Rangbhoomi: The Arena of Life[a] is a Hindi language novel by Premchand. The novel features an idealist protagonist inspired by Gandhian values.[1]

Rangbhoomi
Premchand, the author of Rangbhoomi
AuthorMunshi Premchand
Original titleRangbhoomi
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
GenreFiction
Published1924
PublisherDarul Ishat
Media typeNovel
ISBN9788122205329

Set in colonial India, the novel presents a grim account of a blind beggar, Soordas, against the acquisition of his ancestral land. The theme of the oppression of working classes is typical as in other Premchand works.[2] Among Premchand's works, Soordas is the character with the most significant Gandhian influence. He is simple and fearless, and personifies the protest against industrialisation in his village, consistent with the Gandhian views on industrialisation.[3]

Content

The novel revolves around several characters, covering different aspects of life such as lust, agony, bravery, truth, righteousness, duty, moral values, patience, compassion, etc., during the colonial India.

The story revolves around, Soordas, a blind beggar from Pandepur Basti in Prayagraj who struggles for the acquaintance of his ancestral land with Mr. John Sewak, an industrialist and Mahendra Pratap Singh, the king of Chatari and president of Municipality.

The novel also covers the life account of Mr. John Sewak and his orthodox Christian wife Ms. Sewak who wants her daughter to follow Christianity, which her daughter , Sophia dislikes.

Another character, Vinay the prince and belonging from Hindu family, whose mother Rani Jahanvi wants him to sacrifice his life for country, but he is lustful towards Sophia. There religious difference created a chaos in whole society. The novel covers the problems arose due to industrialisation in India.[4]

Footnotes

  1. ^ The first word is also sometimes spelt as Rangabhoomi, Rangabhumi or Rangbhumi]

References

  1. ^ Datta, Amaresh, ed. (1988). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti. Sahitya Akademi. p. 1354. ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0.
  2. ^ Vasudeva, Uma (22 May 2011). "Classic retold". The Tribune. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  3. ^ Das, Sisir Kumar (2005). History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, struggle for freedom: triumph and tragedy. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-81-7201-798-9.
  4. ^ Riello, Giorgio (2020-03-26), "Factories before the Factory: The English East India Company's Textile Procurement in India and British Industrialisation, 1650–1750", Reinventing the Economic History of Industrialisation, McGill-Queen's University Press, pp. 262–275, ISBN 978-0-2280-0206-2, retrieved 2023-10-05

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