1857

Around the middle of the nineteenth century, when the East India Company had consolidated its hold over the Indian subcontinent, a Chitpavan Brahmin by the name of Vishnu Bhatt GodsheVersaikar decided to cross the Vindhya mountains with his aged uncle to earn some money. What he had not foreseen was how his trip would coincide with the historic Sepoy Mutiny and play havoc with their travel plans. This is a unique first-person, eyewitness account of their picaresque journey, recorded several years after their return home. This is also perhaps the only documentation of a momentous event in the history of India by an impoverished but learned young beggar-priest. In this gripping yet sensitive translation, Mrinal Pande brings to life for today's reader the account of Vishnu Bhatt's adventures, and the fascinating history of its publication.

Vishnu Bhatt Godshe Versaikar, a Chitpavan Brahmin of theShandilya gotra, was born to Balakrishna Bhatt and Radha Bai ofVersai village in 1827. He was the eldest of three brothers and a sister.According to local lore, he was married at the age of twenty-one andsired six children - three sons and three daughters. He travelled acrossthe Indo-Gangetic plains between 1856 and 1859. But due to a fear ofreprisals by the British, he wrote of his travels twenty-four years laterand gave the manuscript for safekeeping to a friend. As per his wish,this book was published in 1907, four years after his death in 1903. Mrinal Pande was born in 1946 in Tikamgarh to the well-knownHindi author Shivani and educationist Shukdeo Pant. She has taughtat the universities of Allahabad, Delhi and Bhopal, edited the Hindiperiodicals Vama and Saptahik Hindustan and worked as editor/anchor for Star News and Doordarshan. In 2000, she became India'sfirst woman chief editor of a multi-edition Hindi daily, Hindustan.She has also been the secretary general of the Editors' Guild of Indiaand was the founder president of the Indian Women's Press Corps.After her retirement in 2009, she was appointed chairperson of India'snational broadcaster, Prasar Bharati.Mrinal writes in both Hindi and English. Her work includesfi ction, plays and essays on contemporary India and its women. Shewas awarded the Padmashree in 2006 for her services in the fieldof journalism. She lives in Delhi with her husband and has twodaughters.