1. Based on Jaini Jiya Lal's Sangit raja harichandra ka (1877) and Natharam Sharma Gaur, Sangit harishchandra, urf gulshan ka nag (1981). On the dating of the Natharam Harishchandra , see Kathryn Hansen, " Sultana< the dacoit and Harishchandra : Two Popular Dramas of the Nautanki Tradition of North India," Modern Asian Studies 17, no. 2 (1983): 320.

2. The old story was first mentioned in the Mahabharata and recounted in detail in the Markandeya purana . See Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen, eds. and trans., Classical Hindu Mythology , 274-286; John Dowson, A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology , 118-119.

3. The Harishchandra story first makes its appearance as a Sangit in both Hindi and Urdu in the late nineteenth century. Jaini Jiya Lal's version was published as Sangit raja harichandra ka in Devanagari in Banaras in 1877 and as

Svang rajah harichand in Urdu (Persian characters) in Delhi in 1881. Another Hindi Sangit edition is that of Kidha Mishra, published in Meerut in 1880. Temple's "Legend of Hari Chand," collected from a bard in Meerut district, is evidence of its circulation as an oral tale at this time. Ramabhadra Sarman's Harishchandra nrityam , written in 1651 in Maithili and other dialects, was performed in the Indrayatra festival in Kathmandu. A drama on the same theme was exhibited in the court at Jhansi, Madhya Pradesh, during the reign of Gangadhar Rao (1835-1853). It was known in the folk theatre of Rajasthan, as seen from Shivprasad Poddar's published Khyal dated 1886, and versions also circulated in Gujarati, Bengali, and other North Indian languages.

4. Trimohan Lai,

5. The two most influential Sangit versions, that of Lakshman Das dating to 1866 or earlier and that of Chiranjilal Natharam, perhaps written in 1925, are quite similar. The narrative presented above comes primarily from the Lakshman Das version but includes some differences from the later text where they clarify the meaning. For other versions and historical context, see discussion of narrative folklore in chapter 3 end of lithographed Sangits in chapter 4.

6. Hardev Sahay, Sangit raja raghuvir simh ka (1876).

7. Two Nautanki versions of the Puranmal story are Balakram Yogeshvar, Puranmal bhakt (n.d.); and Natharam Sharma Gaur, Puranmal (1981). On Risalu, see Balakram Yogeshvar, Sati shilade, raja risalu va divan mahte shah (n.d.).

8. Gandhi had personal contact with the story when theatrical troupes performed it during his childhood in Gujarat. His reaction must have been shared by thousands of spectators over the years: "To follow truth and go through all the ordeals Harishchandra went through was the one ideal it inspired in me. I literally believed in the story of Harishchandra. The thought of it all often made me weep." Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography , 7.

9. Shalini Reys, "Dancing on a String: Kathputlis, Marionettes of Rajas-than," The India Magazine 5, no. 3 (Feb. 1985): 52-59; D. R. Ahuja, Folklore of Rajasthan , 5, 122, 143-144.

10. Synopsis adapted from Natharam Gaur, Sangit amar simh rathor, sajild donom bhag (1979).

11. For a summary of the story, see George A. Grierson's introduction to the translation of William Waterfield, The Lay of Alha , 13-20.

12. In order to fit the Indian legal definition, a dacoit must operate with a gang of at least five. See Shyam Sunder Katare, Patterns of Dacoity in India , 6. A number of Indian studies discuss the various sociological aspects of the dacoit problem. These include R. P. Garg, Dacoit Problem in Chambal Valley ; Taroon Coomar Bhaduri, Chambal: The Valley of Terror ; R. G. Singh, Terror to Reform ; D. P. Jatar and M. Z. Khan, The Problem of Dacoity in Bundelkhand and the Chambal Valley ; and M. Z. Khan, Dacoity in Chambal Valley .

13. The synopsis is based on Natharam's text, Sangit dayaram gujar, urf bevafa dost (1981). The story first appears in the Sangit literature in a version by Tota Ram Govind Chaman, Dayaram gujar (1914), and in Gaddar Simh, Dayaram gujar (1916).

14. The text on which this synopsis is based is that of Natharam Sharma

Gaur, Sultana daku, urf garibom ka pyara (1982). Other Sangit versions of the play are Shrikrishna Pahalvan, Sultana daku, urf hay re paisa (1977); and Muralidhar, Sultana daku, hay re paisa (n.d.). For nondramatic versions, see Hansen, " Sultana the dacoit and Harishchandra ," 319.

15. Natharam, Sultana daku , 1, 8.

16. Ibid., 60.

15. Natharam, Sultana daku , 1, 8.

16. Ibid., 60.

17. Jim Corbett, My India , 98.

18. Shrikrishna Pahalvan, Sultana daku , 62.

19. The text used for this analysis is from Natharam's akhara, Sangit daku man simh (1963). A second version in my possession is that of Ustad Mangal Simh's akhara, Sangit man simh daku (n.d.).

20. Bhaduri, Chambal: The Valley of Terror , 28.

21. M. Radhakrishnan, Indian Police Journal , quoted in Bhaduri, Chambal: The Valley of Terror , 29.

22. Khan, Dacoity in Chambal Valley , 78.

23. Natharam, Daku man simh , 51.

24. The classic study of "social banditry" based on European folk and historical materials is Eric Hobsbawm's Bandits . For examples from the folklore of Gujarat, see Charles Augustus Kincaid, The Outlaws of Kathiawar and Other Studies ; Tara Bose, Folk Tales of Gujarat . For the Deccan, J. F. Richards and V. N. Rao, "Banditry in Mughal India: Historical and Folk Perceptions," Indian Economic and Social History Review 17, no. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1980): 95-120. For Tamilnadu, N. Vanamamalai, "Dacoits and Robbers in Tamil Ballads," Folklore 12, no. 2 (Feb. 1971): 66-72; Stuart H. Blackburn, ''The Folk Hero and Class Interests in Tamil Heroic Ballads," Asian Folklore Studies 37, no. 1 (1978): 131-149. For Kerala, Vilanilam, "Robinhood of Kerala," Folklore 13, no. 8 (Aug. 1972.): 308-317. And Bangladesh, Ashraf Siddiqui, Folkloric Bangladesh , 50-51.