<p>In 1979, renowned Manipuri writer Binodini, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her groundbreaking feminist novel ‘Boro Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi’, a work of historical fiction, based on the life of her rebellious aunt, Princess Sanatombi of Manipur. This has now been translated into English by Binodini’s son L Somi Roy with the title ‘The Princess and the Political Agent’. </p>.<p>This poignant novel, set in the midst of the British Raj, tells the love story of Sanatombi and Lt Col Henry St P Maxwell, the British representative in the subjugated Tibeto-Burman kingdom of Manipur. Binodini’s perspective is from the vanquished; and she tells the tale of the humbling of a small, but proud kingdom. The novel’s sorrows sparkle with wit and beauty, as it deftly dissects the build-up and the aftermath of the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891.</p>
<p>In 1979, renowned Manipuri writer Binodini, won the Sahitya Akademi Award for her groundbreaking feminist novel ‘Boro Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi’, a work of historical fiction, based on the life of her rebellious aunt, Princess Sanatombi of Manipur. This has now been translated into English by Binodini’s son L Somi Roy with the title ‘The Princess and the Political Agent’. </p>.<p>This poignant novel, set in the midst of the British Raj, tells the love story of Sanatombi and Lt Col Henry St P Maxwell, the British representative in the subjugated Tibeto-Burman kingdom of Manipur. Binodini’s perspective is from the vanquished; and she tells the tale of the humbling of a small, but proud kingdom. The novel’s sorrows sparkle with wit and beauty, as it deftly dissects the build-up and the aftermath of the Anglo-Manipuri War of 1891.</p>
