The prolific Bengali poet Alaol (1651-71), who adapted five narrative poems and one versed treatise from mediaeval Hindi and Persian into Bengali, is examined in In the Shadow of the Golden Palace. Specifically focusing on Alaol's poetical discourse and his literary ancestry, which comprised Bengali, Sanskrit, Avadhi, Maithili, Persian, and Bengali authors, the book maps the genres, structures, and themes of Alaol's works. In his vision of the poetics of the written word, D Hubert places a strong emphasis on courtly speech in Alaol's poetry, his revisiting of classical ideas in a vernacular context, and the significant significance of performing arts. A significant addition of the book is the prominence of this bold theory of meaning in Alaol's poetry, both in terms of general conceptual analysis and? for its significance in the history of Bengali poetry. This book shows how multilingual literacy fostered a variety of literary experiments in the remote kingdom of Arakan, which lay between present-day southeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar, in the mid-17th century. DHubert also presents a detailed analysis of Middle Bengali narrative poems, as well as translations of Old Maithili, Brajabuli, and Middle Bengali lyric poems that illustrate the major poetic styles in the regional courts of eastern South Asia. In the Shade of the Golden Palace therefore fulfills three functions: it is a unique guide for readers of Middle Bengali poetry, a detailed study of the cultural history of the frontier region of Arakan, and an original contribution to the poetics of South Asian literatures.