Of racialism, in India and abroad

Though a fugitive from law and order, he lived like a king, dispensing justice to the oppressed and aiding anyone in distress. That is why India's own Robinhood, who is celebrated in tale and memory as "Daku Man Singh", was actually called "Raja" by the people of the area.

But as happens to oral narratives about larger-than-life people, tales get considerably embellished in the telling. However, only one fact about Man Singh, as Kenneth Anderson's book shows, is telling. The dacoit chieftain was "pursued by 1,700 policemen of four states for 15 years in an area of approximately 8,000 square miles. He was the victor of over 80 encounters (gunfights) with police. And the cost of the operations, that eventually led to his death, was one and a half crores of rupees..."

How Man Singh managed his long "reign" is revealed by these tales recited here by legendary hunter Anderson, who provides a range of different perspectives about the man and his milieu, spanning those who experienced his beneficence to those who felt his wrath. In the half a dozen stories (originally published in 1961 but thankfully reprinted this year), Anderson provides a vivid look at Man Singh.

However, it is only in the final chapter that Anderson, drawing from a contemporary magazine article, sketches Man Singh's life, especially how he got into banditry and what led to his downfall. Apart from an error or two, it is otherwise a good, short account of Man Singh's life and career. — IANS