Rencontres Indo Britanniques Au Gujerat A Propos Dune Nouvelle De Dhumketu

Author(s): Nalini Balbir
Publisher: Nalini Balbir

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Rencontres indo-britanniques au Gujerat 51 indienne plus en retrait que d'autres a leur epoque, et comment ils se sont employes a en montrer la richesse a leurs contemporains, par leurs ecrits, par leurs dessins et par leur comportement. En outre, qui confrontera la nouvelle gujeratie de Dhumketu et la relation des auteurs britanniques apercevra quelques ressorts de la creation litteraire indienne: l'ecrivain y apparait comme le depositaire d'une tradition plus que comme un individu donnant libre cours a une quelconque fantaisie personnelle. SUMMARY The Gujrati writer Dhumketu (1892-1965) being renowned as the learned author of historical novels, the question can arise, when reading his short story Vinipat (published circa 1936) whether it is based on some historical events. As a matter of fact it does implicitly refer to the circumstances surrounding the departure of James Forbes from India where he had served for the East India Company during seventeen years (from 1765 to 1783). There he had learned to admire, especially in and around Dabhoi, the wonder that was Gujrat. Forbes relates the events in his Oriental Memoirs (see extracts above). In the present paper 1) the episode is related as stated in J. Forbes's Memoirs; 2) Dhumketu's Vinipat is translated from the Gujrati original. To conclude it is shown how the discrepancies which can be spotted between the two texts might have arisen from Dhumketu's wish to intertwine James Forbes (1749-1819) and Alexander Kinloch Forbes (1821-1865), the latter being well known in Gujrat as the author of the Ras Mala and for his action in favour of the preservation of Gujrati traditions. It is further suggested that Vinipat also alludes to the beginning of the rediscovery of Oriental cultures, especially of India's glorious past, at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, as well as to the pre-Independence movements in modern India. 60. Cf. Mildred ARCHER, Company Drawings in the India Office Library. London, 1972, p. 236: "In comparison with other parts of India, fewer Company servants took a lively interest in the country (i.e. l'Inde occidentale) and in its manners and customs, or, as a corollary wanted pictures to illustrate these subjects"; et encore, du meme auteur, Conipany Paintings. Indian Paintings of the British Period. London: Victoria and Albert Museum. Indian Art Series, 1992, p. 177.