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The Migration of a Text: The Indar Sabha in Print and Performance! KATHRYNHANSEN T raditional modes of communication, particularly those found in India's pre modern theatre forms,served toentertainlarge groupsofpeople long beforethe adventofthe mass media.Although theatricalactivityspreadtothemetropolitan areasandacceleratedafter1850,ithad forseveralcenturiesbeenprevalentthroughoutthe subcontinent,and many linguisticregionspossessedwell-establishedgenresoftheatrical performance. In the northern Indo-Gangetic plain alone. there were first the religious dramas, the Ram Lila and the Ras Lila,whichinculcated devotionto sectariandivinities through pageantry. music. and dance. These could take on either a courtly or popular character.Vaishnava dramas werepatronizedbytheroyalfamiliesofMithlla.Nepal.and Assam,whileinBanarastheRamLilaatRamnagarcameunder themaharaja'scontrolat aboutthistime. Lesselaborateproductionswerestagedbyfolktroupesandlocalresidents who intermixed comedy and social satire with storiesof the gods. In the secularrealm, entenainmentsrangedfrom theskitsperformed byNaqals,Bhands,andNatstothepoetic dramas written in Braj, Marwari, Punjabi, and eventually Hindi and Urdu. Again royal patronagewas significant:Rajputkings supportedtheKhyaltheatreineighteenth-century Rajasthan, and the Rani ofJhansi's husband, Gangadbar Rao(r. 1835-1853),presented Shakunrala and Harishchandra at court. Meanwhile in the coastal cities, new styles of urban theatre emerged out of the encounter with British imperial culture. The modem stage, first in English, then in Bengali, developed a following among the gentry of Calcutta. In Bombay the Parsis spearheaded a more popularly oriented movement that soonfanned outover thecountry, These activities collectively constitute what Raymond Williams has called a "community of forms",'an historically specific set of practices located in an evolving socialenvironmenrt. Bythe 18805and '90s,changing conditions insocial life,politics. the economy, and technology combined with evolving literary and artistic trends to restructure this community of forms. One outcome was therise of apopularHindilUrdu theatre tradition, Nautanki, about which [have written at length'. Nautanki can best be understood as an intermediary form of theatre,a conduit in the cultural flow connecting moreurbanized areas withthehinterland.Asthistheatreconveyedstories,poeticgenres. tunes, beliefs,and values from one levelof society to another,itbridgedthe villagerand thecity-dweller,theeducatedand theilliterate,theHinduandtheMuslim.Aportableand SangeetNatakNos. 127~128, 1998 4 KATHRYNHANSEN permeableart, Nautankicrossedboundariesandcreated aninterstitialcultural space. Popular consumption of theatre has played a significant role in producing shared valuesandsymbolsforatleastthelastseveral hundredyears.Although denigrated bythe reformists.culturalphenomenalikethe lowbrowNautanki createdtheconnectivetissue ofimages. tastes, andvalues thatunderlie the success ofthemass media inthe twentieth century. In this essay also, I extend the investigation of how collective identities are constructed,butonadifferent.somewhatbroadergeographicalcanvas.Thedramaknown asthelndarSobha, reprintedscores oftimes.translatedintomany languages. andalive onthestage throughthe 19405,transcended linguistic,temporal, and socialboundariesin a way that prefigured theHindilUrdu popular cinema.Itis no coincidence thatitwas transformed intoapan-Indianphenomenonby Parsitroupesfromthecommercialcentre thatlaterproduced 'Bollywood' andtheworld'smostprolificfilm industry.Moreover,in relationto ideas of portability andpermeability. the 'post-modem' characterization of contemporary popular culture is appropriate for this early modem landscape as well. Taking the performance and textual history of the lndar Sabha as a case in point, il becomesapparentthatnotionsofmigration,diaspora,andhybridityareasrelevanttoan understandingoflate-nineteenth-centurypopularconsumptionas theyaretomorerecent cultural practices. Amanatand the LucknowCourt TheIndarSabha(TheAssemblyofIndra,hereafterIS)appears atatransitional moment inthehistoryofnorthern India.Onthemostwidelyacceptedaccount,itwascomposedin 1853byAgha Hasan Amanat(1816-1859),apoet anached tothe court ofWajidAli Shah atLucknow.AlthoughtheruleoftheNawabsofAwadhwastocometoaningloriousend withinafewshortyears.WajidAliwasagenerousandcreativepatronofthearts,andhis reign leftabrilliant legacyinthefieldsofdance, song,anddrama. lie nourishedtheIndo Muslim style of Kathak, took the light classical song-form Thumri to a new level, composed poetry underthe names of'Akhtar' and 'Ptya',and adapted both Persian-style romances (masnavt; and Vaishnava dramas(lila) for hisown royal performances.Famed forhishedonistichabits,among theBritish hegainednotorietyforspendingmoretimein his harem, which he called aparikhana or 'house of fairies',than attending to affairs of state,The bloodlessannexationof Awadh in 1856 besmirched his reputation permanently andleftlaterIndiannationalistswithacutememoriesoflossandguilt-, Intheeclectic style prevailing at his patron's salon, Amanat assimilatedGhazals, Thurnris, and Awadhi folk songs to a narrative base drawn from several popular masnavis,creatinganoriginalworkthatisstillcountedasthefirstdramainUrdu literary history.Since the 1920s,Urdu critics havedebated theoriginofthe ISand theinfluences thaimayhavecontributedtoit.Thedominantagendaofthesecriticscanbesaid.perhaps notunfairly.tofocusfirstontheproblemofthe Islamictabooontheatricalrepresentation and, secondly, todeterminethe rankofthisspecificdramawithin the Urdu literarycanon. INDARS.~BHAL'IPRNT&:PERFOR.\IA."CE . My purpose, on the otber hand, is to consider the largerlife of the IS as aphenomenon that cut across boundaries. whether of religion. class. linguistic community. or the category'literature' itself. The nature of the boundary between courtly and popular performance arenas in the nineteenth century. however, requires some comment if one is to comprehend the movementoftheISacrossit,andinthissensethecareerofAmanatmayproveinstructive. Alarge andrather consistent bodyof opinionasserts that Amanat wascommissioned to writethe ISbythe Nawab afterthemodelofWesternopera,andthatthefirstperformance of the drama occurred on the royal stage in Qaisar Bagh. Adding to this, some commentatorssaythatWajidAliShahplayedthetitleroleofKingIndarinthedebut.This view.accepted by the English-language historians of Urdu literature. Ram BabuSaksena (1940). Annemarie Scbimmel (1975). and MuhammadSadiq(1984). as wellas ahost of criticswritinginUrdu.stemsfrom NurIlahiand Muhammad Umar'sNasokSagar(1924), acompendiumofworJddramaandthefirstsuchtobewritteninUrdut. Interestingly, by the timeof the Natak Sagar'spublication.Ilahi andUmar'snotions hadalreadycomeunderfirebyAbdulHalimSharar.thereputedchronicleroftheNawabi era.Inthe NataleSagaritselfthey included along passage from anessay thatSharar had previouslypublished in Dil Gudaz,togetherwith theirdetailed refutationof it.Asimilar article by Ilahi and Umar, published in the journal of the Anjurnan-i Taraqqi-i Urdu in 1924.provoked anotherrejoinderbySharar".Sharar maintained thatAmanat.ratherthan taking ordersfromthe Nawab orany foreigner, onhis own initiative hadimitatedthe courtentertainmentscalledmhos orras,enactmentsofthedalliancebetweenRadhaand the gopisand Lord Krishna.inwhichthe kingreputedly acted with his favourites". In 1927.MasudHasan Rizvi 'Adib' addedhis voice to Sharar's, basinghisarguments on what he considered the first edition of the play. to which Amanat had appended a commentary (sharh). Later research by Rizvi took shape in two lengthy volumes under thetitle UrduDrama allrlstej (1957). Bristlingat thenotionofWestern influence.Rizvi rathersweepingly asserted that no European had access to the Nawab. He denied that Amanatwas ever present atcourt. citing Fasahat, Arnanat's youngerson, who in1926 wrote thatasidefrom hisfather'sattachmenttoaSufisanctuaryfrom whichhereceived astipend. he hadno connectiontoanydarbat". Further, Rizvipresentedevidencefrom ta:J,irasandthepoet'soeuvretoshowthatAmanatsufferedparalysisandfrom theageof twenty could not speak. in the commentary to the IS.for example,Amanat had written thathehadbecomehouseboundbecauseofhiscondition.and from thisRizviattempted toestablishthathewas neveractually presentatcourt. Finally, Rizviquoted Amanat's first sonLatafatto theeffectthat his fatherhadcomposedtheISattherequest ofhisown friendsv, Inthe absence ofany mention of Arnanat inWajidAli's many writings.Rizvi concluded thatthere was noroyalcommand behindthedramaand nocourt performance. Rizvis position has beeninfluential amongthe newergenerationofUrdu scholars. 6 KATHRYNHANSEN whoperhapsare more eagerthantheirforebearsto establishtheindigenousrootsofthe IS. IIis notdifficull 10see how denying foreign contact, particularly at the moment of origin.fitsaparticularkindofnationalistnarrative.Withoutbelabouringtheissuefurther, itseemslikely thatbothviews containsometruth.Theeventofcompositionmighthave occurred overa period of time andamidsta combinationof circumstances: Amanat's probable presence at court (whethermute or no), suggestions circulating about a new operatic style. his desire to capture the Nawab's favour (possibly unsuccessful), and, performancesinsideand/oroutsideweroyalcircle.ThedisgraceattachedtotheNawab's narne b)' nationalists couldhelpexplain the later disavowalsb)' Amanat's sons.Perhaps theywereattemptingtolegitimizetheirfather'sachievement. Regardlessofthemeritsofthetwosides'claims,whatstandsOUt moststrikinglyisthe fact that popular opinion until the 1920s firmly associated Amanat and the IS with the Nawab of Lucknow, Wajid Ali Shah.Although in 1924 the issue ofthe drama's origins did becomeatopicofdebatewithinasmallscholarlycoterie. in the period ofitsgreatest publicfollowingtheIScarried withitahistory thatlinked ittothecourtatAwadhandto theflamboyantpersonalityoftheNawab,Thathistory was recounted eagerly byaudience members. b)' theatre personnel. and b)' educated observers alike. Writing in 1889,John CampbellOman.aprofessorofnaturalscienceatGovernmentCollege.Lahore.reponed afterviewingaperformance ofthe]S inAnarkalithatitwas"composed. itissaid.bya Mussulman poet,bycommandofWajidAliShah ..."10Theopinionofthe NatakSagar authors wasbasedlargelyontheoraltraditionsofKhurshedjiBaliwala, afamousactorof thenineteenth-century Parsi theatre".A.YusufAli, inan article for the Royal Societyof Literature in London, called Wajid Ali Shah and Arnanat "co-founders" of the modem schoolofHindustanidramat-. Thewidespreadperceptionofroyal originscouldbeasignificantfactorinexplaining the IS's popularity,insofarasspectatorsbelievedtheywere beholding adirectlinktothe Awadhcourtanditshedonisticambience.The famousdramaenjoyed the reputationof offering something real. something historically verifiable about the monarchical past. Moreover,thiswas apasttransformed,broughtclosertotheaudiencebyhavingcrossed an imagined boundary between the court- where it hadits putative origins-and the populace- whereitwaspresentlysituated. TheStructureofthePia)' Turningnow tothetextitself.itnaturallydividesintotwopans.Thesecondof these comprises thestory proper, in which the Emerald Fairy (Sabz Pari) falls in love withan earthly prince (Gulfam), tries to bring him to Indar's heaven, is caught b)' the king and plunged to earth, and finally gains readmission and is united with her beloved.Thegod Indra first appears in the Rig Veda and is still associated with rain and fertility in folk beliefs and songsu, B)'late medieval timeshehad evolved into an emblem ofthelordly monarch, oflen depicted surrounded b)' a harem of beautiful dancing girls. This Hindu lNDARSABHAIS PRI:'IoT& PERFOR.\{AtI;CE 7 icon,with itssymbolic potency for India's Muslim kings, is wedded in the IS to astory of Islamic origin. The theme of fairy-monal romance had long been a staple of the narrativegenres inUrdu and Persianknown asqulssa,dastan,andmasnavi.Amanatmay havemodelled his ploton two masnavisthatachievedparticular popularityearlier in the nineteenth century.The romance ofprince Benazir and princess Badr-i Munir as told in Sihr ul-bayan by Mir Hasan (1727-1786) was,in 1805,oneofthefirstUrdu booksever printed.Itcouldbethesourcefor suchscenes in theISasthefairy's firstencounterwith thesleeping prince,his befuddled awakening in the fairy world,the imprisonment of the prince in the well,and thedisguise ofthe fairy as ajogin.A,later work,Gutzor-i Nasim by Daya Shankar 'Nasim' (1837), itselfa reworking ofthe prose tale Gut-i Baka...ali or Mazhab-i lshq by Nihal Chand, was said to be an effort at repeating Mir Hasan's successt-.FromitAmanatmay haveborrowed thedescriptionof Indar'scourt,theking's angerupon learning of the fairy's lovefora mortal,andotherpassages. What sets the IS apart from its antecedents is the very simplicity of the story line. Whereas long dastans contain embedded worlds with innumerable conquests and love affairs, even the shorter tales generally include a subplot with a second pair of lovers, useful for complications such as jealousy, mistaken identity, and so on. The IS plot is restricted to a single pair of lovers, and the only serious obstacle they face is the king's hostility.One aspectthat theIS shareswiththeearliernarratives.ontheotherhand,isthe presenceofanactivefemaleashiq(lover)inthecharacterofthepari. Paris inthesestories pursuetheir malelove-objects,declare their infatuationopenly,carry them away through the air,and kissor touch them uninvited.Born of fire,possessed of the abilitytoappear and disappear atwill,theyexert a kind ofpowerfulcontrolover the hero. not unlike the demanding,high-statusBelovedof theUrdu ghazal.Thedifferenceisthat theBeloved of theghaza!remains Other-distant,veiled,unobtainable.Thepari isalltoonear,forward, and potentiallyoverpowering. Thereductionofthenarrativeand,possibly,theconstructionoffeminineagencycould pointtoarudimentary form ofrealism,areading buttressed by thepopularcommentarial tradition.Forgenerations, ithas been maintained thatthe characterofIndarinthedrama is based on the historical figure of Wajid Ali Shah. Some interpreters extend the verisimilitude to the other characters as well. Gulfam's tenderness and passivity are hereby explained as the character traits of his real-life counterparts, the princes at the court. The effete environment in which they moved supposedly deprived them of manliness and fortitude. The Sabz Pari similarly is said to resemble the courtesans of Lueknow. She is depicted asfull of daring, vision,and determination, Additionally. she usesaformofwomen'sspeech(zananibali)thatidentifiesherasamemberofaparticular stratumofLucknowsocietyn. Thisinterpretationgains supportfromthefirst(and incertain waysmoreoriginal)part ofthedrama, in which Amanat recreates a darbarthat resembles Wajid Ali Shah'sown. 8 KATHRYNHANSEN Intheopeningscene, Indarenjoyshimselfas heattends toa successionoflovelyfairies who.onebyone,enter andperforma seriesofsongsanddancesbefore him.Inthisroyal assembly,termedvariouslysabha,majlis,mehfil,andjalsa inthe text.thecharacterIndar is interpellated as deity. king.patron.poet. and lover.One moment a fairy takes onthe voice of a gopi in a Hori (a Bra] Bhasha song-form celebrating the spring festival)and chidesShyarn(Krishna) fordrenchingherwithcoloureddye: Palagikarjori Shyammo sekhelonohori. Claspingyour feetIbegofyou, PleaseShyarn.don't playHoli withme! Next she mourns the absence of her lover (piya, 'lover'. was one of Wajid Ali's pen names) inthe genre specifictotherainymonthofSayan: Bijari kichamak tarpave darave Binpiyaghata nahinbhave, Thelightning crashes.mybodythrashes. Without myBelovedIPiya, Icannotenduretherainyseason. Or in thecharacteristic pose ofan Urdu ghazal she complains ofher beloved's haughty neglect: Takarakesarkojan nadunmain10 1..:)'0 karun. Kabtakfiraq-iJarkesadmesahakanm. Whalshould Idobutdashmyhead [againstthewallofyourindifference)? HowlongshouldIbear theblowsofseparationfrom the Beloved? He. thepassivebut powerfulBeloved.emergesasamultivalent objectofdesire. 'Hindu' and 'Muslim' referents overlap as the ling's identity slips between Indar, Krishna.and Nawab.The language ofthesongsandverses moves back and fortheasily between Urdu,Braj,Awadhi.aod Khan Boli.Whetheronechooses to think ofthe ISas a self-consciously syncretistic workor anunconsciousreflection ofthe hybrid cultureof the Lucknowcourt, thedistancebetweenitandits sectarianantecedents-the Vaishnava drama and poetry, the Sufi romantic allegories- is striking. The mystical overtones are absent or converted into erotic pleasure bordering on parody. Although Ihe current meaningsoftheword'secular' arenotentirelyappropriateinthiscontext,overthecourse of time the IS was unproblematically consumed by diverse audiencesregardless of their religious or communal affiliations. The relevant point is that the potential for this pluralistic pattern of consumption is specifically encoded in the play's formal means of Ill/DARSABHA INPRINT& PERFORMANCE 9 representation. Indar's very presence onthe stage invites the spectator into ageneric courtlysetting within which the drama unfolds. Given the structure of the play within the play. the audience's sense of being a witness-indeed a participant-s-at court travels with the performance regardlessof wherethestageissetor whoenacts theroleofIndar.Thetext thussuggests anenduringfeatureof nineteenth-centurypopularculture asitmanifests in countless expressive media. This is the fascination with royalty and its symbolism of splendourand sensual pleasure,even as the political fortunes of the aristocracy were on the decline.The courtly aesthetic with its opulent sets.costumes.etiquette, diction, and abundance of feminine beauty dominate the era, providing a point of identification initially for the pleasure-seeking nobility but eventually for spectators of more humble origins. Indeed,thepost-feudalaesthetic would provetobefar morepersuasivewiththelarge populacethan theshifts inliteratureandart towardsdepiction ofthenewurbanelite and itsconcerns.The reformistsmayhave spumedthis nostalgiaforthemonarchicalpastand devalued works of popular theatre that represented it, but feudal attachments remained strongamongthepublic well intothe twentiethcentury. Withthebreakdown ofthestructureofroyalpatronageaftertheannexationofAwadh and the post·1857 consolidation of British power, sophisticated styles of music, dance, and poetry moved out. often through the mediation of popular theatre, to a restructured entertainmenteconomy.Earlier. inthe days ofShuja ud-Daula, Lucknow had witnessed an enormousinfluxof musicians and singing courtesans,a process whichaccelerated in Wajid AliShah'slime.Then,afterthe fallofAwadh, thereensuedanexodusofthecourt and the harem to Matiya Burj in Calcutta.With performers formerly employed atcourt turning tothe rapidlygrowing theatre industry (andlaterthecinema) forsurvival,dance andsong genressuchas Karnakdance.Thumri,and Ghazal-singing entered thepopular arena.where theywerereadilyconsumedbyaudiencesattractedbytheirauraofprestige. TheSpectatoras Consumerof Visual Culture Searching thetext forclues toitsperformanceandreception.oneisstruckbythestrong visual element which is conveyed at two levels: (1) through the language with its concomitant suggestions of costume, and (2) through illustrations to the various printed editions. The illustrations call for separate treatment. to which I will return. Even audiences unfamiliar with theprinted book wouldhavebeen struckbythecolour-coding contained inthe scriptand carried intothe productionby the stagedirectors.Inthe first part, thesabha section perse, the fourfairies are named after monocoloured gemstones: Pukhraj (topaz),Nilam(sapphire),Lal (ruby),andSabz(emerald). Each fairyisattiredin clothesappropriatetohercolourandsingssongsthatdescribeherbeauty,refeningtothat colour and its association with seasons, festivals, flowers, trees, and other elements of nature.Thus the Topaz Fairy sings an item known as Basant (spring) inthe raga Bahar 10 KATHRYNHANSEN (spring), celebratingher yellow outfitandreferringtomarigolds and the new blossomsof the mustard plant (sarson). As the pageant proceeds, the fairies assembled on stage fonn a rainbow. Theirsongs suggest an abbreviated barabmasa. a favourite song-genre of the nineteenth century depicting the twelve months of the year. Their serial performances could also be saidto constitute afashion show, an early Miss India contest, wherein acting and singing talent arejoinedwithcontrastsinappearanceandstyle.Itisquite possiblethat thisinitial section of the drama foreshadows the variety show, now a ubiquitous genre of transnational Indian popular culture. Opening acts in which song and dance items are performed to settle the audience and warm them up for the main fare are a common feature of the Nautanki, Tamasha, and other 'traditional' musical theatres, and could be either antecedentsorheirs tothe IS'spractice. Expanding now upon the idea of generic shifts, it is significant that the IS charts a movementfrom theart oftraditionalnarrative with its emphasis on episodic elaboration, extension through itemization, and verbal exhibitionism, to the late-nineteenth-century genre ofmusical drama thatcharacterizedseveralregionsof Southand South-eastAsia. Here narrative is attenuated, and the action is not plotted so much as incidental to set pieces of song, dance, and poetry that seek repeated rounds of audience applause. The second movement is the accompanying shift from a private'space to a public arena for entertainment, and withit amove from an aural/oralto a visual mannerofconsumption. Dastans with their endless illusions (tilasm), although recited in company, were often enjoyed within the realm of personal fantasy, aided by consumption of opium!", The theatre replaced the visions in the mind with visions on the stage. It constructed several 'gazes' or types of viewing relationship: that between performers on the stage, that between performers and the public, and that among members who consitituted that public!". Blending the modalities of 'concert' (sabha) and· 'poetic assembly' (mehfil) with 'exhibition' (jalsa, tamasha), theIS manifeststhe intersectingrealmsofthe aural and the visual. The gaze operates here at multiple levels even without the complication of a performance ofthe IS within the historical court ofWajid Ali Shah. The fairies perform for and bestow their 'sidelong glances' (tirchhi nigahen) not only upon the king but also upon the audience. Audience members look atthe king and at the entertainingfairies, as wellasateach other. And Indarhimselfpresidesoverandgazesupon allthoseassembled. These mutual gazes in tandem with the celebrationof longing in poetry and song create an 'eroticcomplicity' betweenperformers and spectatorsu. Indar'spresence, areminderoftheglorious post-Mughalpast, couldalso bedescribed aspedagogical. He instructshisaudience inthe artofocularconsumption. Hispositionin the drama as patron and admirer of a bevy ofcolour-coordinated beauties constructs an imagined self, generating the desires ofthe emerging consumer. not only for theatrical INDARSABHA INPRI~& PERFORMANCE II entertainments but, by extension, for twentieth-century cinema, print journalism (filrni and fashion magazines).andromanticpulpfiction. The PerformanceRecord Although a reliable written record of the lS's performance history is not available, sufficient highlightsof thedrama'sstage life are preserved to assembleat leasta partial picture.Mostcommentators note that Amanat's dramaearned immediate fameandsoon appeared on stages all over India. Yet there is a gap between the date of composition, 1853,and whatappears tobethe firslParsitroupe performance inBombayin186-1.One can onlyconjecture howthe play reached Bombay from Lucknow. Rizvi,referring to a qita of Amanat's in the first edition of the IS, maintains that the drama had already become famous bythe timeit was published and was widely imitated andcommitted to memory.Professional troupes were established in Lucknow, fanningout intotownsand villages in order to perform it. Performances were known by the names of the troupe organizers,e.g.Hafiz kiIndarSabha,lawaharkiIndarSabha. Competitionswere held. suchassimultaneousshowsonoppositesidesoftheHusainabadtank,toseewhichtroupe couldattract the largestcrowdw. Rizvi'sassertionsare consonantwithhis interpretation oftheISasanessentiallyawami(people's)phenomenon.However,hefailstoaddressthe disturbances in Lucknow inthe period 1856-1858,resultingfrom the fallof Awadh and the 1857uprising,andwhateffecttheymayhavehadonplayproductionandattendance. Saksena implies that these events caused the migration of the IS. asserting, "With the depositionanddeportationof \VajidAli Shah festivitiesandfrolicsatQaisarBaghcame to anend.lnder Sabha (sic]foundnohomeatLucknow withitsturmoilandtribulations andittravelled forth 10 Bombay."20 Accordingto Abdul Alim Nami,the first Bombay performance was presented by the Alfred Natak Mandali inits second phase under Nanabhai Rustamji Raninaand Manikji Jivanji Masterin 186421•This Parsicompany wasoneofthefirst toswitchfromEnglish and Gujarati plays to Urdu, retaining Muhammad Ali Ibrahimji Bohra as scriptwriter. They also toured Hyderabad and Madras and began regular tours to Delhi, Agra and Lahore in 1861. Although Namioffers nodetailsabout the ISperformance,he observes thattheAlfredwasalsothefirstcompanytoemploymechanicaldevicestocreatespecial effects22• Another chronicler, Masihuzzaman, does not name the company. but he confirmsthata 1864Grant Roadperformance wasthefirstinwhichtheISwaspresented onaproscenium stage with afrontal curtain. lie indicatesthattheplay hadbeenadapted forthispurposebybeingdividedintofivescenes.ThefirstsceneendedwhenKingIndar goestosleepafter viewingtheSabzPari'sdanceD. The next memorable performance was the 1873 Bombay production by the Elphinstone Dramatic Club under the direction of KunvarjiNazir(aka C.S. or Cooverji Seth Nazirj>',Lightingadded a new dimension, enhancing the visualeffects.According toMemuna Dalvi,"Tocreate theeffectof themarvellous,lime light (Eng.]wasused,so 12 KATHRYNHANSEN that as each fairy entered Raja Indar's court, the entire scene was bathed inthe lightof that fairy's garments. The spectators were beside themselves and burst into spontaneous applause." (translation mine) The music also received special attention, with the whole apparently being performed in one "rag-ragini'to. Gulfam was played by N.N. Parakh, Sabz ParibyShyavakshRustarnjiMaster, and Indarby Khurshedji BehrarnjiHathirame, If Somnath Gupta's chronology is accurate, it was in the following year that Nazir introduced the IS to Calcutta theatre audiences during a tour of the long-lived Victoria Natak Mandali, one of the most successful troupes of this period. In Bombay, the companyhad already earned considerable fame by presenting Gujarati plays directedby K.N.Kabra,butwhenDadiPateltookover in 1871,hebeganexperimentingwithdramas in Hindustani, often translations from Gujarati prepared by Edalji Khori. The concept 'Urdu opera'achievedpopularitywiththecompany'sproductionofBenazirBadreMunir, written by Nasharvanji Meharvanji Khan and starring Khurshedji Baliwalaand Pestanji FrarnjiMadan(1871).In1872,attheinvitation ofSirSalarlang,Dadi Patel ledthetroupe on aroyally sponsored visitto Hyderabad, which included a special performance inthe palace harem. In 1873,C.S.Nazir took over the companyat. Thecircumstances oftheCalcutta performance were the following: From Lucknowthetroupe arrived in Calcutta, where they stayed in a Parsi family mansion.Before1874,noParsitheatricalcompanyhadvisitedCalcutta. Nazirjirented theLewisTheatreonChowringheeRoad,laterknownastheRoyal Theatre. Bengalisareofcourseextremelyfondofmusic,andtheyawaitedtheParsisingers withutmosteagerness.Several eminent Bengali singers invited the Parsi singers to their homes,wheretheydiscussed anumber of matters pertaining to music. At that timeinBengal,theorgan[Eng.]wascommonly used, whereas in Bombay thetabla andsarangiwerefavoured,withonlyoccasional useofthefiddle [Eng.].Theeffectof these discussions was that the Parsi musicians were deemed deficient in their knowledgeof classicalmusic, leaving a bad impression on the Bengalis. Baliwala clearlyindicatedthisdeficiencyto KunvarjiNazir, and he became disheartened and perplexed.ThenhetookthebullbythehornsandbeganpreparationsfortheoperaIS. Hesenttelegramsto Delhisummoning Dadibhai Ratanji Thunthi, Dr. Narsharvanji Navroji Parakh, and Dosabhai Dubash. The speciality of these three was that they couldenact theISanywhere,underanyconditions. They had particular expertise in thisdrama. TheISwasperfonned successfullyinCalcutta.The partofRaja Indarwas played byDadiThunthi,GulfambyDr.Parakh,andLalDevbyDosabhai Dubash. Dadibhai Thunthi's singing, acting, and attractive appearance impressed the audience tremendously. But jealousies cropped up among the actors. Dosabhai Mangol and KhurshedBaliwala,whoordinarilyplayedtherolesofIndarandGulfam respectively, wereupsetthattheydidnotgetachancetopertorm.ts (translation mine)