1. For a discussion of how modern playwriting in Hindi as initiated by Bharatendu Harishchandra created a separate space for itself in contradistinction to the practices of the late nineteenth-century indigenous theatre, see Kathryn Hansen, "The Birth of Hindi Drama in Banaras, 1868-1885," in Sandria B. Freitag, ed., Culture and Power in Banaras , 62-92.

2. Raymond Williams, Culture , 156.

3. Shrikrishna Lal, Adhunik hindi sahitya ka vikas , 181.

4. For a background on the history and performance style of the Ram Lila, see Norvin Hein, The Miracle Plays of Mathura , 70-125; Norvin Hein, "The Ram Lila," in Milton Singer, ed., Traditional India , 73-98; Kapila Vatsyayan, Traditional Indian Theatre , 110-135; Balwant Gargi, Folk Theater of India , 90-113; Anuradha Kapur, "Actors, Pilgrims, Kings, and Gods: The Ramlila at Ramnagar," Contributions to Indian Sociology , n.s., 19, no. 1 (1985): 57-74; Induja Avasthi, Ramlila: parampara aur shailiyam ; Richard Schechner and Linda Hess, ''The Ramlila of Ramnagar," in The Drama Review 21, no. 3 (Sept. 1977): 51-82; Richard Schechner, Performative Circumstances , 238-305; Linda Hess, "Ram Lila: The Audience Experience," in Monika Thiel-Horstmann, ed., Bhakti in Current Research , 171-194; Philip Lutgendorf, "Ram's Story in Shiva's City: Public Arenas and Private Patronage," in Sandria B. Freitag, ed., Culture and Power in Banaras , 34-61.

5. The principal sources on the history and performance of the Ras Lila are Hein, Miracle Plays , 129-271; Vatsyayan, Traditional Indian Theatre , 121-135; Gargi, Folk Theater , 114-131; John Stratton Hawley, At Play with Krishna ; Ram Narayan Agravai, Braj ka ras rangmanch .

6. Typical of this folk Lila tradition are the Ram Lila companies cited by Hein and the Rasdharis of Mewar discussed by Samar and Bhanavat. Hein,

Miracle Plays , 71; Devilal Samar, "Rasdhari<: Folk Theatre of Rajasthan," Sangeet Natak 20 (April-June 1971): 50-57; Mahendra Bhanavat, Mevar ke rasdhari . See also Gargi, Folk Theater , 113.

7. The Ram and Krishna stories have little place in the Sangit literature, appearing only in certain nineteenth-century examples, e.g., the Sangit balacharitra Sangit kams lila , and Sangit nag lila , all by Kumvar Sen, and Sangit siya svayamvar ka by Hardev Sahay. Publication dates and library locations of these dramas are given in appendix C pt. 4.

8. These distinctions would be less marked in village and neighborhood Lila performances.

9. Kabir also mentions the caste of actors called nat , the playing of the dank (a type of drum), and the changing of costume ( bhesh ). Ram Narayan Agraval, Sangit: ek loknatya parampara , 22.

10. Yadunath Sarkar, trans., Abul Fazl's A'in-e-akbari , 3:272, cited in Agraval, Sangit , 41.

11. Agraval, Sangit , 42-44; Shivkumar Madhur, Bharat ke loknatya , 27; Somnath Gupta, Hindi natak sahitya ka itihas , 16; Gopinath Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak sahitya , 77.

12. On bhands and popular entertainers during the Mughal period, see Abdul Halim Sharar, Lucknow: The Last Phase , 34, 100, 142-145. On nats , minstrels, and acrobats in central India in the early nineteenth century, see John Malcolm, A Memoir of Central India , 195-197. On naqals , see Gargi, Folk Theater , 183-186.

13. Among the translations from Sanskrit are ten versions of the religious allegory Prabodha chandrodaya , originally written in the eleventh century. There are also two secular compositions based on Sanskrit works, Sakuntala (two versions) and Madhava vinoda (based on Bhavabhuti's Malatimadhava ).

14. Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak ; chap. 3 (46-93) is devoted to proving that the Braj Bhasha plays were performed as dramas.

15. Svanga , derived from Sanskrit su or sva + anga (good or self + limb, part) and meaning "disguise" or "mime," was first used by Kalidasa in his drama Malavikagnimitram . Speech of Raja to Parivrajika in scene 1, cited in ibid., 73-74. Jayasi, Tukaram, Kabir, and others employed the term in medieval literature. Agraval, Sangit , 22-23.

14. Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak ; chap. 3 (46-93) is devoted to proving that the Braj Bhasha plays were performed as dramas.

15. Svanga , derived from Sanskrit su or sva + anga (good or self + limb, part) and meaning "disguise" or "mime," was first used by Kalidasa in his drama Malavikagnimitram . Speech of Raja to Parivrajika in scene 1, cited in ibid., 73-74. Jayasi, Tukaram, Kabir, and others employed the term in medieval literature. Agraval, Sangit , 22-23.

16. According to internal evidence, Hasyarnava was transcribed after it was performed before a king of Telangana by a nat named Kamarup. Maharaja tailangapati ati prasiddha chahum daga / kamarupa nata som kahyau hamahim dikhavahu svanga. / Maharaja mahipala mani jo kachhu ayasu dina / anayasindha naranatha kau sakala svanga maim kina (Agraval, Sangit , 23-24).

17. Madhava vinoda was written at the request of Bahadur Singh, king of Bharatpur. Agraval claims that the poet wrote it down after seeing it performed "in Svang style." Ibid., 26.

16. According to internal evidence, Hasyarnava was transcribed after it was performed before a king of Telangana by a nat named Kamarup. Maharaja tailangapati ati prasiddha chahum daga / kamarupa nata som kahyau hamahim dikhavahu svanga. / Maharaja mahipala mani jo kachhu ayasu dina / anayasindha naranatha kau sakala svanga maim kina (Agraval, Sangit , 23-24).

17. Madhava vinoda was written at the request of Bahadur Singh, king of Bharatpur. Agraval claims that the poet wrote it down after seeing it performed "in Svang style." Ibid., 26.

18. Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak , 93. Aura svanga ki taham bhai avandani niradhara / ayo svanga singara .

19. Tivari lists eight uses of the word in Brajvasi Das's 1759 version, as well as examples contained in subsequent plays on the same theme by Nanak Das (1789) and Gulab Singh (1789). Ibid., 8-9, 93-94.

18. Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak , 93. Aura svanga ki taham bhai avandani niradhara / ayo svanga singara .

19. Tivari lists eight uses of the word in Brajvasi Das's 1759 version, as well as examples contained in subsequent plays on the same theme by Nanak Das (1789) and Gulab Singh (1789). Ibid., 8-9, 93-94.

20. For a brief history and definition of khyal music, see chaps. 1-2 of Bonnie C. Wade, Khyal .

21. Platts's Dictionary of Urdu derives

22. The doha quoted by Agraval, Sangit , 29, is Madhava aura malataya ke prema katha kau khyala / Baranata so sasinatha kavi hukuma paya tatakala . As usual, Agraval gives no reference for his source. Tivari, however, has another reading that omits the reference to khyal: Madhava aru malati ke prema katha rasala / Barananu so sasinatha kavi hukuma pai ke hala . He also notes that Sasinath was the poet's pen name; Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak , 29.

23. Tihim khyala ki rachana aba hama karihem take age . Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak , 94, 9.

24. John Robson, A Selection of Khyals or Marwari Plays , vi-vii.

25. Robson's selections include two martial or political stories, Dungar simh and Angrez aur pathan , the latter a polemic against British rule composed for the Raja of Kishengarh. Also included are the nineteenth-century classics of asceticism, Gopichand and Bharatari , and the popular romance Hir ranjiha .

26. "They are not written by persons pretending to scholarship or even education, and I was unable to get a copy of any of them fully written either in Ajmer or Kishengarh. The different roles of some of them were written and were in the possession of the actors, but in other cases the pundit whom I asked to get the pieces for me, had to write them down from the dictation of the players who could not read or write." Robson, A Selection of Khyals , xv, vi, iii.

27. Ibid., iv-v.

28. Note the phrase "in the middle of the last century." Robson also states that the form of the khyal had "not changed much during the last hundred years." Ibid., vii.

29. "There is seldom anything in them beyond dialogue, and sometimes only one actor sings through several scenes, while numbers of others may be carrying on the action of the piece. A new scene is introduced with a new refrain. If there is dialogue, each of the singers sings his own refrain first, and then they continue singing alternate stanzas, each repeating, at the end of each stanza he sings, his opening refrain." Ibid., vii-viii.

26. "They are not written by persons pretending to scholarship or even education, and I was unable to get a copy of any of them fully written either in Ajmer or Kishengarh. The different roles of some of them were written and were in the possession of the actors, but in other cases the pundit whom I asked to get the pieces for me, had to write them down from the dictation of the players who could not read or write." Robson, A Selection of Khyals , xv, vi, iii.

27. Ibid., iv-v.

28. Note the phrase "in the middle of the last century." Robson also states that the form of the khyal had "not changed much during the last hundred years." Ibid., vii.

29. "There is seldom anything in them beyond dialogue, and sometimes only one actor sings through several scenes, while numbers of others may be carrying on the action of the piece. A new scene is introduced with a new refrain. If there is dialogue, each of the singers sings his own refrain first, and then they continue singing alternate stanzas, each repeating, at the end of each stanza he sings, his opening refrain." Ibid., vii-viii.

26. "They are not written by persons pretending to scholarship or even education, and I was unable to get a copy of any of them fully written either in Ajmer or Kishengarh. The different roles of some of them were written and were in the possession of the actors, but in other cases the pundit whom I asked to get the pieces for me, had to write them down from the dictation of the players who could not read or write." Robson, A Selection of Khyals , xv, vi, iii.

27. Ibid., iv-v.

28. Note the phrase "in the middle of the last century." Robson also states that the form of the khyal had "not changed much during the last hundred years." Ibid., vii.

29. "There is seldom anything in them beyond dialogue, and sometimes only one actor sings through several scenes, while numbers of others may be carrying on the action of the piece. A new scene is introduced with a new refrain. If there is dialogue, each of the singers sings his own refrain first, and then they continue singing alternate stanzas, each repeating, at the end of each stanza he sings, his opening refrain." Ibid., vii-viii.

26. "They are not written by persons pretending to scholarship or even education, and I was unable to get a copy of any of them fully written either in Ajmer or Kishengarh. The different roles of some of them were written and were in the possession of the actors, but in other cases the pundit whom I asked to get the pieces for me, had to write them down from the dictation of the players who could not read or write." Robson, A Selection of Khyals , xv, vi, iii.

27. Ibid., iv-v.

28. Note the phrase "in the middle of the last century." Robson also states that the form of the khyal had "not changed much during the last hundred years." Ibid., vii.

29. "There is seldom anything in them beyond dialogue, and sometimes only one actor sings through several scenes, while numbers of others may be carrying on the action of the piece. A new scene is introduced with a new refrain. If there is dialogue, each of the singers sings his own refrain first, and then they continue singing alternate stanzas, each repeating, at the end of each stanza he sings, his opening refrain." Ibid., vii-viii.

30. Vatsyayan dates Khyal to the eighteenth century ( Traditional Indian Theatre , 160), as does Gargi ( Folk Theater , 48).

31. See appendix B for nineteenth-century printed Khyals in British collections.

32. Samar states that Khyal players of the Shekhawati style traveled regularly to Bombay and Calcutta. Devilal Samar, Rajasthani lok-natya , 18.

33. Ibid., 16-20. See also D. R. Ahuja, Folklore of Rajasthan , 141, and Gargi, Folk Theater , 48, for mention of Nanulal Rana, Jhali Ram (Jhaliram

32. Samar states that Khyal players of the Shekhawati style traveled regularly to Bombay and Calcutta. Devilal Samar, Rajasthani lok-natya , 18.

33. Ibid., 16-20. See also D. R. Ahuja, Folklore of Rajasthan , 141, and Gargi, Folk Theater , 48, for mention of Nanulal Rana, Jhali Ram (Jhaliram

Nirmal), Prahladi Ram (Prahlad Ray Purohit), Ujira or Ujiram, and Lachhi Ram.

34. Devilal Samar, "The Dance Dramas of Rajasthan," Cultural Forum 6, no. 3 (May 1964): 44. Whereas the nineteenth-century plays were published all over North India, in the twentieth century they come mostly from Rajasthan, according to the British Museum and India Office Library catalogues.

35. Samar, Rajasthani lok-natya , 18.

36. Agraval, Sangit , 34-38. See also Vatsyayan, Traditional Indian Theatre , 160.

37. The akharas of Turra and Kalagi bear some striking similarities to the akharas of renunciants ( sadhus ) organized on a paramilitary basis, who also identify themselves with distinctive banners and insignia. See Romila Thapar, Ancient Indian Social History , 89.

38. According to Tulpule, the Kalagi tradition was founded by Vadavalasiddha Nagesa in the fourteenth century, whereas Turra originated with Haradasa. Shankar Gopal Tulpule, Classical Marathi Literature , 440. Several North Indian sources, however, name Tukun Giri and Shah All as founders of Kalagi and Turra respectively, dating them to four hundred years ago. A nineteenth-century lithographed collection of Hindi lavanis in the British Library contains a foreword that supports. this view: "Some call this Lavani and some Marhathi or Khyal. Actually, its composition and singing come from the south, and its two originators were Tukan Giri and Shah Ali who founded the two sects, Turra and Kalagi." Kashigir Banarasi, Lavani (Banaras: Munshi Ambe Prasad, 1877). Similar information is contained in Devilal Samar, "The Khyals of Rajasthan," in P. N. Chopra, ed., Folk Entertainment in India , 57; and in Mahendra Bhanavat, Rajasthan ke turrakalangi , 2-3. Agraval says that Tukhangiri (his spelling) was a nirgunvadi sadhu and Shah All a Sufi faqir . They were residents of Madhya Pradesh and were given their crests by the king of Chanderi following a court performance. Tukhangiri's disciple Rasalgiri came to Uttar Pradesh in the eighteenth century and spread the khyal form there. He was especially welcomed in Agra where akharas of khyal and lavani were started at his instigation. Agraval, Sangit , 30-31.

39. The Turra and Kalagi parties may have been heirs to older confrontations between Naths and rival Siddha or Mahanubhava groups. See Tulpule, Classical Marathi Literature , 440; Bhanvat, Rajasthan ke turrakalangi , 17.

40. Vatsyayan, Traditional Indian Theatre , 170; Tulpule, Classical Marathi Literature , 345, 433.

41. Vatsyayan, Traditional Indian Theatre , 174; Gargi, Folk Theater , 79. Dhyaneshwar Nadkarni, however, reports that the saval-javab form of musical repartee has long disappearred from the Tamasha. See his "Marathi Tamasha, Yesterday and Today," in Durgadas Mukhopadhyay, ed., Lesser Known Forms of Performing Arts in India , 53. See also M. L. Varadpande, "Tamasha: Folk Theatre of Maharashtra," in Chopra, ed., Folk Entertainment in India , 61-67; Chandrashekhar Jahagirdar, "Marathi Folk Literature," in K. M. George, ed., Comparative Indian Literature , 1:103-104.

42. Hemendra Nath Das Gupta, The Indian Theatre , 145.

43. Ibid., 151.

42. Hemendra Nath Das Gupta, The Indian Theatre , 145.

43. Ibid., 151.

44. Shivkumar Madhur reports that Turra-Kalagi parties now exist in Ujjain, Indore, and other towns of Madhya Pradesh, and he describes their performance style in Madhyapradesh ka lok natya mach , 17. I viewed a videotape of a Turra-Kalagi troupe from Madhya Pradesh performing Abhimanyu dronacharya samvad in the Sangeet Natak Akademi archives in December 1984.

45. Ramgharib Chaube, "On Popular Singers in Saharanpur," Indian Antiquary 39 (Feb. 1910): 64.

46. The plays of Guru Gopalji, one of the originators of Mach, bear rubrics such as khyal mach ka and nakal khyal mach ki (play or poem of the Mach stage, impersonation-play or poem of the Mach stage). Gopalji's successor, Balmukund, established the conventions of the present day and popularized the use of the name Mach. Five of Balmukund's plays are contained in the British Library, where three of them are termed pura khel manch ka (complete play of the Mach stage) and two are styled nakal (impersonation). These editions of Balmukund's plays were published in Delhi and Calcutta between 1894 and 1897. See appendix B pt. 2.

47. Bhanavat, Rajasthan ke turrakalangi , 15-21. Samar, "The Khyals of Rajasthan," 55.

48. The Kalagi troupe of Bhagvati Prasad is mentioned as one of the akharas of folk theatre in Agra in the second half of the nineteenth century. Ashok Chakradhar, "Nautanki," in Durgadas Mukhopadhyay, ed., Lesser Known Forms of Performing Arts in India , 121.

49. Sadhuram Mistri, Sangit gorakh machhandar nath (1915), 3; Chiranjilal Natharam, Sangit chandravali ka jhula (1901), 84; Batuknath Kalyan, Sangit brahma ka byah (1902), 136.

50. Batuknath Kalyan, Sangit brahma ka byah , 136; Chhitarmal Jyotishi, Chhandom ka syahposh (1948), 1.

51. [Ustad Indarman], Khyal puran mal ka (1892), 1.

52. The first printed play of the Indarman akhara in the India Office Library, possibly written by Indarman himself, is entitled Khyal puran mal ka , although it is written in the distinctive metrical form of Svang, the doha-chaubola-daur , and is in Khari Boli Hindi.

53. Jo sajjan asli chahem indarman krit khyala / likhau muhar mem lai padhi nam chiranjilala . Chiranjilal Natharam, Amar simh ka sakha (1915). See also Chiranjilal Natharam, Malkhan sangram (1902), cover page.

54. Yah baidya chiranjilal khyal kath gaya / din sat mahim rachi pachi ke svang banaya . Vaidya Chiranjilal, Brahma ka byah (1902), final page.

55. Describing contemporary Khyal, Ahuja writes, "Two principal actors have a question-answer session on the stage and in poetical dialogue they do what would require many actors to perform." Ahuja, Folklore of Rajasthan , 139. Vatsyayan similarly notes, "The characteristic feature of all these performances whether in Punjab or Haryana or Rajasthan or U.P. is ... the wordy battle which takes place between two groups or between two characters." Vatsyayan, Traditional Indian Theatre , 159. Robson's reference to this practice was mentioned above (note 29).

56. Published anthologies of lavanis appear in the British Library from 1866 on. Some of these carry cover sketches of groups of lavani singers gathered

around a drum player, as in fig. 6 where one member of the party smokes a chilam (clay pipe).

57. The texts indicate that the term lavani was used interchangeably with khyal to refer to a song type (e.g., the phrase iti khyal sampurnam , ''the end of the khyal ," at the conclusion of a poem labeled lavani ). The British Library texts examined were Nanhu Lal, Lavani navin bilas (Banaras: Munshi Ambe Prasad, ca. 1873); Kashigir Banarasi, Lavani (Banaras: Munshi Ambe Prasad, 1877); and Suddh bilas pahila bhag (Fatehgarh, 1882) by various authors.

58. "Lower class people had also evolved special literary interests according to their tastes. For instance, one practice arose which was known as khayal . People composed extemporary verses and recited them when sitting in a circle. The name khayal was given to the feat of everyone producing a masterpiece from his imagination and creating some new idea. Several exponents of this art achieved great success and although they had no connection with the best society or with educated people, still, if one considers the matter, one must admit that they produced real and natural poetry." Sharar, Lucknow: The Last Phase , 93.

59. Madan Gopal, The Bharatendu , 28.

60. On the current practice of lavani singing in Urdu, see Mohammad Hasan, "Urdu Folk Literature," in K. M. George, ed., Comparative Indian Literature , 1:144; and also Azhar Ali Faruqi, Uttar pradesh ke lok git , 425-447. In eastern Rajasthan, folk poets continue to compose verses (classed in general as khyals ) in a large number of lavani meters, which have been described in detail by Bhanavat, Rajasthan ke turrakalangi , 4-15, and Govind Rajnish, Rajasthan ke purvi anchal ka lok-sahitya , 53-73.

61. The uniqueness of these tenets can be adjudged from Charlotte Vaudeville's discussion in her Kabir , 126-127, 134.

62. Gorakhnath was probably born between A.D. 1000 and 1200 in either the Punjab or eastern Bengal. His name is closely linked with several other Siddhas, namely Machhendarnath (Matsyendranath), Jalandharnath (Jalandharipa), and Kanipa, who may have been his teachers. Although the early stages of the Nath sect are dim, Gorakh's primary significance lay in synthesizing Buddhist and Tantric doctrines with Shaivism. He codified the system of Hatha yoga and authored the Goraksasataka and possibly other texts. Nath influence on medieval poets like Kabir, Nanak, and Jnandev was considerable, and a host of lesser poets in Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali were also followers of the Nath cult. For general background on the dates and teachings of Gorakh-nath, see J. N. Farquhar, An Outline of the Religious Literature of India ; George Weston Briggs, Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis , 228-257; Vaudeville, Kabir , 85-89.

63. Briggs, Gorakhnath , 78-124.

64. C. A. Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars , 140-143. See also David N. Lorenzen, "Warrior Ascetics in Indian History," Journal of the American Oriental Society 98, no. 1 (1978): 61-75.

65. Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars , 126; Briggs, Gorakhnath , 6.

66. Briggs, Gorakhnath , 24-25, 55, 183-207.

67. K. Raghunathji, "Bombay Beggars and Criers," Indian Antiquary (Nov. 1880): 279.

68. M. A. Sherring, Hindu Tribes and Castes , 261.

69. Elwyn C. Lapoint, "The Epic of Guga," in Sylvia Vatuk, ed., American Studies in the Anthropology of India , 281-308. Daniel Gold and Ann Grodzins Gold, "The Fate of the Householder Nath," History of Religions 24, no. 2 (Nov. 1984): 113-132.

70. Jogis in Rajasthan sing the ballad of Amar Singh; see Ocora LP #31, "Inde—Rajasthan—Musiciens professionels populaires," recorded 1971-72. The importance of jogis in the medieval ballad traditions of the Punjab is mentioned by Adya Rangacharya, The Indian Theatre , 66. On the dominance of the Nath cult in Rajasthani folklore and the role of the jogis , see Ahuja, Folklore of Rajasthan , 47, 120. The Naths' singing of Pingla Jhurapo , a version of the tale of Raja Bhartari in Malawi, is mentioned in Shyam Parmar, Folklore of Madhya Pradesh , 93. Jogis' singing of the Nihalde legend in Haryana is reported by Devi Shankar Prabhakar, "Folk Entertainment in Haryana," in P. N. Chopra, ed., Folk Entertainment in India , 28.

71. J. Abbott, "On the Ballads and Legends of the Punjab," and "Rifacimento of the Legend of Russaloo," Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal , nos. 1 & 2 (1854): 59-163. William Crooke, "A Version of the Guga Legend,'' Indian Antiquary (Feb. 1895):49-56. Flora Annie Steel and R. C. Temple, "How Raja Rasalu Was Born'' and other stories in Tales of the Punjab , 159-161. Charles Swynnerton, Romantic Tales from the Panjab , "The Love Story of Hir and Ranjha," 1-24; "Raja Rasalu," 51-151; "The Story of Puran Bhagat," 230-245.

72. William Ridgeway, The Dramas and Dramatic Dances of Non-European Races , 190.

73. Ibid., 194. The Svang of Puran is reported to be presented most commonly at Dashahara and Holi. The different styles of dramatic representation are described as follows: "The story of Hakikat Rai has been turned into a regular play and staged as such. But the accounts of Gopi Chand and Puran are mostly known in dialogue forms only, in which they are represented not only in the Punjab, but in the United Provinces and Rajputana as well. The difference is that the latter are staged on modern lines. There are, of course, actors representing the personages connected with the story, each taking his turn in time, but they may not come and go with scenes or curtains or other contrivances." Ibid., 197.

72. William Ridgeway, The Dramas and Dramatic Dances of Non-European Races , 190.

73. Ibid., 194. The Svang of Puran is reported to be presented most commonly at Dashahara and Holi. The different styles of dramatic representation are described as follows: "The story of Hakikat Rai has been turned into a regular play and staged as such. But the accounts of Gopi Chand and Puran are mostly known in dialogue forms only, in which they are represented not only in the Punjab, but in the United Provinces and Rajputana as well. The difference is that the latter are staged on modern lines. There are, of course, actors representing the personages connected with the story, each taking his turn in time, but they may not come and go with scenes or curtains or other contrivances." Ibid., 197.

74. Jagdish Chandra Mathur, "Hindi Drama and Theatre," in Indian Drama , 23.

75. Suniti Kumar Chatterji, introduction to Indian Drama , 8. Twenty-five of these plays in Devanagari with critical introductions by Jagdish Chandra Mathur and Dasharath Ojha are found in Mata Prasad Gupta, ed., Prachin bhasha natak samgrah .

76. A Bengali version of Gopichandra found in Nepal, written in 1712, is mentioned by Das Gupta, The Indian Theatre , 164.

77. Chatterji, introduction to Indian Drama , 8.

78. Hein, Miracle Plays , 121-123. According to Hein, three drama manuscripts from seventeenth-century Nepal, including the Harishchandra nrityam , are preserved in the library of the German Oriental Society.

79. Shardadevi Vedalankar, The Development of Hindi Prose Literature , 188-198. A manuscript of the play is reportedly contained in the Hodgson Collection in the India Office Library.

80. Joyce Lebra-Chapman, The Rani of Jhansi , 17.

81. Mahesh Anand, "Bharatenduyugin< rangmanch," in Nemichandra Jain, ed., Adhunik hindi natak aur rangmanch , 53, 61. See also Krishna Mohan Saksena, Bharatenduyugin natya-sahitya mem loktattva , 133-134.

82. Preoccupation with the arts has conventionally been viewed as the cause of Wajid Ali's loss of power, but recent historiography has reexamined the dynamics of the Awadh Nawabi and considered the role of cultural patronage in legitimizing rulership. See Richard B. Barnett, North India between Empires ; Michael H. Fisher, A Clash of Cultures ; and Carla Rae Petievich, "The Two School Theory of Urdu Literature." Also of interest is the controversy within India about Wajid Ali's actions vis-à-vis the British, as represented in Satyajit Ray's film based on the Premchand short story, "Shatranj ke khilari" (The chessplayers). Satyajit Ray, "My Wajid Ali Is Not 'Effete and Effeminate,'" Illustrated Weekly of India , Dec. 31, 1978, 49-51 (and Rajbans Khanna's rejoinder in the same issue, 53).

83. On thumri and Kathak, see Sharar, Lucknow: The Last Phase , 137-142; Peter Manuel, "The Evolution of Modern Thumri ," Ethnomusicology 30, no. 3 (Fall 1986): 470-490; Nirmala Joshi, "Wajidali Shah and the Music of His Time," Sangeet Natak Akademi Bulletin 6 (May 1957): 36-38; Ragini Devi, Dance Dialects of India , 167; Nandita Haksar, "Kathak," Indian Horizons 29, no. 3 (1980): 34-39.

84. Adib asserts that rahas or ras originally referred to the dances of Krishna and the gopis , but later it came to be a general term for drama and was used as such on the title pages of Amanat's Indarsabha . Masud Hasan Rizvi ("Adib"), Urdu drama aur istej , pt. 2: Lakhnau ka 'avami istej , 45-46. Platts's Dictionary of Urdu includes the following as meanings of the word rahas : "a secret, mystery, mystical or religious truth"; "sexual intercourse, copulation"; ''pleasantry, merriment, sportive sallies''; and "a kind of ballet or theatric representation of Krishna and the Gopis (a similar entertainment was invented by Wajid 'Ali Shah of Lakhnau and given in his court)" (609). In his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (1829) James Tod refers to the Rasdharis as Rahus-d'harees , an indication of the earlier pronunciation (cited in Hein, Miracle Plays , 133).

85. The text of Radha kanhaiya ka qissa is printed in Masud Hasan Rizvi ("Adib"), Urdu drama aur istej , pt. 1: Lakhnau ka shahi istej , 212-224.

86. The principal source on Wajid Ali Shah's involvement with the theatre is Rizvi, Urdu drama aur istej , pt. 1, especially 71-194. For a brief English synopsis, see Syed Masud Hasan Rizavi, "On Urdu Drama aur Stage," Indian Literature (Oct. 1959-Mar. 1960): 138-140. The issues are also discussed at length in M. Aslam Qureshi, Wajid Ali Shah's Theatrical Genius . A Hindi summary appears in Agraval, Sangit , 68-76. See also Sharar, Lucknow: The Last

Phase , 64, 85, 146; Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak , 115-117; and Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 227-229.

87. Ram Babu Saksena, A History of Urdu Literature , 350-351; Somnath Gupta, Hindi natak sahitya , 8; Annemarie Schimmel, Classical Urdu Literature , 213-214. Saksena, however, does not claim complete reliability, suggesting that the story of the Nawab's participation was based on hearsay.

88. Rizvi, Urdu drama aur istej , pt. 2, 42-45.

89. Saksena states, "One of the French companions [of Wajid Ali Shah] mooted the idea of stage and presented the scheme of opera which was in the heyday of popularity in France." History of Urdu Literature , 351. Muhammad Sadiq declares, "Indar Sabha is a musical comedy modelled on European opera" (Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature , 2d ed., 607), and earlier he states, "The revival of drama in India in the middle of the nineteenth century owes nothing to the discovery of an indigenous tradition. It is essentially an exotic" (606).

90. John Pemble, The Raj, the Indian Mutiny, and the Kingdom of Oudh , 265; see also 23-24, 265-266.

91. Agraval argues that the Indarsabha ought not to be called an Urdu play ( natak ) but rather a folk play of the old rasak tradition. Sangit , 69-70, 78-79. The Indarsabha is commonly included in histories of Hindi dramatic literature and is discussed in the context of older Indian folk drama traditions. See Somnath Gupta, Hindi natak sahitya , 8; Tivari, Bharatendukalin natak , 117; Suresh Avasthi, "Indar sabha: ek rupgat adhyayan," Natrang 9 (1969): 23-29.

92. An illustration of Indra's court as symbolic of the Nayaks' reign in Madurai is given in David Dean Shulman, The King and the Clown , 229.

93. The dastan was coming to occupy an important place in the literature of nineteenth-century Urdu. See Frances W. Pritchett, Marvelous Encounters , 1-8.

94. Sadiq, A History of Urdu Literature , 607; and Schimmel, Classical Urdu Literature , 214.

95. By 1893, fifty-four editions had been published, in Devanagari and Gujarati scripts as well as in Urdu. James Fuller Blumhardt, Catalogue of Hindustani Printed Books , 1889, 29-30; James Fuller Blumhardt, Catalogue of the Library of the India Office , 1900.

96. The British Museum's first edition by Madarilal was published in Agra in 1860.

97. Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 229-236.

98. A possibly incomplete edition of Bandar sabha is contained in Shivprasad Mishra, ed., Bharatendu granthavali , 1:729-731. Blumhardt 1889 catalogues Bandar sabha (47) but lists no author. This edition was printed in Gujarati script, published in Bombay in 1877, 24 pp.

99. I am grateful to Bruce Pray for a copy of the first edition of Friedrich Rosen's Die Indarsabha des Amanat , which became the basis for the operetta, Im Reiche des Indra . See Schimmel, Classical Urdu Literature , 214.

100. The Parsis practice the pre-Islamic Persian religion founded by Zoroaster. They emigrated from Iran to Gujarat in the eighth century and settled

in Bombay under British encouragement soon after 1660. In the nineteenth century Parsis achieved prominence in education, law, and business; they became one of the most Westernized communities in India. Eckehard Kulke, The Parsees in India , 26-34.

101. Y. K. Yajnik, The Indian Theatre , 93; Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 245. See also Kulke, Parsees in India , 106-107.

102. Birendra Narayana, Hindi Drama and Stage , 38; Saksena, History of Urdu Literature , 354-355. Schimmel calls the Delhi company the "Balliwala Theatrical Company," in Classical Urdu Literature , 236.

103. Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 14.

104. Ibid., 196. The Parsi Curzon Theatrical Company of Calcutta, in addition to its Indian tours, went to Burma, Straits Settlements, and Penang. See A. Yusuf Ali, "The Modern Hindustani Drama," Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature , 2d s., 35 (1917): 85.

103. Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 14.

104. Ibid., 196. The Parsi Curzon Theatrical Company of Calcutta, in addition to its Indian tours, went to Burma, Straits Settlements, and Penang. See A. Yusuf Ali, "The Modern Hindustani Drama," Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature , 2d s., 35 (1917): 85.

105. Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 97-102.

106. Ibid., 113. Yusuf Ali, "Modern Hindustani Drama," 95-96.

105. Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 97-102.

106. Ibid., 113. Yusuf Ali, "Modern Hindustani Drama," 95-96.

107. Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 111-115.

108. See Kulke, Parsees in India , 105-108, regarding the "extensive anglicization" of the Parsis.

109. Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 33-51.

110. At least four of some twenty-five plays of Raunaq's are housed in the British Museum collection. These were published in Bombay in 1879-1880 and are printed in Gujarati script. The four plays concern favorite themes found in the nineteenth-century Svang tradition: Hir ranjha, Benazir badr-e-munir, Laila majnun, Puran bhagat . According to Somnath Gupta, most of Zarif's plays are unavailable ( Parsi thiyetar , 60). Thirty plays are attributed to him by Saksena, following Nami ( History of Urdu Literature , 354).

111. For a discussion of Talib's works and examples of his language, see Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 71-85. Gupta indicates that Talib's plays were published by Khurshedji Balliwala and bases his comments on personally owned manuscripts. On Betab see ibid., 85-86; and Vidyavati Lakshmanrao Namre, Hindi rangmanch aur pandit narayanprasad betab

110. At least four of some twenty-five plays of Raunaq's are housed in the British Museum collection. These were published in Bombay in 1879-1880 and are printed in Gujarati script. The four plays concern favorite themes found in the nineteenth-century Svang tradition: Hir ranjha, Benazir badr-e-munir, Laila majnun, Puran bhagat . According to Somnath Gupta, most of Zarif's plays are unavailable ( Parsi thiyetar , 60). Thirty plays are attributed to him by Saksena, following Nami ( History of Urdu Literature , 354).

111. For a discussion of Talib's works and examples of his language, see Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , 71-85. Gupta indicates that Talib's plays were published by Khurshedji Balliwala and bases his comments on personally owned manuscripts. On Betab see ibid., 85-86; and Vidyavati Lakshmanrao Namre, Hindi rangmanch aur pandit narayanprasad betab

112. Lakshmi Narayan Lal, Parsi-hindi rangmanch , 20. For a more detailed discussion of Urdu playwrights of the Parsi stage, see Saksena, History of Urdu Literature , 353-366.

113. Further information on Radheyshyam is found in Lakshmi Narayan Lal, Parsi-hindi rangmanch , 42-52.

114. Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , appendix 2, 13-17; Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 92-93.

115. Yajnik has an extensive discussion of Indian adaptations of Shakespeare in Indian Theatre , 125-216. His appendix C lists approximately two hundred versions of twenty-nine plays of Shakespeare translated or adapted into various Indian languages, 270-278.

116. Yusuf Ali, "Modern Hindustani Drama," 96.

117. Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 112.

118. Narayana, Hindi Drama and Stage , 40; Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 115.

119. Somnath Gupta, Parsi thiyetar , appendix 2, 40-50.

120. Yusuf Ali, "Modern Hindustani Drama," 96.

121. Narayana, Hindi Drama and Stage , 40-41.

122. Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 109-110.

123. These include Gopichandra, Harishchandra, Prahlad, Puran bhagat, Laila majnun, Shirin farhad, Gul bakavali, Benazir badr-e-munir, Nal daman, Sati savitri , and Shakuntala .

124. See Yajnik, Indian Theatre , 106: "The phenomenal success of Harish-chandra in all the provinces of India was largely due to Parsi effort in Urdu."