#phoolan devi

Days 12-13

Phoolan Devi, India's Bandit Queen, and Qiu Jin, Chinese republican revolutionary.

A compelling novel that explores caste, patriarchy, and female rage with dark humour and heart. While some stylistic choices break immersion, The Bandit Queens remains a vibrant, defiant celebration of women’s agency—and the messy road to solidarity.

In rural India, Geeta’s life takes an unexpected turn when her reputation as a “husband killer” turns her into an unlikely feminist icon. Soon, other women begin to approach her, asking for help in getting rid of their own abusive husbands. What starts as darkly comic fiction about accidental notoriety spirals into a sharp, sometimes chaotic tale of vengeance, sisterhood, and survival.

The Bandit Queens is a story that effectively addresses issues like casteism, sexism, and the societal pressures placed on women in India, all while balancing these heavy themes with its dark humour. The exploration of female rage is both cathartic and empowering to read - women reclaiming their agency in the face of oppressive circumstances.

The story also illustrates how women can be pitted against each other by societal structures, but ultimately celebrates the power of female friendship and solidarity. The characters are flawed and richly developed— by the end of the novel I found myself attached to them.

That said, the beginning of the novel was a bit of a struggle for me. The female characters were often quite antagonistic toward one another, which, while serving the story’s message, was off-putting at first. I appreciated how their relationships evolved, but I wish the initial hostility had been toned down.

The pacing was another issue—certain sections dragged, and while the last 100 pages were fantastic, it felt like the earlier parts could have been tighter.

One of my bigger critiques lies in the use of language. Shroff incorporates Hindi and Gujarati into the dialogue to ground the story in rural India, which is a great idea in theory. However, the mix of regional words with overly formal or academic English (like “pedantic” or “peculiar”) felt bizarre in those dialogues and pulled me out of the story. Similarly, the characters use terms like “slut-shaming” and “sexism,” which, while accurate, didn’t feel authentic to how these rural women might express their experiences. These moments made it hard to fully immerse myself in the world of the novel and hinted at the author’s distance from the realities she’s writing about.

The novel clearly seeks to honor the legacy of Phoolan Devi, called the Bandit Queen of India. The comparisons to Phoolan Devi were frequent and, in some cases, a bit forced. Sometime it felt a bit exploitative. To her credit, the author acknowledges this delicate balance in her author’s note, discussing her efforts to approach the subject respectfully. Still, there were moments where these parallels felt unnecessary, leaving me a bit ambivalent about how the novel handled this aspect.

Despite these flaws, the way this novel weaves humor and social commentary together is impressive, and it delivers a compelling story about resilience and rebellion. While some aspects could have been more seamless, I’m eager to see what Shroff writes next.

✦ My rating: 3.75/5 stars ✦

February 14, 1981, Phoolan Devi killed her 22 rapists.

“She was an Indian dacoit (bandit) who later became a member of Parliament, before being assassinated. After being sexually abused repeatedly and married off at the age of eleven, she joined a dacoit group, becoming it’s leader. Her gang robbed higher caste villages and held up trains and vehicles. She became a heroine to the lower castes for being a Robin Hood figure who punished her rapists and evaded capture by the authorities. She was charged in absentia for the 1981 Behmai massacre, in which twenty Thakur men were executed. She surrendered two years later in a carefully negotiated settlement and spent eleven years in Gwailor prison, without facing trial.”

This doesn't have anything to do with dark academia, but this woman is badass and her life and story very relevant to the era I'm obsessed with. This is Phoolan Devi.

Phoolan endured extreme poverty, caste based discrimination, child marriage and marital rape when she was just a teenager. Unable to beat her suffering any longer, she ran away from her home and joined a gang of bandits. She was the only woman in that gang, and her relationship with one gang member, coupled with caste difference, caused a gunfight between gang members. The members abducted her, and raped her for weeks. After escaping, Phoolan rejoined the remnants of her dead lover's faction and continued with banditry. A few months later, her new gang descended upon the village of Behmai to exact revenge for what she had suffered. As many as twenty-two men belonging to that village were shot dead by Phoolan's gang.

Phoolan evaded capture for two years after the massacre before she and her few surviving gang-members surrendered to the police in 1983. She was charged with 48 crimes, including multiple murders, plunder, arson and kidnapping for ransom. Phoolan spent the next eleven years in jail, as the various charges against her were tried in court. Her act of revenge was portrayed by the press as an act of righteous rebellion. The respectful sobriquet 'Devi' meaning 'Goddess' was conferred upon her by the media and public at this point.