James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs', Plate 24, Aquatint; 1826 The word ‘Battala’ evokes a range of meanings. Literally, it means ‘under the banyan tree’. Historically, it has been both a metonym of commercial print culture as well as a misnomer for obscene and vulgar vernacular literature in nineteenth century Calcutta. It … Continue reading Strange Bedfellows: Battala Print and the Bengal Renaissance—Suchintan Das →