Nilkor Tomas Macheller Dinlipi by Thomas Machell [Hardcover]

Thomas Matchel joined the Bengal Indigo Company as an indigo planter in 1846 and began living in various indigo factories across rural Bengal. He meticulously documented his daily experiences in his journal, along with sketching scenes of Bengal’s village life. There is perhaps no other such direct and illustrated chronicle of 19th-century rural Bengal. His daily entries vividly portray life in places like Hanskhali, Tribeni, Bongaon, Petrapole, Benapole, Jessore, Krishnanagar, Baragoria, and Pataka Bari in Murshidabad, even before the Sepoy Rebellion. Historical figures such as the infamous dacoit Bishe, revolutionary leader Titumir, and members of the Young Bengal movement come to life alongside lesser-known characters like Mr. Furlong, Nandadulal Pandit (a scholar engaged in scripture discussions at the indigo factory), Persian scholar Orshinath Munshi, factory doctor Debbonath Dhar, the ill-fated Jessie Warrington, and the educated young job-seeker Umasundar Mukherjee. Matchel’s manuscript remained unpublished for years in the British Library. Now, for the first time, it has been translated into Bengali and published, complete with historical annotations and commentary. Thomas Matchel loved Bengal deeply and even declared it to be his destined homeland. Now, after many years, his vivid depiction of everyday rural Bengal has finally been published in the very land he cherished.