Chandrakanta

The book that taught a generation to read.

When Devki Nandan Khatri published Chandrakanta in 1888, something unprecedented happened: readers across India - many of whom had never read Hindi before - taught themselves the language simply to follow the story. The novel became the first great bestseller of modern Hindi literature, and its world of rival kingdoms, master spies, and enchanted labyrinths has never left the imagination of its readers.

Now, for the first time in a complete and unabridged English translation, that world is open to all.

The Story

Princess Chandrakanta of Vijaygarh and Prince Virendrasingh of Naugadh are in love - and separated by five kos, a jealous minister's son, two armies of aiyyars, and a tilism that has swallowed men whole.

Their letters travel by night. Their spies counter every move. But the tilism - an enchanted labyrinth of impossible architecture and buried sorcery, built by a master artificer who has been dead for generations - stands between them. And whoever holds its secret holds the kingdom.

At the heart of the story are the aiyyars: master spies trained in disguise, deception, and a hundred forms of trickery, bound by a code of honour as strict as any warrior's. Chief among them is Tejsingh - clever, vain about his craft, and completely devoted to his prince. Against him: Krursingh's aiyyars, working for the man who wants Chandrakanta by any means necessary. Their battle of wits drives every twist of the plot.

About the Novel

Chandrakanta occupies a singular place in literary history. Written in accessible, colloquial Hindi at a time when Persian and Sanskrit dominated literary culture, it democratised reading across north India. Khatri drew on the ancient dastan oral tradition - the great Persian-Arabic storytelling form - and transformed it into something entirely new: a modern novel with cliffhanger episodes, a cast of fully-drawn characters, and plots within plots that reward close attention.

The novel's spy-tricksters, its enchanted labyrinth, and its impossible romance have inspired television adaptations, a planned Bollywood epic, and more than a century of devoted readers. It has never, until now, been available in a complete, unabridged English rendering that preserves the energy and wit of the original.

About This Translation

This translation by Romesh Sarkar works directly from Khatri's original 1888 Hindi text. The aim throughout has been fidelity to the original's voice: its speed, its comedy, its capacity for sudden darkness, and the distinctive theatrical register of the aiyyar scenes. Where previous English versions have condensed or simplified the novel, this edition gives the reader the complete text - all four parts, every episode - without omission.

A translator's introduction, character guide, and glossary of key terms are included.

Forgotten Classics of India - Book 1

Forgotten Classics of India is a series dedicated to recovering the great novels of the Indian tradition for the English reader. Each volume is translated directly from the original language, unabridged, with scholarly apparatus that places the work in its literary and historical context.