Chandrakanta ( Devanagri-चन्द्रकान्ता ; IAST-Candrakāntā) is an epic fantasy Hindi novel by Devaki Nandan Khatri. Published in 1888, it was the first modern Hindi novel. It gained a cult following, and contributed to the popularity of the Hindi language. The copyright on the novel expired in 1964 and it is now in public domain, along with other titles by the author. It inspired Nirja Guleri's mega-budget TV serial of the same name (though the screenplay had many differences from the novel) which became one of the biggest-ever blockbusters in the history of Indian television. Story The story is a romantic fantasy about two lovers who belong to rival kingdoms: the princess Chandrakanta of Vijaygarh, and the prince Virendra Singh of Naugarh. Krur Singh, a member of the Vijaygarh king's court dreams of marrying Chandrakanta and taking over the throne. When Krur Singh fails in his endeavor, he flees the kingdom and befriends Shivdutt, the powerful neighboring king of Chunargarh (referring to the fort in Chunar that inspired Khatri to write the novel). Krur Singh coaxes Shivdutt to ensnare Chandrakanta at any cost. Shivdutt captures Chandrakanta and while running away from Shivdutt, Chandrakanta finds herself a prisoner in a tilism. Eventually, Kunvar Virendra Singh breaks the tilism and fights with Shivdutt with the help of aiyyars. The Story slowly unfolds into Chandrakanta being kidnapped and getting rescued by Chapla. However, they get trapped into a Tilism by a quirk of fate. Prince Virender Singh starts breaking the Tilism to free Chandrakanta. The Story unfolds around the efforts of Virender Singh for breaking Tilism and King Shivdutt trying to stop him to do the deed himself. Chandrakanta, the novel, has many sequels, prominent being a 7-book series (Chandrakanta santati) dealing with the adventures of Chandrakanta and Virendra Singh's children in another major tilism. Contents Characters Maharaja Surendra Singh (King of Naugarh) Maharaja Jai Singh (King of VijayGarh ) Virendra Singh Chandrakanta (also disguised as Van Kanya) RatnaGarbha (Chandrakanta's mother) Tez Singh (aiyyar of Naugarh, son of Jeet Singh) Devi Singh Diwan Jeet Singh (Diwan of Naugarh, also a grand aiyyar) (also disguised as Baba SiddhNath) Senapati Fateh Singh (Chieftain of Vijaygarh) Champa & Chapla (aiyyar friends of Chandrakanta) Diwan Kupat Singh (father of Kroor Singh) Kroor Singh Nazim & Ahmed (aiyyars of Kroor Singh) Hardayal Singh (Diwan of VijayGarh after death of Kupat Singh) Ketaki (a handmaid of Chandrakanta) Maharaja Shiv Dutt