Not about Neeladarpana but related

[aklujkar at unixg.ubc.ca]

Bob Hueckstedt  inquired about
>particularly literary
materials, that were from the nineteenth century and expressed an
anti-imperialist point of view or that at least dealt explicitly with
British or Company Rule in India. <

As I recall, there is a book listing publications proscribed by British
authorities of India. I saw a copy of it some years ago in the India Office
Library (and was amused to notice that not a single Sanskrit work was
mentioned in it although, I am sure, some Sanskrit periodicals were
publishing patriotic, possibly seditious, writing at least in the early
twentieth century if not in the nineteenth). Frank Conlon, where are you?

I also have an impression that a poem (most probably originally written by
R. Tagore) was translated and recreated in various Indian languages in the
early twentieth century. It was addressed to a caged bird/parrot and
allegorically spoke of lack of freedom. I have read Appaa;saastrii
Ra;siva.dekara's elegant Sanskrit poem "Pa;njara-baddha.h ;suka.h" which
makes the same point using the same allegory. It was certainly written
before 1913/1914, for that was the year in which Appaa;saastrii died
(prematurely at the age of 39).    (To find out the exact year of
Appaa;saastrii's composition, I will need access to Sa.msk.rta-candrikaa
issues, which are not available here). Perhaps specialists of the different
traditions of Indian literature subscribing to this list can help in
tracing the history of a poetic motif and device that played a significant
role in India's struggle against imperialism.