A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

In Little Surya Bai, a Rakshas mother and son live in a hut reached when the eagle-raised girl seeks fire. The mother hopes to kill and eat her with her son, who is absent. She delays the visitor with household tasks, then gives her parched corn to scatter on the return journey. The son follows this trail to the eagles’ fortified nest. The pair are particular antagonists in Anna Liberata de Souza’s tale, not a summary of every religious or literary use of Rakshasa.

The son climbs the tree and pretends to be the returning eagle bearing jewels and a ring. Surya Bai is asleep and does not admit him. Unable to force the iron door, he breaks a fingernail and leaves it lodged there. The next morning it pierces her hand and she falls down as if dead; the narration initially calls her dead, while the subsequent account describes her limbs as supple and her own recollection calls her senseless. A passing Rajah removes the nail, whereupon she awakens. No antidote or medical procedure beyond this fictional incident is supplied.

The poisoned fragment, rather than a successful entry or devouring, is the son’s effective harm. Neither his later fate nor a second confrontation with the mother is narrated. The story continues through the heroine’s marriage, drowning, plant manifestations and eventual restoration, but those events are not further acts of this Rakshas. His borrowed eagle voice does not establish an actual transformation into a bird.

01

Origins & earliest records

Told by Anna Liberata de Souza and collected in English by Mary Frere; introduction and notes by Bartle Frere.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected tale, attached footnote and related endnote read; title, introduction, collector apology and narrator autobiography with all referenced notes checked.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Old Deccan Days; or, Hindoo Fairy Legends Current in Southern India

    Anna Liberata de Souza, narrator; Mary Frere, collector; Bartle Frere, introduction and notes · 1870

    VI, Little Surya Bai, pp.113–128; footnote54 and related endnote338–339; Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co. The complete ending and collection mediation were read.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Complete VI113–128, footnote54/endnote338–339, title and full collection/narrator prefatory materials read.

Old Deccan Days; or, Hindoo Fairy Legends Current in Southern India

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co.,1870. VI, Little Surya Bai, pp.113–128; footnote54 and related endnote338–339

Caches frere1870-6.txt, frere1870-notes6.txt and frere-deccan-1870.html; complete narrative ending preserved. Narrator/collector/editor roles distinct. No original-language collation or unverified first-attestation claim.

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References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collected oral narrative in EnglishOld Deccan Days — VI, Little Surya Bai, pp.113–128; footnote54 and related endnote338–339Research access: 2026-10-06

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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