In this very rare volume, first published in 1948, the author has supplemented the examination of Uraon poetry which he began in ‘The Blue Grove’ by translating 409 further poems and 140 riddles. Prior to 1939, he had used only his own collection of Uraon songs and those published in Hahn’s Khurukh Folk-lore. But in 1940, by courtesy of Ram Lochan Saran who gave him access to a third collection by Dharmadas Lakra and in 1940 and 1941 he published a vernacular text comprising all three collections with 2,660 songs and 440 riddles. It is from this text that he has made the present translations. The area in which the songs were collected is the westerns half of Ranchi district in Chota Nagpur, India. His own collection was made in Gumla subdividion , while Hahn and Dharamdas Lakra recorded their songs from the country around Lohardaga twenty miles to the east. The collection does not include every Uraon song, for new songs are being added every year, but within the limits of this area the collection is representative.

Excerpt From: Manoj Pant & Deepika Srivastava. “The Dove and the Leopard.” iBooks.