Authors

Indian · 1830–1873

Dinabandhu Mitra

Dinabandhu Mitra was a Bengali playwright whose Nil Darpan (The Indigo Planting Mirror, 1858-1860) — depicting the brutal exploitation of Bengali indigo farmers by British planters — was the first major play of social protest in Indian literature. The English translation, published by the missionary James Long, led to Long's imprisonment for libel, an event that made the play internationally famous. Mitra worked as a postal official while writing, and his plays are foundational to the Bengali theatrical tradition.