M. K. Binodini Devi

Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi, known as M.K. Binodini Devi and henceforth referred to as MK Binodini or Binodini, the mononym that she wrote under, was a writer, social activist and princess of Manipur. She worked in multiple genres, including fiction, essays, drama, screenplays, lyrics, and ballet scripts often addressing themes such as patriarchy and colonialism in Manipuri society. She received the Padma Shri in 1976, and her historical novel Boro Saheb Ongbi Sanatombi (1976) won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1979. The novel was subsequently translated into English as The Princess and the Political Agent and published as a Penguin Modern Classic in 2020.