154 
THE MODERN LITERARY HISTORY OF HINDt?8TlN. 
[§ 706. 
it and repolishing it, till the day of his death. So much was the 
work admired that there was a large sale of these proof-sheets, which 
achieved great popularity, and extracts from them have been given 
prominent situations in the many Readers and Anthologies which have 
been issued of late years. 
He was son of Debi Dayal Tripathi, and had two brothers—an 
elder, named Sltal Par’sad, author of a play entitled Jdnakl May gal, 
the first Hindi play ever acted, and a younger, called Gdpi Nath, who 
was father of Kali Par’sad Tiwari (No. 739). 
NOTE ON THE HINDI 1 AND ON THE BIHAEI DRAMA. 
706. The Hindi drama is a plant of very recent growth. It is 
true that some of the earlier writers wrote what they called ndfaks, for 
instance Niwaj (No. 198) wrote a Sakuntala, and Braj Basl Das 
(No. 369) and others translations of the Prabodha Chandrodaya ; 
but these were plays only in name, being without entrances and 
exits of the characters. Similarly, the Deb Mciya Prapahch of 
the celebrated poet Deb (No. 140), the Prabhawati written, for 
the Maharaj of Banaras, and the Anand Raghunandan written 
for Maharaj Biswanath Siygh (No. 529) of Rlwa, are wanting in 
the essentials of dramatic poetry. 
The first Hindi play in which there are regular exits and entrances 
for the characters was the Nahukh Natak of Giridhar Das (Gopal 
Chandr’) (No. 580), which deals with Indra’s expulsion from his throne 
by Nahusa and his subsequent reinstatement. Harishchandr’, the son 
of the author, was seven years old at the time it was written, which 
was therefore the year 1857. 
The next Hindi play in a really dramatic form was the Baku n tala 
of Raja Lachhman Sirjgh, which has in later years been edited 
by Mr. Pincott. It was followed by Harishchandra’s (No. 581) 
Bidyd Sunday founded on the well-known Baijgali poem of that 
name, but happily free from its obscenities. The fourth was the 
Taptd Sambaran of Srinibds Das, the fifth Harishchandra’s Baidikl 
Hinsa, and the sixth Tot a Ram’s Keto Kritant, These examples 
found many imitators. 
The first Hindi play ever performed was the Janakl May gal of 
Sltal Par’sad Tiwari, elder brother of Chhotu Ram Tiwari (No. 705). 
‘Partly abridged from Harishchandra’a ‘ Noitah Shrl Harishchandra Kala, 
p. 38. 
