historic legal battles-is joint winner of the Rabindra Purushkar.

REVIEWS

This extraordinary book represents an immensely valuable addition to the literature on South Asia. It will have great influence both within and outside of the academy and will soon be regarded as a classic.
-Amitav Ghose

Richly documented, absorbingly developed, and beautifully written, this is narrative of the highest order.
-Supriya Chaudhuri in The Hindu

One of those rare recent books of Indian history which holds the reader’s attention from start to finish.
-Sanjay Subrahmanyam in Outlook

Around this real life story…Chatterjee has woven a fabulous narrative.
-Sumanta Banerjee in Indian Express

Contents

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PREFACE

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTER ONE
The Facts of the Matter

CHAPTER TWO
An Estate Called Bhawal

CHAPTER THREE
On Hunting and Other Sports

CHAPTER FOUR
What Happened in Darjeeling?

CHAPTER FIVE
First Brush with the Law

CHAPTER SIX
The House on Lansdowne Road

CHAPTER SEVEN
A Fondness for Miracles

CHAPTER EIGHT
The Identity Puzzle

CHAPTER NINE
The Trial Begins

CHAPTER TEN
Darjeeling: The Plaintiff’s Case

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Experts on Recognition

CHAPTER TWELVE
For the Defense

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Climax

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Reasonings

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Judgment

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Appeal

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Razor’s Edge

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Decision

CHAPTER NINETEEN
To London and Back

Notes

Bibliography

Index