Book excerpt: 'Durgeshnandini' is the first novel of Bankim Chandra. It refers to the beloved daughter of the master of Fort Mandaran, Birendra Singh. Fort Mandaran was an estate near Bishnupur of United Bengal, constructed by Pathan Sultan Hussain Shah's commander-in-chief Ismail Ghazi. After the Pathans were driven away by Mughal Emperor Akbar, by turn of historical events, the estate came under the control of Hindu commander Jaidhar Singh. Birendra was his natural heir, who before taking it over, had served in Akbar's army as a commander himself. The novel unfolds a saga of Pathan Sultan Katlu Khan's repeat attempts to enter and conquer the Banga province. To crush him and his ambition, Emperor Akbar had sent his most trusted and valiant courtier Raja Man Singh to take charge of Banga and rescue people from Pathans' tyrannious atrocities. Raja Man Singh sent his valorous son Jagat Singh to crush the Pathans. While growingly successful at the job in many small guerrilla-type battles, by turns of events, Jagat Singh encounters Tillottama and both fall in love at first sight. How, due to an inadvertent move, both of them came under captivity of the marauding Pathan Sultan and later earned their freedom, have been described in a captivating style of desanskritised idioms.