Khwabnama: Arunava Sinha's translation of one of the greatest Hardcover – 5 July 2021

In Khwabnama's epic span, the central plotline and forward motion is vested in the granular details of the lives of three subaltern groups imbricated in soil, water, and livestock–the majhi, the chasha, and the kolu. Arrayed against them in continuous conflict, exploitation, and deceit are the rising new classes of lumpen and bourgeois exploiters–the borgadar, jotdar, mahajan, and the party kormi. The timeline of events can be initially mistaken as peak British rule, given the repeated appearance of the ghost of Munshi with his wounded neck from an anticolonial uprising. However, it is the dialogue of the party kormi, their loyal allies, and their fearful victims, that locate the novel as spanning a period of the rise of Muslim League, leading to the creation of Pakistan. The machinations of the party, and the push for Pakistan, frequently run into friction with both the demands of the communist party, and the possibility of class alliances across religious lines.