What do you think?
Rate this book
The Republic of Orissá; A Page from the Annals of the Twentieth Century
The story is set in the dystopia of colonial India with the government passing a law that supports slavery, which leads to a revolt in which the British are defeated but then ignore what they had agreed to do.
Rpt. in Bengaliana: A Dish of Rice and Curry, and Other Indigestible Ingredients (Calcutta, India: Thacker, Spink, and Co., [1878]), 347-56.; in Selections from ‘Bengaliana’. Ed. Alex Tickell (Manchester, Eng: Trent Editions, 2005), 149-59, with a Glossary on 164-38; and in Science Fiction in Colonial India, 1835-1905: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction and Resistance. Ed. Mary Ellis Gibson (London: Anthem Press, 2019), 133-41, with an editor’s introduction on 126-32.
Rpt. in Bengaliana: A Dish of Rice and Curry, and Other Indigestible Ingredients (Calcutta, India: Thacker, Spink, and Co., [1878]), 347-56.; in Selections from ‘Bengaliana’. Ed. Alex Tickell (Manchester, Eng: Trent Editions, 2005), 149-59, with a Glossary on 164-38; and in Science Fiction in Colonial India, 1835-1905: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction and Resistance. Ed. Mary Ellis Gibson (London: Anthem Press, 2019), 133-41, with an editor’s introduction on 126-32.
Unknown Binding
Published May 25, 1845
About the author
Shoshee Chunder Dutt
78 booksShoshee Chunder Dutt was a nineteenth century colonial writer in India. Dutt
published many works including Miscellaneous Verses (1845), The Wild Tribes of
India (1882), and Bengal: An Account vof the Country from the Earliest Times (1884).
Dutt wrote under two English pseudonyms: J.A.G. Barton and Horatio Bickerstoff
Rowney. Dutt converted to Christianity along with his poetic cousins; the Vision
of Sumeru crafts a clash between the Hindu gods and the teachings of Jesus.
Dutt, according to Romesh Chunder Dutt, writer of The Dutt Family Album, said Shoshee Chunder Dutt “uses the colonizer’s values to eulogize freedom from subjugation.”
published many works including Miscellaneous Verses (1845), The Wild Tribes of
India (1882), and Bengal: An Account vof the Country from the Earliest Times (1884).
Dutt wrote under two English pseudonyms: J.A.G. Barton and Horatio Bickerstoff
Rowney. Dutt converted to Christianity along with his poetic cousins; the Vision
of Sumeru crafts a clash between the Hindu gods and the teachings of Jesus.
Dutt, according to Romesh Chunder Dutt, writer of The Dutt Family Album, said Shoshee Chunder Dutt “uses the colonizer’s values to eulogize freedom from subjugation.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
October 15, 2026
As one of the 'earliest known attempts at producing Indian fiction in English,' while the writing itself is alright, its content -- especially for an 'imaginative exercise' produced before the 20th century -- is surprisingly prescient and resonant, both with the eventual fall of the empire, and India's long-standing fuckery with politics and 'democracy'.
The additional 0.5 star, however, goes solely to this line, which even with its contextualisation would require a bit more explanation and a willingness to render this also under nation-building discourse: 'Jugoo Dás and Gopee Dás were found dead on the field of battle, locked fiercely in each other's arms!'
Ugh, this short story (and hopefully another tomorrow) would have to do until I get one of the two dense, but enjoyable, non-fics done with.
The additional 0.5 star, however, goes solely to this line, which even with its contextualisation would require a bit more explanation and a willingness to render this also under nation-building discourse: 'Jugoo Dás and Gopee Dás were found dead on the field of battle, locked fiercely in each other's arms!'
Ugh, this short story (and hopefully another tomorrow) would have to do until I get one of the two dense, but enjoyable, non-fics done with.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review