Karbala: A Historical Play by Premchand [Hardcover]

This work is a translation of one of Premchand's plays, Karbala, published in 1924. It is based on an event in Islamic history, the battle of Karbala, in which the younger grandson of Prophet Muhammad, Hussain, was martyred along with his family at the hands of the sinful caliph Yazid bin Muawiya. Premchand's retelling of the historic episode was daring at a time when communal sentiments where running high.In seventh-century Arabia, Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussain,sacrificed his life and his family members and companions in the desert ofKarbala, Iraq, to resist the debauched ruler Yazid. In twentieth-century India,when the communal conflict was at its peak, Premchand wrote a play about thispivotal event of Islamic history and transformed it into a nationalist narrative.This first-ever English translation of Premchand's outstanding play Karbala(1924) is an illuminating blend of historical facts and imagination. It revealsPremchand's profound understanding of the communal conflict in earlytwentieth-century India and his unique way of imagining the nation, in tunewith Gandhian principles of communal harmony and co-existence of religions.Table of Contents1. Preface2. Introduction3. The Play4. Appendices:A. Premchand's Defence of the PlayB. Premchand's Letter to Daya Narain Nigam, Editor of Zamana regarding the PlayC. Hindi Vs Urdu Versions of the Play and General Notes about the TranslationD. A GlossaryE. Urdu /Hindi Texts of PoemsNishat Zaidi,Professor, Jamia Milia Islamia,Premchand ,Poet,Dr Nishat Zaidi is Professor and Head, Department of English, Faculty of Humanities and Languages,Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.