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Unit 1 - Fakir Mohan Senapati

BA. Honours English (University of Delhi)

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B.A. (Hons.) English – Semester V DSE-2

Modern Indian Writing in English Translation Study Material

Unit-1
Fakir Mohan Senapati : Six Acres and a Third

Edited by: P. K. Satapathy

Department of English

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi

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Discipline Specific Elective (DSE-2)

Modern Indian Writing in English Translation

Unit-1

Fakir Mohan Senapati : Six Acres and a Third

Edited by:
P. K. Satapathy
School of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Delhi-110007

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007

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Discipline Specific Elective (DSE-2)

Modern Indian Writing in English Translation

Unit-1

Fakir Mohan Senapati : Six Acres and a Third

Contents
S. No. Title Pg. No.
Part- I 01
1. Learning Objectives 01
2. Introduction 01
3. Plot 02
4. Detailed Summary 04
Part-II 17
5. Themes 17
6. Characters 19

Prepared by:
Diksha Samantarai

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007

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Unit-1

Fakir Mohan Senapati, Six Acres and a Third

Diksha Samantarai

Part-I
1. Learning Objectives
After reading this unit you’ll be able to:
 Write a detailed note about the author
 Understand the impact of colonial rule in 19th century Odisha
 Be acquainted with the changing land ownership rights
 Be familiar with the detailed summary of the novel
 Critically analyse the core themes of the novel
 Critically respond to the major characters of the novel
2. Introduction
2.1 Note on the Author: Fakir Mohan Senapati (1843-1918) is hailed as the first modern
Odia novelist and a precursor of Odia nationalistic movement. Born in a village in the
northern district of Balasore, Odisha, Senapati has been able to carve out a unique place for
himself in the history of Indian literature. After having lost both his parents at a young age,
he was brought up by his grandmother. Although he belonged to the Khandayat caste (it is a
martial caste in Odisha), the Fakir in his name has an interesting back story.
As he fell ill continuously as a child, his grandmother used to take him to Fakirs to get
treated when nothing else worked. She had promised to hand him over to the pirs if he
recovered. He did recover but instead of handing him over to them she changed his name
from Braja Mohan to Fakir Mohan.
Given his poor financial condition, he taught himself to read and write. Eventually he
became a respected scholar and meanwhile kept on working as a teacher. His acquaintance
with the then collector of Balasore, John Beams, led to a fruitful collaboration where he
helped him with comparative research between Odia, Assamese and Bengali. He then went
on to serve as a British administrative office in various areas in Odisha.
Senapati's Odia consciousness was the driving force behind his writings. he wanted to
preserve this language which was struggling due to the imposition of Bengali and English
both in the field of education and administration.
In 1868, Senapati laid the foundation of a printing press called Utkal Press from where
he published several magazines in Odia language and he was also the president of Utkal

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Sahitya Samaj in 1917. His contributions towards the notion of saving Odia language in its
colloquial form led to the preservation of the state of Odisha as well which would have
otherwise lost its identity in the Bengal presidency. Odisha as a state came into existence only
in 1936 after a long protracted struggle.
2.2 Historical and Social Background
All of us are familiar with some key historical figures and writers like Mahatma Gandhi,
Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojini Naidu and many others who have provided us a glimpse into
pre-independence India. Their voices were considered national and global but Senapati is
unique because of the “deeply local perspective” he provides us with. He is one among many
writers writing in their regional languages about colonial impact on their day to day lives and
culture.
Senapati did work for the British government but was simultaneously working towards
preserving his own regional language and identity. Like Premachand's Godan, Six Acres and
a Third provides us with an ironical and satirical portrait of rural life in the first half of the
nineteenth century
Before delving further into the context of the novel, one needs to be familiar with land
owning system before and after the advent of the British in India. Zamindari system consisted
of a zamindar (the landowner, typically a man) who managed a large estate in a cluster of
closely located villages. Instead of owning land in their zamindaris, the zamindars held the
right to collect any agricultural surplus that the farmers/peasants who worked on it produces.
These peasants had certain rights with respect to cultivating in these lands as well. The
zamindar used to keep some percentage of this revenue to himself and used to give the rest to
the current political leader of that area. He was not a landowner and manager but also served
as a steward in the community by solving disputes and maintaining the stability of that
community according to the rules of that society. There existed caste based hierarchy and
land was given as a payment for their services. For example, certain castes like the Brahmins,
village watchmen, soldiers and some other functionaries were allotted tracts of land which
were tax free because of their role in the society. When the Britishers started occupying India,
they meddled with this zamindari system and made it stricter. Now, the zamindars had the
right, by law, to evict the peasants if they did not pay the rent on time. But the Zamindar
could also lose his zamindari via auction if he defaulted in paying the government treasury.
The lands managed by zamindars were previously heritable and transferable but the British
laws opened the floor for all kinds of buyers. The system became opressive from top to
bottom. Even when the produce was less, the amount of tax was the same. There was a
penalty for inability to pay tax and it used to be a community based decision. But now the
British punished the zamindar and in turn the zamindar punished the peasants.
3. Plot
The novel is based in the early decades of the 19th century where many parts of Odisha were
conquered by the British and merged with Bengal Presidency. In 1830s, Mangaraj who used
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to lend money and paddy to the villagers has become all powerful zamindar in a village
called Gobindapur, Odisha. He has succeeded through dishonest means, by utilising the
British law to grab tracts of land from Chotta Mian. Mangaraj is a cunning, scheming and
exploitative character who is harsh with the pesants and monopolises the local market by
selling his produce. He is nowhere close to being a steward of his family. He is only
interested in power and money.
Mangaraj`s wife, called as Saantani, is a study in contrast to the viciousness of
Mangaraj. Saantani is an honorific title that she is known by throughout the novel. She is
everything that Mangaraj is not: selfless, kind, and sympathetic.
Mangaraj is a failure when it comes to running his household as well. He has no
affection for any of his sons and daughter in laws. There were quite a few number of women
who Mangaraj seems to have sexually exploited and they now work as maids in his house.
Amongst them there is a woman called Champa who is involved in scheming alongside
Mangaraj. They decide to use mortgage as a trap to forcefully and cunningly acquire more
and more property. Shikh Didar Mian was an important zamindar in the distruct if Midnapore
(close to Balsore). He also owned some land in Odisha and Ramachadra Magaraj was
responsible for collecting revenue from his zamindari. As the Mian was spending a
significant amount of money on parties, he ends up in debt. Mangaraj taking advantage of his
situation gets a mortage signed by Mian when he is in a drunken state. Once Mian defaulted
on the mortage, Mangaraj takes over his land and zamindari by suing him for possesion in the
court.
In the same village reside a simple weaver couple named Bhagia and Saria. They own a
fertile piece of land measuring six acres and a half. This was the land Mangaraj had laid his
eyes upon for some time. He starts scheming with Champa to find a way to occupy it. Bhagia
and Saria are childless, God fearing and innocent folk. Using these weaknesses to their
advantage Champa asks Saria to build a temple dedicate to the village deity Budhi Mangala.
In order to fund this construction they needed money so Bhagia had to take a loan from
Mangaraj. While lendng him this loan, Managaraj drafts a mortage bond by keeping that six
acres and a third of land as mortagage. Instead of waiting for them to pay back the loan, he
simply takes over their land forcefully by a decree of the court. The couple lost their house,
their only cow Neta and were utterly devastated.
Saria dies begging day after day outside Managaraj's house and Saantani also dies of
heartbreak. After police investigates the death of Saria, Mangaraj is put on trial but is found
not guilty of murder but rather of the illegal possession of the cow. His lawyer now acquires
the zamindari through the same system of mortgage and Champa flees the village with the
village barber and Managaraj's money. She is murdered by the barber who also drowns in the
river. After his release from the prison, Mangaraj goes back to the village and lives the
remainder of his life buried under guilt and despair.

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What have we learned so far?

o Fakir Mohan Senapati is hailed as the father of Modern Odia literature
o His novel Six Acres and a Third is one of the first modern realist novels written in
India
o He was deeply engaged in protecting Odia language after the advent of the British
o The British made significant changes to the existing Zamindari system and made it
more oppressive
o The novel is about an evil Zamindar who became all powerful by misusing the new
land rights laws to his own advantage
o How the weaker sections were exploited under this system

Self Check Questions:

1. Why is Fakir Mohan Senapati important for Odia language and literature?
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2. What kind of changes did the British bring to the existing land laws?
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4. Detailed Summary
Chapter 1
In the introductory chapter we are introduced to the principal character of Ramachandra
Mangaraj. Through sheer irony and use of satirical tone the narrator reveals to us how
Mangaraj pretends to be a pious man but the reality behind the closed doors are different. For
example, the story regarding his fasting habits and the counter story offered by the servant
about placing food in his room at night on his fasting days show us the true nature of the man.
His petty nature comes to the forefront when he is feeding the Brahmins.
“The feast finished, Mangaraj would devote himself with great humility to the large
amounts of leftover food……….. Dear reader, you might well ask, “How was it possible to
feed twenty-seven Brahmins with a few rice flakes and a little jaggery?” Well, the Lord
works in mysterious ways, my brother, in truly mysterious ways. If we seek answers to such
questions, our narrative will grind to a halt.” (37)
We also get a quick glimpse into Mangaraj's cunningness at grabbing land when he helps
his cousin Shyam by funding his 'expiation' ritual. He does so by selling the fifteen acres of

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Shyam's ancestral property. The irony and satire is visible right from the beginning of the
novel. The narrator is omniscient and detached from the action and through his observations
one navigates through the world of greed, cunningness, colonial power, caste struggle and the
society of 1830s in general. Through the most trivial details, the narrator masks the truth by
not taking sides but leaves the task to us as readers to decode where the truth lies.
Chapter 2
In the second chapter ironically titled A Self-Made Man, Mangaraj's monopoly over the local
market is commented upon by the narrator: “Few people are as selfless and altruistic as
Mangaraj.....Nor was anyone allowed to put his vegetables up for sale until the produce from
the zamindar’s orchard had all been sold.” (42) Mangaraj had not spared any means of
earning profit. A miser and a hoarder, all he cared about was money.
Further, the narrator further sheds light on Mangaraj's personality by giving us details
regarding the wealth he had accumulated so far. His zamindari was called Fatepur Sarsandha
and comprised of
“28 batis—560 acres—of land guaranteed rent-free, and 15 batis plus 27 scattered
acres—327 acres total—of taxable, forfeited land. Of these 27 scattered acres, ownership of 7
was still in dispute before the courts. The zamindari was assessed at five thousand rupees a
year” (41)
Later on in subsequent chapters, we will get to know how unscrupulously Mangaraj had
come to take possession of the zamindari.
Chapter 3
The lands he owned were mostly tax free hence he kept a lot to himself. The narrator goes on
to describe Mangaraj’s treatment towards his servants and farmhands. Given his position and
power, everyone in the village used to live in fear of him. No one dared raise a voice against
the wrongdoings of Mangaraj. Given his parsimonious nature, Mangaraj would personally
supervise all kinds of meals being given out to the poor, be it the Brahmins or the farmhands.
His focus was on spending the least possible amount on these poor people. Despite having so
much wealth, he did not make timely payments to people working under him. He used to
ensure personally that during lunch, the farmhands were fed rice gruel first before being
served cooked rice so that they couldn’t eat more as their stomachs would be full from
drinking the rice gruel.
Chapter 4
Mangaraj had nothing but contempt for the Brahmins. Whenever he passed a brahmin in the
morning he would think, “The day begins with the sight of an evil man. I know not what that
day will bring!” It goes on to establish what the villagers used to think about him. This
chapter shows us the desperation of the villagers and farmers in front of Mangaraj's power
due to his wealth.

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When his farmhand ran out of saplings to plant in his land, he marched towards Shyam's
patch of green land. Shyam was a lower caste untouchable who did not have any say in front
of Mangaraj. So when Mangaraj asks Gobinda to strip off a portion of saplings from his land,
Shyam quietly looks on with despair. Mangaraj justifies his act of taking Shyam’s saplings
away quiet cunningly by blaming Shyama for having planted his seeds too close to each
other. According to Mangaraj’s wisdom, they should be planted far apart: Why have you
planted the seedlings so close together? There’s no room for them to breathe. You must thin
out at least half of them.”
When Shyam starts pleading with Mangaraj, he reminds him of the loan that he owed
him and Shyam falls quiet.
Chapter 5
His family consists of three sons, their wives, his own wife and a number of maidservants.
Mangaraj did not care for his sons and all his sons cared about was squandering away their
father’s money. His wife lived separately in the house in a room of her own. All that we
know about her till now is that she comes out only when someone asks for her help. His
household is in a state of disarray while Mangaraj went around land grabbing. These
housemaids were all destitute women and only a few had husbands. It is implied that
Mangaraj had exploited them and now they were “transient” beings in his household.
Chapters 6
This chapter introduces us to the character of Mistress Champa. The narrator is attempting to
describe her here but is struggling to find the right words. He does not tell us how important
she is but informs us that she will be appearing frequently in the story afterwards. He finally
ends the chapter with a realistic description of her physical features. Along the way, the
narrator also takes a jibe at colonial rule and its impact by caricaturing English writers
“The way English culture is rushing in like the first floods of the River
Mahanadi, we suspect that our newly educated and civilized babus will
soon appoint whip-cracking trainers to teach their gentle female
companions to gallop.” (57)
Chapter 7
Here, the narrator elaborates the intricate relationship the god fearing folk of Gobindapur
shared with their local deity Budhi Mangala. This sets the ground for what is to follow later
in the story.
Chapter 8
Here, we are introduced to the character of Sheikh Didar Mian/Chote Mian whose zamindari
Mangaraj will be possessing soon. In his digression, the narrator comments on the state of
language in his time: ..... “yesterday, the language of the court was Persian, today it is
English. Only He knows which language will follow tomorrow.” (67) The state of languages

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were continually changing. There was a threat of marginalisation of Odia language with the
advent of colonial ruler’s English and Bengal Presidency’s Bengali.
We are introduced to the state of affairs in Sheikh Didar Mian’s house where he is
engrossed in whiling away his time and money. Entertainment, playing cards with friends,
arranging for nautch girl’s performance were the concerns that Mian had for the day. He
knew that he was short of money but his more immediate problem was paying for the party in
the evening: “Worries about how this amount could be arranged began agitating Mian and his
friends. Even the British Parliament does not become this agitated when it finalizes the
budget for India. (p. 76)” The narrator’s sarcasm is a comment upon the Mian’s attitude
towards his wealth. Later on, he will be falling prey to Mangaraj because of this attitude.
Chapter 9
The village had been divided into quarters according to the occupation and caste of the
people: the Saanta/master's quarter, the Brahmin's quarter and the Weaver's quarter. We are
offered a glimpse into the setting of rural life based on the existing social hierarchy. Senapati
wittily comments on the monopoly of Mangaraj not only in terms of owning the land in
Gobindapur but also owning livestock like cows and bulls. He indirectly mentions to us the
absence of cows in the weavers’ quarter by commenting on how the road leading to their
quarters was very clean. Thus, informing us of the poor state of affairs in the weavers’
quarters.
Chapter 10
In another one of his digressions, the narrator here opens the chapter by commenting on the
state of affairs when it came to English educated babus and the new law of the land. Earlier,
villages used to have elders who tried to resolve issues and there used to be more local
accountability as matters were resolved internally. But now, lawyers (called jackals because
of their sly nature) were there to help resolve issues. But they were a part of the system where
corruption was rampant. A lawyer’s response to evading a crime is:
Sir, I know how to make sure you don’t get any proof.” “No worry, no
worry,” adds the lawyer, patting him on the back. “Just bring me cash. I
can make black, white and white, black.” Under this system, the clever and
the rich get off, even though, in truth, they are guilty of hundreds of
crimes; while the simple and the poor get into trouble and are harassed for
their innocence in the law courts.” (85)
The narrator then introduces the characters of Bhagia and Saria. Bhagia is the headman of the
community because his father had been one. He has inherited this role. He is a simpleton and
fits the stereotype of a stupid weaver. Stupid here meant that he believed whatever was told
to him and that he rarely used his mind. His wife Saria is also like him. They own one cow
Neta who they adore like a daughter. As they are a childless couple, all their love and
attention is directed to this one cow they possessed. She is a healthy and beautiful cow and
Mangaraj was jealous of this. He wondered how a poor weaver couple could own “such a
wonderful cow!”?
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But even if the couple owned a fertile piece of land, had a cow and were satisfied to have
simple food on their table, Saria pines for a child of her own. She prays to the village deity
Budhi Mangala regularly, conducted many rituals and is unhappy with their childless
situation.

What have we learned so far?

o The narrator begins the novel with the character of Ramachandra Mangaraj,a landlord
who resides in Gobindapur and owns the zamindari of Fatehpur Sarsandha
o We are made familiar with his duplicity and evil intention when it comes to land
grabbing. He is also a miserly person, extremely reluctant to spend money.
o The narrator in his digressions comments on the impact of colonial rule on the rural
population
o Bhagia and Saria, the poor weaver couple are also introduced to us. They are the
owners of the six acres and a third fertile land and a healthy cow Neta, both of which
Mangaraj wanted as his possessions.

Chapter 11
Introduces the character of Gobara Jena who is the corrupt chowkidar of the village. He is
also a corrupt person and favours those who bribe him and listen to him. He is the one who
decides the fate of the villagers. If he is displeased with someone, he would make sure to
extract his revenge soon:
Before darkness fell, he would tell his host-for-the-night not to forget to
cook an extra handful of rice for him. If, for some reason, his host
happened to forget, then that same night the chowkidar would happen to
forget to keep watch over his house. (p. 98)”
Chapter 12
This chapter titled Asura pond chronicles the daily activities of the villagers as observed
around the ghats of the pond. With varied details, the narrator reveals the way the pond
facilitated gossip amongst the women of the village. It is a place buzzing with activity with
women chatting away about every little incident happening in the village. Sometimes, petty
fights also ensues. It is the place one turned to for gathering news regarding the village. The
weaver's ghat is used mostly by women and Saanta’s ghat is used by men.
Using the metaphor of the fish and birds who ate the fish, the narrator slyly comments on the
current social situation:
“Oh, stupid Hindu cranes, look at these English kingfishers, who arrive out
of nowhere with empty pockets, fill themselves with all manner of fish
from the pond, and then fly away. You nest in the banyan tree near the
pond, but after churning the mud and water all day long, all you get are a
few miserable small fish. (103)”

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These lines reflect the exploitative attitude of the colonisers who came as visitors to the land
of the colonised and are now busy exploiting their resources. The colonial empire levied huge
taxes on the populace and captured all the resources like spice, cotton, minerals found in our
nation and used it to mint money for their empire.
Chapter 13
Now the stage is set for the main events to unfold. Champa meets Saria near the ghat and
cunningly manipulates her to build a temple for Budhi Mangala if she wanted to have a child.
When Saria expresses her reservations and doubts regarding the mortgage, Champa cleverly
assures her that she will take care of the money and that once Bhagia and Saria have built the
temple they will have riches overflowing.
Champa tells her all kinds of stories about the curse of barren women and what happened
to the husbands of women who did not appease the goddess. Being a simpleton and a god-
fearing person, Saria eventually falls into the trap laid by Champa which was later taken
forward by Mangaraj. Champa repeatedly assures her that their land wouldn't be lost. She
says, “How could the zamindar take your land, when he is lending you the money to honor
Goddess Budhi Mangala? (116)” These kinds of convincing lies successfully entrap Saria.
She further invites Bhagia and Saria to Mangaraj's place the same evening. Post this meeting
the narrator ends the chapter by telling us that Bhagia wasn’t seen for four days after that
night.
Chapter 14
Here, the narrator reveals to us the intricacies of the relationship between Champa, Mangaraj
and the Saantani. It is abundantly clear that Mangaraj and Champa share a toxic and
scheming relationship between them. All they care for was destroying other people’s lives
and gaining profit from them. This process seems to give them a perverse enjoyment. The
Saantani, being the silent observer, was passing by the room where Mangaraj and Champa
are busy scheming. All she said was: “It’s already very late. You should retire to bed. Don’t
stay here planning other people’s ruin” (123). Having tried to change Mangaraj’s ways more
than once, she did not have the nature or energy to pick up a fight.
But Mangaraj and Champa seem totally unaffected by her presence. They are busy
talking about someone who Mangaraj wasn’t able to handle. We are not given names or
identities here. They will be revealed subsequently in the next chapters. Champa is furious at
this person whom she calls a bastard. Information regarding what happened to Bhagia and
Saria is revealed here in bits and pieces: their house is torn down, six acres and a third land is
taken over by Mangaraj and their cow Neta is taken away by Champa who had been eying
that cow for a while now.
The chapter ends with the narrator passingly mentioning that Champa demanded a
palanquin and a certain amount of gifts from Managaraj. It foreshadows something that will
happen later in the novel.

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Chapter 15
In this chapter we are introduced to Bagha Singh, a zamindar who resides in Ratanpur, a
village which shared its borders with Gobindapaur. He is a descendent of a family of
Khandayats. According to Senapati, the Khandayats were a caste of people who used to hold
important positions like that of a soldier or a custodian in the royal household. As a reward
for their services, they were allotted lands which have remained in their families for
generations. The Bagha Singhs belonged to one such generation and the lands that they
owned were rent free because of their history. They are four brothers who were the
descendants of Ghanashyam Bagha Singh who was famous because of his generosity.
Although they did not have much wealth, they had earned the respect of the villagers because
of their lineage and their father’s generous attitude. As to the enmity between Mangaraj and
the Bagha Singh brothers, this is what the narrator had to say:
A bitter dispute had been going on between the Bagha Singh
family and Mangaraj for three years now. Although Mangaraj was
very clever and without a match in the law courts, the mere sight
of a lathi would make him run away. As for the Bagha Singhs,
they thought all problems in the world could be solved with
lathis. (p.127)
Chapter 16
In this chapter we see Champa in a palanquin and with a load of gifts entering the village of
Ratanpur and proceeding towards Bagha Singhs’ house in a disguise. She calls herself the
aunt of a newly married daughter-in-law of the Bagha's household. We do not yet know about
her intentions but we do know the malice she and Mangaraj had towards Bagha Singh
brothers and the dispute they had.
She chooses to go there on a day when almost all the men of the village including Bagha
Singh brothers had gone to the city for Snana Purnima festival. She mingles with the ladies of
the household and is welcomed by everyone as she is believed to be an aunt of the daughter-
in-law. She keeps her eyes covered under the pallu of her Sari out of fear of revealing her true
identity.
Chapter 17
This chapter opens with a chaotic scene in the household of the Singhs. Their house had
caught fire during the night and is still ablaze the next day.
When Bhimsen Bagha Singh, the eldest brother, sat with the villagers to ascertain the
cause of fire, many answers came his way. Some blamed Goddess Huligala, someone else
said that goddess Budhi Mangala brought upon this unfortunate fate upon his household,
while the women chimed in saying it was the new daughter-in-law's ill-fate that has cursed
the household.

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Then the incident regarding the visit of the aunt surfaces. Bagha sends enquiries to
Dilijoda, the native place of the new bride regarding this aunt of hers and they learn that all
this was a hoax. It is confirmed that Champa, the evil woman from Mangaraj’s household is
the cause behind this mishap.
Chapter 18
Not much is revealed about Saantani's character until now. Her death makes the narrator tell
the readers about Saantani's nature in detail like her kindness, her resilience when it came to
her husband's treatment of hers, her piety, and her inability to take a stand for herself. She
was too selfless for her own good.
Even Mangaraj sheds tears when she dies. Why is he grieving over someone he did not
care about? Here the narrator starts philosophising about human nature and its ability to
change suddenly sometimes and under certain circumstances. He assumes that Mangaraj
might be repenting his illtreatment of Saantani, maybe he should have treated her better:
“How can we tell whether the emotion that inspires remorse in men was not now
awakened in Mangaraj’s heart? We are not omniscient and cannot see into other
people’s hearts. How can we fathom Mangaraj’s? Even if we could, we would
not find words to describe how grief and repentance together had rendered him
insensible to the world outside. We have said many things, just as a dumb
person desperately tries to say something by throwing about his hands and legs.
(p. 150)”

What have we learned so far?

o We become familiar with the character of Gobara Jena, the village chowkidar and his
corrupt nature. He was also a close ally of Mangaraj, busy looting people in various
ways.
o Asura Pond and the social interactions that take place on its ghat are vividly described
by the narrator. Women gather there and discuss all kinds of gossip near the ghat
o In the thirteenth chapter we see Champa manipulating Saria into keeping their six
acres and a third for mortgage to build the village deity a temple.
o We also come to know the dispute between Bagha Singh family and Mangaraj and
Champa’s evil action of burning Bagha Singh’s house by posing as a distant aunt of
one of the daughter-in-law’s.
o The relationship between Mangaraj, Saantani and Champa is made clear here.
Champa plays an active role in spreading evil and corruption alongside Mangaraj

Chapter 19
In this chapter we witness how quickly a so called secret spreads in the village. It is a part of
human nature to gossip: “everyone spoke in whispers, and everyone was told to keep the
story a secret.” (152)

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There is an atmosphere of suspense created deliberately by the narrator to keep the

readers guessing.
Sheikh Inayat Hussain is a famous daroga (police officials in the Mughal raj and British
rule) and he arrived at Gobindapur from the important district of Cuttack. He knew Persian
by heart. Odia language, for him, was too colloquial, hence he refrained from using it to sign
papers. Closely followed by his munshi, they arrive at Managaraj's house. There is a large
gathering of villagers outside Mangaraj's house. Finally we get to know why the daroga was
present there. He is there to investigate “The murder of Saria, the weaver woman; the
unlawful possession of her cow, Neta, and other valuables from her house.” (156)
Mangaraj is the accused and his entire house is searched by the police constables who
were accompanying the daroga. Not only Mangaraj, but the entire village seemes to be under
trial as the constables and chowkidars search all the houses in the village. Surprisingly, most
of the male members of the village scurry off in fear. Saria's body is taken for post-mortem to
Cuttack. The munshi of the daroga is busy writing the testimonies of as many witnesses as
the constables could find.
What follows next is a record of the testimonies given by some important witnesses. The
narrator here lays out the testimonies in the same format as one would find them in a police
report, not commenting personally on any of those testimonies.
The first witness on the list is Gobara Jena. So far we know that he is a deceitful and
corrupt chowkidar of the village who always sways in the direction of power and money. His
loyalties were with anyone who could give him money and help his thievery. Until now, he
was a close aide of Mangaraj, but when threatened he turned his back on him. His statement
is:
“I keep watch over the village at night. Last night, while on duty, I heard Saria
shouting from Mangaraj’s backyard, ‘Help me, he is killing me, help me.’ It
seemed to me that someone was beating her with a bamboo lathi.” When
questioned, he replied, “No I did not see Mangaraj at the time.” “But,” he added,
“I did hear his voice.” As regards the cow, he stated, “This cow belongs to Saria,
it is called Neta. I have seen it tethered in Mangaraj’s courtyard for about a
month now. I do not know how it got there. (157)”
Another man named Sana Rana, a farmer, confessed to duping Saria and Bhagia as directed
by Mangaraj by pretending to be the goddesses’ messenger to them. He was the one who told
Bhagia what is required for the puja so that Saria doesn’t remain barren and takes advantage
of their innocence. He further faked a prophecy from the Goddess Budhi Mangala by hiding
Jaga near the sacred tree and asks them to build her a temple. When Bhagia is worried about
the money, he confesses to having advised him to mortgage their six acres and a third to
Mangaraj to fund the temple.
Marua, a Brahmin servant who had been working in Mangaraj's household for ten years
gives a detailed account on Saria and Saantani's condition. She says,
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“I do not know what killed Saria. She had sat in our backyard for the last eight
days. Day and night she sat in the same spot. Whenever she saw someone she
would cry out, ‘My six acres and a third, my six acres and a third, my Neta, my
Neta,’ and keep wailing. Whenever she saw Saantani, she would cling to her
feet. She would weep bitterly, and Saantani too would shed tears.” (160-61)
She also says that Champa used to beat her with a broomstick shooing her away but Saria did
not move. She further says that she saw Champa take out the palanquin on Snana Purnima
and after returning, she told Saantani something after which Saantani took to bed and had
been consistently unwell thereafter. As readers we can assume that Champa must have told
the Saantani about how she burned down Bagha Singh's house to extract revenge and
Saantani, being the kind soul she was, must have broken down from inside.
Another important witness is Baidhar Mohanty who has been the record keeper of the
zamindari of Fatehpur Sarsandha for twenty years. He reveals that the six acres and a third
was mortgaged by Bhagia and he had borrowed a hundred and fifty rupees. He further reveals
how Mangaraj had filed a case in Cuttack and bribed the court messenger to keep the
documents regarding the decree, the proclamation of sale and the warrant. He also testifies to
the fact that the cow belonged to Saria indeed.
Then Champa is called in front of the Daroga and all she does is lie by falsely praising
Mangaraj and denying any knowledge regarding Saria's presence outside the house. She also
says that the cow was theirs to keep.
Then there are three more witnesses who give testimonies regarding the incidents that are
partially true and partially exaggerated. All of them testify to the fact of having seen
Mangaraj beating Saria with his lathi. Their testimonies are inconsistent and seem incoherent,
the truth of which will be revealed later.
Finally, Ramachandra Mangaraj is called for his testimony and surprisingly gives the
shortest statement of all:
“I did not kill Saria. Bhagia took money on loan from me. I took him to the law
court and came into possession of his six acres and a third of land after winning
the case. I took his cow to recover the costs of the case.”
Signed Ramachandra Mangaraj. (p. 167)
While he was being taken away, only Champa was heard wailing and shouting. Seeing her
condition, Mangaraj handed her the keys to his treasury and told her to look after it. All this
while Champa was being followed by Gobinda, the barber and all her cries died down after
getting the keys.
After acquiring the testimony of 32 witnesses, Mangaraj was arrested and taken to the
Cuttack to stand trial.

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In his report, the daroga makes the following observations:

1. Mangaraj, the accused was a tyrant and an evil person
2. According to the deposition of four witnesses, Mangaraj was indeed responsible for
murdering Saria with the seized lathi
3. He was someone who had become a zamindar through deceitful means by tricking
Chote Mian
4. No one but only Managraj was capable of committing the murder
Chapter 20
All alone, locked up in jail, Mangaraj is in a state of despair. Even the most wretched of
humans need company of other human beings to survive. When he had power he was
surrounded with people, in his hard times no one stood by him.
In such a time, any kind of help, even the most cunning one seems like a boon. So when
Ram Ram Lala, the greedy lawyer approached Mangaraj, he could not say no. He is in no
condition to afford the lawyer so Ram Ram Lala proposed mortgaging his zamindari as the
expenses were going to be around ten thousand rupees. His own cunningness was biting back
at him but beggars cannot be choosers and now, he had fallen in a similar trap he had used to
acquire wealth for so many decades.
Chapter 21
This chapter details the Sessions court trial of Ramachandra Mangaraj held at Cuttack.
According to the civil surgeon who had conducted the autopsy on Saria's body, Saria had
died of starvation and mental agony. The court found out that Gobara Jena, the village
chowkidar had tried to frame Mangaraj for murder. He was the one who had pointed out
certain marks on Saria's body to the doctor. But it was later found out that these marks were
burnt marks and were not caused by a lathi.
The daroga's personal grudge against Managraj (Mangaraj had not paid the daroga for
handling a case against him in Ranpur) had made him vilify his character. Although
Mangaraj had used trickery and deceit to acquire property, he had not done it unlawfully.
Also, his character does not directly establish the fact that he was a murderer. Mangaraj was
found not guilty of the murder and all his other evil deeds of deceit were overlooked by the
judge. His only crime was stealing the cow as Neta was not mentioned anywhere in the
mortgage papers unlike the six acres and a third and Bhagia's house. So, Mangaraj was
sentenced to six months in prison and was asked to pay a fine of five hundred rupees.
This trial goes on to show us how every person was acting in their own selfish manner to
gain power and wealth. The judge, despite being aware of the treacherous ways in which
Mangaraj had risen to power, lets him go as he knows that by law, Mangaraj couldn't have
been held guilty. The people who knew how to exploit the loopholes in these new land laws
established by the British were making huge profits right under the nose of the authorities.

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What have we learned so far?

o Mangaraj is accused of murdering Saria and taking hold of her cow, her house and her
land
o Chapter 19 is one of the most crucial chapters in the novel. Here we see multiple
accounts from different witnesses regarding Saria’s death
o Mangaraj is sent to jail to stand trial and is found guilty only on the charge of
possessing the cow, Neta. He is not held responsible for Saria’s death.

Chapters 22-24
In these chapters Gobinda, the barber, and Champa’s fate is sealed. Champa after getting the
keys to Mangaraj’s treasury and looting its contents, flees Gobindapur. Her ally in the
robbery is Gobinda, the barber. Adorned in expensive clothes and jewellery they make a stop
at Gopi Sahu’s shop which is located near Gopalpur. This village acted as a pit stop for
people taking ferry across the river Birupa to enter Cuttack. Here, we get to learn of their
motives. While Gobinda wants to go to his village, Champa wants to go to Cuttack. They
quarrel regarding their next destination and Champa behaves rudely with Gobinda as she
considers him beneath her station. She threatens to not give him his share of money if he
doesn’t come along to Cuttack. Infuriated, he murders her brutally with his razor and tries to
cross the river the same night. It is a stormy night and in his attempt to cross the river,
Gobinda drowns in the crocodile infested waters.
Next day after sunrise, Gopi Sahu finds Champa’s dead body. An investigation is
launched but no one is able to find any answers. The boatman who was woken up in the
middle of the night by Gobinda stays quiet even though he saw him drowning. As Champa’s
body lay rotting away while the investigation leads nowhere, the jamadar closes the case by
declaring it to be a snake bite. Hence, even in death Champa is denied any justice.
Chapter 25
Of the six acres and a third, the popular opinion was that:
“….in all of Gobindapur, it would be hard to come by as fertile a plot. Yet this piece of
land was a destroyer of families: it ruined the Bagha Singhs, it caused Saria’s death, and
everyone knows what happened to Mangaraj (203).”
Mangarajs household is in disarray. His sons gambled their time away and his movable
property is auctioned off to collect the fine levied by the Judge. Gobinda and Champa had run
away. His servants and farmhands took whatever they could as they had not been paid their
dues in two years. People in the village were enjoying this free time before someone else took
hold of the zamindari. It was all the same to them anyway as they would always be deprived
and exploited.
Chapter 26
There were robberies happening. Mangaraj's maidservant runs off with a daughter-in-law’s
jewellery. The house was ill maintained, grass was growing tall: “In a nutshell, within a

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matter of months, the power, prestige, and property of Mangaraj had all been scattered to the
winds.” (209)
Chapter 27
The narrator begins the chapter by reiterating the importance of fate and the cycle of karma:
“….you reap what you sow and if by chance you escape it, your successors cannot.”
Mangaraj is rotting away in jail. He has to spend time with the Doms of Ratanpur who
are in jail because of Mangaraj's scheme of taking revenge on Bagha Singh's family. Now,
without any power over them, he is mistreated by them. Gobara Jena is imprisoned because
he had manipulated four witnesses to support his false account of murder of Saria by
Mangaraj. One day, Gobara Jena and Mangaraj land up in the same jail cell and an ugly fight
ensues. Gobara Jena dies as a result of the fight and Mangaraj is grievously injured. The
doctor announces that Mangaraj could be taken back but none of his sons want to take him
back. Finally, Mukunda, who a faithful servant of Saantani, goes to Cuttack by selling two
calves to fetch Mangaraj.
The end
Mangaraj, injured and on his death bed, is in pain and agony. He is writhing in pain with the
guilt of his actions. All he can mutter is six acres and a third. This land grabbing was haunts
him and gives him nightmares even during the daytime and no one can heal him. He spent his
time looking towards the sky, 'unblinkingly”. He is being haunted by the dead body of Saria.
And soon after, he dies.

What have we learned so far?

o We see Senapati tying all the loose ends in these chapters.
o Evil characters like Champa, Gobinda, Mangaraj and Gobara Jena, die horrible
deaths. Champa is murdered by Gobinda and Gobinda drowns and is devoured by a
crocodile. Mangaraj and Gobara Jena fight with each other and Gobara dies. Mangaraj
is all alone in his death bed and is unable to bear the guilt of so many unjust acts he
had committed in his life and dies.
o The lawyer fighting for Mangaraj mortgages all his property and is poised to take over
the zamindari of Fatehpur Sarsandha soon.

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Part-II
5. Themes
5.1 Land ownership and its misuse
This issue lies at the core of the novel. Mangaraj coveting that six acres and third starts of a
chain of events that ends up destroying several lives including his own. We know that
Senapati lived during a time when, taking advantage of the new land laws introduced by the
British, many evil Zamindars were trying to usurp land that belonged to people from the
lower strata of society. The tenants or people who worked the fields of the zamindar were
losing land. Mortgaging land for cash loans and subsequenty capturing the mortgaged land on
failure to repay the loan was allowed by law and was taken advantage of by the zamindars.
The sufferers of this kind of system were the lower caste people, farmers and peasants who
were not educated enough to question the law or the zamindar's decisions. Having lived on
the margins of the society, they were constrained to do the bidding of those in power.
Right from the very beginning we are given the details regarding Mangaraj's deceitful
ways of acquiring property. When his cousin Shyam committed a sinful act of eating onion,
Mangaraj facilitated the “ritual of expiation” by taking over Shyam’s ancestral fifteen acres
of rent property. He masks this acquisition of property by saying that had he not come to
Shyam's rescue, he would have been doomed to suffer.
A simple analysis of the history of ownership of the land would reveal the fact that none
of these land owners had come to possess the land through fair means. The zamindari that
Sheikh Didar Mian enjoyed was acquired by his father Ali Mian through corrupt means. He
was a police officer who became a landlord within a few years. Mangaraj contributes to this
tradition of corruption by duping the Mian and acquiring the zamindari from him. Even the
six acres and a third that Bhagia owns was passed onto him by his father Gobinda Chandra.
He came to own this land as a result of the money he had accumulated by acting as a
middleman between weavers and buyers of clothes. When Zamindar Bagha Singh's fortunes
had begun to decline, Gobinda Chandra was able to buy this rent free land. Some say he got
lucky. As Satya P Mohanty has rightly pointed out:
“After the massive upheavals created by the new colonial land-tenure laws,
when zamindaris that had lasted for several generations were bought and sold by
the deceitful, a new class of predatory social being emerges, and Mangaraj is
simply one among many like him.”
Senapati has tried to point out that the land ownership was more about power and luck than
merit. People who deserved to own land like the farmers or peasants who toiled hard on it day
and night were slowly moved out of their lands and people with a privileged background and
from higher up in the social hierarchy came to acquire them, which wasn’t always fair.
Before the advent of the British, Kings used to distribute rent free land to Khandayats and
Brahmins for their contribution to society. This is again an act of privileging of certain castes

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and occupations over others. Senapati , in this novel, lays bare the faultlines of this unjust
system.
Power relations were largely determined by the land held by people. Mangaraj wielded
the kind of authority he did in his zamindari because of the sheer amount of wealth he had
acquired. People were fearful of him because they knew he was a vulture who was always
looking to usurp someone's land. This thirst for absolute power drives him to take away six
acres and a third of land from the poor weaver couple Bhagia and Saria through deceitful
means.
5.2 The concept of Karma
Another crucial theme that runs throughout the novel is the belief in karma. The narrator
says,
“No one can escape his karma; you will suffer or prosper accordingly. No
one can see a seed in the soil, but who can fail to notice it once it grows
into a large tree? You may think yourself very clever, and you may
imagine that no one can see what you do out of sight and in secrecy, but
you will taste the fruits of the tree you have planted. And if you somehow
escape, your successors will not. (210)
Senapati strongly believes in this concept and we see that the evil doers are brought to justice
in the novel. Ramchandra Mangaraj is jailed and when he returns to his house in Gobindapur,
we witness his mental agony and painful death after suffering for a couple of days.
The narrator makes sure to describe in detail the fearful visions that Mangaraj has right
before his death. His despicable treatment of the farmhands, his pious wife, and people in
general had made him miserable in the end. He is the epitome of guile and evil and his only
purpose in life was to run after power and money. For years, he had been tormenting the
weak. He had utterly neglected his family as well. Since he did not care for his sons and
daughters, they also did not care for him when he is on his death bed. His physical condition
deteriorated after a gruesome fight with Gobara Jena, the village chowkidar whose help he
used to enlist to dupe the villagers.
Mangaraj's partner in crime, Champa also meets a cruel end. After stealing all the
treasures of Mangaraj once he is jailed, she elopes with the barber Gobinda. Champa was
never kind to anyone. She was cruel and evil. She had no sympathy for anyone. All she cared
about, just like Mangaraj, was money and power. She used to shadow Mangaraj only for
benefits and had no real attachment with him. When Saria was wailing outside Mangaraj's
house, she used to chase her away with a stick. She was also responsible for burning down
Bagha Singh's house.
After running away from Gobindapur with Gobinda, Champa wanted to go to Cuttack.
But Gobinda wanted to go to his village and when he told her this, she threatened to deprive
him of his share of the stolen money. So, seething with rage Gobinda murdered her brutally

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with his razor. Now, Gobinda gets instant karma when he tries to flee the murder scene. He
drowns in the river while trying to get away and is devoured by a crocodile.
We see another exploitative character Gobara Jena getting killed in a brawl with Mangaraj
inside the jail. Senapati has made sure that the evil characters meet their fate before the novel
ends. Although the good and innocent characters suffer irrespective of their good deeds
(Bhagia goes mad, Saria dies of starvation, Saantani dies of depression) their perpetrators,
never the less, are brought to justice. These evil doers escaped the long arm of the law but
karma catches up with them.
6. Characters
6.1 The Narrator
Before delving into the characters of the story, we need to talk a little about the narrator
himself. This novel is well known not only for its portrayal of rural life and society in
colonial Odisha but also because of the way the story is narrated. The narrator is identified as
a ‘touter’ by Satya P. Mohanty. An Odia word, ‘touter’ denotes a person who belongs to the
lower rung of the society and is an unreliable person synonymous with the fools one
encounters in Shakespeare's play. But this “unsavoury” person is the only one who is beyond
the reach of Mangaraj's schemes and dubiousness. Using wit, satire and irony to mask his
intentions, this narrator is able to successfuly comment on the social evils. This narrator is
familiar with the rules of the new colonial world and the ways of rural life in Gobindapur.
Although he time and again tells his readers that he is a helpless observer, he keeps on
making subtle commentaries on situations he is displeased with. The passage below from the
novel demonstrates this aptly:
“Sheikh Inayat Hussein was a top class daroga of Cuttack district.. .In
recognition of his competence he had been in charge of the Kendrapada
police station for the last 12 years. There had been a rumour last year that
he would be transferred else- where, but this was only because he had
failed to send the usual gifts for the peshkar and the sirastadar in the head-
quarters at Cuttack on time. His compan- ion, munshi Chakradhar Das,
was a very experienced police clerk. Chowkidars could tell you that the
magistrate sahib was very pleased with the reports the munshi wrote.” (p
154).
Without any explicit comments, the narrator makes sure to indirectly hint at the existing
corruption in the system. He leaves it up to the readers to decode these hints further. The
narrator is also a character in the novel albeit a passive one with no direct influence on the
story. But it is through him that the story unfolds gradually, layer after layer. At the
beginning of the novel itself the sly nature of the narrator is revealed when he comments on
the pious nature of Mangaraj by elaborating on his fasts. But the narrator slips in so called
rumours that he has heard about food being kept in his room secretly at night by the servants
on the days of his fasting. This reveals to us the true nature of Mangaraj`s piety and
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religiousness. He is someone who is extremely superficial and pretentious but is able to stab
people behind their back. The narrative is not linear or straightforward. The narrator also
digresses as he pleases but these digressions have valuable mediations and opinions on
current affairs of the society.
6.2 Ramanchandra Mangaraj
Mangaraj is the evil protagonist in the novel who lives a life of corruption and deceit. We are
not given any details regarding his childhood other than two facts: he was an orphan and “a
poor man's son.” No details are given regarding his life before he usurped Chote Mian's
zamindari. Of his nature, quite a few details come to the forefront right in the introductory
chapter. Mangaraj lived his life in luxury but deprived everyone else their fair shares. He put
on a show of piousness by observing fasts on dwadashis’ and ekadashis’. But the reality was
something different. He used to have food at night in his room quietly. His servant would
keep plates full of food in his room and they would be empty in the morning.
In the matter of lending money and grain, Mangaraj used to “say that he loaned out
money and grain only because he could not bear to see others suffer, that he made no profit at
all from these transactions. We would maintain that, in fact, the business involved
considerable losses for him. After all, not much profit is to be made by lending grain at 50
percent interest. Not just that; whereas he lent out old husked grain, he took in only new juicy
grain in return.” (44)
This reflects very poorly on his character. He was a man who believed in profiting by
cheating and misleading others.
He had no qualms about exploiting the legal loopholes when it came to mortgaging land,
and benefited from it multiple times. And that is exactly how he came to be the zamindar of
Fatepur Sarsandha. He was a man who was not satisfied with what he had. His greed kept
him on the look out for new ways of deceiving people. Not only was he a land grabber, but he
also mistreated his farmhands and was a miserly person. His pettiness is evident when he
used to personally supervise the mid-day meal of his farmhands. He would make sure that
they drink plenty of rice gruel first before eating any rice. This way, he used to save plentiful
of uncooked rice for himself. If any farmhand complained, he would start giving them
lectures about the benefits of having rice gruel, forcing them to drink it.
Mangaraj also dominated the local market. Fruits and vegetables exclusively from his
own orchard were allowed to be sold there first. By doing this, he was depriving the poorer
and more deserving farmers of any income.
Although he had built a lavish house and kept many servants he had no attachment or
regard towards any of his family member. His devout wife Saantani and his sons had no role
to play in his life. It was a societal obligation he had fulfilled and he did not care anymore. It
seemed as if he lived life only for himself, his money and his land. The only person he talked
to in his household was Champa, an equally conniving and scheming woman who supported
Mangaraj in all his wrongdoings.
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When Mangaraj is jailed, Champa's real character is revealed as she abandons him and
steals his treasures in his absence. In reality, Mangaraj is a lonely man who had no one by his
side. People who talked to him did so out of fear and nothing more. Mangaraj is also a
spiteful man. He uses Champa to extract revenge on Bagha Singh and his brothers.
Despite having so much land, Mangaraj had always wanted to acquire the fertile strech
of six acres and a third land owned by Bhagia and Saria. For days, he had been trying to find
a way to get them to mortgage it. Champa and Mangaraj plotted to deprive them of their land.
He also deprived them of the only cow they had despite owning more than 300 cows himself.
Mangaraj did not have any issue in harming the couple. Saria's cries after they had lost their
house and land fell on his deaf ears. Saantani's pleas also did not affect him. Managraj and his
wife were completely opposite to one another when it came to their nature.
As readers, we do not find any redeaming feature in Mangaraj's character save just one
incident when he sheds tears at Saantani's death. It reveals a possibe soft side to Managraj but
that is never explored further in the novel.
After Mangaraj is jailed, he is approached by a lawyer. Despite realising that the lawyer
was trapping him in the same way that he had trapped many people (i.e. by mortgaging his
zamindari) he had no option but to hire his services.
The narrative ensures that Mangaraj is punished before the story ends. He is all alone in his
death bed, agonising over how his life was torn apart because of six acres and a third and
eventually, he dies.
6.3 Champa
She is a thoroughly evil character who complements Mangaraj's personality in every way. It
can be said that Mangaraj and Champa were soul mates in evil. She was the brain behind the
burning down of Bagha Singh's house. She went to great lengths to exact revenge on Bagha
Singh’s family.
Among the many maidservants who Mangaraj had exploited before bringing them into
his house, Champa was the most cunning. Through her deviousness and sly nature, she had
become privy to all of Mangaraj's schemes. She was the one who used to talk away with
Mangaraj late into the night. But she had no loyalty towards Mangaraj. All she was interested
in was the wealth Mangaraj had accumulated and the minute he was jailed, she stole
everything and bolted.
She also played a major role in duping Bhagia and Saria. Senapati has described the
conversation that takes place between Champa and Saria in some detail. Champa is an expert
manipulator and very patiently she plants the idea of building a temple for Budhi Mangala to
conceive a child in innocent Saria's head. She assured her that nothing will go astray. This
incident sheds light on the kind of deceptive woman Champa is. When it came to the
Saantani, Champa openly misbehaved with her although it was way out of line with the set
social hierarchy of the day to do so. She did not fear anyone because she knew she had

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Mangaraj's backing for everything. She was always beside him scheming and plotting and
destroying lives. Even while giving testimony, she openly lied about not knowing anything
regarding Bhagia and Saria's land. This proved that she would go to any length to protect her
own interests. When Saria was crying in front of their house, all she did was shove her away
with a stick. We do not see her exhibiting even an ounce of remorse over her actions. Rather,
she thoroughly enjoys doing her evil deeds.
But she is unable to escape the result of her karma. A brutal death awaited her when she
fled Gobindapur with Gobinda, the barber. We do not know when she had started scheming
the robbery but she executed it as soon as she got the chance. She even emptied the jewellery
box of the newly married daughter-in-law of Mangaraj. This goes on to show that she was
never loyal to Mangaraj. He had entrusted her with protecting his house and wealth but she
betrayed him. In the events following her death we see that the jamadar could not find the
murderer and declared it to be a death by snakebite. Though her murdere dies the same night
that is hardly any compensation.Champa’s character shows us how excessive greed can
destroy many lives simultaneously.
6.4 Saantani
Standing on the opposite pole of evil characters is the character of Saantani (wife of the
Saanta i.e. the landlord). We do not know her real name. She is addressed by an “honorific”
and barely has any dialogues in the novel. But her presence and absence are strongly felt by
the readers. In her silence she displays many things that her husband lacks: kindness, piety,
empathy and innocence. The narrator reveals her personality in detail only after her death.
Later on we get to know that some kind of evil whisper by Champa and Saria’s wailing
distressed her so much that she died of mental agony. When she collapsed near the Tulsi
plant that she worshipped every day, the entire village went into mourning. Everyone was
aware of what she was enduring because of Mangaraj. While Mangaraj was busy exploiting
people, she used to secretly help them whenever she could. Mangaraj used to reprimand her
for doing so but she silently carried on her good deeds without any expectations. While
Mangaraj evoked fear in the villager, the Saantani evoked their respect. It was her faithful
servant Mukunda who went to Cuttack to bring Mangaraj when he was severely wounded.
She was the epitome of kindness and endurance in the novel. Shunned by Champa openly,
she never protested once. When Saria was crying in protestation in her house she was the one
who tried to feed her and did not eat when Saria refused to eat. She was extremely distressed
by her situation and even tried pleading with her husband but she couldn’t help Saria in any
other way. People who were looted by Mangaraj used to send their wives and daughters to
Saantani as they knew she wouldn’t return anyone emptyhanded. Even Mangaraj mourns her
death although he disregarded her when she was alive. He would repent later when he would
be breathing his last.

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6.5 Saria
Belonging to the weaver community of Gobindapur, Saria was a simpleton and innocent
woman. Married to Bhagia, an equally simple man, her only sorrow in life was the lack of a
child. For years she had been praying to Goddess Budhi Mangala to bless her womb but to no
avail. Her life revolved around her husband and their dear cow Neta who was adored by both
husband and wife equally. Despite being poor, Bhagia and Saria were trying to be content
with the little six acres and a third of land that they had. Saria kept on pining for a child and
was ready to do everything to bear one. Emotionally vulnerable, she fell prey to the
machinations of Champa and Mangaraj. Although she was aware that mortgaging to
Mangaraj meant that the land would never come back, Champa managed to convince her
otherwise. She planted all sorts of superstition in her head regarding not paying attention to
the prophecy of Budhi Mangala and she fell prey to it. Later on, after losing her house, her
land and her cow she kept on pleading and crying in front of Mangaraj’s house to return her
cow and six acres and a third but to no avail. She was an ordinary poor weaver woman who
was tormented to death by an evil zaminadar’s hunger for land. Her death was caused by
Mangaraj’s actions but he was never charged with murder as she had simply died of
starvation and mental agoy. Although the court recognised that Mangaraj had caused her
immense grief, it could not convict Mangaraj as mortgaging had allowed him to take over the
land when the dues were not paid. This shows the loopholes that existed in the legal system
of colonial India. He was imprisoned only for stealing the cow as Neta’s name did not appear
anywhere on paper. Saria fell victim to a corrupt system that was validated by law and did not
get justice by law either.
6.6 Bhagia
Bhagia is Saria’s husband. He had inherited the six acres and a third from his father and was
also the headman of his community. He was also a simple man like his wife and was easily
misled by what others said. After what Mangaraj did with him, he roamed the streets like a
madman. He even wanted to kill Mangaraj when he meets him in jail. His whole life was
wasted away and completely destroyed due to Mangaraj’s actions. Like Saria, he is another
victim of the misuse of power and wealth by corrupt and evil people.
6.7 Gobara Jena
Although he belongs to the lower caste, Gobara Jena is the village chowkidar and misuses the
power this job had given him. He used to do as he pleased and was always found appeasing
Mangaraj. As the chowkidar of the village, he was entrusted with protecting the villagers.
But, as the he narrator notes, “Accepting bribes came naturally to Jena, but it must be
admitted that he was a competent and clever chowkidar. No thefts occurred in the village
because of him. True, there were four or five burglaries every year, but Jena, the bribe taker,
could not be held responsible for them; they occurred on nights when he was four or five
miles away in another village, attending caste rituals.” (97)

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He was a close aide of Mangaraj and perpetrated and participated in many of his
deceitful schemes. “Mangaraj and Gobara were often seen sitting together, alone, in the dead
of the night.” (99)This showed the kind of give and take relationship they had with one
another. Gobara Jena was also someone who had accumulated wealth through thievery and
other unfair means. When Saria dies in front of Mangaraj's house, he tries to frame Mangaraj
for murder for his own financial gains. He manipulates the FIR, and also produces four
witnesses who lied that they had seen Mangaraj beating Saria with a stick. The court found
Gobara guilty of misleading the police and imprisoned him.
Like other corrupt characters of the novel, he dies a brutal death after landing in the same jail
cell as Mangaraj. Gobara dies and Mangaraj is grievously wounded. This is the consequence
Gobara had to bear as a result of his evil deeds.
Questions
1. How does owning land affect power relations in 19th century Odisha?
2. How did Mangaraj dupe of their lands?
3. In his novel, Senapati has made sure that the law of karma is maintained. How has he
achieved it?
4. Write short notes on the characters of:
a) Ramachandra Mangaraj
b) Champa
c) Bhagia and Saria
d) Saantani
e) Gobara Jena
5. Why is the narrator labelled as a ‘touter’? How do his digressions contribute to the
novel?

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