Calcutta. In this edition the text of the proceedings of the trial of the Rev. Mr. Long was added with all relevant documents, relating particularly to the trial and Indian and foreign newspaper comments thereon. It was compiled by Mr. Kumud Behari Bose and entitled “Trial of The Rev. James Long. And The of Drama Nil Durpan” with 'Indigo planters and all about them' as a sub-title. The compiler mentioned the name of the author in his preface but hastened to add that he was neither adding to, nor omitting anything from, what had emerged from the court-proceedings. The reason assigned was that he did not like to give occassion for another protracted and vexatious trial.
In preparing the present edition I have followed the text of the second Indian edition of the translation. Every care, however, has been taken in the preparation of this edition to compare the text of the English version with that of the original Bengali, as published by the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, Calcutta, which claims to have followed the text of the first edition. Therefore, the book presented in these pages is the first ever-faithful English edition of the original Bengali drama with the names of the author and the translator printed on the title page.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
NIL DARPAN was published a few years after India's first great struggle for national independence, miscalled Sepoy Mutiny by some historians. This mighty upheaval was followed by a series of skrimishes between the foreign Indigo planters and Indian ryots in different parts of Bengal, Behar and U. P. To the planters of those days indigo was worth more than its weight in gold, as until the introduction of tea-planting it was the most important Indian staple grown by foreign capital. In the opinion of the
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