From the Publisher

The great Bengali novelist, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya, was born in 1838, in Kantalpara, Bengal. He obtained a post as Deputy Collector and continued in Government service for 32 years, but he was often harassed because his pride in his country and people angered his English superiors.

The song, 'Vande Mataram', which Bankim Chandra. first wrote in his novel, 'Ananda Math’, echoed through the freedom movement; and during the non-co-operation movement the song was heard on the lips of many, while they braved the lathis of the British police force.

Before Bankim Chandra, writers in India had depended upon Sanskrit literature for plots. Bankim Chandra was among the first to realise that history could be a rich source of material. His historical fiction became at once popular and earned him the title 'Sir Walter Scott of India.' His novels though originally written in Bengali have been translated into many Indian languages.

Devi Choudhurani and her mentor, Bhavani Pathak, are historical characters who figure in the report of Lieutenant Brennan, quoted by Hunter in his 'Statistical Account of Bengal’. There is no historical explanation of what made Devi turn to dacoity in the first place and, later, what made her give it up. However, Bankim Chandra's fertile imagination has provided answers to these puzzling questions in his novel 'Devi Choudhurani', on which our tale is based.

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