Journal of Bengali Studies Vol.5 No.1

ISSN 2277-9426
Journal of Bengali Studies

Vol. 5, No. 1
Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad
Buddhapurnima, 7 Joishtho 1423

Summer Issue, 21 May 2016
Journal of Bengali Studies (ISSN 2277-9426) Vol.5, No.1

Published on the occasion of Buddhapurnima, 7 Joishtho 1423, 21 May 2016
The theme of this issue is Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad
ISSN: 2277-9426
Journal of Bengali Studies

Vol. 5, No. 1
21 May 2016
Buddhapurnima
7 Joishtho 1423
Summer Issue
Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad
Editor: Dr Tamal Dasgupta
The commentary, article, review copyrightsindividual contributors, while the Journal of

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in any format, as per our terms and conditions and submission guidelines. EditorialTamal
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Cover Image: Portrait of Atisha Dipankara from Tibetan Kadamapa Monastery, eleventh
century. This tangka is one of the two earliest known Tibetan portraits which have been found till
date.
Contents
Editorial
Article
Trans(n/l)ation: The Nation in Translation in the Soviet Books in Bengali for Children and Adolescents
Tamal Dasgupta
12
Captain Suresh Biswas: Myth and Reality

Mara Helena Barrera-Agarwal
56
Ata Dpakara rjna The Erudite Monk-Scholar of Bengal

Manikuntala Haldar De
81
Sister Nivedita in Bengal: The Irish Bengali Encounter

Mousumi Bandyopadhyay
86
Bengali Identity in Seventeenth Century Arakan: Language, Identity and Emotion

Tanima Dey
95
Rash Behari Bose: The Father of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia
Tapoban Bhattacharyya
113
East West Dialectics, 'Indian Renaissance' and Swami Vivekananda

Partha Sarathi Nandi
127
Vivekananda and the Spirit of Internationalism

Anuja Gupta Bandyopadhyay
138
Othello in Nineteenth Century Bengal: A Case of Conflicted Indigenization

Abhishek Chowdhury
145
Shakespeare Studies in Bengal: Bengal Renaissance and After

Arindam Mukherjee
3 Journal of Bengali Studies (ISSN 2277 9426), Vol. 5, No. 1 ( www.bengalistudies.com 2016)
164
French Educationists in Colonial Chandernagore: A Tale of a College

Antara Mukherjee
189
The Effect of Colonial Encounter on Medical Organization and Practice in Bengal

Avijit Singha
198
Sir William Jones and Max Muller: The Kalpataru of Scholarship

Somnath Sarkar
203
Review
Into the Exotic, around the World: Our First Globetrotters Ramnath Biswas and Bimal Mukherjee
Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta
214
Interview
West Never Liked Russia, Never in the History, Be it Tsarist Russia, or Soviet Russia.: Arun Som in
Dialogues with Tamal Dasgupta
221
Workshop
My Great Great Aunt Who Died: A Story
Amit Shankar Saha
239
Commentary
Friday Island Othoba Noromangsho Bhokkhon O Tahar Por: A Bengali Novel in Search of Arthetypal
Narratives
Champak Dyuti Majumder
243
Disclaimer:
The contents, views and opinions occurring in the contributions are solely the responsibilities of
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The image/s appearing in the Journal are parts of a critical project, not for any commercial use.
Image/s are either provided by the authors/designers from their personal collections and /or are
copyright free to the best of knowledge & belief of the editorial board.
Journal of Bengali Studies is a double blind peer-reviewed online journal published since 2012.
For
the
previous
issues
please
visit
http://bengalistudies.blogspot.com
and
www.bengalistudies.com
We have previously published eight issues on the following themes, and all of them are available
online:
Ognijug (Vol.1, No.1)
Bengali Cinema: Bengalis and Cinema (Vol.1, No.2)
Bengali Theatre: Bengalis and Theatre (Vol.2, No.1)
Science and Technology in History: Modern Bengali Perspectives (Vol.2, No.2)
Literature and Movements: Bengali Crossroads (Vol.3, No.1)
Kolkata (Vol.3, No.2)
Bengali Music: Bengalis and Music (Vol.4 No.1)
Microhistory: Bengali Perspectives (Vol.4, No.2)
Editorial
Late Suchitra Bhattacharya wrote a novel in the Sharodiya Desh Pujabarshiki (Durgapuja Festive Issue
of the Magazine Desh), 2004, Chneratar (Broken Wire) which was an unacknowledged copy of
Graham Greene's Heart of the Matter, as anyone reading these two novels side by side would easily
recognise. I raised this issue in an obituary that I wrote on facebook after author's demise, and my
status went viral. Such plagiary was not easy earlier, because Bengalis knew the literature and cinema
of the west very thoroughly, and any such attempt of plot-lifting would not have gone unnoticed, as it
does today. But what is interesting is that Bengalis have continued to draw 'inspiration' from the west
even during these dismal times when Bengal started to be ruled by mediocrity.
Bengal culturally is a province of Europe: this statement (if apocryphally) is sometimes
attributed to Buddhadeb Basu, the poet, professor of English and doyen of comparative literature in
India (credited with opening this subject at Jadavpur University). The statement is ironically true, and
perhaps the unintended irony lies in the use of the word province. Bengal has been a province to the
West's metropolis during a large part of the twentieth century. We became the backwater of the West, a
backward periphery that suddenly tries to wake up to the latest fashion of the metropolis and tries to
imitate the advanced centre. Better to serve as a province of the West than to develop own templates of
knowledge discourses, that seems to have been the motto of the educated Bengalis from 1940s
onwards. It was from this period that nationalist tendencies took a backseat in Bengal and
bishshomanobs (universal humanists) and bishshobiplobis (internationalist revolutionaries) went on
rising steadily. Sunil Ganguly described how the Bengalis in Coffee House once woke up to Kafka and
made a hue and cry about him, turning him into the latest fashion, long after Kafka became a part of
Europe's contemporary canon.
Not that we don't need Kafka, we need him very much. But not in this way. Since the
Portuguese advent in Bengal, we have been in close touch with Europe. British colonialism accelerated
the process. Though the nationalist interregnum (the advent of Bankim can be thought of as its formal
beginning) did not halt that process and in fact continued to exchange notes with the west, it
nevertheless challenged the absolute hegemony of west in a dialectical manner. What followed next
7 Journal of Bengali Studies (ISSN 2277 9426), Vol. 5, No. 1( www.bengalistudies.com 2016)
8 Journal of Bengali Studies (ISSN 2277 9426), Vol. 5, No. 1
was the restoration of the West and its paradigms from the 1940s onwards which again speeded up
that process (the support of the Communist Party for British in 1942 can be considered the formal
milestone of this restoration). This is not a place to map that trajectory in details. And this is not to say
that we have not gained anything from such impositions of the Western paradigms. Bengal's Group
Theatre movement, art and culture during the later half of twentieth century, our cinema and literature,
little magazine movement they abound with examples of a unique flourish that was inspired by that
entire Western spectrum ranging from communism to capitalism. Nevertheless, at its core this remains
a comprador tendency that supported perpetration of cultural hegemony of the West.
And yet it was this Bengal that once fiercely fought for independence from British; not just
political independence, but also spiritual, cultural, intellectual and economical independence. It once
led the Indian struggle for independence, and as a reward, it was reduced to debris, from within and
from without. Restoration of the West presided over this ruination. While a simple affinity or fondness
for Britian was no longer on the card (the intervening period of history was too tortuous for that), a
crafty method was adopted by our former rulers which ensured that Bengalis remain intellectually
enthralled to various alternative domains of the west, from America to Russia. Under a system of
patronage from various establishments, Bengal's monkey-ish turn to imitating the West in twentieth
century happened with a vengeance. Any uncritical reading of this history is detrimental for serious
academic quest.
However, while China's chairman became our chairman, and we copied from western literature,
and we parroted western theory in our academia, we also continued to inspire the rest of the world with
our traditional treasures: our Baul songs, our folk culture, our indigenous heritage they inspired
academic interest from different parts of the globe. The struggle of the Bengali people during in the
past hundred years of persecution (classically beginning in 1905, with the first partition), and the
Bengalis as the sufferers of one of the largest, continuous genocides of the history of humankind
deserve academic attention from researchers and humanists alike, and Gary Bass's Blood Telegram
covers only a small period of our prolonged dark history. However, Bengal remains a fertile matter for
study, Bengalis are a rich field ripe for exploration, as we have found out in this exciting journey at
Journal of Bengali Studies (JBS). As we decided upon the theme of this issue, we knew that studying
Bengal's foreign encounters would constitute an interesting cornerstone in our investigation of the
history and culture of the Bengali people. Like our previous issues, JBS Vol.5 No.1 is going to be a
collector's item that will be valued by specialists and general readers alike.
Interactions with various foreign cultures is what characterised the Bengali people since the
earliest known flourish of civilization in this part of the globe. Ramesh Majumdar in History of Ancient
Bengal (Kolkata: G Bhardwaj & Co, 1971) points out that the people who resided at the ancient site
called Pandu Rajar Dhibi in modern day Bardhaman district carried out regular sea-trade, as the
excavations doubtlessly prove: [They] carried on trade not only with the interior regions of India, but
also with the countries overseas. They were predominantly a sea-faring people, and in ships made by
themselves they could traverse the seven seas of the world. The discoveries at Pandu Rajar Dhibi
(2000 BC) show that they had most intimate trade relations with Crete and other countries of the
Mediterranean world (23). Majumdar gives a detailed description of these evidences. We all know
about the flourish of overseas trade in Bengal under the Gangaridai empire, as recorded in GrecoRoman texts. The Gangaridai seaport of Gange is highlighted in Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. Further,
the ancient sea port of Tamralipta was renowned for its trade with different parts of the world.
Vijaya Simha's conquest of Sri Lanka does not technically constitute a foreign encounter,
because Sri Lanka is a part of the subcontinent. But Bengalis during the Buddhist period have travelled
to remote corners of Asia to impart education, to carry out trade and to show their valour, the full
history of which is not yet written. The destruction of the Buddhist libraries of eastern India by the
barbaric medieval invaders forever destroyed many threads of our history, but we can still salvage some
of the ancient texts from other places, like Haraprasad Shastri discovered Caryapada from Nepal.
However, without exhaustive (and multi-lingual) studies into the archives of these countries from
Tibet to Thailand, from Nepal to Japan this history cannot be written. We only have fragments of this
past with us now, and they sufficiently indicate that much of our dispersed and forgotten treasures from
the past are still lying unseen. They cannot be unearthed without large-scale institutionally backed
research. Sadly, there is no sign of that happening anytime soon. Unless a Bengali nationalist
consolidation emerges, such researches will never be undertaken by our governemnt.
The fifth century stone edict of the great merchant Buddhagupta of the Raktamrittika region
(near Karnasuvarna), which was found in 1834 in the Wellesley district of the Malay peninsula, is a
glaring testimony to the ancient seafaring culture of Bengal. Atisha Dipankara's spiritual conquest of
Tibet has not been fully chronicled yet, but this issue of JBS has a valuable article on Atisha by Dr
Manikuntala Haldar De, renowned Professor of Pali and the leading Indian expert in this field. Mara
Helena Barrera-Agarwal has authored what happens to be the first academic study of the legendary
Bengali, Suresh Biswas of Brazil, who represents one of the most thrilling cases of Bengal's foreign
encounters as modernity dawned. Her article is an asset to this issue.
Dr Antara Mukherjee's article is a valuable record of the history of Chandernagore's contact
with French educationists. Anuja Gupta Bandyopadhyay's article discusses Vivekananda from an
international perspective, while Partha Sarathi Nandi's article on Vivekananda illuminates one of the
most significant foreign encounters that modern Bengal had in Vivekananda's spiritual mission abroad.
Avijit Singha has written a brief article on the western colonisation of the field of medicine in Bengal.
Abhishek Chowdhury's article on Shakespeare's Othello in nineteenth century Bengal, itself a classic
play on the troubles of cultural contact, brings out the tensions inherent in this particular instance of
foreign encounter. Dr Arindam Mukherjee is an expert on Shakespeare studies in Bengal and his article
deals with the academic and intellectual approaches to Shakespeare during the British Raj. Tanima
Dey's article explores the historic Bengali connection of the royal court of Arakan.
Dr Somnath Sarkar's article on William Jones and Max Muller is an appreciation of the role
played by these two foreigners in Sanskrit scholarship. Dr Mousumi Bandyopadhyay is an authority on
Sister Nivedita, and her article documents the Irish-Bengali relationship through the persona of
Nivedita. Champak Dyuti Majumder's commentary on Amiya Bhushan Majumdar's novel Friday
Island brilliantly explores its deconstruction of the western archetypes of civilisation and savagery.
Tapoban Bhattacharyya's article on Rashbehari Bose in Japan offers discussions into a valuable
historical tie that was forged by the revolutionary nationalist movement of Bengal, as Rashbehari, the
legendary leader of that movement, later the founder of INA and mentor of Subhash Bose, brought
Bengal and east Asia closer. Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta, co-founder of JBS has authored a review of
the travelogues of the Bengali globetrotters Ramnath Biswas and Bimal Mukherjee, pioneering
academic discussion on a very important but forgotten aspect of Bengal's history. In addition, let me
say that I am grateful to her and my son for enduring my long hours of work which went into the
making of my own article and this issue. My article is on the Soviet books in Bengali for children and
adolescents, a hitherto unexplored area that constitutes one of the most significant foreign encounters
that Bengal had in the past century. I hope that my article will generate further academic interests into
this topic of Bengal's cultural history. Dr Amit Shankar Saha has given his valuable time to transcribe
the article on Atisha already mentioned and anyone who has worked with diacritics on computer will
appreciate his diligence and labour in rendering that article flawless. Amit is a personal friend and has
been associated with JBS for a very long time. He is a renowned creative writer, and he has penned an
excellent short story My Great Great Aunt Who Died, written specifically for the workshop section
of this foreign encounters issue of JBS. In this issue, in addition to the four usual sections, i.e. article,
commentary, review and workshop, we have added a new section: interview. An interview with
Arun Som adorns this issue, who worked as a Bengali translator in USSR for Soviet publications for
many decades. After its collapse, he returned to Bengal. Now based in Kolkata, Arun Som still
continues to translate Russian books into Bengali.
Journal of Bengali Studies has remained committed to the project of developing an
interdisciplinary Bengali nationalist discourse in academia since we started publishing, and the ninth
issue of JBS once more renews that pledge.
The editorial board (and the contributors) can be reached at editjbs@gmail.com and
shoptodina@gmail.com. Readers of JBS can find updates and call for papers for the forthcoming
issues, and post comments and responses at http://bengalistudies.blogspot.in/. Also, JBS can be
accessed at at www.bengalistudies.com . Our facebook page is www.facebook.com/BengaliStudies.
Trans(n/l)ation:
The Nation in Translation in the Soviet Books in Bengali for
Children and Adolescents
Tamal Dasgupta
Abstract: In this article, we are going to study the cultural import of the Soviet books in Bengali translation meant for
children and adolescents/young adults, using a selection of such books as type studies. While we shall investigate the
structures of indoctrination which are at work in these texts, we shall also explore the patterns of delight they offered
for the readers. It can be generally agreed upon that these books worked as ideological state apparatus (ISA). But we
shall see that that the ideology they propagated was not merely that of the communist party, but more importantly,
these books propagated and instilled a sense of Russia: the country, the culture and the people. They were giving birth
to a general Russophilia. This was a project of trans(n/l)ation, a project of translating the values of the Russian nation.
Russia was to act as the concrete manifestation of socialist idea, as the substance of social change and image of the
ideal future which the children were to imbibe. Other soviet cultural texts (from other republics) which got translated
into Bengali were always transmitted through the medium of Russian, and were also modelled on the Soviet Russian
formulaic structures for children's books.
Keywords: Soviet Children's and Adolescents' Literature, Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Soviet Books in Bengali, Children,
Russian Culture, Bengal and Russia, Communist Party, Russian Nationalism, Bengali language and Russian language,
Bengalis and Russians, Soviet Union, Progress, Raduga, Mir, Vostok, Manisha, National Book Agency, Arun Som,
Noni Bhowmik, Socialist Realism, Spontaneity and Consciousness, Soviet Nostalgia, Soviet-Era Books.
Literature produced for children and adolescents are meant to delight them, but they are also supposed
to condition them, socialise them, and introduce them to the world that they would grow up in. Tacitly
(story books) or directly (primers), such texts are tools of various ideological systems to inculcate
certain values among the young minds, to instruct them into patterns of thinking during their formative
years, and make them ready to receive the knowledge, discipline and human skills which the adult
community finds useful and rewarding. In addition to all the features of children's books, adolescent
fictions introduce a certain coming of age narrative that very often involves adventure, frequently
introducing adult motifs like love, crisis and war. Keeping this in view, we proceed to study the case of
Soviet children's (and adolescents') literature in Bengali translation. As we shall study the structural and
ideological aspects of the reception of these books by the Bengali speaking readership, we shall see that
these books tempt the young minds into a general fondness for Soviet Union and a left-leaning
worldview. But in this article we shall also see that the ideology of Soviet Union was not just
communistic, it was deeply rooted in the traditional Russian nationalistic values. Such literature,
therefore, did not merely offer a simple communist orientation; going beyond that, they fostered a
Slavophilia/Russophilia.
Fig.1: Mujtaba Ali on Soviet books in 1951/52. Probably the first mention of these books. Collected Works Vol. 11 p 249.
Syed Mujtaba Ali in his Rai Pithoura's Column that he used to write in the Anandabazar
Patrika during 1951-52 probably made the first mention of arrival of Soviet books, which came from a
mainstream Bengali littrateur. He notes how the cheap price generates a great appeal among readers,
and has practically ousted all other books except cheap American paperbacks. These are not children's
books, but we shall still deal with his account in details as that will be helpful for us in understanding
the context and mechanism of the circulation of Soviet books for children. In the absence of any full-
fledged study of Soviet Children's stories and fictions in Bengali, we shall draw freely from the general
observations about Soviet books and culture made by critics, which will be followed by specific case
studies of Soviet children's books, where we shall investigate the applicability of theses critical
paradigms to the Bengali translations.
Fig.2 & 3: Covers of Bengali translations of works of Lenin and Lermontov
Mujtaba Ali detects the ideological motive, and contrasts the Russian approach with Christian
missionary activity of dispensing free Bibles. The missionaries failed to make people read Bible
because people did not care for free books. And when they stopped giving it away for free, and decided
on a steep price for the Bible, people did not read it either, because the price acted as a deterrent.
Mujtaba Ali observes that the Russians have kept the price sufficiently low so that people can be
tempted to buy these books, but they are not giving those books away for free or too low a price, which
would have resulted in devaluation. Further, Soviet publications fetched greater commission compared
to books imported from the west, as the bookseller in Delhi confirmed to Mujtaba Ali, who was
stationed in Delhi during that period.
While most books are political tracts of Marx, Lenin and Stalin (and Stalin was still alive),
some classics are also available, Mujtaba reports, though he complains that the ratio would be like
100:1, i.e. for every hundred political and ideological tracts there will be a nineteenth century Russian
classic realist text on sale. He observes that a work by Lermontov is available at a price of Rs 1.50
which is tempting enough, given the superior quality of print, paper and binding.
Some very useful points can be extracted from this brief reportage of Mujtaba Ali, though he is
talking of Soviet books in English language, not in Bengali, and not particularly for children. Probably
Bengali books did not appear in the Indian market yet, but very soon they would arrive and conquer
successive generations of Bengali readers through the next four decades. Mujtaba's feedback makes it
abundantly clear that the Soviet marketing strategy was well planned, and it worked well. Without
going through the details of the understanding between the Nehru Government and Soviet Union
during this period, one cannot pinpoint the intricacies of the mechanism of circulation of Soviet books
in India. But given that P C Joshi, who was the erstwhile general secretary of CPI (1935-47) and later
expelled from the party in 1949, known for his closeness to Nehru, was rehabilitated in into the party
in 1951, we can assume that the Indian government might have been friendly to Soviet Union in the
import of these books, as Joshi's reinstated status in the party suggestively coincides with the mass
arrival of Soviet books in India.
An interview of Arun Som, the noted translator of Soviet books into Bengali, that was taken by
the present author (which is published in this issue) confirms that initially, the majority of the Soviet
books were political and ideological in nature, and classics constituted a minor portion of the total
amount of books sent from Soviet Union. But gradually the emphasis on Russian nineteenth and early
twentieth century literary classics and children's literature was made, which culminated in the
establishment of Raduga in 1982, specialising in those texts. In Russian Raduga meant rainbow. The
publishing house was probably meant to be an acknowledgement of other colours which were not red,
but existed in a spotless harmony with red, justifying a common whole. Raduga stood for the ability of
forging a consensus, thereby establishing hegemony. Rainbow is associated with colourfulness, and a
suggestion of inclusiveness is there.
We can thus observe the three different phases of transmission of Soviet books in India: 1.
Books are in English, and mostly political tracts, with very few classics. No mention of children's
literature (1951-52). 2. Books begin to get translated into Bengali. Children's books arrive on the scene.
The earliest specimen that I have been able to trace belongs to 1954 (Fig4&5). This book was printed
and published from Kolkata, under some arrangement with Foreign Language Publishing House,
Moscow. 3. Progress Publishers (established in 1931), hitherto engaged with political publications,
ventures into children's books and nineteenth century Russian classics (the exact year of this change is
not known). Progress operates from 21 Zubovsky Boulevard, Moscow. The Foreign Language
Publishing House, operating out of 17, Zobovsky Boulevard is probably merged with Progress, because
the Foreign Language Publishing House is no longer heard of from the 1970s. Raduga is set up in 1982
for exclusive publication of classics and children's literature.
Fig. 4 & 5: Probably the first Soviet Children's book in Bengali, Ukrainiyo Upokotha, printed and published from Kolkata
in 1954. Front cover and copyright page.
Soviet fictions were earmarked by a planned system of ISA, and Katerina Clark's The Soviet
Novel: History as Ritual minutely discusses the different aspects, evolutions and expressions of that
ideological universe, and while doing that, she draws a significant thread of continuity from the preSoviet past which comes to characterise the continuing literary and cultural tradition of the Russian
nation. Authoritarianism and government interventions in the Soviet literary world have Tsarist
precedents (many would argue that contemporary Russia of Vladimir Putin continues within the same
tradition of authoritarianism, though its literary output may be minimal).
Soviet-era authoritarianism is in many respects a continuation of the Tsarist practice, in spite of

the massive epistemic break caused by the rise of the communist party. Clark is quick to note:
Ideology is no stranger to the Russian novel in any of its manifestations. ideology plays a
particular historical role in the relationship between literature and the government. This
relationship is very different in the Soviet period from what it was under the tsars, although
much of the difference is one of degree only; for several nineteenth century writers
Goncharov, for example worked as censors, Dostoevsky was close to the tsar's advisor
Pobedonosetsov, and in the 1830s the infamous Bulgarin worked as a worked as a government
agent. Thus, during the old regime there were writers who shared the official ideology, and the
government itself played a monitoring role in nineteenth-century literature. (252)
While charting the specific developments within Soviet fiction, Clark cautions us against the adoption
of Western highbrow literary criteria in studying a literature that was not intended to meet them, and
as she begins her study of the trajectory of Russian literature under the Soviets, she insists that there
has always been a distinction between modern Russian and other Western literature, and this distinction
became exacerbated under the Soviets (xi).
While speaking of the distinct continuity of the Russian nation, one cannot miss the obvious
sense of perpetuity when the Soviet-era anthem is retained today as the contemporary Russian national
anthem, with some appropriate changes of lyric: for example the phrase Lenin's party strength of the
people (Partiya Lenina Sila Narodnaya) turns into popular wisdom of our forebears (Predkami
Dannaya Mudrost Narodnaya).1 But the tune is exactly the same and many parts of the lyric remain
unchanged. This is a small fact, but it can assume paramount significance as we propose to consider
the essence of the Russian nation that is propagated in the Soviet fictions. Russian literary conventions
under the Bolsheviks exhibit an underlying sense of continuity in the midst of all drastic upheavals.
We need to acknowledge that nations have no timeless essence, nor they are static. They change
significantly, and they also remain the same to an extent. In case of the trajectory of the Soviet books,
every new development within the cultural sphere takes into account the tradition of the Russian
people, because that tradition provides substance to the cultural structure, as communist ideology gives
shape to it. Even that ideology seems to have formed a remarkable continuum with Russian tradition.
Fig. 6: Dadur Dostana, a 1955 collection of folk tales for children published by Foreign Language's Literature Publishing
House, Moscow. It was probably the first Soviet book for children in Bengali that was imported from Soviet Union. Folk
tales are a unique repository of traditional wisdom and they offered the perpetual values of Russia.
Anatomical similarity has been suggested between socialist realism and Russian tradition: The
Socialist Realist novel forms a tradition that rests on canonical exemplars. Consequently, medievalists
who study the conventions of hagiography and other such texts tied to a canon will find much in
common between the distinctive features of their texts and those of the Soviet novel (Clark xii).
The underlying mythical structure of Soviet books is another case in point, which asserts this
continuity of the Russian nation. Secular myths of the great revolution, the great patriotic war, the giant
leap forward, the path to communism were celebrated in the Soviet books, as we shall presently
observe in our case studies and type studies in this article. As Socialist realism was gradually giving
way to newer forms of writings during the 1970s and 1980s and the grip of communist ideology was
slackening, it was observed that Socialist realist paradigms were seamlessly functioning as Christian
Realist, Nationalist Realist, or as some version of Spiritual Realism (Clark 270). Clark does not
mention whether such books were still officially published during the 1970s and 1980s, but in all
likelihood, they were not, prior to Gorbachev's arrival on the scene. This is another example of
continuity, which might deceptively appear as a paradigm shift. Socialist realism is characterised by the
Russian practice that calls for a ideological rearrangement of reality (realism in the West was also a
bourgeois doctrinal rearrangement of reality, but it was soon supplanted by various literary movements
from Romanticism onwards which went beyond reality altogether).
Fig 7: Illustrated Children's tale of a hat that apparently came alive because of the kitten underneath
The myths of the Russian nation come to represent a higher form of reality, somewhat in the
vein of Plato's divine reality. Socialist realism accommodated the dominant myths of the time and
portrayed reality in the light of those mythical paradigms. Clark makes a categorisation of a three-level
reality in Socialist Realism: The people at the ground level, the ordinary mortals, form a shadow world.
The Kremlin forms the higher world, and above that structure stand the supra-terrestrial beings, Lenin
and Stalin who constitute the topmost form of reality (142). However, Clark's vertical division of levels
of reality can be faulty. Clark does not realise here that the reality of the people on the ground may not
not necessarily be that of mere shadow within socialist realism. Instead, the politicised depiction of the
proletarian characters on the ground can frequently form the essence of a higher reality, which can be
argued in the case of Nikolai Ostrovsky's How the Steel Was Tempered (Ispat in Bengali). The hero of
the fairy tale/folk tale also represents a higher reality, though that might not outwardly follow socialist
realism. Clark's reading does not take into account the nuances of this doctrine of higher reality, and is
reductive to the extent that it conflates Party structure and political hierarchy with the aesthetics of
socialist realism.
Fig. 8: Front Cover of Ispat Vol. 1
Soviet Union embarks upon a heroic age; bravado, risk-taking, sacrifice, adventure and struggle
against insurmountable odds come to characterise the staple material for Soviet literature. The
corresponding elements from fairy tales and folk tales are increasingly emphasised, constituting models
fit for emulation. Such structures are crucially posited within the Ideological State Apparatus. The
children's universe of fairy tales suddenly wake up to the higher call of the nation, and repeatedly come
to the foreground of Soviet official myths. Here we see that the function of children's literature in
Soviet Union becomes manifold. It acts as a repository of myths which are resourceful for the adult,
mature world. But it is also a potently direct weapon for indoctrination. Ben Hellman notes:
On 17 February 1918, an article appeared in Pravda entitled The Forgotten Weapon. Only
Three months had passed since the Bolshevik seizure of power, but the remoulding of society
along socialist lines had already begun. Now it was the turn of children's literature. The keynote
had been sounded by Lenin, who said that the entire purpose of training, educating, and
teaching young people should be to imbue them with communist ethics. In The Forgotten
Weapon, L. Kormchy, a minor children's writer, who had decided to join the winners, declared
that children's literature was an indispensable ally in the process of moulding the new man.
(294)
Fairy tales and other children's stories, in order to be attractive, must be accompanied by illustrations.
The use of graphic art to further the cause of the Soviet system among the children has been a notable
strategy from the beginning. Evgeny Steiner's Stories for Little Comrades studies the use of
'revolutionary' art to indoctrinate the children in the early decades (1920s and 1930s) of Soviet Union,
and investigates the strange marriage of avant garde art with the totalitarian ideology during this time.
Use of brilliant sketches, paintings, images, photographs and illustrations continued to adorn children's
and adolescents' books in Soviet Union. There have also been attempts to process the history of the
1917 Bolshevik revolution into a graphic narrative meant for easy consumption of children and grown
up readers alike, and Rush Biplob Ki Ghotechilo (Russian Revolution: What Actually Happened) is an
interesting case in point. It came out in 1987. Again, a coffee table publication on the Russian
Revolution (that came out in 1987, commemorating the 70 th anniversary of the revolution) printed fully
on glossy papers in royal size, titled An Illustrated History of the Great October Socialist Revolution:
1917 Month by Month has a chapter on Drawings by the children of 1917 with carefully chosen
imagery from children's paintings. This is an indication of the lasting significance of children in the
overall schema of Soviet publishing.
Fig. 9: Rush Biplob Ki Ghotechilo. History of 1917 in comics format
Fig. 10 (top right), 11, 12, 13: An Illustrated History of the Great October Socialist Revolution: 1917 Month by Month has a
chapter titled Drawings by the children of 1917
Utpal Dutt's1976 play Lenin Kothay? (Where is Lenin?), also performed as a popular jatra,
was a gripping political thriller based on the months immediately preceding October 1917. Dutt inserts
a sequence where Lenin, then absconding in Razliv, has a storytelling session with three peasant
children (194). Again, the significance of children is asserted, when in the midst of political crises,
Lenin spares his valuable time for interaction with children. Later when police conducts a raid, Lenin's
life is dramatically saved by a child. More importantly, here in Dutt's play Lenin and the children
represent a conventional, deep-rooted dyad that informs Soviet literature in a massive way, adult
fictions and children's books alike. It is nothing short of a Soviet ritual, a certain rite of passage, as
Katerina Clark argues in her book: it is the spontaneity/consciousness dialectic (22), a dyadic structure
that forms the nucleus of Soviet myth of subjectivity. In the above example of Dutt's play, children
represent stixijnost' or spontaneity, whereas Lenin represents soznatel'nost' or consciousness. However,
this dyad should not be thought of in terms of a Bakhtinian dialogic structure. At best, it can be called
pseudo-dialogic, because the outcome of this dialogue is fixed, and in many respects, the conversation
between spontaneity and consciousness resembles ventriloquism, as consciousness is slated to win and
eventually exert its control over spontaneity.
Fig.14: An Illustrated History of the Great October Socialist Revolution: 1917 Month by Month provides images of Razliv
where Lenin absconded
Interestingly, this duality is closer to Bengal's very own prakti-purua dualism from Sankhya
philosophy than we would care to think. Clark observes that the Russian word for spontaneity,
stixijnost', is formed from the root stixija, meaning 'the elements' (110). The stixijnost'-soznatel'nost'
dualism is therefore a binary opposition of matter and consciousness, very much like Bengal's own
prakti-purua dualism. However, the Sankhya school of philosophy is tragically aware of the
overwhelming power of the elemental forces of nature over consciousness, which is represented by the
standing Kali atop a lying Shiva, or a Krishna holding the feet of Radha, as I discussed in the JBS
literature issue (Vol.3, No.1, 2014). In the Soviet paradigm, the opposite is the case. Here, the elemental
forces of nature are meant to be triumphantly harnessed by consciousness. Sankhya's tragic awareness
gave birth to the Buddhsit notion of Moksha, where consciousness is freed from the confines of
materiality. The Soviet triumphal dyad of the mastery of consciousness over spontaneity gave birth to
the social realist notion of the positive hero, the most popular example of which is probably Pavel
Korchagin from How the Steel Was Tempered. In Bengali, this novel by Nikolai Ostrovsky has been
translated as Ispat (Steel), and has been immensely popular with the adolescent readers. Here we find a
prototypical template where the hero's journey from spontaneity to consciousness is mapped, and the
Soviet version of history is enacted within the microcosm of the textual universe.
Fig. 15: The back cover of Ispat Vol. 2
Clark calls Ostrovsky's novel one of the all time classics of Socialist Realism (131). The back
cover of the Bengali edition declared that the book has been translated into 48 languages and published
in 42 countries. In Soviet Union 495 editions of the text have appeared, and a total of 1.5 crore copies
have been sold; further, it topped the list of the most loved novels, as voted by the Komsomol (Young
Communists' League was called Komsomol) members. Ostrovsky's novel celebrates Komsomol, an
organization that was set up on 29 October 1918, one year after the revolution. Komsomol was a
compulsory all Russia organization. Membership was open to everybody from the age of 14 years to 28
years, and one needed to be a serious black sheep to be out of it.
Ostrovsky's novel was serially published in Molodaya Gvardiya, the Komsomol journal. The
first part was published in 1932, and the second part in 1934. It was an autobiographical novel, and
Pavel Korchagin is Ostrovsky himself. Korchagin as a child represents the raw, untamed force of
nature, that is, spontaneity. As he grows up, he comes into contact with communist ideology. He gets to
learn about the true path of Bolshevism under the tutelage of various mentors in different phases of his
life as he embarks on his journey towards consciousness. This novel's success has a number of reasons.
Both Ostrovsky as well as his novel's hero Korchagin are proletarian, and in a way they depict the
successful march of the revolution itself. Clark finds in this novel defining aspect of high Stalinist
political culture; it is a novel of the Civil War ethos, of struggle, heroism, and 'Bolshevik Will', but
above all, it provided what the age demanded an entire heroic biography to function as an example
(131-2). Clark notes that Korchagin is the positive hero of Soviet literature, the model figure for the
Soviet people to emulate. it is his role to resolve symbolically that problematical dialectic between
the forces of 'spontaneity' and those of 'consciousness' (132-3). However, the tragic ending of the
novel is given a miss by Clark while discussing about its favourable reception among readers.
Revolution devours its children, as any history of revolutionary turmoil would testify.
Bengalis know this, and the popularity of Ispat might stem from the fact that not only it offered
an authentic experience of an actual revolution that shook the world (which the reader could
vicariously feel), but it also showed the tremendous price that such a revolution exacts and extracts
from its followers. It must have struck a cord with the Bengali readers of twentieth century, who were
no strangers to bloodshed, loss of lives and turbulent times.
One striking feature of such Soviet socialist realist narratives is that they appropriate the
cultural ambience of folk and fairy tales, as we have already observed. The protagonist is very often
like a bogatyr (knight) from a bylina (heroic poem), and the King that this bogatyr serves is the Soviet
State, Lenin and Stalin themselves. Further, the obstacles in the path of revolution remind of the
monsters that a hero must fight and defeat. In Soviet children's fairy tales, specific political correlations
are made, where the fairy tale's protagonist resembles a Soviet hero, the magic helper is reminiscent of
a Soviet mentor, and the story's happy ending relates to the radiant future of the classless paradise;
Soviet fairy tales are thus consistently full of political motifs, as the foreword of Politicised Magic by
Marina Balina et al points out (x), and notes that the Soviets appropriated the fairy tale paradigm
wholesale for propagandist purposes (xii).
Fig. 16: The Parenting manual Chelemeye Manush Kora Proshonge opens with distinct nationalist overtones
As the Children were fed with a regular diet of fairy tales with a determined agenda, rearing
children was promoted to a level of science at par with scientific Marxism. The parenting manual
Chelemeye Manush Kora Proshonge (the title can be translated as About Rearing the Kids, though
the English version was rather seriously titled Dialogues on Education) is a case in point. It is
anonymously written (which indicates that it was produced by the Soviet state itself), and we only have
the name of the Bengali translator. This is a manual meant for parents, and it is striking how traditional,
paternalistic, nationalistic and Russian this book is. The occasional socialist emphasis merges
seamlessly with the values of tradition. The book opens with a series of paintings done by Russian
children, and a brief write up exhorts the parents and children alike to feel proud about the past arts and
crafts of one's own people, to be worthy of that past, and to preserve everything that was best in that
past.
Further, this book declares: The need of fish water, the need of bird sky, the need of animal
forests, mountains. And the need of human is motherland (158). Here we find a distinct presence of
nationalism which is organically extrapolated. Elsewhere, the manual proclaims: The book written for
children should have a positive hero, so that the kids can accept him as their ideal (167). Fairy tales
are specifically emphasised as a training process; for example, a girl child can learn a lot from the story
of Cinderella. The hint is obvious: Cinderella used to do all the works of household, while her hard
labour made her appear even more beautiful. Here she represents proletarian spirit that should welcome
hard work, and the happy ending of the story correlates to the teleological design of Soviet
communism. But more importantly, the story is liked by a girl child named Yulia in this anecdote
recorded in Chelemeye Manush Kora Proshonge because everything is logical and just in this story
of Cinderella (142). The political use of the Cinderella myth has been repeatedly observed on the
celluloid in Soviet Union, as Balina's Politicised Magic notes: The modern Cinderella continues to toil
and to toilette in such celluloid fantasies as the Stalinist Radiant Path (Svetlyi put', 1940, Grigory
Alexandrov), the Stagnation-era blockbuster Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears (Moskva slezam ne verit,
1979, Vladimir Menshov) (ix-x).
In a conventional celebration of gender stereotypes, girls are trained into domestic labour by
their grandmothers and mothers in Chelemeye Manush Kora Proshonge (142-3), while boys are trained
to become rough and tough by their fathers (46). While discussing the case study of the Nikitin family,
the father's statement is approvingly recorded where he says: to avoid the indulgence, timidness and
the conditioning of feminine protectiveness, the child also needs the language of men (46). This is the
traditional, patriarchal Russia, a Russia that is known to be strong, where gender stereotypes are deeply
ingrained. We may remember that Soviet Union never had any woman as the head of state, and upper
strata of Soviet society did not have many women, in spite of being one of the first countries of the
west to accord voting rights to women. It is this Russian nation, male and paternalistic, a veteran of
many tough winters, which perpetuates itself in the pages of this manual.
One major feature of the underlying Russian nationalism that informs Soviet culture is that it
often tends to affirm the comfortable certainties of gender stereotypes, instead of challenging and
deconstructing them in the vein of western liberalism. In order to ensure maximum productivity from
its citizens, the Soviet state needed its women to be as motherly as possible, while the men needed to
be paternal in an exemplary way. The children are the elemental forces of nature, they stand for a
spontaneity that is malleable, and must be shaped according to the dominant consciousness. Chelemeye
Manush Kora Proshonge announces that the speciality of a child's character is that it is flexible,
incredibly flexible (255). Clearly, the children are the soft raw materials who will be conditioned to
grow up into pillars of strength to the Russian nation. And for this purpose, the renowned nineteenth
century Russian educationist, Konstantin Ushinsky is freely quoted and pressed to service in
Chelemeye Manush Kora Proshonge; for example, it is asserted through Ushinsky's statement that
imparting knowledge to children and making their intelligence flourish are not sufficient, because
children must learn to thirst to undertake labour for people's welfare (9). The Soviet state valued hard
work, because it was built upon hard, superhuman labour. So it wanted to instil that value among the
children.
A boy needs to know about the real handsomeness of men, that consists of intelligence,
strength and generosity, as Chelemeye Manush Kora Proshonge observes (372). The parents are told:
your son will one day have to be a man, will have to be that person who in ancient times used to be
called the stronger component of humankind, and even the worthiest part of the nation (380). The
patriarchal language of traditional Russia is unmistakeable. This book, published in 1987 encapsulates
the essence of an old Russia that has withstood the vagaries of time: it used to be tsarist, then it was
Stalinist, and it was now witnessing Gorbachev. The lessons from the ancient times were reissued time
and again in the interest of the Russian regime. And nowhere else such lessons are imparted with such a
degree of efficacy as in the fairy tales. The foreword to Politicized Magic by Marina Balina et al
observes:
[T]hese works blatantly counter Vladimir Nabokov's apodictic assertion that 'literature is not a
dog carrying message in its teeth'. Indeed, their messages appear in oversized italics and rely on
the hermeneutical drumbeat of emphatic iteration (repetition, conveniently, being a cardinal
feature of fairy tales). It is no coincidence that the premier Soviet directors of fairy-tale screen
adaptations, Alexander Ptushko and Alexander Rou, thrived during Stalinism an era
dominated by the brutally utopian slogan: 'We were born to make fairy tales come true'. (x)
Katerina Clark points out that Soviet Union under Stalin focused on the primordial attachments of
kinship and protected them as the dominant symbol for social allegiance. Soviet society's leaders
became 'fathers' (with Stalin as the patriarch); the national heroes, model 'sons'; the state, a 'family'
(114). We may notice that this familial feature singularly characterises the formation of nationalist
discourse in most parts of the world where the organic ties of kinship are evoked to press the citizen to
the service of the nation, as nation becomes identifiable with immediate kinship and familial bond. The
call of the socialist fatherland during the time of Stalin has distinct echoes of nationalism. But what is
more important is that across the decades, the latent nationalist character of the Soviet Russian
propaganda literature remained unchanged. In Ispat too, Pavel Korchagin forms a community with the
fellow believers in communism, that has organic kinship as its model of cohesion. Every mentor is a
substitute father, and every trainee a son. The trainee gradually attains maturity and becomes a father
figure himself, ready to inspire others and leave behind a legacy, which is the final destiny of Pavel
Korchagin.
Korchagin is the archetypical positive hero, and it is quite interesting to note that the positive
hero has been a part of the traditional Russian narrative. Particularly within nineteenth century realist
texts, the positive hero looms large, according to Clark, who points out:
However, the positive hero has always played a role in the greater tradition of Russian literature
(consider, for example, the heroes of Dostoevsky). This reflects the greater moral fervor to be
found in modern Russian literature than in the West. Since the mid-nineteenth century, Russian
critics have joined Russian writers setting out two tasks for literature that, although found in
Western literature, have certainly not characterized it for roughly the past hundred years. These
tasks were, first, to draw 'typical' characters characters who were not so much individuals
as representatives of commonly found social types through which the writer was to present a q
critique of Russian life and, second, to set forth models of behavior who might, by their
example, show the way out of Russia's social ills. (46)
Though we are discussing Soviet children's and adolescents' literature, some Kolkata publications
should also be taken into consideration here. In all likelihood some of the first Soviet books were
printed and published from Kolkata (we have already seen one example), probably because of the
adverse logistics involved in a mass import, and given that the political climate was hostile to the
communists in Bengal during the early 1950s. However, as more and more Soviet books started
appearing directly from Soviet Union, the need for Kolkata reprints of Soviet books would not arise
until the fall of 1991, following which some popular Soviet books again would be printed from Kolkata
(John Reed's Duniya Knapano Dosh Din is a prime example of CPM-controlled National Book
Agency's venture into reprints of Soviet classics in the post-Soviet era). The publications that we are
concerned with here are the specific texts which were inspired and influenced by the Soviet ideological
machinery, but were works composed by Bengali authors, published from Kolkata, not straightforward
translations as such, but very much operating within the generic Soviet paradigms. Here I intend to
discuss one work of fiction by Dineshchandra Chattopadhyay, Duronto Eagle and a non-fictional
propaganda work centred on Soviet Children by Shyamal Chakraborty, Shishutirthe Shishura as type
studies. We shall see that both of these two texts have soviet templates as their model.
Fig. 17: Shishutirthe Shishura
Fig. 18: Duronto Eagle
Chakraborty's text (1986, published by National Book Agency, CPM's publishing wing) comes
within a long line of celebratory works which promote Soviet Union by making the Soviet children its
brand ambassadors. Chakraborty, a minister in the CPM-led WB government and one of the top leaders
of the party, went to Soviet Union for medical treatment and lived in a sanatorium near Yalta by the
black sea, and he went to visit Artek, the most famous Pioneer (the advanced group of Soviet boys and
girls who were brought together in a scout-like formation) camp of Soviet Union, established in 1925.
Jawaharlal Nehru himself made a visit to Artek in 1955, and Artek continued to be the prized poster of
Soviet propaganda focused on children. A description of Artek opens a monograph on Soviet children
published by Progress Publishers in Bengali in 1989, which is authored by a pro-Soviet Indian writer,
Jai Prakash Bharti. This Bengali translation came after Chakraborty's memoir was published, but both
of them open with a rather tempting description of the breathtaking scenic beauty of this place in
Fig. 19: Jai Prakash Bharti's Soviet Shishujogot
Crimea. The descriptions of the geography and history of the seaside town of Hurzuf (where Artek is
situated) given by Chakraborty and Bharti are very similar, and it rouses a suspicion that both of them
are probably copying from the Soviet propaganda handed down to them, since they are speaking in one
voice in spite of being separated from each other by language and time (in all likelihood Bharti did not
read Bengali and he could not anyway read Chakraborty who wrote his memoir prior to Bharti's travels
in Soviet Union).
The Soviet propaganda machine insisted that the only privileged classes of Soviet Union were
its children, and both Chakraborty and Bharti make it a point to begin their respective texts with this
exhortation, while highlighting the adage of Lenin: the best things are meant for the children. Both
Chakraborty and Bharti fondly describe the myth of the bear mountain (Ayu-Dag) near the Artek camp
in almost similar language. The standard pacifism of the Brezhnev era (stemming from the Soviet
curtailing of Defence budget) utilised and mobilised the children to bring forth the message of world
peace, and both Chakraborty and Bharti devote lengthy attentions to the pacifist movement launched
internationally by the Artek Pioneers. In addition, Bharti also takes the name of Nehru in support of the
Soviet agenda for world peace, while both Chakraborty and Bharti are calling for greater cooperation
and contact between the children of Soviet Union and India. The facilities in the Artek camp are
specially advertised in both the works, with an emphasis on the free services that the children enjoy
there, contrasting it with the standard capitalist state's lack of welfare policies. The descriptions are
indeed tantalisingly attractive, and bear testimony to the psychological effect of Soviet propaganda
aimed at the children and adults alike, helping the spontaneous segments of the populace attain the
nirvana of consciousness. And this was not mere propaganda, these writers genuinely believed in what
they propagated. Chakraborty's book is fondly dedicated to his small daughter, Ushasie (who is a film
and television actress of Kolkata today).
Dinesh Chattopadhyay the left-leaning publisher-writer was renowned as the founder editor and
publisher of Kishor Bharoti, a monthly magazine in Bengali meant for teenagers. He wrote exclusively
for adolescent readers. His novel Duronto Eagle is set in the Pamirs, reputed to be the roof of the
world. The writer recognises Georgii Tushkan's The Hunter of the Pamirs as one of the influences on
him in the foreword, but if we study both the texts side by side, Chattopadhyay's novel is revealed to be
actually a direct translation of Tushkan's text, with some improvisations thrown in, the most notable of
which is the introduction of a Bengali communist character, Gora, who is not there in Tushkan's novel.
Gora acts as Jura's mentor, and represents the consciousness to Jura's spontaneity. Barring this
innovation, obviously aimed at the Bengali readers, this book is actually an unacknowledged
translation of Tushkan's text. But Chattopadhyay claims authorship of Duronto Eagle, the status of
which is not given as a translated work. Further, the blurb of the book proudly records some of the
praise that Chattopadhyay received for the book, which announce the book to be an epic (review of the
Bengali daily Aajkal), to be both an epic and a timeless classic (Manish Ghatak's review), which
disturbingly suggest that these reviewers probably were not aware that it was not an original work and
almost a verbatim copy of Georgii Tsuhkan's novel.
Georgii Tushkan's novel (full title of which is The Hunter of the Pamirs: A Novel of Adventure
in Soviet Central Asia) followed the Soviet paradigm of the positive hero. Jura (all the character names
remain unchanged in Chattopadhyay's book) is the protagonist whose journey from spontaneity to
consciousness is depicted in the progression of the text. Living in a remote village of the Pamirs, Jura,
his uncle Kuchak and his beloved Zeineb constitute the main troika of this novel who are uprooted
from their safe hamlet and now have to undertake a journey across the hostile terrains of the Pamirs in
the midst of the vortex of Basmachi rebellion during the early 1920s.
The Islamic character of Soviet Central Asia has variously influenced Soviet policies. Socialism
was once identified with Islam in Soviet Union, and that was a geopolitical strategy aimed at central
Asia. Sometimes such strategies extended to Soviet foreign policy. The central Asian fictions published
from the Soviet Union in Bengali (Chingis Aitmatov's novels, for example) might have been intended
to impart a closeness to Muslim Bangladesh, one can suspect. It is difficult to say if the usual
proportion of such central Asian books in English translation was exceeded by the quantity of such
books translated into Bengali, in the absence of official data. Nevertheless, stories with Muslim colour
might have been endearing to the people in Bangladesh, given that the literature produced in West
Bengal, though eagerly consumed by the Bangladeshi readers, very rarely had any Muslim character, or
Islamic background. The 1986 collection of fairy tales, Kon Se Desher Kon Sagorer Pare has a few
stories set in the backdrop of Muslim culture (written by Russian writers, though). Such stories while
being generally popular in West Bengal (where the Muslim component would not disturb the process of
readers' reception) they might have generated special enthusiasm in the eastern side, which was by this
time declared as Islamic republic by President Ershad, and Soviet Union must have taken note of that.
So in this collection, Alexander Kuprin's Kismet is set in some faraway Muslim land which is not
central Asia, as the story has a lot of the seashore and sea voyage, and also a Badshah. A Muslim
merchant is the protagonist in this story. Another story of Lev Tolstoy titled Nyaybicharok (Judge) is
set in Algeria. Lermontov's Ashik Kerib, a Turkish fairy tale set in the Caucasus is also a part of this
collection.
It is evident from the Soviet anthologies of fairy tales in translation that the Soviet system
preferred the term 'folk tales' over fairy tales, for reasons obvious. While strongly discouraging
supernatural stories (Soviet literature were distinguished by a total absence of ghost stories), the soft
and aerial 'fairy' might have been discarded in favour of a sturdy, proletarian 'folk' (at least in all
English and foreign language translations the word fairy has been either discouraged or outright
manipulated; we shall observe the latter in Gorky's Italyr Rupkotha). Fairy tales in fact suffered severe
castigations and onslaughts in the aftermath of the revolution during the 1920s, only to be reinstated to
a status of usefulness in the mid-1930s, a process that Marina Balina chronicles in Politicized Magic
while discussing the relation between fairy tales and socialist realism. She informs that a polemical text
titled We Are Against the Fairy Tale, collectively authored by leading Soviet ideologues working in the
field of children's education appeared in 1928, and then Balina further notes:
According to Felix J. Oinas, in the early 1920s the belief that folklore reflected the ideology of
the ruling classes gave rise to a strongly negative attitude toward it A special Children's
Proletkult sought to eradicate folktales on the basis that they glorified tsars and tsareviches,
corrupted and instigated sickly fantasies in children, developed the kulak attitude. And
strengthened bourgeois ideals. Among the enemies of the fairy tale was the powerful
Nadezhda Krupskaya, Lenin's widow, as well as a leading authority on education and library
science in the new Soviet state. In 1924 Krupskaya (then the chair of the Central Committee on
Political Education, or Glavpolitprosvet) was instrumental in putting together an influential
manual that led to the exclusion of fairy tales from library shelves. Four years later she launched
a campaign against Korney Chukovsky's literary fairy tales with an article in the leading
governmental newspaper Pravda titled On Crocodile, denouncing his famous fairy tale as
bourgeois nonsense (burzhuaznaia mut). (106)
In the same breath, Balina observes: it was considered 'bourgeois' by its very nature. Fairy-tale
creatures such as magic, fantasy, animism, and anthropomorphism all the devices that compose the
essence of the genre were condemned as 'idealism' (107). Fairy tales continued to remain in the
official blacklist of Soviet ideology for quite some time. And then, the story of the rehabilitation of
fairy tales becomes equally interesting. While Balina gives a detailed account of that process, she does
not ponder over the change in nomenclature, which suggests a tension that underlies the return of fairy
tales as folk tales. This is a preference in nomenclature that remains till the end of Soviet Union, and
they always preferred the term Folk over Fairy. Almost the fairy tale books which we have received in
Bengali from Soviet Union carefully avoid the term fairy tale in their titles. They are not called
Rupkotha, the conventional word for fairy tale in Bengali, and instead are called Upokotha, a vague
neologism that stands for folk tales (folk tale should more properly be translated as Lokokotha).
Probably the term lokokotha was deliberately avoided to ward off suspicions from apolitical
readers who might not want a political treatise in disguise while buying books for their children, given
that such anthologies were aimed at a large readership, far beyond the politically initiated. The word
upokotha resonates and rhymes with rupkotha and the former can be easily mistaken for the latter by a
reader who might simply overlook the difference. This may be an interesting case of expediency in
Bengali translations of Soviet books. Whatever might have been the intricacies, the minute changes in
nomenclature deserve our attention as they expose the psychopolitics of words where this nomenclature
is at work. Historians have generally agreed that Stalin shared a bitter history of enmity with
Krupskaya. Balina does not take that into account, but it nonetheless might have acted as a factor in
Stalin's whole hearted support behind the Soviet Union's official restoration of fairy tales, which was
inaugurated by Gorky in 1934.
The task of revitalization fell to Maxim Gorky, the father of socialist realism, whose speech at
the first Soviet Writers' Congress in August 1934 signaled the fairy tale's ideological
rehabilitation. Of this famous opening speech, Oinas has written, Gor'kii's insistence that
folklore belonged, first of all, to working people had far-reaching implications. As if by magic,
it opened the eyes of the party leaders to the possibilities that folklore would have for the
advancement of communism. And from that time on, we can follow the conscious use of
folklore for social and political use. In his speech, Gorky pronounced such folktale characters
as Vasilisa the Wise and the ironically lucky Ivan the Simple to be meritorious individuals and
praised both folklore and the folktale for their lack of pessimism and their participation in the
struggle for the renovation of life. Samuil Marshak, who delivered his speech immediately
after Gorky's, made the next important statement. The topic of his presentation was children's
literature, and the importance given to this subject indicates the special significance the party
assigned to the literature of the new generation. Marshak's speech outlined key moments in the
development of children's literature. While Gorky carefully confined himself to general
statements about folklore, Marshak did not hesitate to use the word fairy tale (skazka). In the
Soviet Union, he insisted, We have everything necessary for the development of an
outstanding and unique literature for children, for the creation of such fairy tales as never
existed anywhere else. (Balina Politicizing Magic 107-8)
Marina Balina does not recognise the crucial politics played in this dichotomy of fairy tale and folk
tale, and mentions it en passe. Further, skazka literally is Russian for tale, not fairy tale. In the opinion
of the present researcher, this binary of fairy and folk deserves our attention. We realise that fairy tale,
which was given a bad name and suppressed during the 1920s, which returned during the 1930s in a
born again avatar, had to undergo a certain realignment of structure and nomenclature, as the emphasis
on folk tale suggests. An interesting case study in this regard will be Maxim Gorky's book, translated
into Bengali as Italyr Rupkotha (Fairy Tales of Italy), though the English name of the book on the
copyright page is simply (and correctly, as it is internationally known) given as Tales of Italy.
Fig. 20 & 21: Front cover and content of Italyr Rupkotha. Note that the title of the very first story is Strike
The use of the term rupkotha is an interesting case of appropriation of this genre for political purpose,
utilising the potency, appeal and innocence of the term, thus making inroads into the bookshelves of
young readers and their parents alike. This is an interesting case of manipulating tradition, as the stories
are those of contemporary Italian working people (composed during Gorky's sojourn in Italy between
1906 and 1913), and have nothing to do with the form and content of conventional fairy tales. This is a
supreme example of political restructuring of a genre, and what is most interesting to observe in this
case is that Gorky's policy regarding fairy/folk tale, declared in 1934, continues to have a far-reaching
implication in the Soviet strategy governing the Bengali translations, where the word rupkotha is
cunningly surcharged into the Bengali title in 1984, ensuring a revolutionary transaction of proletarian
values to be instilled in the mind of the reader who approaches the book with innocent expectations.
This initiative adds an entirely new dimension to the political appropriation of the genre of fairy tales.
Conventional fairy tales have been read as an allegory of the Soviet version of history and the
progression of the proletariat, but what we find here is a complete redefining of the genre, where
contemporary tales involving workers which have no resemblance to the standard and traditional
pattern of fairy tales are given the name rupkotha specifically in the Bengali translation (the English
version continues to be issued under the non-ambitious title Tales of Italy).
The Bengali book opens with a quotation from Hans Anderson which justifies the use of the
term rupkotha: No finer fairy tales are there than what is written by Life itself. However, the English
translation gives this quotation in a different way: There are no tales finer than those created by life
itself.2 Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, the noted Ukrainian writer's praise of the book is also given in the
Bengali translation: Thanks for the Fairy Tales. So much of love is there for mankind, so much of
awareness for life and so much of feeling for nature. A wonderful, sun-bathed book. Given that
Kotsiubynsky died in 1913, he is out of the political agenda of the Soviet design regarding fairy tales,
let alone the strategy governing the Bengali translation of these stories. However, the trajectory from
tale to fairy tale is foreshadowed by Gorky's statement where he observed: I have called these scenes
Tales, because both the landscape of Italy and the customs of its people, indeed their entire way of life,
is (sic) so different from Russia that to the ordinary Russian reader they might indeed seem like tales. 3
Some of these stories are set in urban, metropolitan Italy of Genoa and Naples, while some of them
take place in the remote mountains and lakes of Italy, but every story is weaved in the backdrop of
contemporary times and has the toiling Italian people as its characters.
The Soviet use of the genre of fairy tales to highlight the toiling masses sometimes involved a
minor realignment of the stories where the protagonist's class status was suitably altered, or the class
enemy suitably vilified in order to match the political agenda. Rushdesher Upokotha is a case in point.
Interestingly, these are actual, traditional fairy tales, unlike Gorky's Tales of Italy, and therefore the
nomenclature of upokotha (literally, sub-tales, but this is what has always been used in the Bengali
translations of Russian, Ukrainian and other Soviet fairy tales) becomes significant. The English title of
the book is given as Russian Folk Tales. The penultimate story is that of Alyosha Popovich. As
Soumyendra Sikdar's study points out, Alyosha Popovich was a boyar, i.e. a feudal lord, whereas Ilya
Muromets was from the peasant stock (14). Sikdar does not note the problematic nature of class status
of a boyar hero within the Soviet transmission of fairy tales, though. But the free mixing of classes in
the world of fairy tales is a direct anathema to the class struggle version of history, and therefore Soviet
storytelling tried to realign the narrative. It's easier to do so for the Bengali readers (and other nonSoviet ones), because they are not already familiar with the narratives.
Fig. 22: Front cover of Rushdesher Upokotha
The boyars stood second highest in the royal hierarchy, only next to the prince. Now,
Rushdesher Upokotha simply presents Alyosha as a bogatyr, or knight-errant, which he indeed was in
the legends, and shows him as a son of a village priest, which he also was in the legends. But Alyosha
attained aristocratic status, became a boyar, and that is erased from his tale that we find in this
anthology. But, interestingly, the story on the equally famous bogatyr Dobrynya Nikitich shows
Alyosha in a brief cameo, having negative characteristics, false accusing Dobrynya to be friends with
the mythical serpent Zmey Gorynych, and thus making Dobrynya fight the serpent alone. Out of the
three famous bogatyrs from the legends of the Kievan Rus, only Alyosha is singled out to play a minor
villain in one of the stories. One can understand that the boyar status of Alyosha, though remains
unspoken, nonetheless functions as an invisible subtext.
There are two collections of fairy tales from Ukraine that we have in Bengali translation. The
1954 text, which we have already mentioned earler, Ukrainiyo Upokotha, was a slender volume of four
stories, published from Kolkata under an arrangement with Foreign Language Publishing House,
Moscow. The name of the original Soviet text is given as Ukrainskye Narodnye Skazki. No English
title is given, but as par my knowledge of Russian, it it would be Ukrainian Folk Tale. This is one of the
first (probably the first) Soviet children's publications in Bengali, and this is the first time the word
upokotha is coined to signify folk tales. But the 1988 text, the Russian name of which is also given as
Ukrainskye Narodnye Skazki, and the English name as Ukrainian Folk Tales, is called Ukrainer
Lokokotha in Bengali, and this is the lone instance where the proper translation of the term folk tale has
been used in Soviet Bengali publications. The previous collection of Ukrainian fairy tales might have
clashed with the new book if it was also called upokotha, and probably that was why the new edition
was named lokokotha. Or, one can speculate that by 1988, Soviet publication stopped feeling any need
for the vague neologism upokotha for the Bengali reader, by now under communist rule for 11 years,
and came straight to the political point, in a folksy way. The 1988 collection as well as the 1954 one
contain mostly animal fables, and stand in stark contrast with the Russian fairy tales, which though
have their own dose of animal fables, but are predominated by tales of bravery of soldiers, bogatyrs and
great heroes fighting with great monsters. The small domestic animals and domestic-like wild animals
who predominate the Ukrainian collection might betray a Russian imperial design to show Ukraine as
the perennial Malorossiya, Little Russia, the smallish land on the margin, having only small stories to
tell involving small animals.
Fig. 23: Ukrainer Upokotha of 1988
Katerina Clark pinpoints the political use of fairy tales in Soviet Russia when she comments:
In order to describe homo extraordinarius, one needed more fabulous forms, such as fairy tales
(147). So the fairy tales connected the dreadful quotidian of Soviet citizen's life with the promised
future of communism by their structural juxtaposition of hardship and victory, obstacles and happy
ending, ordinary persons and extraordinary fantasies. The fairy tale characters like Khude Ivan boro
buddhiman (Small Ivan the intelligent) and Sivka Burka Jaduka Ladka (Sivka Burka the Son of Magic)
have been popular with generations of Bengali readers, and they represent this secret passage from a
dreary existence to a dazzling life of enchantment. The immense popularity of the Soviet fairy tales in
Bengali stems from this trait: they presented an escape from our drudgery, they represented an elusive
reality that was forever out of our reach but tantalisingly close, as close as the printed book. In a way,
the socialist fatherland, the immense land of Russia became the land of fairy tales for the Bengali
reader. The dreadfulness of the present times notwithstanding, they offered an escape into a
wonderland, where men were brave, where the honest people won in the end, where the monsters were
defeated and beautiful maidens became princesses. What Soviet socialism could not attain in reality,
the same could be attained on the pages of the fairy tales. Moreover, the fairy tales, deeply
conventional, offered the traditional values of Russia in a disseminable format for the international
readers. The Bengali readers developed their Russophilia mainly from reading these texts. The fairy
tales also symbolise a land of renewal, of reinvigoration, of rebirth, where a Cinderella-like
transformation awaits the reader. The fairy tales, in short, stood for an ideal, it was the ideal of a
promised land. The fairy tales stood for Soviet Union, which remained an ideal. However, fairy tales
did not not always stand for an unrealized ideal, let alone a remote and abstract version of Soviet
history. The fairy tales were a consistent source of inspiration for the projects of reality (including the
writing of socialist realist novels). And sometimes they became reality. Clark notes that in
Continuation of a Legend fairy tale does become reality: one of the workers tells a local folktale in
which the Yenisey and Angara rivers are united as in reality they are in the Irkutsk project (229).
In the age of science and technology, science fictions become a major genre all over the world.
They share some common features with fairy tales. Both are imaginative, and depict incredible feats of
men and women. Magical and supernatural creatures show a strong similarity with the fantastical
beings of science fictions. The enchanted world of a bogatyr is very often paralleled by the alternative
world of the protagonist of science fiction. Alexander Belyaev's Ubhochor Manush (The Amphibious
Man/The Amphibian) is a case in point. This 1928 novel was made into a massive Soviet blockbuster
movie in 1962, directed by Vladimir Chebotaryov.4 The novel seems like a fairy tale of science, so does
the movie (indeed, the initial sequence of the Russian movie of 1962 shows an incredulous Pedro
Zurita dismissing the story of the sea devil as skazki, or tale).5 Ubhochor Manush has enjoyed a lasting
popularity among Bengali readers. It has been made into radio plays in Bengali a number of times, and
in a few of them the story's ending is altered to show a happy conclusion, probably on audience's
demand. The novel's plot has fantasy, it has romance, it has melodrama and it has tragedy. Dr Salvator
is a maverick scientist and medical doctor based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His foster son,
Ichthyander has been operated by him and given shark gills so that Ichthyander can breathe underwater.
Ichthyander is mistaken as the sea devil by the local fishermen. He rides on a dolphin and wanders
through the bay. Following a chance encounter, Ichthyander falls in love with Guittere, a beautiful
young maiden who in turn is pursued by Zurita, the villain of the story who also tries to get Ichthyander
trapped and imprisoned for his own selfish motives (Zurita is a merchant of pearls and he wants to use
Ichthyander as an underwater diver). Ichthyander, now madly in love with Guittere, starts spending
increasingly more time on land, which becomes detrimental for his health to the point where he finally
has to forsake his amphibious self and Guittere herself, and spend the rest of his life in water. At the
end of the story, he travels to a faraway place under instructions from Salvator. The sad ending of the
novel is particularly striking, as it subtly undercuts the triumphant socialist realist dogma without going
against it in an obvious way. Salvator is shown to be persecuted by a dogmatically religious
administration for his acts against God (like creating the amphibious man), which is a typically
communistic depiction of Christianity as regressive. This is a sentimental novel, and it also emphasises
the high Stalinist paradigm of life-altering role of science and technology. Ichthyander, (fish-man as per
the Greek etymology) stands for the elements of nature shaped by the forces of science which are
identifiable with revolutionary consciousness epitomised by Surgeon Salvator. The final tragedy in the
life of Ichthyander can be reconciled with socialist framework citing the evil of capitalism, as the
events were taking place in a capitalist country with strong Catholic (shorthand for feudal) bias.
Fig. 24 & 25: Front cover of Ubhochor Manush and an illustration from the book depicting Ichthyander and Guittere
Love in this novel causes a relapse into untamed and raw materiality. Love causes indiscipline
and leads to life-threatening risk. Soviet love stories have been sometimes derided by western critics as
boy gets tractor narratives (Clark 209), where the protagonist instead of getting the love of his life,
ends up getting a tractor or something equivalent and contributes to the forward march of socialism.
Reproduction is suppressed in favour of production, as one may quip. Ichthyander does not get the girl
he loves, but he is promised with the final triumph of science instead. In fact he is punished for his love
in the novel, and it is only by forsaking the spontaneity of love and returning to the dominant authority
of Salvator (i.e. consciousness) that he can be salvaged. Further, Ichthyander's love for Guittere has a
forbidden aspect too (unknown to both of them), as Guittere is his half-sister. Baltasar the professional
diver working for Zurita is the father of both of them. Ichthyander was an infant when his mother died
and he was given to Salvator for treatment by Cristo, Baltasar's elder brother. Salvator later told Cristo
that the baby has died. However, Salvator lied, and Ichthyander was successfully operated only to be
turned into the amphibious man. When Baltasar gets to know about it, he wants to get Ichthyander
back, and there is a high emotional drama in the plot.
There is a covert critique of Stalin-era brutality of industrialisation in the snatching away of
Ichthyander from his biological father, Baltasar. The novel in fact ends with a half-mad Baltasar calling
out loudly to Ichthyander by the sea on stormy nights, and the separation of the father from the son for
the sake of science can be read as a secret narrative of the human being's alienation from his immediate
root, identity, nature, community and property caused by rapid industrialisation in the Soviet state. It is
indeed sad that this popular fiction of multi-layered significations has not merited a detailed discussion
from the critics who study Soviet literature.
The country and the city (Raymond Williams' eponymous study immediately coming to mind)
exist as an interesting dyad within the Soviet children's literature, and the dynamics of this dyadic
structure has changed across the Soviet period. For the period of Lenin and Stalin, rural world
represented the natural element meant to be tamed. Villages stood for the raw materiality which needed
to be moulded and shaped by consciousness. Struggle with nature was a recurrent motif. Man pitted
against a hostile nature was a central Stalinist era image, as Katerina Clark points out (100). But this
interrelationship changes with time, and by the late 1940s and early 1950s, the world of nature comes
to suggest a haven and refuge from the vagaries of the world of men, the world of war, technology and
corruption. Now the village represented a pristine, prelapsarian Russia, that was not corrupt, that was
not bureaucratic, and that was not unfree, and the city was its exact opposite. An interesting example of
this evolution is Nikolai Dubov's Shagortire published in 1985. It has two novellas, Nodir Buke Alor
Mala and Shagortire. Nodir Buke Alor Mala is a novella from 1952, published in English as
Lights on the River. It was also made into a popular Soviet movie as the foreword to the Bengali
translation informs (5). Dubov himself came from the working classes, and this novella (as well as
Shagortire) celebrates the life of labour.
Fig. 26: Front cover of Lights on the River (1952), the novella
translated as Nodir Buke Alor Malaincluded in the
selection titled Shagortire
Fig. 27: Front cover of Shagortire (1985)
As Nodir Buke Alor Mala opens, Kostya, the protagonist, is presented to the reader as
spontaneity incarnate. He studies in fifth standard in Kiev, is immature, and is not at all conscious of
his responsibilities. He does not participate in Pioneer activities, takes an idle interest in movies and
sports, and is far from the ideal boy. But his journey on a steamer from the city to the village along the
river Dnieper is a beginning of a quest that will change him forever. This is a narrative where Kostya,
the immature child protagonist turns into a mature adolescent boy ready to participate in the building of
Soviet Union. It is a coming of age narrative, and that way it can be called a typical Stalinist novel, the
paradigm of which continues in the post-Stalinist literature mostly unchanged, involving a rite of
passage by which the hero passes from a state of 'spontaneity' to one of 'consciousness' and thus
achieves social integration (Clark 226). This ritual of metamorphosis takes place in the midst of
wonderful natural scenery of Polyanskaya. Clark notes that instead of the high Stalinist emphasis on
urbanisation and industrialisation, the novels of 1950s, particularly the youth novels (and Dubov's
novella can qualify as one; though Clark considers the genre to have been inaugurated only in 1956,
which is four years after Nodir Buke Alor Mala was written; sadly, she does not take Dubov into
consideration anywhere in her study) insisted on the redeeming qualities of rural life. Kostya's journey
from the city to the village is also a passage from Stalinism to post-Stalinism, though it was written
during the fag end of Stalinist period. This is how Clark delineates the evolution of the Soviet
paradigm:
In the Stalinist novel, Moscow functioned as a place prefiguring the higher-order reality to
come in Communism, while the provincial town, factory, construction site, or kolkhoz in which
the novel was set was bound to be far behind Moscow on the path to perfection. In the youth
novel, by contrast, Moscow (or Leningrad) functions as the false place, polluted by
bureaucracy, careerism, insincerity, and other such Stalinist ills, whereas some place far
away from Moscow (in the words of the title of Azhaev's Zhdanovist classic) and, preferably,
dramatically less civilized than Moscow (or Leningrad) becomes the haven of Leninist ideals to
which the hero is drawn. (227)
Kostya represents the frivolity of the city that is at odds with the seriousness of rural life that is
epitomised in the character of his maternal uncle and mentor Yefim Kondratyevich, resident of
Polyanskaya. Interestingly in Dubov's work the city stands for untrained, unconscious materiality
whereas remote Polyanskaya is the site of consciousness. The text celebrates physical labour, and
emphasises on physical labour as the singular force that is restructuring a devastated nation in the
aftermath of second world war, which stands as a recurrent motif, still fresh in recent memory. The
child protagonist Kostya is an orphan who lost his father in the second world war. Further, Kostya's
mentor and father figure Yefim Kondratyevich is himself a veteran of the war. The war anecdotes of
bravery and strength recur in the narrative, as they play an important role in the rite of passage that
Kostya undergoes. If the great war lurks in the background, then communism is foregrounded in this
narrative. While communism as the distinct horizon is repeatedly pointed to, a technocratic,
bureaucratic attitude to communism is repudiated by Dubov, who above all values organic unity
between man and nature, and the sweaty, swarthy, earthen quality of communist labour. This novella
thus foreshadows post-Stalinist aesthetics, and is an interesting case study in the transition of Soviet
children's literature from Stalinism to post-Stalinism.
The second novella Shagortire (The Boy at the Seashore/A Boy by the Sea, a 1963 work) gives
the volume its title, and was also made into a film. In this melancholy, slow narrative, there is a critique
of the Soviet system where the child protagonist Sashuk meets an ex-convict who has served prison
term for alleged subversion against the Soviet regime. The man is revealed to be innocent, and a victim
of Stalin-era bureaucratic high-handedness. This is a text that came during the fag end of Khrushchev
years, and it already shows some signs of transition to the Brezhnevist times in its (albeit critical)
exhibition of consumerism. The journey to the sea follows the pattern of youth novels as we have
already seen. The Stalinist socialist realist paradigm of the rite of passage is however sustained, and so
is the spontaneity/consciousness dialectic. Sashuk represents spontaneity, whereas the ex-convict,
Zorka, who is also a mentor figure, represents consciousness.
Dubov's book is published in Bengali in 1985, and in 1987 Raduga publishes Vsevolod
Nestaiko's Dui Iyarer Joto Kando (in English Two Toreadors from Vasukovka Village), also a Ukrainian
text, and like Dubov's book, this book also has two novellas: Ajob Adventure (Strange Adventure)
and Ghori Niye Ghoraghuri (Running after a Watch), but unlike Shagortire, the two novellas of Dui
Iyarer Joto Kando are connected. They narrate events with the same set of protagonists, and the two
novellas form a sequence. The Bengali translation of the second title is rather Shibramesque, as it uses
a pun that would remind any Bengali reader the style of Shibram Chakraborty. In spite of all attempts
by the present researcher, the year of publication of the Russian original could not be ascertained.
However, Two Toreadors from Vasyukivka (spelling is differently given as Vasukovka, Vasiukovka,
Vasyukovka and Vasyukivka) was made into an acclaimed Soviet Russian movie which won prizes in a
few film festivals in 1968 and '69. It can be safely assumed that the text belongs to the early or mid
1960s. There is a distinctly Brezhnevite dimension of this text to which I shall come presently.
Fig. 28: Dui Iyarer Joto Kando
Fig. 29: Ajob Adventure
Fig. 30: Ghori Niye Ghoraghuri
This period heralded prosperity in Soviet life, and this is a text that shows Soviet urban comfort
and the glamour of city life of Kiev. The two protagonists, both of whom are students of fifth standard
who get promoted to the sixth class during the narrative's progression, are called Java and Pavel. The
text is full of humour. A major source of the comic discrepancy/incongruity that gives birth to laughter
in the text can be detected in the tension between initiative and discipline, or planning and outcome.
Clark notes that in 1952 a leading Soviet ideologue and writer Valentin Ovechkin in a brief sketch
explored the dichotomy between initiative and discipline as one of the dominant tensions of the Soviet
system (214). Though Clark does not pay any attention to Nestaiko, nor does she realise the humorous
potential of that tension between initiative and discipline, and limits herself solely to serious literature
centred on that dichotomy, but we can safely state that this initiative/discipline duality informs the core
of Nestaiko's strategy for eliciting humour in his text.
Interestingly, in Nestaiko's text, the city is reinstated to its glory, but not of a Stalinist kind. The
city is more consumerist, the glamour of the film world is a recurrent motif and the main plot of the
second novella revolves around the Kiev film world. A high voltage football game between Kiev and
Moscow at the sports stadium acts as a pivot in the plot of Ghori Niye Ghoraghuri. Leisure sports on
the banks of Dniepar are alluringly presented by Nestaiko. Among the teenager characters with whom
Pavel and Java become friends in the city, there is also an outlaw, a marked man (dagi in Bengali)
who, as Pavel and Java are told, has been jailed for shadowy activities and is now wanted by militia. As
a plot device, it generates suspense in the search for the lost wristwatch which is the title theme in
Ghori Niye Ghoraghuri. However, after a lot of adventure in the underground sewerage tunnel, it is
finally revealed that it was a prank, and the boy referred to as dagi is a rather innocent lad from the
neighbourhood named Vovka Ivanov. In this way, the innocence of the supposed outlaw is established,
and the possibility of any actual subversion is annulled, just the way Dubov's Shagortire expels the
possibility of any genuinely anti-Soviet act, showing the ex-convict to be an innocent victim of
circumstances.
There is a certain glorification of the Kiev's underground tunnels in Nestaiko. The urban,
nocturnal underground not only adds to the text's thrill, but also makes it multi-faceted, fit to be read
against the grain as a covert celebration of the non-Soviet at the heart of Soviet rule. The depiction of
the city is not merely Brezhnevist, it foreshadows Glasnost in a sense: the text has an openness to an
extent that it has the charm of the forbidden. In the first novella, Ajob Adventure the main plot
revolves around the Soviet culture of suspicion, where a certain character is suspected to be a foreign
spy, and in the climax he is just revealed to be a person who caught fishes on the sly. Its 1987
publication coincides with the inauguration of Glasnost in USSR, and that may not be just a
coincidence. The trajectory of the youth novels is reversed in Nestaiko's text: the journey now takes
place from the village to the city. But this is not a Stalinist journey at all. Very significantly, the
conventional spontaneity/consciousness dyad, dominant in all Soviet texts since the heydays of high
Stalinism shows signs of being deconstructed in Nestaiko for the first time. Pavel and Java remain as
they are, topsy turvy and haphazard, with the only change that they become writers of their own stories
in the end. The celebration of Cossack heritage is done by a bunch of children who claim the Cossack
inheritance and taunt a rival group of children of the peasant stock. This is a deviation from the older
Soviet paradigm, where the toiling peasants represent positive forces. In fact, in this text, the
protagonists do not portray positive and ideal characters. They are truant, they tend to make a mess of
everything, and yet they are favourably drawn and not the toppers of their class who go to pioneer
camps. Further, the nationalist heritage of Ukraine is evoked in this celebration of the DnieperCossacks, and also of the ancient legacy of the emperor Vladimir Monomakh of Kievan Rus. This is
nothing less than a nationalist cultural revolution, and it shows strong signs of the official Soviet
orthodoxies getting dismantled in favour of traditional Ukraine, the Vasukovka village being its
cornerstone. The humorous episode of Kiev academicians coming to Vasukovka during the hunting
season, and getting it all wrong in the act of hunting in the midst of the great marsh near the village can
be read as an interesting allegory of Soviet discourse getting undercut by traditional Ukraine.
Thus we may diagnose a Soviet versus Russia conflict or a socialism versus nationalism
dialectic working out of the pages of the books of Raduga and Progress, though these opposing currents
mostly tended to overlap. But one may wonder what our reading should be of the third publishing
house, Mir, that continued to operate even after the collapse of Soviet Union, unlike Raduga and
Progress which stopped their operations in 1991. Mir (in Russian language the word can mean peace,
world or village depending on the context) in fact continues to function to this day. It specialised (and it
still does) in science and technology related publications. It too offered cheap price and excellent
physical quality of books, which the Soviet books were known for. Mir was renowned for its popular
science books in Bengali translation in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology etc. While such books
catered to and were popular with students and general readers alike, almost no cultural study has yet
been undertaken to analyse the political structure of Soviet popular science books, or how they have
functioned as ISA, or their general role in fostering a sense of Russophilia or love for Soviet Union.
However, a few observations can be made. These books circulated the Soviet grand narrative of
materialist conception of history and the deterministic version of the world. They undercut the role
played by genetics and promoted social conditioning as the determinant force in the creation of ideal
subjects. Thus our study of the parenting manual earlier in this article sums up the spirit of Soviet
popular science books. They had a triumphant, upbeat, deterministic, teleological story of science to
tell, and they did it in a captivating manner. The present researcher while in high school fell in love
with the subject of animal physiology after reading the book Physiology for Everyone, a 1978
publication from Mir (the Bengali title was Sharirtottwo Shobai Poro the far I can remember).
Bengalis have variously responded to the fall of Soviet Union in 1991. It can be shown that
Nabarun Bhattacharya's Herbert among other things is a response to the great fall of the USSR. Satyajit
Ray's penultimate film ShakhaProshakha has a character, an educated Bengali middle class youth who
is deeply pained by the fall of socialism in eastern Europe, and that captured the Bengali trauma caused
by the counter-revolutionary turn of history. Utpal Dutt authored a book, Protibiplob that studied the
trajectory of the fall of Soviet Union from its earliest days. The possibility of fall was already there, as
Marx cautioned against the building of socialism in any backward economy with poorly developed
democratic institutions, and it is identified by Dutt as the root cause of the collapse of Soviet Union.
Soviet Union's state-sponsored publishing industry continued to produce good quality children's
literature, whatever may be its drawbacks. The children's books in the post-Soviet Russia are in a
dismal state, as Russian Children's Literature and Culture by Marina Balina et al notes:
The state dispensed lavish funds on supporting children's literature and culture in the Soviet
period, but when these subsidies ended with the crumbling of the Soviet system in 1991, the
institutions of state-sponsored children's culture vanished, leaving the production and
distribution of children's literature to the free publishing market.
The fact that children's literature is no longer a powerful institution is hard for most Russian
parents to accept. Educators and literary critics are alarmed by the low intellectual quality of
new books for children and periodically address this issue in the popular press and professional
journals. (xv-xvi)
Fig. 31: An image from the Soviet books in Bengali blog
It is perhaps too early to say that the tremendous popularity, the lasting appeal of the Soviet
books have withstood the test of time. But the innocent love expressed by the common readers at the
Soviet books in Bengali blog is a testimony to the sustained charm that these books cast over
multiple generations of Bengali reading public. It is noticed that there are sites who now poach books
from this blog into their own domain to increase their popularity.
Fig 32: An image from a 'rival site' that allegedly poaches the ebooks uploaded by the original blog
The present researcher remembers that after he had internet connection at home for the first
time in life (was a university student), the first google search that he did was on Vsevolod Nestaiko. It
was back in 2005, and Nestaiko was still alive, though not a single English language resource existed
on him in the internet. The wiki article was still not there. This has been our generation's level of lasting
attachment to Soviet books. The present researcher opened and administered the first and probably only
Orkut community of the Bengali and Indian lovers of Soviet books, named We Love Soviet Books
back in 2005. Since then, there has been a proliferation of such nostalgic projects which celebrate the
fond memories of Soviet books.
The Russo-Bengal connection is old, and it started when our revolutionary nationalists got in
touch with Russia for possible help against the British. A detailed study of this connection has not been
made yet. Studying the connection between Soviet Union and Bengal is beyond the scope of this
article. The study of Soviet children's books in Bengali is a vast field. Who were the first interpreters,
what was the history of the first publications? And how did it evolve? What was the publication history
of the original texts in Russian? How were the books chosen for translation by the apparatchiks?
Fig 33: A screenshot of the extinct Orkut Community Page created by the present author, probably first of its kind. It
gradually became inactive, as Facebook dislodged Orkut
We see that a number of the popular texts chosen for translation were already made into successful
films (e.g. Amphibian Man, Two Toreadors from Vasukovka, Boy by the Sea, Lights on the River).
Celluloid success was probably a factor behind the choice of these texts for getting translated. How
many copies used to come, how they used to come, and who were the people in the undivided
communist party who looked after the whole process, one wonders. What were the Soviet orders, what
government notifications and minutes, and what policy adopted by the Soviet establishment declared
the setting up and eventual expansion of the Bengali wing in the Foreign Language Publishing House?
How did the Bengali readers at home receive these texts, what was social location of the readers of
Soviet books, what was the contemporary readers' response and how do the nostalgic generations feel
and reminisce about these books today? There can be so many questions which we need to ask, and
find their answers in the Bengali writings, and in the Russian archives housing Soviet era documents. It
is a project that will involve many years of hardwork and combined effort of Bengali scholars, some of
whom must know the Russian language. This article is a mere token of recognition of the vast potential
of this field, and this is a humble inauguration of academic discussions into the Soviet Bengali books.
The role played by the Soviet books in perpetrating communist ideology should obviously be
studied. But the nationalist undercurrent in Soviet Union, the trajectory of its evolution finally leading
to the rise of nationalism in Putin's Russia today are also important topics for investigation, as a postcommunist Bengal might have some lessons to learn from the Russian experience. Bengal's Communist
stalls draped in red clothes during Durgapuja selling Soviet books were significant, because they
represented the toddler steps of our communist politics under the guiding hand of Bengal's rooted
cultural identity of Shakti worship (the colour of Shakti is also red). Soviet Union is gone, and
communist rule in Bengal is gone too, but the historical connections between Bengal and Russia need
to be studied in details. The present researcher is a keen observer of contemporary Russia. We need to
study the rise of Putin in the context of the fourth political theory of Alexander Dugin. These are
interesting developments that deserve our attention while we at Journal of Bengali Studies are
working at a project committed to Bengali nationalism. We shall preserve our fascinations at the wide
steppes, at the Dnieper, at the snow covered forests of White Russia. For all we know, Russia and
Bengal may meet again at another turn of history.
Fig. 34: An image from Belarus, taken on 5 December 2012. Sourced from internet
Notes
1. Listen to the contemporary Russian national anthem adopted by Putin and the Soviet-era anthem that
was adopted by Stalin respectively:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOAtz8xWM0w>
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x72w_69yS1A>.
(lyrics in Russian transliteration and English translation are given)
2. See <http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Italy-Maxim-Gorky/dp/1589635272>.
3. See <http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Italy-Maxim-Gorky/dp/1589635272>.
4. The wiki article says that the Russian movie had a total of 65 million ticket sales
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibian_Man>.
5. Watch the 1962 movie with subtitles <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1c4UEfAEjo>.
Primary Bibliography
Ali, Syed Mujtaba. Rochonaboli Vol. 11. Kolkata: Mitra Ghosh, 1366 (Bengali Year).
Anonymous. Chelemeye Manush Kora Proshonge. (Dialogues on Education). Trans. Bijoy Pal.
Moscow: Progress, 1987.
---. Rush Biplob Ki Ghotechilo (Russian Revolution: What Actually Happened). Trans. Noni Bhowmik.
Moscow: Progress, 1987.
---. Rush Desher Upokotha (Russian Folk Tales). Trans. Supriya Ghosh. Moscow: Raduga, 1986.
---. Ukrainer Lokokotha. (Ukrainian Folk Tales). Trans. Noni Bhowmik. Moscow: Raduga, 1988.
---. Ukrainiyo Upokotha. Trans. Hirendranath Sanyal. Kolkata: Eastern Trading Co, 1954.
Belyaev, Alexander. Ubhochor Manush (The Amphibious Man). Trans. Noni Bhowmik. Moscow:
Progress, 1973 (Second Edn. Tashkent: Raduga, 1986).
Bharti, Jai Prakash. Soviet Shishujogot: Amar Obhiggota (Upbringing of Children in the USSR). Trans.
Dwijen Sharma. Moscow: Progress, 1989.
Chakraborty, Shyamal. Shishutirthe Shishura. Kolkata: National Book Agency, 1986.
Chattopadhyay, Dineshchandra. Duronto Eagle. Kolkata: Patra Bharati, 1998.
Dubov, Nikolai. Shagortire. Trans. Arun Som and Noni Bhowmik. Tashkent: Raduga, 1985.
Dutt, Utpal Natak Samagra Vol.6. Kolkata: Mitra Ghosh, 1998.
Gorky, Maxim. Italyr Rupkotha. Trans. Noni Bhowmik. Moscow: Raduga, 1984.
Nenarokov, Albert. An Illustrated History of the Great October Socialist Revolution: 1917 Month by
Month. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1987.
Nestaiko, Vsevolold. Dui Iyarer Joto Kando (Two Toreadors from Vasiukovka Village). Trans. Arun
Som. Moscow: Raduga, 1987.
Ostrovsky, Nikolai. Ispat (How the Steel Was Tempered). Vol 1 and Vol 2. Trans. Rabindra Majumdar.
Tashkent: Raduga, 1986.
Pushkin et al. . Kon Se Desher Kon Sagarer Paare. Trans. Arun Som. Moscow: Raduga, 1986.
Tushkan, Georgii. The Hunter of the Pamirs: A Novel of Adventure in Soviet Central Asia. London:
Hutchinson, 1944.
Secondary Bibliography
Balina, Maria, Helena Goscilo and Mark Lipovetsky. Politicising Magic: An Anthology of Russian and
Soviet Fairy Tales. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2005.
Balina, Maria and Larissa Rudova. Russian Children's Literature and Culture. New York: Routledge,
2008.
Clark, Katerina. The Soviet Novel: History as Ritual. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000.
Hellman, Ben. Fairy Tales and True Stories: The History of Russian Literature for Children and Young
people. Lieden: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2013.
Sikdar, Soumyendra. Rush Sahityer Satsho Bochor. Kolkata: Dey's, 1997.
Steiner, Evgeny. Stories for Little Comrades: Revolutionary Artists and the Making of Early Soviet
Children's Books. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999.
Dr Tamal Dasgupta holds a PhD from Dept of English, University of Calcutta. He is the founder editor
of Journal of Bengali Studies and is the Chariman of Shoptodina Foundation. He is Assistant Professor
of English at Ambedkar College, Delhi University.
Captain Suresh Biswas: Myth and Reality

Mara Helena Barrera-Agarwal
" he had a hero. Another Bengali, who left home a

hundred years ago and went to England, working as crew
on a ship. Eventually, he ended up in Brazil - or was it
Mexico? - and joined its army. He became a colonel and
greatly impressed everyone by his valor and courage. Do
you mean Suresh Biswas? Feluda asked. Lalmohan Babu,
too, had recognized the name. His eyes gleamed. 'Yes,
yes,' he said hurriedly, 'Colonel Suresh Biswas. He died in
Brazil."
The Adventures of Feluda
Satyajit Ray
Introduction
In human society, the presence of the hero is indispensable. It responds to the essential need that
LaBarge summarizes with simplicity: "Our heroes are symbols for us of all the qualities we would like
to possess and all the ambitions we would like to satisfy."[1] This description reveals the duality
inherent in the hero: his glory reflects not only his virtues, but also and, more importantly, the hopes
and the expectations of the people who elevate him or her to that position.
Since 1857, in the Indian subcontinent, these expectations had been framed within the strict
limits imposed by the rule of the British Empire. In Bengal, the presence of a British colonial power
had started more than two centuries earlier, surreptitiously, with the arrival of the East India Company a trading venture that turned into a merciless political and social exploitation system.
At its core, the Company was a machinery fueled by pure greed: its aim was to obtain as much
profit as possible, with total disregard for the wellbeing and the survival of the Bengali population.
Nothing took precedence to the objective of netting ever increasing revenue. Such policy would lead to
unprecedented tragedy: in 1770, the Companys rapacity caused ten million deaths in a famine.[2]
The rule capable of inflicting such a calamity was based not only on tangible control of the
region and its inhabitants, it also required the imposition of an ideology that promoted the superiority
of Europeans. In the case of Bengal, this policy included the implementation of a stereotype: its aim
was to conceptualize Bengalis as a weak and pusillanimous people, lacking martial virtues. Such an
archetype was casted as state policy, establishing a regime that denied Bengalis the possibility of opting
for a military career.
This obstacle was maintained until the second decade of the twentieth century. Undoubtedly, it
foiled many vocations, suppressing the presence of martial models for generations of Bengalis. The
vacuum thus created would be remedied, unexpectedly, in the final decade of the nineteenth century
with the emergence of a Bengali martial hero, Suresh Biswas.
Traditional sources
To fully understand the importance of Suresh Biswas, it is indispensable to determine the way in which
his story became important for Bengalis. How did an immigrant, who left his country as a teenager,
emerge to be known as a hero among his people? The answer to this question is found in the pages of a
Kolkata newspaper, the Amrita Bazar Patrika (ABP). Established in 1868, by the Ghosh brothers, ABT
promoted the idea of Indias freedom since its beginnings. The journalistic line privileged patriotic
pride, denouncing the injustices rooted in the colonial system and proclaiming the worthiness of the
native population. As part of that policy, it aimed to provide wholesome Bengali and Indian life
examples: ABP readers were presented often with profiles of Indians, depicted in ways vastly
contrasting to those promoted by the British imperial machinery.
It such context, in 1894, ABP publishes its first note about Suresh Biswas exploits. It did not
appear in a vacuum: its referential frame was the news coverage of the Brazilian Civil War being
fought that year. Despite the geographical distance, it was a conflict that was covered with interest in
India. A broad range of newspapers republished regularly news taken from the European media. ABP
was no exception to that trend, publishing on a regular basis news on the war. In the first semester of
1894, it surprised its readers by adding to its coverage a wholly original angle: in an article, it was
revealed that a Bengali was fighting heroically in the Brazilian war, as a member of the Brazilian
armed forces.
The exact way in which Biswas was first featured cannot be established, as the issue in which
the article appeared cannot be located.[3] Despite such loss, the existence of the note is ascertainable
thanks to a reference in a second article published by ABP about Biswas,[4] where it is mentioned that
the Bengalee Lieutenant serving in Brazil, and an account of whose brave deeds was, the other day
published in these columns, is not dead.[5]
Amrita Bazar Patrika - July 8 de 1894
The article also features a more direct link to Biswas himself: ABP transcribes a brief letter
written by him to his uncle. Biswass style is marked by clarity:
My dear uncle_ Last month, I know not the exact date, I received your letter dated 17th of July 93. At
present, I cannot write to you more, a time will come when I will write to you about me more at my
leisure. The only information I can give you about me now is that I have been very ill, and have
suffered from one of those revolutions in my system from which I have so very often narrowly escaped.
I am getting better, for God will so have it."[6]
This letter is the first of a number of pieces of correspondence that were published in the
newspaper, in the years to come. The source of the documents is Sureshs uncle, Kailash Chunder
Biswas. The link between Sureshs family and the ABP was a regular one, allowing the publication of
many important documents, including testimonies of at least two of Biswas friends, from India and
Brazil.
The material published in the ABP was, eventually, complemented by two books. The first
book, published by Upendra Krishna Bandhopadhyay, in Bengali, was titled
(Lieutenant Suresh Biswas).[7] The second book, written by Hur Chunder Dutt in English, was titled
Lieut. Suresh Biswas: his life and adventures.[8] In his book, Bandhopadhyay introduces himself as a
friend of Sureshs family. He edits together facts related to his life, including the letters written by
Suresh to his uncle in Kolkata. Dutt is a writer and journalist who has worked for and founded a variety
of Bengali newspapers.[9] His sources concerning Biswas are similar to those used by Bandhopadhyay,
including a direct connection to the family.[10]
Bandhopadhyay, Upendra Krishna

Every reference to Suresh Biswas, in the 20th and 21st centuries, has as its sources
Bandhopadyays and Dutts books. There is no evidence of other materials being used.
Europa
Born on 1861, in Nathpur, Nadia District, Bengal, Biswas belongs to a family of modest resources. His
father, Girish Chunder Biswas, and his uncle, Kailash Chunder Biswas, are state employees. The
obituary dedicated to Girish mentions that he was a devout Vaishnava.[11] Despite such familiar
background, a teenaged Suresh abandons Hinduism, converting to a Protestant denomination.
In a letter published on 1896, Upendra Nath Chatterjee, Biswas friend at the time of the facts,
declares that the conversion took place on 1876 or 1877,[12] by virtue of the influence of a British
minister, J. P. Ashton.[13] Sureshs exact reasons to convert are impossible to determine, in reason of
the absence of his testimony about the subject. In Bandhopadyays and Dutts books, the possible cause
of the decision is linked to misunderstandings between Suresh and his father.
Soon after his conversion, Suresh leaves Bengal. Chatterjee mentions how he "went to England
with a European gentleman taking the appointment of a steward in a ship."[14] Other testimonies
establish that, after sailing from Kolkata, he resided temporally in Rangoon, before starting his journey
to Europe.[15]
It is impossible to determine the exact year of Sureshs arrival to Europe.[16] The first
documented details of his presence in the continent date from the World's Fair at the Royal Agricultural
Hall, Islington, 1881-82. The Fairs manager, John OConnor, had put together, as entertainment fare, a
series of acts. Some are assured by a circus, while others require the presence of the Continental
Menagerie, in charge of exotic animals:
"Agricultural Hall. [...] The grand Continental menagerie, which occupies the center of the Hall, and
which is open to all, contains a really good collection of animals, birds and reptiles, including a group
of African lions, amongs which a clever Hindoo lion tamer performs at intervals."[17]
How spectacular is Biswas in performance finds echo in another note, in which his feats are described
with admiration:
"Among the beasts are three lions, which leap and perform other acts at the bidding of their keeper,
Suresh-Biswas, who enters their cage. This exhibition, which takes place frequently, attracts great
attention, and the daring young Hindoo, master of the king of beasts, is loudly applauded for his display
of temerity."[18]
A number of Fair flyers have been preserved. These advertisements, often illustrated, provide the
earliest visual testimony of Suresh Biswas life. Two flyers one, in color, which does not mention his
name, and another, black and white, which states it in full confirm Biswas participation in the Fair.
Both contain a vignette in which he is depicted at the cage door, facing the public, while the lions wait,
calmly, behind him. He sports black tall boots, red pants, blue jacket and a red sash. He wears a turban
and in his face appears the moustache that will be characteristic in the two pictures that have been
preserved of him.
Suresh Biswas, Islington, London, 1881
The image confirms the newspapers description, suggesting Biswas poise and fearlessness. It also
gives context to his feats: the public observes, mesmerized from a lower plane, while the tamer
defined as lion hunter in the flyer does not shy from a gallant and superior stance.
Argentina
In his book, H. Dutt mentions that, after a few years with circuses, Suresh establishes a working rapport
with two menagerie owners, one in London and one in Hamburg. The first is Charles Jamrach, a man
easy to identify in reason of his being the most renowned exotic animal dealer of his time. After a stint
with Jamrach, Biswas leaves at the request of a Mr. Gazenbach, of Hamburg.[19] Dutt describes
Gazenbach as "a very well-known tamer of wild animals and contractor for many Zoological Gardens
in Europe."[20] According to him, Biswas is hired as a chief tamer in Gazenbachs establishment, a
position in which he remains for some time.
It seems impossible to ascertain more details about Gazenbach. No person by that name appears
to have owned a menagerie or taming related business in Hamburg during the years in which Suresh
Biswas was presumably in Europe. To determine his identity, it is necessary to consider the way his
name was incorporated into Biswas story: the letters in which he mentioned this and other names were
written in Bengali. The words in European languages were, consequently, phonetically transliterated
into the Bangla alphabet. Afterwards, for publication in English language newspapers and in Dutts
book, these names were again transliterated phonetically, this time into the Latin alphabet.
In the case of Jamrach, such process did not affect the name considerably perhaps because his
fame made him known to whomever rendered it to English. With Gazenbach, the phonetical
transliteration from German resulted in a word only vaguely resembling the original. His real name was
Carl Hagenbeck, famous tamer and menagerie owner. Hagenbecks identification makes it possible to
determine the way in which Suresh Biswas destiny took a rather unexpected turn, causing him to leave
Europe for the Americas.
In his memories, Hagenbeck describes his joy at the discovery of a very talented elephant
named Bosco, for which he had developed particular affection. Eventually, Bosco is acquired by a
circus manager, and departs for South America:
"[A] would-be purchaser of Bosco appeared upon the scene in the shape of an American menagerie
owner, who possessed a circus in Buenos Aires. Before buying Bosco, However, the American desired
that he should learn various tricks and for this purpose it was arranged that the elephant should remain
another six weeks in my possession. In the meanwhile I sold the American a troupe of performing
lions, and these he sent off to Buenos Aires, he himself remaining behind in order to take personal
charge of Bosco on the passage across the Atlantic."[21] Over in South America he was very
successful, constantly having a full house, and making large profits.[22]
Hagenbeck does not mention the name of the American impresario. However, in reason of the details
provided the elephants name and the detail of the circus in Buenos Aires - it is possible to ascertain
that the man was one of the brothers who owned the Compaa ecuestre y maravillas zoolgicas de los
Hermanos Carlo (The Carlo Brothers Equestrian Company and Zoological Marvels). That assumption
is confirmed by a detail in Dutts book, where there is mention of a Jorge Carlo, who convinces
Hegenbeck of allowing Suresh Boscos true tamer to travel with the elephant to Latin America.[23]
The Carlo Brothers a family with European (English and Italian) and American roots -had
been touring the Americas with their spectacles since at least the 60s, under the leadership of Frederick
Carlo, the eldest sibling. They employed Frank Brown, a famous British clown, and a number of other
artists in acts designed to create a feeling of variety. In those times, circuses had to attract public for an
extended time, in the same city and in successive annual seasons. It was crucial for them to have as
many viable acts as possible, to maximize the labor of performers and of animals working for the
establishment.[24]
The addition of Bosco and the troupe of lions was probably a needed change, aimed at
refreshing a program that had become too well-known to bring steady profits. It is impossible to
determine the exact date in which Suresh Biswas travelled to South America. However, the evidence
indicates that he arrived before Bosco, probably in the same ship transporting the lions sent by
Hagenbeck. The first documented evidence of his presence appears in a Buenos Aires newspaper on
March 15th, 1885: Monday will debut the Indian from Bengal, tamer Suresh Hisrvash [sic], presenting
lions and tigers inside a cage, performing risky exercises.[25] The show takes place the 16th, and
meets with great success. Bosco arrives next day to Buenos Aires, by steamer, on March the 17th,
1885.[26]
La Prensa, Buenos Aires, March 15, 1885
The obvious mistake in the surname a recurrent problem in almost every source concerning
Biswas[27] - does not affect the validity of the anonymous journalists testimony. The description
proposed brings to mind the taming act performed by Biswas in Britain, four years earlier, at the
Agricultural World Fair. His work in Buenos Aires provides the Carlo Brothers with spectacular acts
and great success. In the weeks to come, La Prensa, one of the most important Buenos Aires
newspapers at the time, often mentions Biswas daring feats, particularly those performed with the lions
and the tiger:
Politeama Argentino - Llama la atencin del pblico la coleccin de fieras que se exhibe por la
empresa Carlo y suspende el nimo la presencia del domador en aquel estrecho recinto, dominando con
la mirada y avasallando con su actitud decidida al arrogante len como al saudo tigre que saltan,
evolucionan y rugen, conservando siempre la obediencia al hombre que permanece entre ellos, fiado en
la superioridad que ha sabido conquistarles."[28] "La presentacin de fieras domadas por el domado
indiano contina manteniendo la curiosidad del pblico".[29] Hoy el domador indiano entrar en la
jaula de los leones y tigre."[30]
Brazil
On August, 1885, the Carlo Brothers open their season in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the ads published
during their time in the city, the main attraction is usually Bosco, the elephant, along with his Indian
tamer, Suresh Biswas.[31] The reason is simple: as the Diario Portuguez of August 24, 1885, mentions,
Biswas art is highly appreciated by the Brazilian public - the applauses at his feats had flooded till
overflowing[32] the day before:
Diario Portuguez, Rio de Janeiro, August 24, 1885
Dirio de Noticias, Rio de Janeiro, August 15, 1885
Jornal do Comercio, Rio de Janeiro, August 28, 1885
Biswas's success continues during the season. All through it, Biswas is part of almost every
function, as Boscos tamer and presenting the act with the lions and tigers already performed in London
and Buenos Aires. This last feat caused sensation and fear among the public. The renowned Brazilian
journalist Artur Azevedo, in an article written for the newspaper Dirio de Notcias, was so shocked at
his performance that recommended the Company to cancel the act, for it looked very dangerous.[33]
His alarm was so intense that he repeated his warnings a few days later.[34]
Another, anonymous journalist, writing for the A Semana newspaper, did not constraint himself
to similar worries. He concentrated on Biswas, leaving a wonderful portrait of the man and his courage:
"Sureesh Beswash, is a robust man of average height, from India, as he says and looks, unfettered and
friendly. He does not have a Samsons muscular strength. But as for courage, maybe he does not have
anything to envy from the man who shook a temple and killed one hundred thousand philistines with a
donkeys jawbone.
It is true that the brave tamer of beasts, currently the main attraction of Polytheama Fluminense, faces
death in the eye and especially in the teeth of their pets with the same indifference that I have when I
see the white bear [emblem] of the Jornal do Commercio.
A tiger, two lions and a man shuttered in the same cage is something to rattle the utmost calmer citizen
of this world. What fear, my God, what fear one feels at the sight of these two terrible lions and of that
no less terrible tiger! And yet, the fearless Sureesh Beswash deals with them as it they were just
domestic kittens.[35]
The success is remarkable even the Emperor and the royal family witness his feats, on
September 25th.[36] Much more important for Sureshs destiny, in one of the nights in which he
performs, with the lions and the tiger a young woman by the name Maria Augusta Fernandes is at the
circus. In 1951, after more than a half a century of widowhood, Maria Augusta still remembered in
detail the moment in which she noticed his future husband for the first time:
"It was in the Circus of Brothers Carlo that I met him. When I saw him for the first time, a lion was
advancing towards him. Suresh, whip in hand, pushed away the beast with an energy never before
witnessed by me. Sitting in my chair, I followed it all, thrilled. My heart pounded. I thought it was just
the shuddering caused by the spectacle. But the next day I realized my heart had not stopped pounding.
I returned to the Circus. I understood then that something more important that the show had happened
to me. It was love, rising. [37]
The Brothers Carlo season ended on November, 1885. Suresh Biswas returned to Hamburg. He
did not remain there for long: on April 6th, he departed Hamburg aboard the German ship Lissabon,
reaching Rio de Janeiro on May the 2nd.[38] To the German port authorities, he declared being twentysix years of age, born in Calcutta, and an artist by profession (Kunstler, in German). Nevertheless, it
is likely that, at the time, he had already decided to abandon his life as an entertainer. With three pieces
of luggage for all patrimony, Biswas was ready to start a new life in Brazil.
A family and a career in Brazil

The extant archival evidence shows that, from at least 1889 to 1905, Biswas serves with the Federal
District Military Police (PMDF, by its name in Portuguese - Polcia Militar do Districto Federal).
Despite its name, the PMDF is not a regular police body, but a well-developed military corps,
composed of infantry and cavalry units, designed to protect the government and its capital, Rio de
Janeiro. Such mission will be fulfilled under the Empire and, thereafter, under the Republic.
Since 1841, the PMDFs activities take place directly under the supervision of the Ministry of
Justice. This arrangement is maintained after the establishment of Brazils First Republic, in 1889. The
extreme instability of the Republics first years drives the government to send regular army units to
encampments outside of the capital. The PMDFs status, on the other hand, is enhanced. This proves
particularly handy in two civil war conflicts, fought on 1891 and 1893.
It is not possible to determine from archival evidence Biswas initial date of engagement with
the PMDF, or his exact whereabouts from 1886 to 1889. Nevertheless, his letters can be used to fill the
gap thus created. For later years 1890 to 1894 his correspondence coexists and is supplemented by
Brazilian archival sources. This allows us to confirm that everything he wrote to his uncle was firmly
rooted in reality: all his statements are backed by the data found in Brazilian records. From 1895 to his
death on 1905, only the records subsist, providing a partial idea of the development of his career and
his life.
Suresh Biswas correspondence determines that, immediately after his return, he enlists with the
PMDF a decision that probably explains his departure from Europe. In 1887, he writes to his uncle
from Santa Cruz, advising he is now part of a cavalry regiment, no longer a mere soldado, soldier,
but a cabo de esquadra, a squadron corporal.[39] He confirms that testimony in a letter written seven
years later: "As for my Military education, I have served in the Cavalry Regiment for three years as a
soldier and five years in the Infantry as a graduated soldier."[40]
On January, 1889, as per another letter, Biswas is back in Rio de Janeiro, working at a military
hospital during the revolution that toppled the Brazilian emperor, Pedro II, and caused the instauration
of the Republic.[41] He mentions that, once his term finishes on May 10, 1889, he intends to abandon
military life and continue his travels.[42] He seems to have acted on that intention, only to regret it
later, for, on January 1890, in the first documented evidence of his new life in Brazil, he petitions the
Ministry of Justice, asking to be reinstated to the PMDF, with his ancient rank of sergeant.[43] A few
days later, the petition is denied for lack of an opening for the position.[44] Soon, however, he insists
and succeeds, being reincorporated to the corps with the rank of first sergeant.[45] On January, 1892,
he petitions the government to be naturalized a Brazilian citizen.[46] By May, 1893, he has already
being elevated from first sergeant to brigade (a junior commanding position). In a letter to his uncle,
he mentions having fought for the Republic during a revolution probably the First Naval Uprising. He
will also participate of the Republic defense during the Second Naval Uprising, an attempt by the
Brazilian Armada to topple the president Floriano Peixoto. Biswas letters to his uncle speak eloquently
of the war and of the heroic deeds he performed during the battle of Nitroi:
"When the revolution broke out on the 6th of September last and all the war vessels joined
together to block our beautiful Bay of Rio de Janeiro and began to bombard the strong fortresses of
Santacruz, Cage and Sao Joao then we began to feel that these was work to be done. The fortress
gallantly responded with their heavy artillery to the better artillery of the men-of-war. There was
recruiting and concentration of forces everywhere throughout the country. Every elevated place was
fortified all-round the bay. There was skirmishing every day and everywhere, bombarding once here
and once there. The revolted marine, with their twenty men-of-war turned all their attention to the city
of Nitheroy [sic] [...] at least they landed, thinking that we must be fatigued, or we were not sufficient
for them. So the battle took place on the 9th of February, when after three hours of hard fighting, the
marines we defeated and some of them fled and got safe to their boats, and rest of them were our
prisoners.[47]
As he mentions in his letter, he was awarded the rank of alferes, a rough equivalent of junior
lieutenant, in 1894, for his outstanding services during the conflict.[48] From this time dates, in all
likelihood, the only portrait in which he appears in full military uniform, sent later to his uncle and to
his father as a tangible proof of his success.
By May 1895, Biswas health is declining in a letter sent to his uncle on October, 1894, he has
spoken about suffering from rheumatism.[49] The official record confirms the existence of an ailment:
he requests and receives a three-month leave from his duties at the PMDF.[50] At the time, he is living
in a neighborhood within the jurisdiction of the Parochia de S. Jos, where he appears, along with
fellow Brazilian citizens, in the voter lists.[51] His condition seems to have improved, and no other
ailments are noted during the years to come. His standing as an officer continues to be excellent and, on
February, 1899, he is promoted to the rank of tenente, liutenant.[52]
Suresh Chandra Biswas[53]
His name appears regularly in the electoral lists of Rio de Janeiro, as a citizen apt to vote and to
participate in the civic life of the time.[54] His standing is confirmed when, on June 26, 1905, he is
promoted to capitao (Capitan). As the notice of his promotion proves, he attains such rank by virtue of
merits, not by mere seniority in the force.[55] His career and life, however, are about to end in the most
abrupt way: on September 22, 1905, he dies in Rio de Janeiro.[56] The death notice published by his
family mentions their address Rua Christina, #30, - and the name of the cemetery in which he is to be
buried Cemitrio de Sao Joao Baptista.
Suresh Biswas, death notice, 1905[57]
The exact circumstances of his death remain unknown, as no record provides a reason for his demise.
He is survived by his wife, Maria Augusta Biswas, and by their six children - Suresh, Jorge Cleveland,
Luiz Merodack, Clarisse, Hermes and Stella.[58] His rank at the time of his death influences the
aftermath: the Brazilian government pays the expenses of his funeral,[59] and, on July 30, 1906, after
an official request,[60] bestows a permanent montepio (pension) on the widow. Temporary pensions are
also provided for the children all of whom are minors at the time. [61]
Maria Augusta Biswas, in her youth. [62]
The afterlife of a legend

News of Sureshs death reach India only in 1909. That year, ABP publishes a note announcing his
demise. It was an obituary that rendered homage to the remarkable man who, by virtue of their
coverage, had become a symbol in Bengal. The source of the information was described as inquiries
made by the British Consul, at Rio de Janeiro.[63] It is impossible to determine if the Consul or
someone at the paper deemed necessary to improve Biswas standing, by noting that he was a
Colonel.[64] The notion that he had reached that rank before his death, in 1905, was thus born.
None of Sureshs letters or any other contemporary source supported such an assertion - the
Brazilian death notice published by his family clearly mentions he was a captain. Despite the lack of
evidence, that detail, as well as other many related to his experiences in Europe and Latin America,
were never challenged. The popularity of Suresh Biswas story was proportional to the total lack of
inquiry about his life. It was assumed that little or no data had survived from his time abroad.
In the years to come, his name was invoked often, as a proof of martial capability and as a
model for the youth in the Subcontinent. His feats and career in Brazil were cited widely:
"Had he remained in India he would never have reached the military rank he attained. Do not these
prove that given opportunities the Bengalis are bound to succeed in every career they adopt?[65]
His example had an enormous influence during the decades of the freedom struggle. In his memories,
Subhas Chandra Bose mentions how, during his youth, one of his friends:
was always dreaming of the Bengali soldier, Suresh Biswas, who had migrated to South America (I
think it was Brazil) and had made a name for himself there. And as a stepping stone to such a career,
the friend was practicing wrestling, while some of us were busy with Yoga.[66]
Netajis friend was not the only looking forward to replicate Biswas martial path. There is
evidence, in his correspondence, that after news of his exploits were made public, a number of young
Bengalis contacted him requesting help to start their own military careers. In his last known letter,
dated from 1903 and quoted by ABP in his obituary, Suresh alludes to these requests.[67]
In the South American country, after the death of Suresh, his family faced challenging times. By
1934, only his wife and three of his children Suresh, Stella and Hermes Evaristo were still living, in
a modest home in the Jacarepagu neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. That year, the newspaper A Noite
received a request, by letter, from a Mr. S.U.K. Rox, from Calcutta, requesting news about colonel
Suresh Biswas and his family.[68] The newspaper obliged, publishing a note about Sureshs life and
an interview with his wife. Sadly, the coverage was also tinged with sensationalism: the anonymous
journalist attempted to increase the interest of his story by presenting Suresh as a member of the Indian
royalty.
Seventeen years later, in 1951, A Noite repeated its coverage. The British Empire had lost its
colonial jewell, India. This time, the request about Suresh Biswas came directly from a Republican
official source, the Indian Embassy in Brazil. Having knowledge of the 1934 article, Jayadev A. Shah,
the Indian interim Charg of Affaires in Rio de Janeiro, attempted to locate Suresh Biswass family at
his old address, to no avail. Looking for answers, he contacted A Noite for help. The family was located
again. The reported secured a meeting between the Indian diplomat and Sureshs octogenarian widow,
who still remembered her husband fondly. Sadly, the coverage suffered again of inaccuracies and
sensationalism, including the claim that Suresh belonged to the Indian nobility.
Apparently, no other request was made by Indian authorities. The memory of Suresh Biswas
continued to be sporadically remembered, mentioned in novels, and invoked in articles, still a symbol,
yet an enigmatic one. In 2011, year of the 150 th anniversary of Biswass birth, Abhijit Gupta, writing
for The Telegraph, of Calcutta, published an article about his life, based in the book written by Upendra
Krishna Bandhopadhyay, in 1899. Guptas article was titled No one remembers the colonel, and
remarked how:[69]
[n]ow that the year is drawing to a close, it seems safe to reveal that the nostalgia industry in Bengal
has missed at least one sesquicentennial. And perhaps fittingly so, for it would have been a presumption
to suddenly remember a man whom Bengal has so thoroughly ignored and forgotten. Nevertheless, let
it be recorded that this year is also the 150th birth anniversary of Colonel Suresh Biswas (1861-1905) of
the Brazilian army, circus-trainer and gentleman of fortune.[70]
Perhaps the time to remember Suresh Biswas on the basis of real data about his life has arrived,
not as a byproduct of the nostalgia industry, but as a deed of justice for an extraordinary man.
References
1. LaBarge, Scott, Heroism: Why Heroes are Important, in Ethics Outlook, Santa Clara University,
2005, available at www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/ethicsoutlook/2005/heroes.html
2. Almost two centuries later, in 1943, in the midst of World War II and under the direct aegis of
the British crown, another famine due to colonial systematic spoliation caused more than five
million deaths.
3. There are a number of ABP sets, some digitized. However, the condition and completeness of
these collections vary considerably.
4. Anonymous, Note, Amrita Bazar Patrika, July 8 de 1894, Calcuta, p. 4
5. Idem, ibidem.
6. Idem, ibidem.
7. Bandhopadhyay, Upendra Krishna, (Lieutenant Suresh Bishwas), Brajahari
Dutta, Calcutta, 1899
8. Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh Biswas: his life and adventures, P.C. Dass, The Mercantile
Press, Calcutta, s/d.
9. A profoundly interesting figure, Dutt authored a number of titles, in prose and verse, including
detective ad mystery series.
10. In his book, Dutt mention that Sureshs only brother, Monmotho Nath Biswas, has helped him
contributing to the book with data and documents. Dass, P. C., Prefatory Note, in Dutt, Hur
Chunder, Lieut. Suresh Biswas: his life and adventures, Op. cit., s/p
11. Vid., Annimo, Obituary, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Septiembre 5, 1899, p. 5. Dentro del
hinduismo, el vaishnavismo implica la devocin primordial por el Dios Vishnu.
12. Vid., Chatterjee, Upendra Nath, Carta a la redaccin del Amrita Bazar Patrika, Julio 22, 1896,
p. 5
13. Another account, anonymous, sets this events in 1873, mentions that Suresh born in 1861
was a fifteen year old at the time. The discrepancy in this detail brings to mind the possibility of
a mistake. Anonymous, Account about Suresh Chandra Biswas, in Anonymous, Lieutenant
Suresh Chander Biswas, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Julio 16, 1896, p. 4
14. dem, ibdem.
15. Anonymous, Account about Suresh Chandra Biswas, in Anonymous, Lieutenant Suresh
Chander Biswas, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Julio 16, 1896, p. 4
16. It is important to mention the existence of a homonymous, a Suresh Chandra Biswas who
travelled to England and was, by 1881, studying at Balliol College, Oxford, whose records
should not be deemed relevant by error.
17. Anonymous, Agricultural Hall, in The Standard, Tuesday, December 27, 1881, p. 3
18. Anonymous, The Fair at the Agricultural Hall, in The Era, London, December 31, 1881, p. 13
19. Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh Biswas: his life and adventures, Op. cit., p. 123
20. Idem, ibidem, p. 123-124
21. Hagenbeck, Carl, Beasts and men, being Carl Hagenbecks experiences for half a century
among wild animals, Longmans Green, London, 1911, p. 157-158
22. Idem, ibidem, p. 158
23. Vid., Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh Biswas: his life and adventures, Op. cit., p. 124
24. In Buenos Aires, such a necessity had an unexpected reward: in 1884, the Brothers Carlo
wanted to finish their season in Buenos Aires with panache. They figured a patriotic pantomime
presentation could be interesting and probably not very expensive to produce. Alfredo
Cattaneo, he manager of the Politeama Theater, where they used to perform, arranged for a
well-known author, Eduardo Gutirrez, to allow the adaptation of one of his novels, Juan
Moreira. The Carlo hired a local troupe, the Podest family, and, in particular, Jos J. Podest,
to play the lead part, with great success. Vid., Laura Mogliani, Antonio Podest y la
multiplicidad de sus saberes escnicos: circenses, teatrales y musicales, en Pellettieri, Osvaldo
(ed.), Huellas escnicas, Estudios de teatro argentino e iberoamericano, Galerna, Buenos Aires,
2007, p. 188
25. El lunes har su debut el indio de Bengala domador Suresh Hisrvash [sic] que presentar
leones y tigres en cuyas jaulas se mete ejecutando arriesgados ejercicios. Annimo, Politeama,
La Prensa, Buenos Aires, March 15, 1885. p. 4
26. Annimo, El elefante para el Politeama, La Prensa, Buenos Aires, March 18, 1885. p. 4
27. Suresh Biswas name is transliterated in more than a dozen different ways, in written sources
found in England, Argentina and Brazil.
28. Annimo, Politeama Argentino, La Prensa, Buenos Aires, March 18, 1885. p. 4
29. Annimo, Politeama, La Prensa, Buenos Aires, March 22, 1885. p. 4
30. Annimo, Ad, La Prensa, Buenos Aires, May 5, 1885. p. 5
31. Annimo, Ad, Dirio de Noticias, Rio de Janeiro, August 15, 1885, p. 4
32. Anonymous, Saloes e Palcos, Jornal do Comercio, Rio de Janeiro, August 24, 1885, p. 6
33. "A companhia Carlo, no louvvel intuito de variar os seus espectculos, fez ultimamente
exibio de dois lees e um tigre domesticados pelo domador indiano Sureesh Biswach. A
terrvel impresso que se apoderou de boa parte do pblico apesar da coragem e sangue frio do
domador de Bosco diante da feroz atitudes daqueles animais, e bastante para que a empresa que
tantos outros elementos possui para agradar o poupe a semelhantes espectculos, que se nada
tem de teis, muito menos podem ter de agradveis." Azevedo, Artur, Foyer, Dirio de Notcias,
Rio de Janeiro, August 26, 1885, p. 1
34. "Anteontem reapareceram os lees e o tigre no Politeama. Apesar de se terem as feras mostrado
dceis ao mando de seu domador, ns continuamos a recomendar a empresa muita cautela em
exibies de semelhante natureza. Sim, porque em uma hora..."Azevedo, Artur, Foyer, Dirio de
Notcias, Rio de Janeiro, August 30, 1885, p. 1
35. "Sureesh Beswash, um homem robusto, de estatura regular, oriundo da ndia, segundo ele diz
e parece, desembaraado e simptico. No tem a forca muscular de um Sanso; mas, quanto a
coragem, talvez que nada ficasse a dever aquele homem que abalou um templo e matou cem mil
filisteus com uma queixada de burro. E certo que o valente domador de feras, actualmente o
principal atractivo do Polytheama Fluminense, encara a morte nos olhos e sobretudo nos dentes
dos seus bichinhos com a mesma indiferena com que eu vejo o urso branco do Jornal do
Comercio. Um tigre, dois lees e um homem, metidos na mesma jaula para por em
movimento o sistema nervoso do cidado mais calmo deste mundo. Que medo, meu Deus, que
medo causam aqueles dois terrveis lees e aquele no menos terrvel tigre! E no entanto, o
destemido Sureesh Beswash lida com eles como com uns gatinhos domsticos. Anonymous,
Theatros - Um tigre e dois lees, A semana, Rio de Janeiro, September 5, 1885, p. 5
36. Vid., Silva, Esequiel Gomes da. De palanque: as crnicas de Artur Azevedo no dirio de
Notcias (1885/1886), Assis, 2010, Coleo PROPG Digital (UNESP) (2011), p. 84
37. Foi no Circo dos Irmos Carlo que o conheci. Quando o vi, pela primeira vez, um leo
avanava contra ele. Suresh, de chicote em punho, afastava a fera, com energia jamais vista por
mim. Sentada, em minha cadeira, seguia tudo, emocionada. Meu corao palpitava. A principio
pensei que fosse pela vibrao do espectculo. Mais no dia seguinte no parou de palpitar.Voltei
ao Circo. Vi ento que algo mais importante do que o espectculo acontecia comigo. Era o amor
que despontava." Anonymous, Avistam-se o diplomata e a velhinha, A Noite, April 6, 1951, p. 3
38. Depart confirmed by Passenger Manifest, Hamburg Port, Lissabon ship, HamburgSdamerikanische Dampfschifffahrt-Gesellschaft, April 6, 1886. Arrival confirmed by
Passenger Manifest, Rio de Janeiro Port, Lissabon ship, Hamburg-Sdamerikanische
Dampfschifffahrt-Gesellschaft, May 2, 1886.
39. Biswas, Suresh, Letter to his uncle, February 8th, 1887, in Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh
Biswas: his life and adventures, Op. cit., p. 156-157
40. Biswas, Suresh, Letter to his uncle, September 3rd, 1894, in Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh
Biswas: his life and adventures, Op. cit., p. 166
41. Biswas, Suresh, Letter to his uncle, January 5th, 1893, in Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh
42. Idem, ibidem, p. 161
43. "Ministrio de Justcia - Dia 9 - Remeteu-se ao coronel comandante-geral do Corpo Militar de
Policia, para informar, o requerimento em que Suresh Biswas, ex-2o sargento do mesmo corpo,
pede ser readmitido no mesmo posto." Diario Official, Rio de Janeiro, January 1, 1890, p. 178
44. Requerimentos despachados. Da 3 de fevereiro de 1890 - Suresh Biswas.- No ha vaga."

Diario Official, Rio de Janeiro, February 6, 1890, p. 865
45. "Autorizou-se: [...] O comandante geral da brigada policial desta capital a mandar averbar no
respectivo livro mestre e contar para os devidos efeitos, os servios prestados no antigo corpo
militar pelo 10 sargento do 2o batalho de infantaria da mesma brigada Suresk Biswas." Diario
Official, January 17, 1892, p. 243
46. Transmitiram-se: Ao Ministrio do Interior, o requerimento em que Susesh Biswas, 1o
Sargento do 2o batalho de infantaria da brigada policial desta capital, pede ser naturalizado
cidado brasileiro". Diario Official, Rio de Janeiro, January 12, 1892, p. 162
47. Biswas, Suresh, Letter to his uncle, September 3rd, 1894, in Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh
Biswas: his life and adventures, Op. cit., p. 166-167
48. "Ministerio da Justica e Negocios Interiores, Directoria da Justica [...]
Por decretos da mesma data, foram concedidas as seguintes honras, aos oficiais da Brigada
Policial da Capital Federal, pelos servios prestados durante a revolta de 6 de Setembro: [...] De
alferes [...] Suresk Bissiwas." Dirio Official da Uniao, November 11, 1894, p. 2
49. Biswas, Suresh, Letter to his uncle, October 9, 1894, in Dutt, Hur Chunder, Lieut. Suresh
50. "Ministrio da Justia e Negcios Interiores - Directoria Geral da Justia - Por portarias de 9 do
corrente, concederamse: [...] Trs meses de licena, com os vencimentos a que tiver direito, nos
termos do art. 25 do regulamento anexo ao decreto n. 1263 A de 10 de Fevereiro de 1893, ao
alferes da brigada policial desta capital Suresh Bisiwas, para tratar de sua sade." Diario
Oficial, Rio de Janeiro, May 10, 1895, p. 2066
51. " Parochia de S. Jos. Alistamento eleitoral. Relao dos cidados alistados nesta parochia de 21
de Abril a 20 de Maio de 1894. Suresh Biswas (alferes) " Diario Oficial, Rio de Janeiro, June
29, 1894, p. 2029-2330
52. " Actos do Poder Executivo - Ministrio da Justia e Negcios Interiores. Por decreto de 25 do
corrente mes: Foram promovidos na brigada policial: ao posto de tenente, o alferes Suresh
Biswas, devendo contar a antiguidade naquele posto de 10 de Novembro do ano passado, nos
termos do art. 8o, 2, do decreto N. 1.263 A, de 10 de Fevereiro de 1893 ". Diario Official, Rio
de Janeiro, Fevereiro 28, 1899, p. 807

53. Photo provided by the Biswas family to a Rio de Janeiro newspaper, on 1951. Anonymous,
Romantica aventura, A Noite, April 4, 1951, p. 3
54. "Junta de alistamento de eleitores municipaes no Districto Federal. - Quarta Pretoria. Surish
Bissiwam". Diario Oficial, Supplemento, Rio de Janeiro, Abril 19, 1899, p. 7
55. " Brigada policial. Por decreto de 26 do mes findo, foram promovidos na fora policial do
Districto Federal: [...] A capites, os Tenentes, por merecimento: [] Suresk Bissiwas".
Anonymous, Brigada Policial, Jornal do Comercio, Rio de Janeiro, July 21, 1905, p. 2
56. "Falleceu [...] No Rio, [...] o Sr. Suresh Chandra Bisawas". Anonymous, Fallecimentos, O
Estado de Sao Paulo, September 24, 1905, p. 3
57. Capitao Suresh Biswas, Jornal do Commercio, Rio de Janeiro, September 23, 1905, p. 8
58. Relatorio apresentado ao Presidente da Republica dos Estados Unidos do Brasil / pelo Ministro
da Justica e Negocios Interiores, Augusto Tavares de Lyra, Volume I, Imprensa Nacional, Rio de
Janeiro, March, 1907, p. 57
59. Idem, ibdem, p. 56
60. Requerimento despachado, Diario Official, June 23, 1906, p. 3108
61. Idem, ibdem
62. Photo provided by the Biswas family to a reporter working for A Noite, a Rio de Janeiro
newspaper, on 1951. Anonymous, Romantica aventura, April 4, 1951, p. 3
63. Anonymous, The Late Colonel Suresh Biswas, Amrita Bazar Patrika, May 21, 1909, p. 5
64. Idem, ibidem.
65. Anonymous, The Navy as a Profession for Indians, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Calcutta, August 3,
1910, p. 8
66. Bose, Subhas Chandra, Netajis Life and Writings: an Indian Pilgrim or Autobiography of
Subhas Chandra Bose, Part One, Netaji Publication Society, Thaker, Spine & Co., Calcutta,
1948, p. 58
67. Anonymous, The Late Colonel Suresh Biswas, Amrita Bazar Patrika, May 21, 1909, p. 5
68. Anonymous, Nobre indiano, domador de fras e soldado da Policia Militar, A Noite, June 14,
1934, p. 1
69. Gupta, Abijit, No one remembers the Colonel - Brief Lives, The Telegraph, Calcutta, December
18, 2011, available at http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111218/jsp/calcutta/story_14894985.jsp
70. Idem, ibidem
Mara Helena Barrera-Agarwal the following degrees: JD, Central University (Ecuador), LLM,
Montpellier University (France), LLM, Grenoble Universiry, (France), LLM, Franklin Pierce Law
Center (USA). She is member of the National Academy of History (Ecuador), and the India
International Centre (India).
Ata Dpakara rjna The Erudite Monk-Scholar of

Bengal
Dr. Manikuntala Haldar De
We have many references to the scholars of Bengal who played an important role both in secular and
religious affairs, Ata Dpakara rjna was one of them. Ata (in Tibetan Jo-bo-rje) was the most
prominent figure in restoration of Buddhism in Tibet. According to Dr. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, the
form of Buddhist religion and monastic order in Tibet was largely shaped by a number of famous
Buddhist Teachers from Bengal.1 The Tibetan chronicles also have preserved a detailed account of a
large number of Indian Pandits from the Pala kingdom who visited the land of snow and not only
preached the Buddhist religion but also transmitted to that inaccessible religion, the various elements of
Indian culture and civilization.2
The famous Buddhist scholar of Vikrampura, Ata Dpakara rjna is said to have been born
in the royal house of the site of Vajrayogin 3 (modern Munshiganj). His father was King Kalynar and
his mother was Prabhvatdev. He was the second son of Kalynar who afterwards assumed the
Buddhist name of Dpakara rjna (in Tibetan Dpal mar-me-mdzad ye-es). As he received the
entire commandments of an ordained monk he was known as Ata. Actually, Ata is an appellation of
honour coming from Sanskrit word Atiaya i.e. the idea of transcendent or excellent. 4 Although,
there may be some controversy regarding the actual date of his birth and of his death, it is widely
accepted that Ata (982-1054 A.D.) was brilliant from his boyhood. At the age of ten he was skilled in
medicine, fine arts and literature.
Interesting enough, from that time Ata used to observe the fasting day (Uposatha) and used to
follow The Precepts of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha (Triratna). Thus he became a follower of
Buddhist Faith.5 It is said that at the age of eleven, disgusted with the princely life with all its pomp and
grandeur, he renounced the worldly life and went to the forest where he met Brahmin Jetr, 6 a
Buddhist monk and renowned Teacher. Therefore, Ata learned the basic principles of Mahayana
Buddhism from Jetr. At the instruction of Teacher Jetr Ata went to Nlnda Monastery and met
Boddhidharma-the Sstra-master and studied at Nlnda for several years. In the meantime Jetr sent
Ata to Boddhisattva Rigspahi Khu-byug (Vidykokila) who was dwelling to the north of Nlnda.
Vidykokila advised him to visit Avadhtip who used to reside to the south of the Black Mountain. By
Avadhtips revelation his heart was opened up to the truth 7 and then he went back to his native
country. After meeting his parents he again went to Avadhtip who transmitted to him the way of
initiating the mind for Bodhi, recommended him to the great yogcra master Bhulakuptavajra from
whom he received the Hevajra initiation. 8 The text of the Hevajra Tantra otherwise Hevajra
empowerment applied the Mdhyamika and yogcra, a non-dual yogini Tantra of the late Mantrayana
tradition of Buddhism. Thus by the year twenty-one, he had made through studies of both the Buddhist
and non-Buddhist abdavidy and hetuvidy. Therefore, he engaged himself in subduing the heretics
of Bengal region and recovered many monasteries which were usurped by the heretics. Ata also used
to bring many heretical disciples into his submission. Then at the age of twenty-nine he was ordained
as a full-fledged monk (bhikshu) by the Sstra-master Mahvinayadhara larakita at Mativihara.
There he spent two years in learning the Abhidharmapitaka and by the age of thirty, he had already
mastered all the scriptures of the four schools (viz. the Mahsnghika, the Sthavira, the Sammtya and
the Sarvstivda). Then he spent a long time in the Vikramsil monastery with crya Narop 9 as his
chief instructor and in addition he studied the Mahvibhstra under Dharmarakita of
Odantapurivihra for twelve years. Thus he became acquainted not only with the Buddhist doctrine but
also with the basic scriptures of that time viz. the Nyya, the Vaieika, the Skya and the yoga
schools.10
Thereafter, Ata visited the island of Suvaradvpa (Sumatra) where the great master
Dharmakrti lived. At that time Dharmakrtis scholarly fame spread to all regions far and near. In order
to pay homage Ata sailed for thirteen months and reached Suvaradvpa with one hundred and
twenty-five disciples. It is recorded that Ata was given a hearty welcome by Dharmakrti. 11 Ata
studied all the profound doctrines of Mahyna Buddhism for twelve years. He also studied
Abhisamaylakra,12 ikssamuccaya,13 Bodhisattvacaryvatra,14 etc. there. He cultivated there
bodhivitta i.e. distinctive doctrine under guidance of Dharmakrti. Thus having completed his studies
there at the age of forty-four, he returned to India in company of some merchants of Jambudvpa
(Tibetan Dzambuling; wyl dzam bu gling). During that time, there were four great Vihras in India viz.
Nalanda, Odantapuri, Vajrsana and Vikramail all were in Eastern India. Vikramail was then a
centre of Tantric Buddhism. Ata after returning to India from Suvaradvpa at first went to Vajrsana
(in Bodhgaya) but on request of the king stayed at Vikramail where he soon became one of the
leading personages (paita) of the vihra owing to his ability and scholarship. According to the
Tibetan sources, because of his great fame, his portrait was then painted on both sides of the walls of
the vihra. Again, it will not be irrelevant to say that the keys of the vihra were entrusted to Ata as
there belonged rules of the Indian vihras that the keys of the vihras were kept only by the most
erudite scholars. So, Ata had the charge of eighteen keys.15
However, after that Ata had to go to Tibet. Later on the Tibetan literature informs that during
the reign of Lha Lama ye-es-od, at the middle of the eleventh century, the king intended to reform
Buddhism in Tibet which was debased by Tantric and Bon mysticism. Actually, the native religion of
Tibet was Bon-po. It advocated demon worship and other sacrifices. During the reign of Srong-tsanGam-po (10th century A.D.) Buddhism was introduced in Tibet through two Indian monks. 16 Having
heard of Ata, the king, Lha Lama ye-es-od, sent two officers who in course of time went to
Vikramail monastery and approached Dpakara and requested him to go to Tibet first. It is said that
Ata refused three times to go leaving Vikramail monastery. However, after the kings death,
Dpakara accompanied by Vinayadhara, Gya-tson (who died later on) Pandit Bhmigarbha and with a
king of Western India entered Tibet through Nepal.17 It is needless to say that Ata got heartiest
welcome by the Tibetan king. There Ata preached Mahyna Buddhism and succeeded there in
eliminating debased Tantric and foreign elements from the Buddhist creed. He wrote several books on
Buddhism during his stay at Tibet. Among them, the Bodhipathapradpa 18 is the most prominent. The
authorship of two hundred books is ascribed to him. The Bstan-gyur (Tengyur) assigns about one
hundred and sixty-eight works to him and referred him as a very industrious and prolific writer. 19 Some
of his works also consist of translations. Here is a list of Atas more important writings and
translations:-
1. Four types of his own writings such as(a) The Tantra Group Mon par eto gs-parnam-par hbyed-pa etc.
(b) The Prajpramit Group es-rob-Kyi-pha-rol-tu phym-pahi don-bsdus sgron-ma etc.
(c) The MAdhyamika Group Skyas-su groba batan-pa etc.
(d) Commentary: Las-Kyi sgrib-pa rnam-parsbyon-bahi cho-ga bad-p
2. Translation writingsAta translated one work each of ryadeva, Guaprabha, Dharmakrti, ombip; three books of
Bhavya or Bhvaviveka, one of Kusubandhu, two books of Suvg-svarakrti etc.
The Tibetan Bstan-gyur (Tengyur or collection of treatises) contains a volume entitled Jo-bohi
choschu which exclusively collects other writings on which Ata founded his own system. 20 At the
age of fifty-nine Ata left India and spent the last thirteen years of his life in Tibet, dying at the age of
seventy-three.21
In conclusion, it may be said that Ata Dpakara rjna occupied a unique place in the
history of both Tibet and Bengal. It is to be admitted that in terms of character, scholarship, intellect
and philosophy Dpakara was the brightest star of the contemporary Bengal and India. Ata
Dpakara rjna should be remembered as a person who did a pioneering job by forging
understanding and relationship between Eastern India and Tibet.
End-Notes
1. History of Bengal (University of Dacca, Dacca, 1948) p. 672
2. Ibid, also Alaka Chattopadhyay, Atisa and Tibet, Calcutta, 1969.
3. Dr. Nihar Ranjan Roy, Bangalir Itihas Adiparva (Calcutta, 1951, 8th Report) p. 305
4. Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Ed. G. K. Malalasekera Vol II Fascicle 2 (Govt. of Ceylon, 1967)
p. 312
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. Tibetan: Gye pa dor je, originated in the 8th century
8. Encyclopaedia of Buddhism op. cit.
9. Of c. 1016-1100, one of the Vajrayna Teachers Naropa promotes non-traditional activities like
meditation to supplement traditional learning approaches Vide History of Bengal op. cit. p.
346
10. Encyclopaedia of Buddhism op. cit. p. 312
11. Ibid.
12. The large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom ed. by Conze, California, 1904
13. Written by Santideva, a Madhyamika Philosopher, meaning Cultivating the Fruits of Virtue
(by Barbara R. Clayton, New York, 2006)
14. Of Santideva, A Guide to Bodhisattva Way of Life Tibetan: Byang-chub sems-pi spyod-pa-la
jug-pa ed. Mark Blows, 2004
15. Encyclopaedia of Buddhism op. cit. p. 313
16. Ibid Vide Debiprasad Chattopadhyay ed. Taranaths History of Buddhism in India, Simla,
1969
17. Ibid.
18. A Sanskrit text, Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment (Tib. Byang-chulom gyi sgron-ma),
Trans. by Ramaprasad Mishra, 1950
19. Encyclopaedia of Buddhism op. cit. Ibid
20. History of Bengal op. cit. p. 145
21. Bangalir Itihas op. cit. p. 82
Dr Manikuntala Haldar De is Professor, Dept. of Pali, and Coordinator, Dept. of Buddhist Studies,
Calcutta University, Kolkata, India
Sister Nivedita in Bengal: The Irish-Bengali Encounter
Mousumi Bandyopadhyay
Sister Nivedita was probably the most versatile of the many distinguished personalities in Bengal and
also in India during the first decade of the 20th Century. An Irish by birth, Sister Nivedita came to
Calcutta in 1898 with the sole desire of becoming an active worker and partner in her master Swami
Vivekanandas social and religious activities especially Bengali Hindu womens educational
development. She was true to her commitments till the last day of her life and eventually became the
most dedicated western disciple of Swami Vivekananda. However, after Swamijis death in July 1902,
Nivedita started taking active interest in Indias political regeneration and gradually involved herself in
the political turmoil that commenced with the announcement of the Partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon
in the year 1905. The years 1905 to 1911 ushered in an era of grave political agitation throughout India
and particularly in Bengal which ultimately gave shape to two new techniques Boycott and Swadeshi
boycott of foreign goods and encouragement of indigenous products. The Swadeshi movement in
Bengal received an enthusiastic support from Sister Nivedita which in turn brought her into the
limelight of the politics in Bengal for a considerable period.
Nivedita met Swami Vivekananda in London in 1895 at the time when he was on the lookout
for a woman who could help in the amelioration of the lot of women without whose upliftment no real
regeneration of a country was possible. Nivedita responded whole-heartedly to this call of her master
and came to Calcutta on January 28, 1898. Nivedita was initiated on March 25th, 1898 by Swamiji and
after this she was by gradual steps moulded into a new personality. Vivekanandas love for his country
was unbounded. In his lecture entitled Future of India delivered in Madras on 14 th February 1897
after his triumphant return from the Parliament of Religions, he said For the next fifty years this alone
shall be our keynote, this our great Mother India. Let all other vain gods disappear for the time from
our minds. This is the only god that is awake, our own race.
This intense love for his motherland was transmitted to Nivedita, his most favourite disciple.
The conception of Mother India, the vision of her greatness was germinated in her mind under the
careful guidance and training of her guru, Swami Vivekananda. It is often assumed that just because
Nivedita was of Irish origin, she had an inborn hatred of the English, but this is not the truth. As she
was from Europe, initially she had a superiority complex and she was very much pro-English, being
ignorant of the great wrongs that had been perpetrated by the British to India. In this connection, the
description given in her biography by Prabrajika Atmaprana is noteworthy: After her initiation the
Swami (Vivekananda) had asked her to what nation she belonged then and to his surprize she had said
To the English nation and had spoken of her passion of loyalty and worship for the English flag,
giving to it much of the feeling that an Indian woman would give to her chosen deity. The Swami had
understood then that his disciples love for her country was only superficial. He had spoken no more
about it. But later at Almorah, a regular schooling of Nivedita was started. She was not at all aware of
the wrongs that the English as the dominant power had done to India. So initially when the Swami
openly and vigorously attacked the English in his morning talks, she stood for their defence but
ultimately this brought about a total change in her angle of vision and for the rest of her life she was
anti-British to the core.
Long before coming to Calcutta she was herself very much inspired by the great patriotic urge
for her motherland, Ireland, where her family and ancestors belonged. Sister Nivedita (Born as
Margaret Elizabeth Nobel) was born at Dunganon in the county Tyron in Ireland in 1867. The Nobels
were of Scottish origin and had settled in Ireland about five centuries ago. Born in Ireland, Trained
and educated as English girls are, Margaret was a product of the European civilization, which was
then at the very zenith of its powers in every sense of the term. Her mind had the advantage of being
cultivated in its intellectual climate. She inherited a fiercely independent spirit both from her fathers
and mothers side. Her grandfather, John Nobel, actively took up the cause of the Irish rebels against
the pro-English Church of Ireland. Even after the death of John Nobel in 1845, his wife kept the battle
on. This was the environment in which Margaret spent the first four years of her life. Sister Nivedita
was to write later,.the first teachers to show me what a nation was were my grandmother and my
grandfather. Her father Samuel Nobel migrated to England, took up a job in the Country Parish and
worked for the welfare of the people of that area. He died very young but Samuel Nobel was a much
respected name there. Margarets maternal grandfather Hamilton, also a patriotic Irishman, had fought
for Home Rule all his life and he was the Head of the Young Ireland faction. Not only that, he was also
the head of those who advocated the distribution of reclaimed land among the peasantry in Ireland. He
had risked death and imprisonment many times over for this reform. Margaret had a passionate
admiration for her grandfather Hamilton, who had imbibed in her the spirit of freedom and love for
Ireland. On her occasional visits to Ireland, Margaret accompanied him even while he distributed the
secret paper, The Nation. While still at school, he selected books by Shakespeare, Milton, the lives of
Irish patriots and memoirs and stories of great revolutionaries and studies in international relations and
thus helped her to form her own ideas.
Margarets Irish Nationalist aspirations were to take concrete form in London and she had the
opportunity to experiment with those ideas. A few weeks after her arrival in London, she joined the
Free Irish group and was working for the Home-Rule movement. Octavius Beatty, the young editor
of Wimbledon News, in England, was Margarets friend. Margaret used to speak publicly at evening
meetings and organizing centres of resistance in the south of England. She contributed articles on
subjects such as the Boer war, from the pro-Boer point of view in Octavius Beattys papers. She also
contributed to other papers like the Daily News, the scientific periodical Research and to the Review of
Reviews. In the opinion of Lizelle Reymond, Niveditas biographer, she was greatly influenced by
Charles Stewart Parnell and Prince Kropotkin, the two eminent revolutionaries of the period. After
1891, from Parnells constitutional method she is said to have been initiated and trained in the terrorist
and revolutionary doctrines of Kropotkin. Margaret came in direct contact with Kropotkin between
1891 and 1895 and again in 1908. In her later writings, Sister Nivedita often referred to Kropotkin and
acknowledged her indebtedness to him for some of her basic social ideas. She had met him at the Free
Ireland circle where he used to deliberate. While in exile, he had settled in England and remained
there until the Russian revolution of 1917. His method of work through addressing meetings, founding
periodicals, writing books and articles and spreading doctrines of his creed helped to further the
liberation cause in Europe and also in the world. Margaret had spontaneously employed some of his
methods in the propagation of her cause while being in Calcutta. Parnell, in 1877 was elected as the
Chairman of the Home-Rule Confederation of Great Britain and also in the next year as the Chairman
of the Irish party in the House of Commons where he remained for 12 years. His plan was to try and
unite all Irishmen and find a parliamentary solution to Irelands many problems. An Irish nationalist
and a leader of the struggle for Irish Home-Rule, he made self-government for Ireland a practical
political issue. Parnells moderate constitutional demands, that the Irish people should have legislative
and executive control of all purely Irish affairs, subject to the supreme authority of the Imperial
Parliament, remained the compromise formula of the moderate nationalist elements in Ireland. When
Margaret joined the Home-Rule movement, he was at the peak of his popularity and she was influenced
by the uncrowned king of Ireland.
Lizelle Reymond is of the opinion that the mental constitution of Margaret was a synthesis of
the Irish Sinn Fein and Russian Nihilist revolutionary thought. And not only did she learn the technique
of terrorism and armed revolution, when Swami Vivekananda came to London, she was actually incharge of the Irish armed revolutionary centres. What is important is that Margaret was not a mere
theorist for the cause of nationalism. The techniques of revolution and its organization were of great
interest to her. However, a description of Margarets mental make-up as a mere synthesis of the Irish
Sinn Fein and Russian revolutionary thought is not quite correct. In 1899 Arthur Griffith founded his
weekly paper, the name of which was Sinn Fein in 1906. Sinn Fein {Ourselves alone i.e. self-help)
advocated self-help on Hungarian Lines in the belief that it would lead to the ultimate freedom of
Ireland. His doctrine of passive resistance to British rule meant the recalling of her representatives for
work at home and revival of Irish industry by the boycott of British goods. Margaret later accepted selfhelp as an economic and political doctrine although the Sinn Fein movement of Griffith was not its
only source. It is to be remembered in this context that the 19 th Century was the warring ground pf
political ideologies. Margaret was a product of the 19 th century and her mentality was the
representative of her age. As it was a Century when the world was dynamic, there was variety of ideas
and thoughts which she studied meticulously. She experimented with each one of them in the field of
work. Bhupendranath Dutta, who came to know sister Nivedita in later life, writes Yet she cherished
Irish nationalism all through her life though she never dabbled in politics. Her main concern was
never politics but the right of man. In spite of that her activities inevitably acquired political colour
when confronted with the practical implementation of the idea.
With this backdrop of strong political ideologies, Sister Nivedita came to Calcutta and it was
because of this background she never remained a mere spectator to all the events which were
happening under the British hegemony. Calcutta became the centre for her activities where from she
started to involve herself in all sort of anti-imperialistic propaganda. After the untimely demise of
Vivekananda on 4th July 1902, Nivedita with respect to her gurus wish officially left the Ramakrishna
Order as she gave Swamiji her word that she would not involve Ramakrishna Mission in politics. The
19th Century was the most creative age of human history and India could not remain untouched by the
world forces. There was widespread national awakening in the 19 th century, known as the Bengal
Renaissance. Swami Vivekananda was not only a product of the Renaissance but also its moulder and
fashioner as well. On the other hand it formed the background against which Niveditas life was lived
in Bengal. Aurobindo Ghosh found some similarity between the Bengal Renaissance and the Celtic
movement in Ireland where a re-awakened national spirit was in search of a new impulse of selfexpression to give spiritual force to a great shaping and re-building. He writes, in Ireland this was
discovered by a return to the Celtic spirit and culture after a long period of eclipsing English influences
and in India something of the same kind of movement is appearing and has especially taken a
pronounced turn since the political outburst of 1905. This were the years that marked the beginning of
Indias struggle that finally led to Indias freedom. It was in these years that sister Nivedita lived in
India and became a part of its history. With the objective of a national movement of social and political
regeneration, Nivedita delved into the past and gave it the impetus to be the stepping stones for the
future. To inspire nationalism she instilled a sense of pride in the arts and crafts, social and religious
customs in the light of Vedanta, as taught by Swamiji. She wanted to make a paradigm shift in the mind
set of Colonial Indians, to give birth to Indian nationalism. It was her spark that ultimately led to
Indias freedom.
From July 1902 onwards, she travelled all over India, visited the big cities and gave lectures
before the students, youths, women and people of various other professions. Through these lectures,
she spread the messages of her mentor Swami Vivekananda who wanted the youth to be strong
mentally and physically, fearless and sincere in serving their motherland. The Dawn Society started
by Satish Chandra Mukherjee for popularising the idea of National Education, was frequently visited
by Sister Nivedita to give talk on various National problems. In a lecture delivered on 14th August
1904, at the society, Calcutta, she told the students In talking to you this evening on the subject of
Nationality I shall first of all tell you of some things that are not nationality. You shall always bear in
that there can be no nationality in a country where the people are always flying at each others throats
for difference of opinion and sentiment.let us learn how to present a United front let us try to learn
how to reserve and concentrate our energies for the great cause we intend to serve. In the same lecture
she said ..you must adore all who stand for real work and not mere talk. If any distinction is to be
made it is more important for you to make a distinction between the talker and the worker than between
worker and worker. For, the work is always the true test of the national spirit in a man. In another
inspiring public speech Nivedita declared I am here to teach you to become men! Live your epics
today. The Ramayana is not something that came once and for all, from a society that is dead and gone.
Make your own Ramayana not in written stories but in service for achievement of motherland.
These lectures and speeches of Nivedita had tremendous impact upon the youth of Bengal. A
whole new generation in Bengal came under Niveditas spell. From 1902 onwards she had prepared
the ground in which young India was ready fight for the freedom of motherland. Nivedita was
confident that Young India is getting ready to run the race in the field of freedom. It has not as yet
started the race. But the race had commenced by Lord Curzons proposed partition of Bengal in the
year 1905. The political unrest that followed the declaration of the partition of Bengal was an
unprecedented one. Sister Nivedita was extremely critical about Lord Curzons tyrannical policies in
every sphere of national life. Many of her letters of this period (1900-1905) written to her friend Ms.
Mcleod reveals her hatred for the British rule. She wrote on 7 th July 1903 The British Empire is rotten
to the core, corrupt in every direction, and tyrannical and mean. The English language may have a
mission, but the empire has only a doom. On Easter day 1904 she wrote to her friend you do not
know how terrible the government is becoming.every measure is oppressive and tyrannical and
aimed at undermining of the faculty for liberty.
It was therefore natural that sister Nivedita would support the Swadeshi movement wholeheartedly and she did it with all the resources she could muster. The partition of Bengal had been
effected on 19th July 1905, and it was a good co-incidence that the following session of the Indian
National Congress was scheduled to be held at Varanasi in December 1905. Sister Nivedita had never
appeared on the Congress platform as a speaker. However as Gokhale was elected President of the
Varanasi session and also Sister Nivedita was a good friend of his, she considered it worthwhile to
respond to his invitation. The partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi and boycott movements were the
top priorities of the session. As Nivedita was particularly keen to secure the support of the mighty
political organization for the cause of the Swadeshi movement she made a remarkable speech at the
Varanasi session. Since there was also a proposal to appoint Gokhale as delegate to England for
pressing the more important proposals of the Congress, Sister Nivedita expanded the scope of subject
to bring in India England and Europe and the need for co-operating and influencing each other with
India showing the benefit of the humanity at large. Biman Behari Majumdar appropriately comments
No India before the advent of Mahatma Gandhi had ever placed such a noble ideal before the Indian
National Congress. Nivedita was in the centre-stage of the Swadeshi movement in Bengal and in 1906
she wrote an article The Swadeshi Movement in the journal of Indian review which gives a clear idea
of her thought process in the Swadeshi days. To quote her It is necessary to say, and I feel that it
cannot be said strongly that in the Swadeshi movement the Indian people have found an opportunity to
make themselves respected by the whole world. For the world respects that which shows that it is to be
feared and the one thing that is feared by all is strong, intelligent and united action.The note of
manliness and self-help is sounded throughout the Swadeshi movement. There is here no begging for
help, no cringing for concessions. Boycott of foreign goods was a natural corollary to the Swadeshi
upsurge, Nivedita was delighted to find that cottage industries were springing up on all sides and
providing jobs to the unemployed youth. Nivedita went all out into this movement to foster Indias
economic self-dependence, as opined by Lizelle Reymond. Several flourishing private industries in
Bengal were founded on her initiative and of course with her financial assistance. She also spent
months in the work of preparation for the first National Swadeshi exhibition held at Calcutta during the
annual Congress session in 1906. Thus during the years when the Swadeshi movement was at its peak,
Nivedita stood fearlessly by the Bengal leaders taking upon herself their difficulties and dangers.
Sister Niveditas role in the militant nationalism is very difficult to analyse as because except
her French biographer, all other writers are very cautious about their approach. Hence to what extent
she supported this violent method of the young revolutionaries and in what manner she collaborated in
their plans of secret assassinations and political dacoities is a great mystery. Pravrajika Atmaprana,
another authentic biographer, did not attach much importance to the role of the Sister in the extremist
phase of our freedom movement. Rather she stressed upon the spiritual and intellectual influence of
Nivedita on the revolutionaries. However the fact which we cannot deny that the young terrorist
worked through the network of various Secret Societies one of them was the Anushilan Samity, which
received Niveditas patronage. She often visited it and addressed its young members. Nivedita also
came in contact with some of its active members and gave them her collection of books on Irish
revolution, the History of Mutiny, the American War of Independence, the History of the Dutch
Republic, the Lives Mazzini and Garibaldi. In 1905 attempts were made in organising Sannyasi
workers for bringing political regeneration of India. The names which are associated with this
endeavour were Gokhale, Shri Aurobindo and Sister Nivedita. The organisation of the Servants of
Indian society and the writing of the famous pamphlet Bhavani Mandir most probably owe something
to the inspiration of Sister Nivedita. The similarity in the style between Shri Aurbindos Bhavani
Mandir and Niveditas Kali the Mother is remarkably striking in resemblance also the revolutionary
fervour in Sister Niveditas book than that of Shri Aurobindo. Kali the Mother appeared to Shri
Aurobindo a book that inspired the revolutionaries tremendously. Sister Niveditas sympathy for the
young revolutionaries was well known. The memoirs and autobiographies of the freedom fighters offer
rich tribute to her memory by acknowledging her help to them in cash as well as in kind.
Niveditas selfless devotion to the cause of the Indian freedom struggle made her the bte noir
of the British rulers and she was constantly under their surveillance. In conclusion it would be pertinent
to echo what Lizelle Reymond summarised about her in The Dedicated, Something of Nivedita was
to find embodiment in Rabindranath Tagores novel Gora, whose principal character was modelled
upon her, and which contained many incidents from her life. Its protagonist was a man, a strong willed
but humble Hindu a leader of his group, a champion of liberty, completely orthodox who finally
discovered that he was the son of an Irish soldier. He was to speak like Nivedita and to have her
flashing eyes and dynamic personality. Tagores depiction of Nivedita albeit in a male form speaks
volumes of the quantum of influence she had on the Bengali mind. Her single-point agenda was the real
regeneration of the Nation.
References
1. Militant Nationalism in India, 1876 to 1947 Ed. Amitava Mukherjee, Calcutta, 1995
2. Militant Nationalism in India, and its socio-religious background Biman Behari Majumdar,
Calcutta, 1966
3. Sister Nivedita and the Ideas of Revolution in Bengal Girija Shankar Raychoudhury, Kolkata,
2011
4. The Dedicated: A Biography of Nivedita Lizelle Reymond, Kolkata, 2014
5. Sister Nivedita of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Pravrajika Atmaprana, Kolkata, 1999
6. The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita, Vol I-V, Kolkata
7. Nivedita Lokmata, Vol-II Sankari Prasad Basu, Kolkata, B.S. 1419
Dr Mousumi Bandyopadhyay is Associate Professor of History, Sivanath Sastri College, Kolkata,

India. After doing Postgraduation from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, she went on to do her MPhil and
PhD from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. She has published a monograph titled Kadambini Ganguly:
The Archetypal Woman of Nineteenth Century Bengal.
Bengali Identity in Seventeenth century Arakan: Language,

Identity and Emotion
Tanima Dey
Abstract: The present paper is a study of the identity of Bengali speaking people in seventeenth century Arakan or
modern day Rakhaing district of Myanmar based on a corpus of poetry, mainly translations of the earlier produced
poems, by two Bengali speaking Muslims at the regional courts of Muslim dignitaries under the Buddhist kings of the
Mrauk U kingdom of Arakan. The paper is going to focus upon the formation of the identity of Bengali in medieval
Arakan in relation to the language of Bengali or Bangla, as expressed through the literature. The paper makes an
attempt to observe how the language of Bangla provided the Bengali speaking community a separate and distinct
entity in a very cosmopolitan structure of Arakanese society. The corpus became a representative factor for the
community of Bengalis in Arakan where the act of translation became significant in articulating their identity in the
background of a very tumultuous political situation in Arakan. The literary activity created an emotional world for the
Bengali speaking people. This consciousness of a community existed beyond the religious realm and surpassed the
Muslim identity of the community concerned. This phenomenon was unique in the history of the community of
Bengali Muslims where emotional belonging to their mother tongue gave them a medium of expression which was an
important episode in the making of the regional Bengali culture in Arakan.
Introduction
The present paper is a study of the Bengali literary culture in Arakan during the seventeenth century
where the points of scrutiny are the works of Daulat Kazi and Alaol who composed in the court of
Arakan under the patronage of Muslim dignitaries of Arakanese Buddhist king Sri Sudhamma Raja
(1622-1638 A.D). These poets hailed from the eastern part of Bengal or modern day Chittagong district
of Bangladesh. The poems are basically translated from Persian and Awadhi romances which the
patrons were conversant with and commissioned translation in Bangla. But these are free translations
because the poets used their creative inputs to build on the original themes which eventually became
the products of their artistic minds. These two poets are considered to be the pioneers of the Bengali
literary tradition in Arakan, a place regarded as the birthplace of renaissance of Bengali literature in the
seventeenth century.1 Composition of the literature and royal patronage extended to the Bengali literary
pursuits is understood in the background of Arakan and Bengals long political rivalry which in the
Seventeenth century reached its climax. In a situation where Arakanese Mrauk U kingdom is constantly
facing threats from the Mughal authority, it has been suggested that the use of Bengali sentiment by
extending patronage to the Bengali poets and encouraging a Bengali literary culture to flourish was to
counter further Mughal expansion into the region.2 The reproduction of Padmabati in the court has
been related to the inherent essence of Mughal resistance in the epic romance. This act of reproducing
the poem arguably carried within itself an implication of Mughal opposition on the part of the
Arakanese kings and the governors of Chittagong appointed by the kings. 3 I have analysed both
Muhammad Jaisis and Alaols Padmabati and showed that Jaisis poem and Alaols rendition were not
implying any resistance against any yoke. They are both considered as pure sufi romances perhaps
attempting to assimilate with the supra-regional sufi networks. 4 Another recent study on the identity
of Bengali Muslim in Arakan by Thibaut dHubert examined the linguistic environment of Arakan
during the seventeenth century. His study reveals that in spite of the existence of other languages like
Arakanese, Pali, Sanskrit etc, no literary culture other than Bangla was created in Arakan during the
period. He explained that the influence of Bengali nobles and ministers on the political and economic
structures of Mrauk U kingdom was one of the reasons for Bengali culture to receive royal patronage
and special treatment at the court. But in both these arguments the agency of the poets and their patrons
were ignored and the process of formation of the community of Bengali speaking Muslims has been
solely attached to the political demands of the age. It is however difficult to ignore the political
situation of Arakan in relation to the making of the identity of Bengalis but it makes the creation of the
community a mere mechanical outcome or just a residue of the political processes. My attempt
therefore is to trace the emotional requirements of the community for the creation of their distinct
identity in a very cosmopolitan structure of Arakanese society in the face of Mughal advancement
where the kingdom was on the verge of losing its sovereignty. In tandem with the Arakanese Buddhist
kings policy to encourage Bengali cultural activity in Arakanese capital the Bengali speaking Muslim
elites created their own cultural niches.
The Bengali corpus produced by Muslim poets is generally comprehended as a literary activity
designed to serve the community of Muslims, in the context of medieval Bengal. The issue of
emotional detachment of the converted or subsequent generations of Indian Muslims in Bengal with
Islam was addressed by providing them with the essence of Muslimness through translations of tales
from Quran or other Persian sources. This supposition majorly overlooked the regional cultural
elements which the corpus explicitly reflects, like using Bengali set up in the scenes of marriage, using
Bengali names for the characters etc. If the poems are thoroughly analysed, it is difficult to say that the
poets had assumed any such role of a religious preacher. The tales which are basically adopted from
folklores of North India and Bihar, like Daulat kazis Lorchandrani, has more references to Ramayana
and Mahabharata, the Hindu epics and has only solitary references to Quranic characters. Moreover the
names used for the Arakanese Buddhist kings were essentially Sanskritised than Persianised, for
example Sri Sudharma (Thiri Thudhamma), Sri Chandra Sudharma (Sanda Thudhamma Raza) etc. The
essence of the poems can easily be related to the mystical concepts of love, borrowed both from Sufism
and vaisnavism. This was basically a reflection of the community to which these poets belonged to, i.e.
the socio-cultural and religious environment of eastern Bengal.
Section I
Arakans long historical interaction with Bengal through the area of Chittagong or Chattagram was
significant in determining the contours of Arakanese history. Influence of Chattgrami dialect of Bangla
on the language of Arakan, similarity in the cultural expressions of few tribes in the Northern part of
Arakan with Chattagram, similarity in marriage and other religious rituals of both the areas are
reflective of Arakans long association with Bengal. By the end of the sixteenth century Arakan
incorporated within itself the entire Arakan littoral and was trying to expand into the neighbouring
areas of Burma and into the south eastern Bengal. 5 Through Chittagong Arakan was maintaining
lucrative trading relations with the Portuguese, the Dutch and by collecting agricultural surplus from
Chittagong, Arakan state was equally strengthening its economic backbone. Migration from Chittagong
was shaping the demography of Arakan by feeding large population of Muslims, specially Bengali
speaking Muslims from the eastern part of Bengal, an important factor in the making of an enclave of
the community of Bengali Muslims in Arakan. Though Arakan presently is part of Burma, it has been
argued by Satyendranath Ghoshal that Bengals influence upon the life and character of Arakan in the
northern part is quite visible as this particular part had been under the influence of Bengal. 6 Before
Chattagram became the theatre of war between Arakan and the Mughals, Arakanese rule bought in
changes in the area. Arakan exercised sovereignty over Chattagram from 1580-1665 AD almost
uninterruptedly.7 The official language of Arakan during the Mrauk U period was argued to be Persian,
following the model of Muslim sultanate in Bengal. Though there are disputes regarding this claim, it is
evident that the Arakanese kings used to strike coins in the model of sultans in Bengal and used Persian
inscriptions on one side of the coins, along with adopting Persian titles with their Buddhist pali names.
Adoption of Persian titles is generally considered as an act of gratitude extended by the Arakanese
kings in return for Bengal sultan Jalal-ud-dins help in recovering the kingdom by the founder of Mrauk
U dynasty, Narameikhla in 1433 AD. That Arakan was a feudatory of Bengal is however an uncritical
echo of the argument by Arthur P. Phyre as other than Arakanese indigenous chronicles no Bengali or
Burman source had proved the veracity of Arakan kings exile into Bengal and Bengal sultans
extension of political asylum to the Arakanese king for twenty five years. 8 But According to Sanjay
Subrahmanyam this could also be a sign of claiming authority over eastern Bengal on the eve of the
decline of Sultanate in Gaur and before capturing of the area by the Mughals. 9 Another argument is that
adoption of Bengali culture of the Muslim Sultanate in Bengal was driven by the intention of the
Arakanese kings to connect them to the larger Islamicate world. 10 That Arakanese kings of the early
Mrauk U dynasty were following the model of Muslim kingship was further established by numismatic
evidence from the period. The kings used Persian scripts to inscribe their names and the European
travellers who came to visit the country also referred to their Persian titles. 11 Michael Charney has
analysed the kingship model of the Arakanese kings at different times. 12 He described the appropriation
of elements of Muslim culture as cultural Islamisation. 13 Charney has examined the use of Burman
model of kingship followed by the Arakanese kings during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
which suited best to the contemporary political situation in the Arakan littoral and their shift to Bengali
model of kingship during the seventeenth century till the disintegration of the Mrauk U dynasty in the
face of Mughal onslaught. Charney particularly stressed upon the fact that the kingship model adopted
by the Arakanese kings were more Bengali than Islamic in nature, following the Bengali Royal court. 14
The model adopted by Arakanese kings was Bengali precisely because the Muslim sultanate also
adopted Bengali culture as the majority population and functioning elites at the Muslim court were the
Bengali speaking Muslims.15
Section II
With the disintegration of the sultanate in Gaud, the Muslim elites of the sultanate made their way to
Arakan and they were welcomed in the courts of the Arakanese kings. These Muslim elites were
originally from Chattagram and Srihatta areas of the Bengal. 16 They eventually extended patronage to
the Bengali Muslim poets to compose literature in their regional courts. These court elites who were
employed as prime ministers, chief advisors of the kings and in other prestigious positions created a
niche for themselves in their courts to encourage a literature which they can celebrate and also connect
to. Commissioning poetry in their courts and asking the poets to use Bengali language instead of
Persian is significant in a situation when they lost their position in their previous courts and due to civil
war and court factionalisms in Mrauk U dynasty, they increasingly felt insecure. In this precarious
situation they used the language of Bengali to create a strong social base for themselves. The poets
were also employed by these court elites to disseminate their culture among the masses:
Rosanget Musolman Jothek Achonto I
talib elm buli ador koronto II
bohu Mohonter putro Moha Mohanor I
nat geet songit shikhainlu bohutoro II
bohuto Mohonto loke koilo gurubhab I
sokoler kripa honte dilo bohu labh III 17
(All the Muslims of Rosang revere knowledge. I taught many such Muslims and their children to sing
and dance. There were many who took me as their master and I profited a lot from their patronage.)
More than the identity of a Muslim their identity of being a Bengali was more important. 18 Here
the attachment to the language of Bengali plays the most crucial role. Bengals influence on Arakan has
been very widespread. There are ballads written in memory of the episode of Mughal prince Shah
Shujas flight to Arakan at a time when there was a war going on between Shuja and Aurangzeb in
regard to the capture of throne at Delhi. 19 Such stories are more sympathetic towards the cause of Shuja
in tandem with the picture preserved in the popular memory of Bengali regarding Arakans plunder and
pillage by the magh pirates. The popular expression moger muluk or the reign of disorder unleashed
by the maghs is also a testimony of the negative depiction of Arakan in the minds of the Bengali
population which only came up in the seventeenth century. It has been argued that sudden shift from
Awadhi folk tales to Persian romances has to be seen in the light of political changes in Mrauk U,
position of Mrauk in the Persianised commercial networks of Bay of Bengal and arrival of Shah Shuja
in the royal court. There was a need to emphasise on the identity of Bengali Muslim subjects of the
kingdom where the compositions like Tohfa and Dara Sikandernama by Alaol reflected a narrowly
Muslim inclination.20 It is interesting to observe that by the time Shuja made entry into the court of
Arakan the Arakanese kings have stopped using Persian titles. The last king to have a Persian title was
Sri Shudharma Raja after which we do not find Persian titles on the coins. It has also been mentioned
by Alaol that he was wrongly framed as being part of the treachery by Shuja to capture the throne of
Arakan, and was incarcerated. Many Muslims in the capital also faced the wrath of Arakanese king
Chandra Shudharma Raja.
tar pache saha shuja nripa kuleshwar I
Doibo poripak ailo rosongo sohor II
Rosango nripoti songe hoilo bisombad I
Aponar dosh hoste pailo oboshad II
Jotek musolman tan songe chilo I
Nripotir shasti pai sorboke moilo II 21
[The king of the world shah Shuja came to city of Rosang and danger befell upon the city. Due to a
conflict with the king (of Arakan or Rosang) he had to face atrocity in which not only him but his other
Muslim companions also had to bear the brunt.]
Section III
The reason for the flourishing of romantic genre of literature in medieval period was because the
romances allowed the poets to inoculate the essence of Bengaliness into the poems, which was both
spontaneous and inevitable. Therefore Daulat Kazis Sati Maina O Lorchandrani, Alaols Paddabati
and Saifulmulk Badiojjamal, Shah Muhammad Saghirs Yusuf Zulekha, Qureshi Magan Thakurs
Chandrabati, Daulat Uzir Bahram Khans Laily Majnu are called free adaptations of the Persian love
tales because they are only thematic translations where the poets only adopted the original themes of
the tales and made the tales the creation of their prolific minds. The two poets, Daulat Kazi and Alaol,
who wrote in the Arakan during the seventeenth century, went to Arakan from Chittagong during the
first half of the seventeenth century. Having spent a substantial period in Bengal, their educational and
social and religious orientations had been largely influenced by Bengals socio-cultural milieu. As has
already been mentioned in the previous chapter, Arakan in the seventeenth century was a land of
different cultural and religious entities, including Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Portuguese, Dutch,
Pathans, Iranis, Bengalis etc. The poets adaptation of romances from North Indian folklores, Persian
tales, their use of different languages like Bangla, Sanskrit, Perso-Arabic, Daulat Kazis use of Bangla
of pure tatsama origin, use of eastern Bengali dialect,22 writing in Bengali panchali style instead of
Arabic-Persian style of versification reflected both their backgrounds and the audience they are
catering to. And since they were primarily asked to compose their poems in a language which could be
comprehensible to other people, the romances and the language of Bangla gave them the space to
narrate the tales according to the requirements. We do not know for sure that the audience, for which
the poets were told to compose in the language, was only the Bengali speaking people living in Arakan
because there were also other Muslims who did not speak Bangla. But Daulat uses the term deshi
bhasha
23
while referring to the language by which he must have meant the language spoken in his
native area.
n bujhe gohri bh kono kono jane II

de bhe kaha tke pancarila chande I
sakala suniy yena bujhiy snande II
[Some people do not understand the language of gohari, (the language in which the poem was
originally composed.) So (Asraf Khan) tells me to compose in the language of the land in panchali
style, so that everybody understands it and enjoy.]
Same is echoed in Alaols Padmabati:
rosanget oneke na bujhe ei bhasha I
poyar rocile pure shobhoner asha II
jehano daulat kaji chandrani rocilo I

lascar ujir ashrafe angya dilo II
teno padmabati roco mor agya dhori I 24
[There are many in Rosang who do not understand this (Awadhi) language. So I would like to write this
poem in payr meter like Daulat wrote Chandrni (Sati Mayan O Lora Chandrni).Thus I write
Padmbati with the permission of Lashkar Ujir Ashraf (Khan)].
One of the prominent features of the poems in medieval period was how the poets introduce themselves
in a specific way, which is called bhanita and the bandana part where the invocation of the of the
gods takes place in the very beginning of the poems. Both these features were essentially borrowed
from the folk tradition of Bengal. From Caryapadas to dobhashi literature, these two features
predominated the literary scene. In the songs of the local bards they used to include their
autobiographical part in a very lucid manner. Daulat Kazi and Alaol adopted these two styles in their
poems. Another important part in the medieval romances was baramashi or description of the changes
in the nature with the change of every season of the year and with it the depiction of emotion of
forlornness of the female characters. This was an indispensible part of the poetic narration found in all
medieval romances which both Daulat and Alaol imbibed in their compositions. This too has its roots
in the folklorist tradition but not exclusive to Bengali medieval poetry but also Sanskrit and Awadhi
compositions of pre medieval times.25
If we trace back the tradition of the composition of medieval romances, we will see that the genre of
Romance has always provided the regional elites to articulate their identity in relation to the central
authority. The romances, in contrast to the religious books have always given the poets the ground to
weave the elements of syncretism rather than professing any single religion or cultural entity. The
different renditions of both Padmavati and Saiful Mulk composed throughout the medieval period are
testimonies to this practice. The different versions of story acquired distinct characteristics as a result of
being the products of the region. That Alaol only adopted his Padmabati on the model of Jaisi in
Arakan where the multicultural social structure fitted well into the composition proves the popular
reception Jaisis Sufi model. As against the conventional argument which tries to establish that the
corpus of Bengali Muslim literature has been composed to bridge the emotional gap felt by the
converted Muslims in Bengal in relation to their religion, the language of Bangla and the genre of
romances created a distinct literary world for the Bengali speaking Muslims. The genre of romance has
always provided the poets at different times in the medieval period, in different socio-cultural set up to
compose according to the demands of the audience, the socio-political need and depending upon the
orientation and inclinations of the poet himself and these compositions captured the essence of the
particular historic moment in each case. 26 By the time we reach Daulat Kazi and Alaol in seventeenth
century the language Bangla has already acquired a local status which has transcended all the
boundaries of religion, caste and creed. The epithet secular romance 27 given to the Bengali literature
of Arakanese court should be extended to the whole corpus of Bengali literature produced during the
medieval period in Bengal, in contrast to their recognition of serving the purpose of dissemination of
Islam to the converted class of Muslims in Bengal.
The emotional need of the Rajput community was to portray through the tale of Padmabati for
the honour and pride of the Rajputs. But for the Bengali Muslim community it was the emotion of
belonging, to their culture and language which they pronounced as deshibhasha. Daulat Kazis
Sultanpur and Alaols Jalalpur in Fatehbad feature in the south eastern part of Bengal which in ancient
period was called Samatat and Harikela region. Samatata area consisted of Noakhlai and Comilla
regions of present day Bangladesh.28 The Harikela region is believed to be the coastal area of
Chittagong district, to the north and south of Karnafuli river. By the ninth and tenth century the area
had already included the Noakhali and Comilla district.29 The geographical expression of Benga or
Bangla or Bangalah which we find in Ain-i-Akabari denoted the entire region of Chittagong to the
Teligarhi pass.30 European travelers in the later period usually referred to Bangla as a kingdom in
contrast to earlier sources where Bengal was referred to as a city. 31 Ralph Fitch who travelled in the late
sixteenth century informed that Chatigan, Satagam (i.e. Saptagram), Hugeli (Hoogly) and Tanda (near
Rajmahal) as the territory of the country of Bengala. So when poets like daulat kazi, Alaol a little later
Sayyid sulatan refer to their native place and Banga (Bangabani) or desibhasha or language of the
native country, they must have referred to the modern day West Bengal and Bangladesh region as a
whole. For them the geographical expression Bengal or Banga was definitely determined by the
language in which they speak and the socio-cultural and religious peculiarity of the area. Our modern
day understanding of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or Bengali, Persian will not be helpful to grasp the
nature of the society. Whatever social practices they performed or religious affiliation they had, either
inherently acquired or adopted due to particular inclinations, their identity was defined by the attributes
of the region, which in itself is a distinct socio-cultural and political structure. The Bengali culture
which the poets imbibed in their poetry and which defined them as Bengali were heterogeneous in
terms of culture and religion. Islam, which was the religion of the rulers in Bengal and Hinduism which
was the faith of majority of Hindus, was more in dialogue with each other than in opposition. The same
essence of syncretism was also reflected in the works of the poets. So what we get as the entity of
Bengali was a unique socio-cultural structure defined by various religious inclinations, encompassing
the local characteristics of the region which could not be defined by any single religious or cultural
category. This was exactly what the poets in Arakan also adhered to while composing their poems
which eventually gave the community of Bengali in Arakan a separate identity which, as we have
discussed in the previous chapter was a social and emotional need of the community.
Conclusion
Whether it was the romantic spirit of the age 32 or the Vernacular Millennium,33 the genre of
Romance was defining the interplay of the socio-cultural and political ethos. The different versions of
the same narrative played different roles depending upon various social, political and cultural
requirements and especially with the change of authorship, patronage and audience and the each case
represents a unique ideology and identity of the dominant group involved in the production and the
reception of the text.34 We do not know anything about Shah Shuja after this episode. Arakanese
chronicles and other indigenous sources did not reveal what exactly transpired between Shuja and the
Arakanese king. There is also no unanimity regarding the ultimate fate of Shuja in Arakan. But these
chronicles mention that Shujas sons and other relatives were either imprisoned or killed when they
tried to take revenge of their fathers death.35 In a document found recently in Hyderabad it is has found
that Shah Shuja was actually killed in Arakan, a news collected by Mir Jumla, the Mughal governor
under Aurangzeb from the traders at Masulipatnam.36 What is noteworthy here is that in spite of giving
patronage to the Bengali poets for such a long time, none of the poets received any formal title of
honour from the kings. We know of Maladhar Basu, composing in the court of Hussain Shah in Bengal
who was bestowed with the title Gunaraj Khan by the emperor. We do not find any reference in
contemporary or later chronicles the mention of the Bengali literature being composed in the court.
Though Alaol was reinstated in the court his lamentation over the imprisonment and the
mention of persecution of Muslims in Arakan prove that the foremost intention of the Arakanese kings
was to maintain the sovereignty and safety of his kingdom. We do not get any reference to any king in
Alaols later compositions. The patrons who took him in and commissioned his later compositions were
however not directly related to the court. The point I am trying to bring about here is that preservation
of the Bengali identity was important to the Arakanese kings only till the point where the sovereignty
of the kingdom was not compromised. In such a situation the Bengali speaking Muslimss social
security was at stake. The Arakanese Buddhist regime could not provide them the required space in the
kingdom in spite of being important players in the prosperity of the kingdom. 37 Their emotional
requirements from the kingdom could only be fulfilled by the act of creating a literary environment
through which they can both express their emotional aspirations and form a distinct identity for
themselves. While talking about pre modern societies, the scholars must keep in mind the meaning and
contexts of the modern day categories and be cautious before employing them to these pre-modern
societies. How we can see the rise of collective consciousness in relation to a particular language, may
not seem natural as the categories could be less pronounced and their comprehension could be
conditioned by less nuanced ideation. There were other courts existing during the same time where
Bengali literature was enjoying royal patronage, like in Kamta-Kamrup or Koch dynasty in the north,
Tripura in the East etc. But Bengali literary production in Arakan has attained a special status because
of its literary finesse and also because the corpus has given the community of Bengali Muslims a
distinct identity. The categories of Bengali or Muslim as we understand now should not be imposed
upon the pre modern social structure. For the convenience of discussion, the categories are used in this
context, and also because we cannot define a specific language or community without an accepted
nomenclature. For the literature to be recognized as playing a crucial role for the society in which it is
composed, one needs to situate it in the context of their understanding. For them the identity was not of
either a religion or language. It was rather the consciousness as a community or group who expressed
themselves through a common language which experienced the same historical past, whose precarious
situation in the society was also shared and whose identity is very much conditioned and influenced by
same socio-cultural milieu. The role of the language has to be understood as a binding factor for the
community, living as a diaspora in a different geographical setting and not as a means to profess Islam
which was neither a necessity nor a concern on their part. A linguistic community could be a good
label, but it has the implicit risk of downplaying their consciousness of being a Muslim. These Muslims
are different in their social and cultural expressions, giving the religion altogether a different
connotation.
References
1. Swapna Bhattacharya, Myth and History of Bengali Identity in Arakan, in The Maritime Frontier
of Burma: Exploring Political, Commercial and Cultural interaction in the Indian Ocean World, 12001800, ed. Jos Gommans and Jacques P. Leider ( Netherlands: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademei van
Wetenschapen, Amsterdam KITLV Press, 2002), 200.
2. Bhattacharya, Myth, 200.
3. Bhattacharya, Myth, 210-211.
4. Thiabaut dHubert, Pirates, Poets and Merchants: Bengali Language and Literature in Seventeenth
century Mrauk U in Culture and Circulation: Literature in Motion in Early Modern India, ed. Thomas
de Bruijn and Allison Busch (Brill Academic Publication, 2014, p), 48.
5. Michael W. Charney, Rise of a Mainland Trading State: Rakhaing under the Early Mrauk U Kings,
C. 130-1603, Journal of Burma Studies, Vol. 3, (1998):1.
6. Satyendarnath Ghoshal, Beginning of Secular Romance, Vol. IX. Visva-Bharati Annals
(Birbhum,West Bengal: 1959);6.
7. Stephen Van Galen, Arakan at the Turn of the First Millennium of the Arakanese Era, in The
Maritime Frontier,151-162.
8. Jacques Lieder, Arakan during the Mrauk U Period: The Political Success of Buddhist Border
States, Historical Conference On Seventeenth Century Southeast Asia in the Context of Autonomous
History14 May 1999Royal Garden Resort, Hua Hun, Thailand by The Institute of Asian Students,
Chulalongkorn University. Sponsored by The Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program.
(SEASREP), 7.
9. Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Improvising Empire: Portuguese Trade and Settlement in the Bay of Bengal,
1500-1700 (New York and Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1990); 121. Cited in Richard Foster, Magh
Marauders, Portuguese Pirates, White Elephants and Persian Poets: Arakan and Its Bay-of-Bengal
Connectivities in the Early Modern Era, Explorations: A graduate student Journal of South East Asian
Studies, Vol.11, Issue 1, (Spring 2011):62-80.

10. Richard Eaton, locating Arakan in Time, Space and Historical Scholarship, in The Maritime
Frontier, 228.
11. Michael Charney, Buddhist or Muslim rulers? Models of Kingship in Arakan (Western Burma) in
the
Fourteenth
and
Fifteenth
Centuries,
SOAS
Research
Online.
8-11.
eprints.soas.ac.uk/10220/1/article_Arakanese_kings.doc
12. Ibid.
13. Michael Charney has followed the model of Phillip B. Wagoner, Sultan among Hindu Kings:
Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara, Journal of Asian Studies 55
(1996):851-880. Charney, Buddhist, 8-11.
14. National Library, Ministry of Culture, Rangoon, MS 136913, Shin Kawi-thara, Rakhine Arei-tawpoun [Palm-leaf manuscript number 136913] Ams, 1839 [copy of 1787 original], p. 21a, National
Library, Ministry of Culture, Yangon, union of Myanmar. Cited in Charney, Buddhist, 13.
15. Ibid.
16. Gopal Halder, Bangla Sahityer Ruprekha, Prachin or Madhyo Jug (Dhaka: Mukhatdhara, 1978) ;
158-159.
17. Amritalal Bala, Paddabati Samiksha (Dhaka: Sahitya Bilash, 2008);260.
18. A point emphasized by Sashibhushan Dasgupta in Banglar Baisnav Bhabapanna Musolman Kobi
(Vaisnava Influenced Muslim Poets of Bengal) Calcutta University: 1962, p. 158. Cited in Bala,
Padmabati Samiksha, 28., also Cited by Bhattacharya, Myth and History.
19. Bhattacharya, Myth and History,199-212.
20. dHubert, Pirates,63.,
21. Saiful-mulk badiujjamal, compiled by Abdul Karim Sahitya Visarad, published in Mashik
Mohammodi, 234. Cited in Bala, Paddabati Samiksha, 251.
22. Ghoshal, Beginning ,17
23. Ibid.
24. Bala, Padmabati, 115.
25. Mamtajur Rahman Tarafdar, Bangla Romantic Kabyer Awadhi-Hindi Patabhumi (Dhaka:Dhaka
University, Bengali and Sanskrit Department,1971) first edition, 274. Cited in Bala, Padmabati, 71.
26. In 1625 translation of the text in Dakhani Urdu by poet Ghawwasi in Golkunda court is one such
example where the cultural policy adopted by Deccan sultans in Golcunda was in contrast to the
Persian based courtly culture of the Mughals. Another example of the creation of a local literary
culture by vernacularisation of popular texts is Mawlawi Lutf Alis Saiful Mulk in Siraeki language, a
form of Punjabi with influence from Sindhi. This work was formally dedicated to Bahawal Khan II of
Bahawalpur who took up this cultural policy to provide support to the dynasty.
27. Ghoshal, Beginning.
28. Bratindranath Mukherjee and Jahar Acharjee, An Important Silver Coin with Legend Samatata, in
History-culture and Coinage of Samatata and Harikela, Vol. 1, ed. And comp. Jahar Acharjee
(Joynagar, agartala, Tripura: Rajkusum Prakashani, 2006) :119.
29. S.K. Bose, Samatata Region, Harikela Coins and Trading Activities, in History-Culture,212.
30. Amitabha Bhattacharya, Historical Geography of Ancient and Early Medieval Bengal, Calcutta:
Sanskrit Putak Bhandar, 1977); pp. 1-2.
31. Amitabha Bhattacharya, Historical, 3-4.
32. Vishambhar Sharan Pathak, Ancient Histories of India: A Study in Historical Biographies (New
York: Asia Publishing house,1966);145. Cited in Ramya Sreenivasan, The Many Lives of a Rajput
Queen. Heroic Pasts in India. C. 1500-1900. (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2007);10.
33. Sheldon Pollock, India in the Vernacular Millennium: Literary culture and Polity, 1000-1500,
Daedalus, Vol. 127, no. 3, Early Modernities, (Summer 1998):41-73.
34. Romila Thapar, Somnatha: The Many voices of a History (New Delhi: Penguin books, 2004);1-3.
35. G.E. Harvey, History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to March 1824, The Beginning of the
English Conquest, (London: Frank Cass and Co. Ltd, London, 1925, 1967); 146-147.
36. Abdul Karim, Abdul Haq Choudhury Racanabali, (A Collection of Abdul Haq Choudhurys
Writings)Vol. 2 (Dhaka: Bangla Academy, 2013) ;130.
37. This theoretical approach is borrowed from William M. Reddys Navigation of Feeling: A
framework For the History of Emotions (Cambridge University Press, 2001). Reddy approaches to
study emotions as the norms and official rituals of a society, transcending the boundaries of self.
Emotional expression of the people has to be understood, according to him in connection to the norms
and emotional expectations of the government, which he called the emotional regimes. If the norms
and emotional expectations are stifling the natural emotions of the people or impedes any emotional
experiments, it creates emotional refugees. He studied the strict emotional regime of Louis XIV during
the French revolution and interpreted the revolution to be the outcome of emotional clashes between
the people and the government. It was a challenging and fresh approach regarding the study of
emotions whose contribution in the field was the need to correlate the social with the political. The
emotional aspirations of a people in a society cannot function beyond the polity and the essential
interplay of these emotional aspirations between the two structures actually defines the broad structure
of the society at a given point in History.
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Mukherjee, Bratindranath and Jahar Acharjee. An Important Silver Coin with Legend Samatata. In
History-Culture and Coinage of Samatata and Harikela, Vol. 1. Edited and compiled by Jahar
Acharjee. Joynagar, agartala, Tripura:Rajkusum Prakashani,2006.
Pollock, Sheldon. India in the Vernacular Millennium: Literary culture and Polity, 1000-1500,
Daedalus, Vol. 127, no. 3, Early Modernities, Summer 1998.
Reddy, William M, The Navigation of Feelings: A Framework for the History of Emotions. New
York:Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Sreenivasan, Ramya. The Many Lives of a Rajput Queen. Heroic Pasts in India. C. 1500-1900. New
Delhi: Permanent Black, 2007.
Thapar, Romila. Somnatha: The Many Voices of a History. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2004.
Tanima Dey is currently enrolled as a Ph.D candidate at Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU). She has
M.Phil (2013-2015) and MA (2011-2013) degrees from JNU, in medieval history and graduated (20082011) from Presidency College in history. In her Ph.D she is working on the socio-cultural and
linguistic history of Barak or Surma Valley in seventeenth century which in modern day is consisted of
parts of Bangladesh, Tripura and southern Assam.
Rash Behari Bose: The Father of the Indian Independence

Movement in East Asia
Tapoban Bhattacharyya
Rash Behari Bose, the well-known Bengali revolutionary who masterminded the attempted
assassination of Viceroy Hardinge in December 1912. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War,
Rash Behari Bose and a few others revolutionaries planned a general uprising in India. But the plot was
unearthed by the British police. Thirteen of the revolutionary leaders were arrested. 1 To avoid arrest,
Rash Behari Bose planned to leave the country assuming the name of P.N. Tagore, a distant relative of
Rabindra Nath Tagore. He realized that he would not able to do anything from the soil of his
motherland. Rash Behari decided to leave the country and planned to sail-out for Japan where from he
would work out his new planning . Before leaving the country he called on some of his followers not to
detach themselves from the revolutionary activities.
Ultimately Rash Behari left for Japan and reached there alone and also penniless. The
reminiscence of that secret and risky journey from Calcutta to Japan via Penang, Singapore and
Hongkong was written by him in Bengali under the title of Atma-Katha , which was first published in
a Chandannagar based Bengali Journal Prabartak, edited and published by Motilal Roy. Rash Behari
arrived at Kobey in Japan in June 1915. He went to Tokyo first and from there he went to Sanghai to
communicate with the German Consulate and managed to send two shiploads of arms and ammunition
bound for India. But these ships were confiscated in the midsea by the British Naval Force. As a result
the idea to smuggle big cargo of arms into India to help the Indian revolutionaries failed. But the idea
of smuggling small stocks of arms, through overland routes --- via Siam and Burma --- was not ruled
out altogether. A major preoccupation of Rash Behari in Japan to keep constant contact with the
German Consulate at Shanghai which favoured the smuggling of small stocks of arms to India with the
help of some German agents. Rash Behari came into contact with seasoned revolutionary Bhagwan
Singh and went to Sanghai to find devise ways and means to smuggle arms in India. In Shanghai he put
up at German agent A. Neilsons house at Yangtsepoo Road and in liaison with Neilson engaged two
Chinese to carry arms to Bengal and hand them over to Amarendra Nath Chatterjee. The Intelligence
Branch Records of the Government of West Bengal show that on October 16, 1915 the Shanghai
Municipal police happened to arrest two Chinese suspects and found 129 pistols and 12,000 rounds of
ammunition in their possession, which the suspects declared had been made over to them by a local
German firm to be packed and sent to Calcutta. It is further revealed by the same source that the said
persons were to deliver the smuggled grounds to two persons in Calcutta viz., Amarendra Nath
Chatterjee of the Sramajibi Samabaya and Manmohon Bhattacharya of the Hindusthan Co-operative
Bank. Besides, Rash Behari arranged for the dispatch of a messenger to India to communicate closely
guarded secrects to his friends and colleagues. Abani Nath Mukherjee who had then been living in
Japan was selected by Bhagwan Singh for the mission and was sent to Rash Behari at Shanghai. Abani
Nath was fully instructed by Rash Behari as to his assigned role in India, and was also supplied with a
list of names which were noted down in his diary. Unfortunately, in course of his Indiaward journey he
was arrested at Singapore in September, 1915. However, Rash Behari returned to Tokyo and met
revolutionary S.K. Majumder on the 3 rd day of his arrival there with two stout Pathan guards
accompanying him. At that time another Indian revolutionary Herambalal Gupta had arrived Japan
from America to organize the revolutionaries at Japan. Herambalal had met Lala Lajpat Rai in the
United States of America. But there was a bond of comradeship between Rash Behari and Lala Lajpat
Rai , for the freedom of their common motherland.2
They met together and with the help of Dr. Syumei Ohkawa (a bitter critic of the British
Administration in India) they organized a public meeting at Kyoto town in the evening of 27 th
November , 1915. A banquet was held at Uyeno Seiyaken Hotel on behalf of the Indian community in
Japan to celebrate the enthronement of Emperor Taisho, a function to be presided over by Lala Lajpat
Rai. On that occasion the Japanese national flag was unfurled and their national anthem was sung.
Many top-ranking politicians of Japan, editors, writers and publishers took part in that function. Lala
Lajpat Rai spoke in English. They severely attacked the British Imperialism in India. The news were
published in all leading newspapers of Japan with broad headlines.3
After that event, the British Embassy at Tokyo was upset. British diplomacy, however had been
working slowly and steadily behind the scenes. The British Embassy at Tokyo became anxious to know
the real identity of this P.N. Tagore. Soon they were made to realize that the person was none else than
Rash Behari Bose. At once the British Embassy influenced the Japanese Government to issue an
extradition order on Rash Behari Bose, Lala Lajpat Rai and Herambalal Gupta. Lala Lajpat Rai left
Japan but Rash Behai Bose and Herambalal Gupta stay there in hiding. When the British Government
came to know of their absconding it started to pressurize the Japanese Government to hand over them.
But the then General of the Black Dragon Society 4 and veteran old samurai leader Mitsura Toyama
who was very powerful and influential person gave him shelter for ever. Although the extradiction
warrant was withdrawn after about four monthes (April, 1916), yet Rash Behari remained hemmed in
with dangers from the British Embassy in Japan, necessitating his change of residence as many as
seventeen times during his underground life in Japan. Rash Behari remained underground in Japan for
almost 8 years(1916-1923) under the care of Mitsura Toyama. For that he was very grateful throughout
his life which he expressed several times in his various writings. During this period, at every turn he
stood in danger of either being kidnapped or killed by the British agency. So, he had to maintain very
secrecy about his residence and activites. But he was not completely isolated from the currents of world
politics and Indian Freedom Struggle. Mr. D. Petrie who deputed in 1916 as intelligence officer of the
Government of Colonial India in the Far-East , reported that, towards the latter part of July, 1917, Rash
Behari Bose disappeared completely from Tokyo, where his place of refuge had become known to the
British authorities. Almost at the close of December 1917, Mr. Davidson , His Majestys Vice-Consul at
Yokohama, was able, after an exhaustive and most skillfully conducted inquiry, to rediscover him at
Okitsu, a village in the vicinity of Katsura, a town on the east coast of Japan. But after this discovery he
again left for Tokyo, where he was believed to be concealed in the compound of the house of the Lord
High Chamberlain to the Emperor. Although it is possible that it was merely some retainer of this high
official who gave there shelter to Rash Behari Bose without his masters knowledge. Rash Behari
adopted the pseudoname of Hayashi Ichiro at that time.5
About Rash Behari Boses underground activities in Japan the Petrie Report stated that he had
severally communicated with Narendra Bhattacharji, Ram Chand, Tarak Nath Das ; all the leading
Indian revolutionaries in America through letters. Specially Tarak Nath Das and Rash Behari Bose
planned a scheme for the sinking of some British ships by means of explosives to be placed on board.
But the scheme did not proceed far beyond the discussion stage. A holograph writing from Rash Behari
Bose was seized by the police in course of searches of Tarak Nath Dass room at 44, Portola Street,
New-York, in connection with the famous San-Francisco Trial of 1917-18. That holograph offered
another proof of intimacy between these two Indian revolutionaries. Another Indian revolutionary and a
leader of the Indo-German conspiracy, Dr. Chandra Kanta Chakrabarty also received letters from Rash
Behari Bose during his stay in America in that period.
During this period he mastered the Japanese language and thoroughly accustomed himself with
the ways of life in Japan. He had come to believe that unless the Japanese people-cum-Government
was able to realize the problems of India and other British colonies of Asia , the desired help from
Japan in time would not be available. This was his experience from the Japanese attitude during the
First Wold War. But it needs to be noted that the period of factual concealment for Rash Behari Bose
did not terminate until the year 1923 when he came to acquire Japanese citizenship. There was a law in
Japan that any one staying there continually for seven years could claim Japanese citizenship. But there
was no official record to the effect of the Black Dragon leader, Rev. Mitsura Toyama, who had a great
influence with the Japanese Military certified to the that effect and that was taken as the official
records. He also arranged Rash Behari Boses marriage with the daughter of Mr. Aizo Some of
Nakamuraya, a wealthy and respectable citizen of Tokyo, in order to facilitate the attainment of
citizenship.
So the grim episode ended there and Rash Behari got the citizenship in Japan. Then the question
of Rash Beharis deportation never arose. The privation and hardship , Rash Behari and his beloved
wife Toshiko Bose had to suffer during the period until he acquired Japanese citizenship in 1923 could
better be felt than expressed. From that time Rash Behari Bose appeared on the public scene in the
politics of Japan and began to work and organize with his new base at Tokyo for liberation of his
mother country from British imperialism.6 In Japan Rash Behari soon qualified himself as a
distinguished Japanese citizen. By associating himself with many universities and academics, by
delivering speeches in Japanese, by introducing features of Indian life and culture, he strengthened and
fostered the ancient bond that had existed between India and Japan. Rash Behari Bose wrote many
books in English and Japanese on various problems and issues of his motherland. He felt that
propaganda was absolute necessary. He thus published his first book in Japanese styled as Panoramic
views of Asian Revolution (1929) followed by Wits and Humours of India (1930), India Oppressed
(1933), Stories of the Indian People (1935), India in Revolution (1936), Victories in Bondage
(1942), Dawn of Independent India (1942), Struggle for Independence (1942), Ramayana (1942),
India of Indians (1943), Last Song (Rabindranath Tagores Shesher Kabita, 1943) and Bose
Appeals (1944) --- all these in Japanese to convince the Japanese people and draw their sympathy for
the oppressed people of India. 7 Because, at his heart , Rash Behari was a true son of Mother India
whose political liberation was his supreme objective. At Tokyo he erected a tablet in the pine bush of
his house wherein were inscribed the names of those of his colleagues in India who had laid down their
lives for the liberation of motherland. Rash Behari used to sit and meditate near this tablet in his
leisurely hours.8
Rash Behari Bose was a great devotee of Shri Aurobindo Ghosh and belived in the philosophy
of the Bhagavad Geeta, but he was no less respectful to often leaders of India. His natural process of
thinking got further incentive from the Japanese spirit that enjoins on the people the practice of
chivalry, sacrifice and discipline. He was perhaps the first interpreter of Indias past and the resurgent
present, with the result that Japanese became gradually India-minded. Rash Behari and his wife
cheerfully endured all these. But unfortunately within a short time, soon after poet Rabindranath Tagore
visited his house in Tokyo during his second-time visit in Japan , Rash Behari Boses wife passed away
leaving behind one infant son and one daughter . Shortly after the lose of his beloved wife Rash
Beharis house was demolished by an earthquake. But needs to be mentioned that during this hardtimes
of Rash Behari Bose, Poet Rabibdranath Tagore immediately sent an amount of 600 odd rupees from
Shantiniketan.9
Hospitable in distress, a shelter to the destitute, a friend to the needy, Rash Behari established a
hotel for the Asians in general and Indians in particular at Nakamuyara, where the Indian students and
visitors could get Indian meals and all other helps in their need. He was the benefactor of the Indians in
Japan. Rash Behari was the founder of Indian Independence League in Tokyo. He formed the the
league in 1924. He was its founder president, two other members being D.S. Deshpandey and Debnath
Das. The principle aim and objective of the league was to call for an armed revolution in India. The
Indian National Congress Committee of Japan had Ananda Mohan Sahay as its president and Debnath
Das as secretary. The objective of this organization was to disseminate the news of India in Japan with
emphasis on Indians struggle for freedom. There was perfect harmony between the two organizations.
Rash Behari also established Pan-Association in 1926. His political activities now began to flare up. He
started the New Asia and the Asian Review. He was the editor of the New Asia and was one of the
editors of the Asian Review.
In 1936, however, the Bombay session of the Indian National Congress passed a resolution
banning the existence of such committees as were functioning abroad in the name of Congress. The
National Congress Committee of Japan thereafter was named the Indian National Committee of Japan.
From 1923 Rash Behari worked Japan very hard for Indias independence during a full decade. He
devoted himself to writing, attending group meeting and giving lectures to Japanese people from
various platforms. He got immense popularity in Japan and addressed the people and gave emphasis on
attainment of Indias freedom because he thought that subjugated India was the base of British power in
Asia. For over long seventeen years be ceaselessly toiled through Indian Independence League
explaining the political condition of India before East Asians and emphasizing the supreme importance
of Indian independence as a factor of Greater Asian freedom and unity. His slogan of Asia for Asians
roused the East Asians from slumber and inspired them to rise to a man for expelling Western
Imperialism from Asia. Under Rash Behari Bose's influence, they began to look upon the political
emancipation of India as a stepping stone to Greater Asian liberation from bondage, and that they
became sympathaisers with the Indian cause in large numbers. Rash Behari also promoted IndoJapanese co-operation , good-will and understanding on the political level, just as Rabindra Nath
Tagore did it on the cultural sphere after the First World War.
A man of pleasing yet strong personality, he was acclaimed as a great leader. Even among the
army personnel Rash Behari was very popular. He was addressed as Sensei meaning Teacher. Rash
Behari also founded the Voice of Asia, a monthly magazine in Japanese and English. The British
Embassy could not able to stop his activities. He was getting support from the Indian community also.
He spent last 30 years of his life in Japan. In that period he used to observe its nature and movements of
Gandhijis non-violence agitation from a distance and then put down his own thinking on that in
various magazines and books.
Rash Behari was a regular subscriber of the Young India edited by Mahatma Gandhi. In the 3 rd
August 1922 issue of Young India an article was republished named The Mentality of Free Nation
which was once published in a mouthpiece of labour party of Australia. That article critised the article
of Mahatma Gandhi and wrote It is no wonder that the attitude of Australian workers is one of the
disgust towards an Indian who accepts the subjection of his country to foreign rules, when it is sought
to be keep up not by consent but by force of military power. After going through that Rash Behari felt
the need of writing a letter to Mahatma Gandhi on 21 st September, 1922. That letter was a testimony of
his political knowledge and farsightness. In that letter he raised an important question which was as
follows Now, I would respectfully ask you to let the Indian people know through the columns of your
paper if there is a single instance in the whole world of a foreign rule kept up by the consent of the
governed. No people on earth can consent to be government by another people. . . There can be either
freedom or the opposite of it slavery. There is no midways. After seven years of Rash Beharis letter ,
the Indian National Congress adopted the proposal of full independence in Lahore Session in 1929.
On September 1934, when a war broke between the German and the British, the Indian leaders
told their British ruler that they would not help them unless they give the assurance of full
independence. And in support of that the Congress ministers in various provinces resigned from their
respective posts, on the other hand, Gandhijis Sathyagraha Movement deadlocked the political
stability. But nothing could move Mr. Churchil. On the other hand the Japanese troop reached up to the
border of India. That frightened the British Government . In that crisis period they wanted to keep
Indians under control and for that as a tactics Sir Stafford Crips sends a proposal of mutual
understanding to India through Crips. They thought that it would partially satiate Indians thirst on
freedom. Rash Behari Bose had smelled a rat on that and kept on giving suggestion through various
lectures to give up the Crips proposal. We have the pleasure to say that Rash Behari was against
Cripss proposal and according to him it was nothing but a new politics of imperialist Government. In
the long run he was proved correct.10
The spectacular military rise of Japan in the 30s decade of the twentieth century and her entry
into the Axis combination (1937) was a momentous development in world politics. The British
imperialism all over the globe stood as a most menacing crisis to the Axis combination. In these
international complications Rash Behari saw the future salvation of his motherland. In his political
psychology the enemies of Britain were the friends of India, no matter what be their ideology or
internal administration. Never a doctrinaire or a fashionable philanthropist , Rash Behari was a hardheaded realist and could grasp the fundamentals of politics more clearly and precisely than many of his
Indian compatriots. The promotion of the interests of his motherland was his driving passion. So he
reacted differently when Japan started war against China since July 7, 1937. Moved by humanitarian
impulses many Indian leaders then began to condemn vehemently Japan for her military action against
China, but Rash Behari approached the whole thing like a real-politiker and was very much distressed
by the unpolitical anti-Japanese propaganda by Indians through the press and the platform., for he
considered such propaganda highly inimical to the national interests of India. So he sent the following
cable to Rabindra Nath Tagore : Indian merchants, students and residents here request you to prevent
Congress and Pandit Nehrus anti-Japanese friendship . But Tagore did not welcome the idea of Rash
Behari. So Rash Behari himself alone began to work to counteract the evils of this anti-Japanese
propaganda by Indians by organizing meetings in Japan and advocating Indo-Japanese collaboration
under at auspices of Indian Independence League. He organized a convention of Asian youths at
Sankaido in Tokyo ( October 28, 1937 ). It raised slogans: Asia for Asians, Go Home White etc.11
In November, 1938 Rash Behari Bose issued a manifesto in which he called for a revision of
Indias foreign policy. He asked the Indian leaders to realistic in their approach to foreign affairs vis-vis India. For the last few years, especially after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese conflict, the
manifesto said, it has almost become a fashion for some of the Congress leaders to attack and
condemn and abuse the Fascist countries indiscriminately. They do not know what harm they do to the
cause of Indian freedom by their unwise action. The other day Pandit Nehru during the course of his
tour in Europe did irretrievable damage to the course of India by his wild utterances against the
totalitarian states. This was a most unwise action and it only served to create more enemies for India.
With regard to the objective of Indias foreign policy , the manifesto started : Indias foreign policy
ought to make as many friends in the world as possible and to avoid creating enemies . Particularly
they should follow the principle, Englands enemies are our friends. They fail to take cognizance of
the fact that creating enemies of the first class Powers in the world, they simply help the British and the
prolongation of the British rule in India.
Japans declaration of war against the Anglo-Saxon powers and her bombing of Pearl Harbour
on December 7, 1941 opened a new chapter in the history of Asian struggle for emancipation from
Western colonialism. It set in motion forces which Rash Behari now strenuously sought to utilize to
strengthen the cause of Indian Independence. To quote his own words : Happenings on the
international chess-board during the past more than ten years have been suggesting that such a worldwide conflict was inevitable. It was also apparent that the question of Indian freedom could be
successfully solved only when Japan rose in arms against British Imperialism. With reference to
Japans declaration of war in the Far East he continues :
Realising this very important fact and our duty towards our Motherland at this most important
juncture, we in Tokyo promptly met on the 8 th of December 1941 at the Rainbow Grill and decided
upon a programme of action. My compatriots formed a committee and asked me to lead the movement
and I gladly agreed to abide by their decision. We at first undertook to consolidate Indian opinion in
East Asia in favour of a definite fight from without. Meetings were held in different centres of Japan
and resolutions were passed emphasizing the solidarity of our compatriots, the great need of declaring
Independence of India by destroying British Imperialism , and expressing confidence in our work. On
the 26th December 1941, for the first time in the history of Indians in Japan , a conference of nearly
fifty representatives of the Indian residents in Kobe, Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo ---- all the four cities
where Indians reside --- was held at Railway Hotel in Tokyo to consider the problems. A resolution was
passed upon the Indians to realize the gravity of the situation and the danger ahead of India . . .. Our
representatives were sent to Shanghai and on 26 th of January this year a huge gathering of Indian
residents of Sanghai was held in Young Mens Association Hall when similar resolutions as passed in
Tokyo were very enthusiastically passed and our movement was given unanimous support. In the
meantime we established contact with the military and civil high commands in Japan and began to
impress upon them the necessity of helping India in her struggle for freedom for the very achievement
of the great object for which Japan has declared war against Britain and America. We made it clear to
them that so long as British Imperialism in India . . ., Japan can not expect a final victory in this war. At
last we succeeded in prevailing upon them , and General Tojo, the prime Minister of Japan, openly
declared before the Imperial Diet that his Government was prepared to help the Indians in our efforts to
free our country from the long bondage.
Among the principal collaborators of Rash Behari during this period were Swami Satyananda
Puri (or Prafulla Sen) of the Anusilan Samiti and Sardar Pritam Singh, a follower of Amar Singh, both
being engaged in political work for Indian Independence with Bangkok (Siam) as their headquarters.12
Encouraged by the offer of active help from the Japanese Government to the Indian nationalists,
Rash Behari organized two successive conferences at Tokyo and Bangkok (March and June, 1942) with
the representatives of Indians resided in South-East Asia and formulated a programme of action . It was
at the historic Bangkok Conference that the Indian Independence League was reorganized with its base
at Bangkok (later transferred to Singapore) to conduct the Indian Independence movement from outside
India. A council of the Indian Independence Leagues was formed with Rash Behari Bose as the
president and Ananda Mohan Sahay and Debnath Das as its members. A small booklet was published in
the name of Rash Behari Bose to be distributed amongst the Japanese soldiers marching in all parts of
South East Asia. The book guided them how to behave with Indian people especially how to respect
Indian mothers and sisters. He formed a service corps consisting of Indian young men. The motive was
to look after the interest of the Indian community. Later, the corps gave wonderful service and created
confidence in the leadership of Rash Behari Bose and the Indian Independence League. Almost half an
year before the Bangkok Conference, on Decembar, 1941, at Lotabaru with the help of the Japanese
Government the Indian National Army (I.N.A.) was formed. At first the I.N.A. was the brain-child of
Sardar Pritam Singh and Japanese Major Fujiwara. On 12 th December with a party of a few Indians
Captain Mohon Singh joined the hands with Sardar Pritam Singh. As Sardar Pritam Singh was a
civilian and Major Fujiwara was a Japanese army personal , the administration and command of the
I.N.A. was given over to Captain Mohon Singh. After the Bangkok Conference Rash Behari Bose
became the heart and soul of the Indian Independence League (I.I.L) and the I.N.A. also. As an integral
part of the I.I.L. and under the complete control of the Council of Action , the Indian National Army
(I.N.A.) was reorganized and according to the terms of the Bangkok Conferences constitution the
I.N.A. was given the powers and status of a free National Army of an Independent India, on a footing
of equality with the armies of Japan and other friendly powers .
Rash Behari Bose viewed the Indian Independence movement not as an isolated event detached
from the whirlpool of contemporary World Politics but as its integral part of it. After the extention of
the World War 2 in the Far East , Rash Behari saw in his vision a new ray of hope about Indias
freedom movement. He was never a believer in the efficacy of non-violence as a weapon in Freedoms
battle nor did he ever believe that Indias Freedom would come through her own efforts. He was
shrewd enough to perceive that the future of India depended on her will and power to utilize the new
emerging world forces in her favour. Japan then in alliance with Germany and Italy was the deadliest
enemy of the Anglo-American empires in the East and was determined to annihilate them by all means
in the interests of Asia for Asians. In the terrible organizational strength of Japan Rash Behari Bose
found the most potent antidote to British imperialism and hence entered into an entente with the
Japanese Government which had given recognition to the Council of Action of which Rash Behari was
the president. But after a short time, a crisis threatened the very existence of the Council mainly
because of the personal aggrandizement of Mohon Singh, G.O.C., of the Indian National Army
(I.N.A.). As G.O.C. of the I.N.A. , Mohon Singhs policy became more and more despotic and highhanded and he gradually began to abrogate to himself the rights and powers which constitutionally
belonged to the Council. By a secret understanding with the Japanese military officers General Mohon
Singh arranged for the transfer of some I.N.A. troops to Burma for military training and even sent an
advance party to Rangoon for the purpose. As soon as these ambitious designs of Mohon Singh came to
light (November, 1942) Rash Behari decieded that the council of Action should immediately take
control of the policy regarding the Army and all questions of major importance should be decieded by
the council and not by the G.O.C. He even wrote to Col. Iwakura to that effect to avoid
misunderstanding over this matter. The crisis deepened further at this stage with sudden resignation by
all the members of the five-men Council except its President on the plea that a clear assurance of cooperation in Indian interests had not yet been obtained by Rash Behari from the Japanese Government.
Thus on December 9, 1942 all powers of the Council of Action devolved on Rash Behari pending fresh
election by the committee of Representatives of the I.I.L. . Four days later (December 13, 1942) Mohon
Singh intimated the President in course of a letter that the I.N.A. were pledged to him and to him alone
by name and that the Army under the existing circumstances could not serve their motherland through
the I.I.L. in East Asia and had accordingly thought it fit to sever their connection with it. He even
waited for approval of his action by the Japanese military officers who, however, stuck to the Bangkok
resolution by recognizing the Council of Action, and not Mohon Singh, as the Supreme Body of which
Rash Behari was then the only surviving member. Under these circumstances Mohon Singh was
dismissed by the Council from his offce as G.O.C. of the I.N.A. . This firm decision taken by Rash
Behari was a momentous step in the history of Indias liberation movement in East Asia. He not only
saved it from imminent peril but took steps rapidly to remove the misunderstanding between him and
many of his colleagues that was then growing. 13 After that as a skilled consummate statesman, he sent
one thousand civilians to a military training centre at Kuala Lumpur for the training in the modern arts
of warfare. But these severe strain which he had to bear all these weeks and months began to tell badly
upon his health, and he eagerly looked forward to the day when Subhas Chandra Bose would appear in
the East Asia to assume the reins of affairs. It was through his instrumentality that an official invitation
was sent to Subhas Chandra in Germany requesting his participation at the Bangkok Conference, and a
resolution was also passed there urging upon the Japanese Government to make a secret arrangement
about a safe passage of Subhas Chandra Bose from Germany to Japan. Finally, Subhas Chandra Bose
arrived at Tokyo (June, 1943) from Germany to join hands with Rash Behari Bose.
The advent of Subhas Chandra Bose in Japan was a veritable god-send. A man of commanding
personality, full of indomitable will and energy with courageous adherence to conviction and
consummate political ability, he was regarded by Rash Behari Bose as the fittest person to lead the
movement of Indian Independence League in East-Asia. On 4 th July , 1943 in Singapore fifty thousand
Indians heard Rash Behari announced on that day. In your presence , today , I resigned my office and
appoint Deshsevak Subhas Chandra Bose , as president of Indian Independence League and Subhash
Chandra declared, I accept the responsibilities. When Rash Behari handed over the charge of the
Indian Independence League, it was the confluence of two master minds, are collecting the materials,
and putting them into furnace, while the other processing them into steel. 14 Although Rash Behari
retired from active political life due to his falling health but still he helped Subhas Chandra Bose as the
Supreme Advisor of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind . The Government of Azad Hind was
established on 21st October, 1943. The great leader Rash Behari Bose breathed his last on 21 st January
of 1945 with pleasure of Bandemataram overhead, and Tulsi bead in his hand. A few days before his
death His Majesty of Emperor of the Japanese Government honoured him with the award of the Second
Order of the Merit of the Rising Sun. In his will it was revealed that he desired his deadbody was not to
be burnt. His body was to be send to the University for research but his most loving mother-in-law did
not agree. After the death of Rash Behari Bose, when the news reached to Subhas Chandra Bose in
Tokyo, he as a chief of Azad Hind Government paid tribute to its Chief Advisor. Subhas Chandra Bose
was represented by his ministers and chief-of-staff at funeral ceremony. Never in the history of Japan a
very common man ( also an Indian) was accorded such a state honour as was accorded to Rash Behari
Bose.15 There is no doubt that flame Rash Behari Boses thought illuminated the minds of thousands of
his pupils, his daring spirit inspired hundreds of youths to action , his determination, self exertion and
self-abnegation earned for him a position of deep respect among not only his countrymen but also
fellow East Asians where his labour lays. So, very truthfully Rash Behari Bose has been described by
Subhas Chandra Bose as the Father of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia since the
outbreak of the Greater East Asia War.16
Notes and References

1. Sailendra Nath Sen, An Advanced History of Modern India (New-Delhi, Macmillan Publishers
India Ltd., 2010), P. 246.

2. Asitabha Das (ed), RASHBEHARI BOSE: Collected Works (Kolkata, Kishaloy Prakashan,
2006), pp. 10-11.
3. Ibid, p. 11.
4. The Black Dragon Society (Kokuryukai) or Amur River Society, was a prominent paramilitary, ultra-nationalist, Pan-Asian, right-wing group in Japan. It was founded in 1901 by
Ryohei Uchida.
5. Uma Mukherjee, Two Great Indian Revolutionaries: Rash Behari Bose and Jyotindra Nath
Mukherjee, Foreword by Prof. Hirendra Nath Mukerjee (Kolkata, Deys Publishing, 2004), P.
153.
6. The pursuit of Rash Behari Bose by the British agents did not end even after 1923. Atleast two
more attempts were made by them to kidnap him (1926-1932/33)which were frustrated through
the efforts of Mr. Toyama and his friends.
7. Asitabha Das (ed), op.cit. , pp. 12-13.
8. Uma Mukherjee, op.cit. , p. 155.
9. Asitabha Das (ed), op.cit. , pp. 13-14.
10.Ibid., pp. 14-16.
11.Uma Mukherjee, op.cit. , pp. 156-157.
12.Ibid., pp. 158-159.
13.Ibid., pp. 160-162.
14. Asitabha Das (ed), op.cit. , p. 17.
15. Ibid., pp. 17-18.
16.Uma Mukherjee, op.cit. , p. 170.
Tapoban Bhattacharyya is Asst Professor of History, Vidyasagar Evening College and an MPhil
researcher in the Dept of History, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.
East West dialectics, Indian Renaissance, and Swami

Vivekananda
Partha Sarathi Nandi
We generally associate the phrase Indian Renaissance with the nineteenth century India. The entire
19th Century is considered as a period of religious and social reawakening and reformation in India
with magnanimous figures like Rammohun Roy, Derozio, Devendranath Tagore, Dayanand
Swaraswati, Keshab Chandra Sen, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and others in the forefront. But this
totalizing view of the 19th Century history, when opposed by a fragmentary view and analysed in the
light of the shifting relationships between the indigenous population and the Britishers, instigates a
preliminary question, was there really a Renaissance in India? Sri Aurobindo in his 1920 book, The
Renaissance in India, emphasises on the term Renaissance and says that the word carries the mind
back to the turning-point of European culture to which it was first applied; that was not so much a
reawakening as an overturn and reversal, a seizure of Christianised, Teutonised, feudalised Europe by
the old Graeco-Latin spirit and form with all the complex and momentous results which came from it
and then he concludes that, this is certainly not a type of renaissance that is at all possible in India.
He however, draws an analogy between the reawakened national spirit of Ireland and India and their
attempts to find a new impulse of self-expression which shall give the spiritual force for a great
reshaping and rebuilding, and observes that, in Ireland this was discovered by a return to the Celtic
spirit and culture after a long period of eclipsing English influences, and in India something of the same
kind of movement is appearing and has especially taken a pronounced turn since the political outburst
of 1905 (Ghosh 2-3). But here, Sri Aurobindo is talking about the post-1905 political activity, which
was based upon the more indigenous reinterpretations of Hinduism of Bankim Chandra and neoVedantic philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. For it was these philosophies which combined the social
activism, universalist ethics, free thinking, and social reform ideas borrowed from the West with the
solidarity attributes of Hinduism. But the post-1905 movements were basically the aftershock of the
innumerable cultural movements and conflicts that emerged during the second half of the nineteenth
century, whose seeds germinated in the later years of the eighteenth century.
I
During the Mughal era, the study of the Veda and the Upanishads had become almost extinct. Less and
less attention was given to Sanskrit, so that by the middle of the eighteenth century even Sanskrit
pundits and learned Vaidyas (i e. native physicians) would find it more convenient to have their
handbooks in Bengali translation rather than in the Sanskrit originals (Sen 162). 1 Likewise, regarding
Hinduism, everything was thought to be approved by the revealed scripture without questioning and
thus, in the name of religion many obnoxious practices and objectionable rites were current in the
country. As summed up by Bhupendranath Dutta, the general term Hinduism was used to denote a
jumble of various Brahmanic rites of a later origin, Mahayanist ceremonies and beliefs, Buddhist
Tantric rites, Buddhist Sahajyanist customs etc. Scythian custom of burning the widows, totemistic
notions of purity and taboo in the matter of touch and smell, non-Aryan customs, Buddhist-Tantrika
rites and practices, belief in witch-craft and sorcery all were known as Hinduism (Dutta 37).
At the end of the eighteenth century, with the proliferation of trade between the East Indian
Companies of various European countries and the Indian mercantile class, there emerged a class of
Indian intermediaries known as Black Banians or Mutsuddies, who helped with the commercial
transactions. These Indian Banians, Sarkars, Munshis or Khajanchis, who helped and guided the
British officers in their work, were the pioneers of the future bourgeois class in Bengal. These
Banians were centred in Calcutta (the headquarters of the companys administration), which was
gradually turning into a prominent centre of trade and commerce. This group, observes Nemai Sadhan
Bose, originally were separated from craftsmen or intellectual classes. The part they played in the
earlier years of the companys rule was largely detrimental to the interest of the people and the country.
But gradually the character of this class changed by coming into contact with the English and Western
views. The need for English Knowledge was keenly felt. Thus, was created an educated middle class,
the intelligentsia. In later years, the descendants of this class of people played an important part in the
Indian Renaissance (5).
Even during the early 19th Century, Calcutta was a relatively new city. It had no traditional
urban inhabitants whose behaviour might serve as a standard for Bengalis migrating to the city for
economic reasons. So, in this new environment, both the British and the noveau- riche Bengalis had the
opportunity to adapt, or ignore their own traditional culture and customs if they proved to be
detrimental to their commercial interests. So, 19 th century Calcutta can be perceived as an arena where
interaction between the Colonial officers, professionals (educators, scholars, doctors and lawyers),
businessmen, and missionaries from England; and the native urban elites (Hindu upper-caste Bengalis)
occurred. But, based on their attitudes toward Hinduism and social reforms, the 19 th Century Bengalis
too, cannot be considered a homogeneous group either. So, while the orthodox or conservative section
of the Bengali elites supported the so called Puranic and Tantric Hinduism and strongly opposed the
British social reforms such as the abolition of Sati, the progressive segment of the Bengali elites
considered the orthodox Hinduism to be one of the many causes of hindrance in the way of Indias
progress and some even emphasised that Vedic Hinduism was more compatible with the modern
society. So, the progressive Bengali elites, who imbibed the notions of rationality, values, customs
and cultures of the British, but proclaimed themselves Hindus, stood for modernity. And they advocated
for the social reforms and supported the Companys intervention in implementing these reforms.
So, the interaction between the East and the West, evidently, led to various kinds of reaction
among the native populace. The conservative ones resisted the intruding alien language and culture (to
some extent) and clung to their orthodox ideas and values. On the other hand, the modernists,
influenced by the West, displayed a mimicry of the centre proceeding from a desire not only to be
accepted but to be adopted and absorbed. It caused those from the periphery to immerse themselves in
the imported culture, denying their origins in an attempt to become more English than the English
(Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin 4). This is clearly evident from the activities of the Young Bengal
Movement. The Hindu intelligentsia of nineteenth-century Bengal, observes Sumit Sarkar, turned
their backs entirely on such traces ofsecularism, rationalism, and non-conformity in pre-British
Muslim-ruled India and their historians have by and large faithfully echoed the assumption of a
completely new beginning with the coming of English education. An uncritical use of the renaissance
concept is seldom a helpful analytical tool (Sarkar 5).
For a deeper analysis of the Indian Renaissance, we must probe further into the history of the
19th century Bengal. In the light of the apparent cultural conflicts between the British and the
indigenous population (and the conflicts within the elite Bengalis as well), the nineteenth century can
be dissected into three phases : from 1800 to 1830, then 1830 to1870 and finally from 1870 to 1905.
The first phase began out of a long period of economic interaction between the British and the Bengali
elite which continued well into the nineteenth century with rise of Western education in the early 19 th
Century. Basically, English education, as Geraldine Forbes says, was introduced into India because
the East India Company needed clerks and translators (86). Although there were initially some
resistance from the orthodox Hindus, but, the establishment of the Hindu college in 1817 exemplifies
the attitudes of many of the Bengali elite toward Western education at large (on purely pragmatic
ground). Thus the Hindu college became Calcutta elites expression of a practical need to provide the
sons of that group with an advantageous European education. Many scholars consider this first phase
as the age of the Orientalist. In order to train British civil servants for the posts in India, the British
Orientalist scholars had to systematize Indian language and translate Hindu texts into English. As a
result of their work, the Orientalists and the Bengali pundits who worked with them discovered the
Indian golden age in Vedic times, a heritage to be proud of. The concept of an Indian golden age of
Vedic times subscribed to by the British Orientalist scholars and their pundits suggests that both these
groups thought that contemporary Hindu society was in a degraded state. In addition, as John N.
Gray suggests, this same concept indicated to the Orientalists and the Bengali pundits that India
possessed an indigenous model for revitalizing its culture without the wholesale adaptation of Western
culture. The Orientalists also introduced the idea of renaissance to the Hindus which, combined with
the idea of an Indian golden age, could have encouraged the intelligentsia to seek cultural revitalization
through the renaissance of their golden age (106).
So, equipped with historical consciousness and a pride in their golden age, it appears that the
Bengalis felt that their culture needed a regeneration from its present decadent state and that their
civilization contained the ingredients of the progress they envisioned. However, when Bentick became
the governor general in 1828, the growing tide of anti-Hindu criticism that had been expressed by some
Englishmen for more than a decade attained the status of official policy. While, the major legacy of the
Orientalists was a sympathetic attitude for Hindu Vedic religion and civilization, many Englishmen
held a rather low opinion about Indians, their religions and cultures. They felt that Christianity and
Western education were needed to civilize the subcontinent. So, during the second phase 1830-1870,
Indian culture and Hinduism was attacked by Anglicists such as Macaulay and Scottish missionary
Alexander Duff and the Anglicist scorn for all that was Indian prevailed. Macaulay felt that
contemporary English culture and knowledge were the zenith of civilization and that Westernization
was the only true form of modernisation. A segment of Bengalis too, hurled similar criticisms at
Hinduism. These segment consisted mostly of students associated with the Young Bengal Movement,
who, inspired by the writings of Voltaire, Locke, Hume and Paine and by European History, imitated
West not only in education but also adopted their attitudes and lifestyles and in some cases adopted
Christianity. On the other hand, although most members of the Brahmo Samaj were Western educated
Bengali elite and admitted that the Puranic/Tantric Hinduism, which the British criticized, was inferior.
But the blind imitation of Western culture by Young Bengal was viewed as a threat to Hindu solidarity.
And they provided the Bengali elite of Calcutta with a form of Hinduism that denied the so-called
superstition, idolatry, and moral and social corruption of medieval Hinduism. But, while doing so, they
too got alienated from the Hindu society in the process. However, during the propagation of English
superiority through language and culture, the Anglicists failed to foresee the dangerous side of
education, that is, its tendency to promote nationalism and political unrest (for which the government
made attempts to control and even curtail education) later on (Forbes 86).
The organizations, theology, and events of the third phase, i.e., 1870-1905, were a reaction by
the Bengali elite to the change in attitude of the British (due to various factors like change in economic
relation, racial and legal discrimination, failure of the 1882 Ilbert Bill). Thus, the closure of the
economic path, together with British discrimination against the Bengali elite, forced the Bengalis to
attempt to organize politically to maintain, if not improve, their positions and numbers in the
professions and in civil service jobs (Gray 120-121). Naturally, the elites attempted to increase their
solidarity with Hinduism and native traditions through various cultural movements (like the Hindu
Mela), literature (the literary works of Bankim Chandra), and religion (especially neo-Vaisnava and
neo-Vedanta). The elite Bengalis sought to demonstrate that the values they borrowed from the West
were actually indigenous to Hindu civilization. However, these movements too, were primarily
confined within the Eurocentric framework (as the elites had already internalised the Western values
through ideological state apparatuses). Thus, dependence on the foreign rulers and alienation from
masses were to remain for long the two cardinal limitations of our entire renaissance intelligentsia.
II
There has been much intellectual slugfest over the validity of the term Renaissance and its
applicability in Indian context. As the term Renaissance (rebirth), bears a certain Occidental essence
within its epistemology, therefore, the story of renaissance is a topic of debate among the Orientalists,
tradition intellectuals, nationalist historians, Marxist historians and others. Although the Orientalists
primarily introduced the idea of Renaissance to the Hindus, the story was invented in the age of
nationalism. The noble Occidental mission of transforming the barbaric populace of the country
from superstition to light through the educational progress, was somehow modified by our nationalist
historians. They re-created the memories of the golden age (the rediscovery of the ancient past, the
glorious civilization of India) and combined them with the figure of the ideal Renaissance man, who
stood for modernity, progress, fought against the orthodox beliefs and customs of the medieval
society, and championed the cause of rationality, science and enlightenment and stood up against the
exploitative rule of the colonial power. Often, the English educated nationalist historians, drew
analogies from the European Renaissance, Reformation (and sometimes even from the Enlightenment
era), in order to create the heroic figures of Indian Renaissance, like Rammohun Roy and Madhusudan
Dutt. For example, Susobhan Sarkar, in his classic, Notes on the Bengal Renaissance views
Madhusudan Dutt as a typical Italian humanist indulging in wild free living. Also, although the
nationalist historiographers talk about Indian Renaissance as a totalizing experience, it was basically
confined to the revival of Hinduism and the other religions in India either self-consciously detached
themselves from being a part of it or were consciously excluded from this socio-religious and cultural
movements. Another major problem with the Indian Renaissance was that, it was mostly confined
within the modernised, Western-educated urban elite class and the widening social gulf between this
elite class and the rest of the nation was explicit. So, as Partha Chatterjee opines, [a]s the harbinger of
a bourgeois and a national revolution, the Indian renaissance was partial, fragmented; indeed, it was a
failure (14).
However, amidst these multiple diverging trends during the nineteenth century, the emergence
of Shri Ramakrishna and later, his disciple Swami Vivekananda, can be perceived as a synthesising
force. Bipin Chandra Pal esteemed Ramakrishna as a true Universalist who did not belong to any
particular sect and creed, or, who in a sense belonged to all sects Indian and non-Indian. When the
educated people of Bengal were floundering in the cross-currents of rationalism of the West and the
medievalism of the East, writes Bhupendranath Dutta, stepped in Ramakrishna, and by his spiritual
synthesis and liberalism attracted those who believed in the values of Western civilization as well as in
their Indian heritage (qtd. in Bose 157). Sri Ramakrishna preached the Universalism of religion in
colloquial language through simple stories and parables, explaining the most intricate questions on
philosophy and religion. His pantheistic creed, attracted both the well-educated Brahmos (like
Keshabchandra Sen, Sibnath Sastri, Pratapchandra Mazumdar, Bijaykrishna Goswami) and erudite
foreign scholars (like Romain Rolland) alike. The synthesis of Sri Ramakrishna was not merely the
synthesis of various doctrines of different religions. While the other attempts to build up a unity
between the East and the West, were dominated by rationalistic, non-idolatrous and humanistic
approach and outlook, his synthesis was spontaneous and was the direct result of the combination of
jnana (knowledge), Bhakti (devotion), love, empathy, vivid realization and experience. He himself,
practised different forms of religions and realized that all religions are true, each laying stress on one
aspect of the Akhanda Sachchidananda the undivided and eternal existence, absolute consciousness
and supreme bliss (Bose 153). He believed that all religions are not partly but wholly true and they lead
to the same goal: God. The spirit of social service was infused into Vivekananda by Sri Ramakrishna.as
he proclaims, he who wants to serve Siva must first serve the world(Vivekananda 48). For Swamiji,
the concept of religion broke the narrow constraints of communal beliefs, dogmatism, racialism, rituals
and practices, which were so important for the nineteenth century Bengali elites and intellectuals. The
mission of his life was to unify India (with all its diversities) under the shade of Vedanta. 2 Swamiji
believed that the, true religion exists in love, the pure and sincere love of the heart and not in
ceremony (46).
Swami Vivekananda can be seen as a confluence of the Western-ideas and the Easternspirituality. But, he was neither awestruck by the Western civilization, nor was he a staunch supporter
of the orthodox Hinduism and native cultural practices prevalent during the 19th century. Although
Swamiji is often labelled as a social-reformer (and hero worshipped along with the other 19 th century
reformers like Rammohun Roy and Vidyasagar), but unlike the general trend of reformation of that
time, he did not advocate that only by giving widows to remarriage or by making some inter-caste
marriages and suchlike social reforms Indias regeneration would be achieved. To him that was not the
crying need of the time. The desideratum according to him is to raise the masses, to educate them and
to elevate them in the scale of advanced humanity (Datta 3) . Influenced by Sri Ramkrishnas religion
of love, sacrifice, devotion and service to humanity, he travelled throughout India to awaken the
common masses from their long slumber and made them realise the spirituality inherent within their
mind. This becomes evident from Swamijis lecture on The National Ideal of Future India, delivered
at Ramnad :
this nation lived on in spite of nearly a thousand years of foreign rule and oppression. And that the
nation still lives is because it still holds to God and to its treasure-house of religion and spirituality.
Religion and spirituality therefore, are still in this land and they are the foundations which will
overflow and flood the world, to bring in new life and vitality to the Western and other nations, borne
down, half-killed and degraded by political ambition and social scheming. (53-54)
But while instigating the masses about their spirituality, Swamiji never denounces the Western
materialism.
Indeed, materialism can be said to have come to the rescue of India, in a certain sense, by throwing
open the doors of life to everyone, by destroying exclusive privileges of caste, and by opening up to
discussion the inestimable treasures, hidden away in the hands of a few, when those few even, have lost
the use of them. (66)
Swami Vivekananda was an egalitarian through and through and wanted the reformation of the Indian
society root-and-branch. Time and again he emphasized on the urgent need of social regeneration and
uplifting of the discriminated masses. He bitterly castigated the upper classes of his own country who
by degrading the Sudra of India have in turn been degraded by the English rulers into Sudrahood. He
recognised both Spirituality (transcendentalism) and Materialism (realism) as the foundations of
Society needed to re-construct social life on new lines and principles. In his lecture on Vedanta and the
Salvation of Europe (Address Delivered at Paramakudi), Swamiji points out the negative aspects of
both this opposing trends:
The West is groaning under the tyranny of the Shylocks, while the East, under the tyranny of the
Priests, and each must hold the other in check. Do not think, therefore, that the East or the West alone is
to help the world. In this creation of the impartial Lord every particle has its place in helping the
universe. (67)
and considers their proper synthesis can bridge the gaps between religions, castes, classes and even
nations, serving the purpose of a greater good, a common well-being . Swamijis criticism of the
contemporary culture of Bengal and his opinion for a synthesis of the Oriental and Occidental thoughts
and attitudes can be seen from his introductory speech to Sister Niveditas lecture on The Influence of
Indian Spiritual Thought in England on 11 th March 1898, at Star Theatre, Calcutta (Swamiji Presided
at the meeting):
We Indians, and especially those of Bengal, are overrun with foreign ideas that are eating into the very
vitals of our national religion. Why are we so backward now-a-days? Why are ninety-nine per cent of
us made up of entirely foreign ideas and elements? These have to be thrown off if we want to rise in the
scale of nations. If we want to rise, we must also remember that we have many things to learn from the
West. We should learn from the West her arts and her sciences. From the West we have to learn the
sciences of physical nature, while on the other hand, the West has to come to us to learn and
assimilatereligion and spiritual knowledge. (406-407)
He also, condemns the Indian subjects for their conscious clinging to the socially subordinate
position and gives the clarion call to rise and stand against the West as equal:
We have been clamouring here for political rights and many other such things. Very well; rights and
privileges and other things can only come through friendship; and friendship can only be expected
between two equals. So, I must call upon you to go out to England and America, not as beggars but as
teachers of religion. The law of exchange must be practised to the best of our power. If we have to learn
from them the ways and methods of making ourselves happy in life, why, in return should we not give
them the methods and ways that would make them happy for all eternity? Above all, work for the good
of humanity. Give up the so-called boast of your narrow orthodox life. (407)
The religion Vivekananda preached was Hinduism no doubt, but it was all comprehensive. He was a
Vedantist but was far above sectarianism. For a truly progressive India, he wished a junction of the two
great systems, Hinduism and Islam Vedanta Brain and Islam Body. Standing on the threshold of the
19th Century, he dreamed of a confluence where both the Orient and Occident would equally
participate. He said, In India the quality of Rajas (spirit of activity) is almost absent, the same is the
case with Sattva (Spiritual quality) in the West. He wanted a blending of the two qualities. Make a
European society with Indias religion was his advice.
The Post-colonial critics generally treat the East and the West as binaries and tend to overlook
the attempts made to synthesise both the cultures for a greater good (by bringing in the positive
elements from both). Swamiji, with his futuristic vision, remains a man out of time, and emergence
remains an anomaly to both the fin- de- sicle mindset (who either admired the Western civilization or
totally condemned their colonial masters out of nationalistic fervour) and the later historians (who
labelled him either as a Hindu revivalist or a nationalist or a reactionary). However, Swamiji was not
just a social thinker but a social activist too, and his mission of spiritual regeneration was not confined
just within the upper caste Hindu Bengali elites of the 19 th century, but his message of spiritual
renaissance permeated through all the sections of the society. His mission was to reawaken the
subaltern masses from their exploited position and make both the exploiter and the exploited conscious
of their inner self. Swamiji represented the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of the East to the West
and devoted his efforts to achieve a perfect understanding between the two as he saw in India and
Europe two organisms in full youthtwo great experiments neither of which is complete (Bose
159). Swamiji attempted to break the barriers of hierarchy and expected a new synthesis of culture of
man, where there will be neither the East nor the West but one Humanity.
Notes
1. Interestingly, this dependence upon Bengali language to learn Sanskrit, resulted in the emergence of
the priests handbook, the pundits first book of logic and the physicians vade mecum, all in abridged
form and in Bengali prose.
2. His interpretation of the Vedanta or the Hindu religion, was not founded on the commentaries of the
traditional Shastris and Pundits. Having inherited his gurus Universalism and synthesis of religions, he
gave a new interpretation of traditional Hinduism. The word Vedanta, Swamiji said, must cover the
whole ground of Indian religious life. He wanted to make religion dynamic and was not a revivalist
in any sense of the term (Bose 160). He faced bitter opposition from the orthodox Hindus and his
views were directly opposed by some so called Hindu revivalists like Sasadhar Tarkachuramani and
Krishnaprosanna Sen.
References
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Post-colonial Literatures. London: Routledge, 2002. Print.
Bose, Nemai Sadhan. The Indian Awakening and Bengal. Calcutta: Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1969.
Print.
Chatterjee, Partha. The Present History of West Bengal: Essays in Political Criticism. Calcutta: Oxford
University Press, 1997. Print.
Datta, Bhupendranath. Swami Vivekananda Patriot Prophet: A Study. Calcutta: Nababharat
Publishers, 1954. Print.
Forbes, Geraldine. Education for Women. Women and Social Reform in Modern India: A Reader. Ed.
Sumit Sarkar and Tanika Sarkar. Vol. 1. Ranikhet : Permanent Black, 2011. 83-112. Print
Gray, John N., Bengal and Britain: Culture Contact and the Reinterpretation of Hinduism in the
Nineteenth Century. Aspects of Bengali History and Society. Ed. Rachel Van M. Baumer. New Delhi:
Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 1976. 99-128. Print.
Ghose, Sri Aurobindo. The Renaissance in India. Chandernagore: Prabartak Publishing House, 1920.
Print.
Sarkar, Sumit. A Critique of Colonial India. Calcutta: Papyrus, 1985. Print.
Sen, Sukumar. History of Bengali Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1959. Print.
Vivekananda, Swami. The Indian Lectures of Swami Vivekananda: Being a Record of His address in
India after his mission to the West. Calcutta: Udbodhan Office, 1922.Print.
Partha Sarathi Nandi is UGC-Junior Research Fellow in the Department of English, Banaras Hindu
University. He is currently working on Post-Partition Bengali drama and has published articles on
various topics.
Vivekananda and the spirit of Internationalism
Anuja Gupta Bandyopadhyay
In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, India was reeling under the pressure of colonial exploitation.
The establishment of British rule in India began with systematic winning of successive wars,
consequently Indians began to feel culturally, politically and economically exploited under the present
system of government. The British depicted the Indian culture as derogatory, being guided by
superstitions and unfit in a modern world, while they claimed themselves to be racially, economically
and politically powerful. This had created a false cons consciousness among the Indian youth who
began to look upon their heritage with doubt and question the age old traditions and values.
Indians close proximity with Britain was however responsible for opening the eastern doors to
the humanitarian values of the western world. Europe had gone through past histories of Industrial and
French Revolution, which changed their social, economic matrix. Europe henceforth preached the
gospels of liberty, equality, fraternity and above all rationality. The introduction of Western education in
India and opportunity of obtaining western education by the youth of the higher classes made them
recipient of these western ideals. While the British rule was responsible for creating a class of self
conscious intelligentsia who were trained in the philosophy of liberty, equality, fraternity, secularism,
patriotism, humanitarianism, rationality and who wanted to implement these philosophies in the Indian
scenario. It also produced a reaction of revivalism among the young Indians, who sought to answer the
present subjugation of India by bringing the teachings of the Vedas and the Upanishads to the forefront.
Swami Vivekanandas name occupies a unique place among many others who attempted to
clear the evils that had entered and then poisoned our society by teaching the philosophy of the
Upanishads. Indian society was not only plagued by the narrowness walls of untochability and caste
divisions, but the youths of India were increasingly becoming prisoners of fate and destiny.
A country could never prosper unless the youth were committed and inspired. Swamiji wanted
the Indians to come out of an era of helplessness and be confident of their heritage, past, present and
future. It is in this light that we seek to understand Swami Vivikanandas philosophy of
Internationalism. Swamijis philosophy has always been guided by the Vedantic concept of universal
religion. The Vedas accept God in every being living and non living and god can be attained and
reached within the soul of every human being, there was no need for an elaborate ritual or practise to
reach God, he can be realised within each human being. Under the tutelage of his guru, Sri Ramkrishna
Paramhansa, Swamiji internalised the concept of universal brotherhood and love, which was the
foundation stone of his social philosophy.
Swamijis was invited to represent Hinduism at the International Congress of Religions in

Chicago in 1883. It was the first global representation of Hinduism and India and Swamijis speech was
an eye opener to the world about the speciality and uniqueness of Hinduism. It also marked the path to
integrate Nationalism and Internationalism, although they seem to be opposing and contradictory
forces.
Nationalism was an ethnic concept. It implied a common territory resided by people belonging
to common race, language, religion and culture. Hence the feeling of oneness in a nation was based
exclusiveness of us against the others. Vivekananda saw that such a concept of nationalism, deprives
the west spiritually. Hence, amidst its spectacular achievements in the field of science and technology,
the West always had a feeling of incompleteness, due its overemphasis on mass aggrandizement rather
than spiritual unity. Such a feeling of nationalism overemphasises on power, glory, but there is a
weapon powerful than that which is the power of love. India in contrast needed scientific and
technological impetus, but there the storehouse of lessons that India has on spirituality and universality
cannot be ignored. If India needed science and technology, the west needed spiritual upliftment.
Religion for Vivekananda was not a series of dogma or doctrines but the realisation of spirit as spirits.
Religion was the channel that would enable India to connect with the whole World and it was his
philosophy of diminishing the gap between nationalism and internationalism.
His contribution to understand internationalism is important because he concluded that in reality

there was no difference between India and the West. While the west emphasised on the civilisation
aspect, highlighting the role of materialistic accumulation that marked the superiority of nation over the
other, Vivekananda equally highlighted the role of spiritual development in making progress and
glorifying oneself among nations. He also felt that if the east was groaning under the tyranny of the
priests, the west was groaning under the tyranny of shylocks. Terms like democracy, liberty, rights, and
equality were hollow unless it had a spiritual tune. He reflected that true feeling of nationalism and
internationalism could only be possible if India was given her due prestige amidst other nations of the
world, because a true religion acts as liberating human spirit, removing the shackles of uncertainty,
narrowness, cruelty and uniting all living forces. Such a spirit has been shown by India in the past and
is still visible in the present. India has assimilated and integrated all exogenous forces that have arrived
in India. India has given home to foreigners and never once practised differentiation with the outsiders,
hence India has rightfully displayed the true spirit of internationalism and brotherhood. For
Vivekananda, as for India, the ultimate unity of all the nations and mankind is the true spirit of
internationalism. Domination, wars and attacks are unknown to her, because India believes in the
Vedantic principle of Universality.
The concept of Vedanta simply emphasised on selflessness and oneness of each and every being
with the ultimate Supreme Being .The identification of one with many, Brahman with Jiva.
Internationalism simply should not mean attacking another country and uniting that politically. He said
love God. Unselfish materialism and spirituality results in internationalism. Thus internationalism
should not be at the cost of nationalism. He also said Unselfishness is God. One may live on a throne,
in a golden palace and be perfectly unselfish and then he is in God. Another may live in a hut and wear
rugs and have nothing in the world and yet have nothing in the world, if he is selfish, he is intensely
merged in the world.
His love with the world and even with the colonisers is clearly visible on his multiple visits to
England. On Vivekanandas visit to England (Coversham) in 1885, I am enjoying England very much.
The Englishmen here are very friendly. Except a few Anglo Indians, they do not hate black men at all.
Not even do they hate me on street. Sometimes I wonder whether my face has turned white ..the truth is
that they are all so friendly here. And again Vivekananda writes, The English men and women who
love India are more Hindu than the Hindus themselves.
These examples show that Vivekananda was a true internationalist by heart. He raised his voice
against the colonisation of India by Great Britain, but this was never reflected in his interaction with the
English men and women. Nor he ever harboured an ill feeling against the English. Sentiments of
national narrow-mindedness were alien to Vivekananda. He never sought the isolation of India from
other nations but urged Indians to assimilate the best that had been accumulated by the culture of all
mankind. Vivekananda remarked: "We cannot do without the world outside India; it was our
foolishness that we thought we could, and we have paid the penalty by about a thousand years of
slavery.
Yet his feeling of internationalism was not at the cost of nationalism. Nationalism for
Vivekananda implied upliftment of all, irrespective of ones caste, sex, class and religion. He took upon
himself the mission of Man Making. He said Man Making is my mission. To achieve his mission he
gave a call for a general fraternity and unity. Within nation it implied social service for others and
outside the nation, it implied an appeal for peace and friendship among all the nations of the world.
What makes a Nation? For Vivekananda, a nation is not mere embodiment of power,
manifestation of absolute authority, unlimited, illimitable, infalliable, sacrosanct, but it is an aggregate
of human beings, men and women who are inseparable from the Parambrahma and are
indistinguishable part of Parambrahma. He believed that there are certain things that were needed to
make a country great, they are conviction of the power of goodness, absence of jealousy and suspicion
and helping all who are trying to be and do good. He believed that individuals are the true components
of a national structure and without healthy, moral and kind individuals; one cannot expect a nation to be
great. In this context Vivekananda refers to the spirit of internationalism of India, which coincided with
her spirit of universal religion. This idea of internationalism according to Swami Vivekananda, was
typically national because the concept of universal brotherhood was typically an Indian concept.
When Vivekananda was born in India, she was passing through a tumultuous time. The British
brought about many changes in the technological, administrative and economic fronts . On one side
India was ruled by a colonial rule hence India had no right to self determination, at the same time India
faced tons and myriad roads of exploitation which was not possible to remove without the help of
another country. Vivekananda visited the native princes and tried to make them conscious of the
appalling poverty and misery of the poor masses and the endless exploitation and misrule of the foreign
country. But very soon he got disillusioned and he realised that the aristocrats were equally responsible
along with foreign rule for exploitation of India and her masses.The direct contact with the masses lead
him to believe that inspite of their endless differences India was full of gods and they were united in
this respect, inspite of their differences.
On one hand Swamiji defends Indias unique cultural heritage which became the basis for
Indias upsurge national sentiments at the same time he believed that the world should be benefitted by
the spiritual culture of India, and India should be benefitted by the fruits of the west by preaching
concepts like liberty, fraternity, equality. The western concept of of nation implied unity of one culture
based on common language, culture, religion. If a nation is based on such a concept then they will try
to absorb other nations who are similar in their cultural attributes. India being culturally heterogeneous
was no reason for India disunitedness rather it is a culture where heterogeneity results in unity. Narrow
nationalism based on homogenous culture leads to wars and destruction.
Vivekananda was a proponent of liberal spiritual, each nation is unique and each nationality has
something to contribute and make up the human civilisation. His idea of internationalism is the concept
of one world with many nations large or small enjoying equal rights and each working and making a
plan for betterment of human life. Being an Internationalist, Vivekananda was equally an Indian and
spoke highly of his country wherever he went. He would say The soil of India is holy. He never
ignored or remained oblivious of other civilisations of the world. He had hopes of democratic America,
Italy with its culture, arts, liberty, he spoke of Chinese treasures to the world. He emphasised on love
and respect of each community- whether the Hindus, Mohammmedans, Buddhists.
He looked upon mankind as a manifestation of the universal soul. His idea of internationalism is
based on his concept of universal soul where all varieties are manifestations of the universal soul and
all varieties exist within the universal soul. He also believes that forms differ but their substance
remains the same. A particular nationality differs from other in form but at the bottom its human nature
that is lurking and is manifestation of ultimate unity. Each nationality when they belong to the
perceived one abhors none and accepts all. He says If you go below the surface , you will find that
unity between man and man between races, high and low , rich and poor, ...if you go below, you will
see variations of the one. ..he who has attuned to this concept of oneness has no delusions. He knows
the secret of everything.
Each nation has the same worth as other nations. There is a deep contact between Asia and
Europe. And through this contact would lead to renaissance in Europe. Vivekananda writes India has
to learn from Europe and the conquest of external nature and the conquest of internal nature Europe has
to learn from India. Being a true believer in Internationalism, Swamiji said, Truth is my God,
Universe is my is my country and my interests are international and not Indian alone
Internationalism implied an international society composed of national societies existing

together in close harmony, good will and cooperation. It is a system of thought and action to promote
goodwill and cooperation among nations. His concept of internationalism is based on the Vedantic
principle of universality of self. His concept of internationalism is free from egocentrism but instead it
is based on the Indian concept of cooperation, harmony self sacrifice, mutual co existence.
Every civilisation big or small has certain contribution to make to mark human progress, each
nation has a distinct place in the confederation of nations. What Vivekananda dreamt of was one world
with multiplicity of nations, small and large enjoying equal rights and working their own way for
betterment of human life. He brought out what was best in each civilisation, he said Help not fight,
assimilation and not destruction harmony and peace and not dissension.
Bibliography
1. Dasgupta,Santwana.Social Philosophy of Swami V
2. Mahapatra, Kalpana. Political Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. New Delhi : Northern Book
Centre , 1996.vekananda.Kolkata:Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture,1991.
3. Vivekananda,Swami.Swami Vivekananda on Himself.Kolkata: Trio Publishers,1963.
Anuja Gupta Bandyopadhyay is currently pursuing her Ph.D in Sociology at the University of Calcutta.
She has completed her B.A (Political Science), M.A (Sociology) from J.N.U and M.Phil from the
University of Calcutta. She has also authored Textbook for Sociology for class XI, published by the
West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Examinations, Sri Aurobindos Vision on Peace and Yoga
in Amrita Dutta et.al edt. Sri Aurobindo Revolutionary and Yogi, Nationalism and Feminism in
Eeshan Ali and Soumya Ghosh edt. Problematic of Gender Discourse.
Othello in Nineteenth-Century Bengal: A Case of Conflicted

Indigenization
Abhishek Chowdhury
Despite being a dramatization of male jealousy, doomed love and victimization of devoted female,
Othello fails to be a universal tale about a man coming to terms with the supposed betrayal and adultery
of those closest to him. It is the only tragedy of Shakespeare where the protagonists characters and
behaviours are always traced to his racial identity. The reason is Shakespeares arbitrary attempt to
make Othello stand on the complicated crux of contemporary beliefs about black-skinned people and
Muslims. Resultantly, reading or producing the play in a society where racial discrimination and
apartheid are practised is to lend a new powerful meaning to the play. Adaptation, a complex bilingual
and bicultural process, is further problematised in a colonial scenario particularly inflected by
burgeoning nationalism and imperialist counter-oppression. Dealing as it does with marriage and love,
Othello has generic affinities with comedy or domestic drama rather than with heroic or classical
tragedy. Prof. Paromita Chakravarti is quite correct to say that this could be one of the reasons why in
Indian translations, adaptations and critiques, the play is always treated as a text which articulates
individual freedom and romantic love against patriarchal dictates and familial pressure. The concerns
of gender and womens identity receive much greater prominence than racial issues. Race is only one
component in the romantic plot.
The silence about racial issues in colonial adaptations of Othello was not solely because of the
colonial pedagogical strategy which sought to erase the racial context of the play as was clearly the
case in South Africa. Nineteenth century race theories were perhaps also responsible for this silence.
Most Orientalist histories traced the origin of both Hindus and Europeans to a common Aryan stock. As
such no racial divide was perceived to exist between the coloniser and colonised. This theory was
happily accepted and developed by Indian historians too. Thus, the Indian reader, adapter and translator
of Othello would more readily identify with the Europeans than with the black character. Othellos
predicament in a white society, his alienation and otherness, is not seen as providing a parallel to the
situation of the Indian colonised subject. In a few translations, Othello is not even represented as being
racially different from the other characters of the play. So gender issues rather than racial matters
assume importance in colonial interpretations of Othello in India.
Tarinicharan Pals Bhimsinha (1875), the first extant Bengali adaptation of Othello was written
after the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. In its wake came the formation of predominantly
upper and middle class nationalist organizations that spearheaded the freedom movement. To curb anticolonial activities in the cultural sphere, the British introduced repressive measures like Theatre
Censorship Act (1876) and Vernacular Press Act (1878). Bengal experienced a revival of Hinduism
paradoxically augmented by the nationalist ethos and the divisive tactics of British rule that fostered
communalism. This article proposes to investigate the contingencies and implications of domesticating
and othering Othello at this juncture and the collaborative/ oppositional strategies of the vernacular text
vis--vis colonial discourse. The generic problems of negotiating tragedy in a literary tradition marked
by its absence are compounded by the socio-linguistic limitations of a Sanskritised adaptation. The
latter testifies the translators desire to coalesce the nationalist and the communal agenda in his project.
The conflicted nature of the cultural indigenizations in Bengali translated/ adapted/ tradapted versions
of Othello are evidenced particularly in the nature of generic, linguistic and religious acculturation,
issues of nomenclature and epistemology, as well as the political and ideological negotiations that the
target text engages in with the source text and the intended audience.
But before going into the discussion of translations/ adaptations/ tradaptations of Shakespeares
Othello in Bengal, I think, it is necessary to throw some light on the history of Bengals theatre and its
negotiation with the masterpieces of the Bard. In ancient India there was huge development of Sanskrit
Drama Literature. But the poor had no entry in those performances mainly aimed to the rich audience.
So, they introduced the tradition of folk drama. After that Jatra became popular. Its popularity grew in
17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Examples of famous Jatras are Kaliodaman Jatra, Sri Ram Lila, Chandi
Kavya, Vidyasundar Pala etc. In the Muslim reign there was a disaster in the field of Jatra, because
according to Islamic religion stage performance was Na-Pak (unholy/ sacrilegious). Therefore, Muslim
rulers had strong antipathy to stage performance and for this the entrepreneurs did not get
encouragement for performance. Due to this India saw a collapse in the sphere of performance in the
Islamic reign, folk drama was the sole instance of performance that survived the disaster. But in
Bengal, Bengali Drama did not originate from folk-drama. Young people of 19 th century Bengal got
their interest in dramatic performances of English plays done by the British. First performances of the
English plays, then of the Bengali translations of Sanskrit plays and finally of the original Bengali
plays got popularity among the audience. The British started stage performances in the then Calcutta
from the middle of the 18th century. The rich and elite class of our country saw those performances and
decided to perform themselves. And from then onwards the system of stage performances started in the
Bengali society of Calcutta.
Urban Bengali Theatre

The urban Bengali theatre of the nineteenth century had three converging legacies the academic
foregrounding of Shakespearean texts, the European style theatres set up by the British in Calcutta for
their own recreation, and the indigenous amateur attempts by the enlightened bhadraloks to
modernise the Bengali stage.
Shakespeare was an integral part of the English curriculum since its inception, even before
Macaulays Minute (1835) emphasised the bards inclusion, arguing that it would inculcate an indelible
belief in the superiority of the masters literature and by extension of all things British. Shakespeares
central location in the colonial project was further privileged by nominating the most reputed teacher of
an establishment like David Lester Richardson and Henry Louis Vivian Derozio of Hindu College to
teach his works, and Shakespeare came to be regarded as the most prestigious assignment. Macbeth, a
particular favourite of Richardson, was included in the Shakespeare collection he edited at the behest of
the Higher Education Council in 1840 for the graduate course, and remains a permanent fixture of most
syllabi even today.
The success of the imperialist strategy is instanced in the energy and time expended by the
newly educated gentry in hosting recitals and performances of select Shakespearean scenes. From 1827
onwards, the students of Hindu College regularly presented excerpts from various Shakespearean plays.
Derozio was instrumental in sustaining this enthusiasm as witnessed by the fact that on 18 February
1829, recitations from 2 Henry IV, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida and
Cymbeline were executed primarily by his students (Lal and Chaudhuri 24-31). Other contemporary
institutions that upheld this tradition were the Oriental Seminary, Metropolitan Academy, St. Xaviers
College and David Hare Academy. The majority of these amateur presentations were hosted in the
private theatres of affluent Bengalis and catered to an enlightened coterie audience. Mimicry was a
crucial evaluating parameter for these performances: the supporters of the new theatre movement
predicated excellence on the closeness of imitation while the orthodox detractors condemned it on the
very same premise, designating such performances as mindless aping tantamount to a betrayal of native
heritage.
Such Shakespearean negotiations are not surprising considering the foreign origins of modern
Bengali theatre. Within a quarter century of their arrival (1757), the East India Company officials set up
a number of European style playhouses in Kolkata where local European actors performed English
plays for an exclusively white audience. Records designate Free School Society established in 1789 as
one of the earliest educational institutions meant exclusively for English children. Later, such schools
extended their facilities to native students as well. Hindu College, established on 20 January 1817, was
the first higher education institution in India to officially incorporate Shakespeare in its syllabus
(Ahmed 8-13). The Calcutta Gazette (15 March 1830) lauded the performance of scenes from Julius
Caesar on 13 March 1830 at the annual function of School Society as exhibiting a correctness of
enunciation, energy of manner and gracefulness of deportment which would have done credit to any
school in England (qtd Lal and Chaudhuri 2001: 25; emphasis mine). On the other hand, an
anonymous letter published in Samachar Darpan, on 7 January 1832 ridiculed the opening of the
Hindu Theatre as a whim of the idle rich who encroach upon the prerogative of the vulgar sorts and
appoint English tutors for enunciation and costume to fashion a clownish replication of the masters
craft (B. Bandyopadhyay 1962-63: 11-12).
The foremost among them were the Calcutta, Athenaeum, Chowringhee and Sans Souci
theatres. These theatres flourished between 1780 and 1849 by which time Bengali theatre, modelled on
them, had come of age. They brought in overseas professionals to assist home productions, introduced
women actors, the concept of the proscenium stage, appropriate scenery, lighting, stage props, and
costumes, and staged thirty two full-fledged Shakespearean productions (Lal and Chaudhuri 15-23).
Gradually the unmixed white audience started accommodating a smattering of the native elite, some of
whom spearheaded the indigenous theatre movement.
Given these antecedents, it is understandable that the first full-fledged modern Bengali
playhouse was constructed along the lines of Kolkata British theatres with the sole purpose of staging
English plays. A committee, headed by Babu Prasanna Kumar Tagore, founded the Hindu Theatre
which opened on 28 December 1831 with performances of Shakespeare and Bhavabhuti in English
translation (B. Bandyopadhyay 11). Although short lived, this effort is indicative of the Westernised
Bengalis yearning for a new kind of sophisticated drama. Rajendranath Mitra, writing about the times,
iterates that lowly entertainments like jatra, kabi and kheur could no longer please the palate of refined
gentlemen and that it was heartening to see affluent, educated and civilised men setting up a more
tasteful modern theatre that would ultimately oust such obscene, coarse and common amusements (B.
Bandyopadhyay 7). The demarcation between high and low culture with reference to new and old
performing arts not only fostered a class divide and disjuncted urban from rural entertainment, but also
aimed at the erasure of traditional forms, which fortunately survived the onslaught.
Sanjib Chandra Chattopadhyay in Bangadarshan gives his opinion about jatra and especially
about Vidyasundar Pala saying that jatra can never educate people. Then he compares it to Othello and
opines:
mahakabi sekkhapiyarer pranita othello natake nayak nayikar prem adyopanta barnita achhe.
bidya jeroop pitar ajnate sakalke lukaiya sundarke atmasamarpan kariachhilen, seiroop
othellor nayika desdimona apan pitar ajnate ekjon oti kuroop kafir preme andha hoiya
tatsamibhyare pitralay hoite palayan karen. vidya ebang desdemona, ei ubhay nayikar
premarambha pray eki prakar doshabaha. kintu desdemonar karye, byabahare, kathay barttay,
chintay eta saralata, eta nirmalata, eta pabitrata prakash ache je, taha debdurlabh baliya bodh
hoy. ebang jadio tini kultyag kariya giyachhilen bate, kintu yabat chandra surya thakibe,
tabat tnahar satitwa satidiger adarshaswarup thakibe. jini desdemonake bhalobasen, tini
satitwa bhalobasen. dharma betta, niti betta, pita mata ba onyo upadesh data, sakalei baliya
thaken, satitwa strilokdiger pradhan dharma; satitwa raksha karile sukhsampad hoy. e sakal
katha shirodharya. kintu kebal sushka upadesh antarsparsha kare na. ek desdemonar charitre
england e jaha kariyachhe, sahasra upadeshta ekatra haiya kasminkale taha pariten na. ataeb
jatra ki nataker nayak nayika dwara je niti ki dharmashiksha hay na emata nahe.
(Chattopadhyay, Pous 1279 [1872-73], 409-15)
These words by Sanjib Chandra redeem drama from its position of being something unholy. But at the
same time, if we study the words carefully we can see that he takes Desdemona to be an epitome of
satitwa or chastity which betrays his patriarchal mind-set.
The English educated segment wished to present to Indian readers, less proficient in English, a
fresh set of canons and those specimens of English literature which to them, represented models of
highest literary excellence. Michael Madhusudan Dutt articulates in a letter to Raj Narayan Basu in
1860: In the great European drama you have the stern realities of life, lofty passion and heroism of
sentiment. With us it is all softness, all romance. Venugopalachary who did the Tamil reworking of
The Merchant of Venice as Venice Vyapari in 1874 declared that he wished to make the Hindu scholars
note the superior verisimilitude of Shakespearean drama and the relative unreality of Indian drama.
Christina Mangala Frosts claim that Indian spectators were willing to pay 30 rupees for a performance
of Shakespeare has to be, therefore, located in the context of the growing theater culture and economy
and the socio-political changes that accompanied colonial rule. These theaters saw a gradual increase in
the rise of Indian spectators. Once Shakespearean plays came to be performed by local companies in
Calcutta, on school and college stages and by the commercial Parsi theaters in Urdu, Hindi, and
Gujarati, they neither retained the purity of the Shakespearean text, nor remained the exclusive
domain of the colonial populace. Rather, the rising attendance of the middle-class public at Parsi
theaters and other commercial venues ensured the ongoing popularity of Shakespeares plays. In
consequence, along with actors, directors, and translators, Shakespeares plays assumed many different
meanings for the viewers. When Parsi theater companies performed across South Asia, their audiences
moved beyond the confines of localities, comprising British officials, the military, and wealthy Parsi
merchants, soon joined by the growing class of educated professionals. By the end of the nineteenth
century, low prices for tickets attracted an even more heterogeneous viewing public that included
textile workers, small traders and artisans. Some of the productions by these companies seem to have
generated various responses that were to affect the image of the actor in popular life.
Owing to this ever-increasing popularity of drama National Theatre was established in 1872 as a
professional theatre. Girish Chandra Ghosh, Amritalal Bose, Dinabandhu Mitra, Upendranath Das are
the famous names related to this theatre. Patriotic dramas like Nil Darpan, Purbikram, Cha-Kar
Darpan, Hirakchurna etc. were performed in this theatre. Upendranath Das and Amritalal Bose were
arrested in 1875. James Long was punished for the English translation of Nil Darpan. British
Government suspected that patriotic consciousness was spread through dramatic performance and in
order to curb down this Dramatic Performance Act was passed in 1876. Beside this Lord Litton passed
Vernacular Press Act in 1878 to curb anti-colonial activities through newspaper. Against this backdrop
of burgeoning nationalism and imperialist counter-oppression I would like to investigate Bengals
negotiation with Othello in nineteenth century.
Nineteenth-Century Shakespearean Negotiations: Othello

Development of Bengali drama literature in nineteenth century was greatly influenced by Shakespeare.
In a letter to his friend Gourdas Basak on 27 November 1842 Madhusudan Dutt writes Please send me
that volume of your Shakespeare which contains his Othello and Hamlet. His Krishnakumari (1861) is
influenced by Shakespeares Othello. Dhanadas in Krishnakumari has similarities with Iago. But Dutt
never admitted this, as he said for Dhanadas, I never dreamt of making him the counter part of Iago.
The plot does not admit of such a character, even I could invent it which I gravely doubt! In a letter
to Rajnarayan Basu Dutt writes
Some of my friends and I fancy you are among them as soon as they see a drama of mine,
begin to apply the canons of criticism that have been given forth by the master-pieces of
William Shakespeare. They perhaps forget that I write under different circumstances. Our social
and moral developments are of a different character.
Dinabandhu Mitras Sadhabar Ekadashi (1866) begins with this quotation from Shakespeares Othello:
O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee Devil (II, iii).
This play was written in order to show the evil effects of alcohol-drinking on the youth of the then
Bengal and Nimchand Dutta, the protagonist of this play, is a representative of Young Bengal.
Therefore, in Nimchand we can see the reflection of western, especially English, education which
helped in the development of the mind of the then youth. And one of the most important parts of this
English education was Shakespeare criticism and recitation of verse lines from Shakespeare. So,
Nimchand in his erudite drunkenness time and again recites Shakespeare. In II, iii comparing his
situation with Othello he says
The tyrant custom, most grave senators,
Hath made the flinty and steel couch of war
My thrice-driven bed of down. (I, iii)
A little later Nimchand again quotes from Othello: Man but a rush against Othellos breast,/ And he
retires. (V, ii) Hearing this when the sergeant says the he will drown Dutta in Hooghly, he again recites
from Othello: Drown cats, and blind puppies. (I, iii) Later, when Atalbihari falsely accuses
Nimchand, the latter compares him with Iago and says
I look down towards his feet; but thats a fable;
If that thou best a Devil, I cannot kill thee. (V, ii)
Coming to the first phase of the history of Shakespeare translations in India there is the element of
Indianization where the original narrative structure is retained but all proper names are replaced by
Indian ones. But Tarinicharan Pals reworking of Othello as Bhimsinha (1875) is the first example of
indigenised Othello in Bengali. Bhimsinha is subtitled mahakabi Shakespeare pronito othellor
marmanubad. In the Inroduction of the book Tarini Charan declares:
othello sahityakananer ekti otyutkrishto pushpa. pray sakal bhashatei ihar anubad haiyachhe.
kintu e paryanta bangabhasay keha e bishaye hastakshep karen nai dekhiya, bamaner chandra
sparsher nyay, ami e duruha brate brati haiyachhi. anubade katadur kritakarya haiyachhi
balite parina. sahityanuragi samalochak mahodaygan bichar kariben.
Here Shakespearean characters are given Bengali names, like Othello Bhimsinha, Brabantio
Debdas, Cassio Chandranath, Iago Bhairabsinha, Roderigo Shashishekhar, Desdemona
Swarnalata, Emilia Sarama etc. To illustrate my point I want to quote a portion from the translation of
Act I, scene iii where Bhimsinha describes how he impressed Swarnalata:
pujya-pad debdas dharmik-pradhan,
jigyasiya shuniten maha kutuhale,
jiban kahini mama, balyakal hate
Swarnalata, se sakal shuni, mama dukkhe,

kariten asrupat dirghaswas aha
.. , tai ebe haranu hriday,

chira dasi hai taba ohe bir bar.
This type of translation is a form of cultural domestication, which can be taken as a form of patriotic
fervour. This type of translation and adaptation can be seen as a form of awakening of nationalism.
Partha Chatterjee notes that the very idea of a natiom is Western. Anti-colonial/ nationalist movements
adopt the idea of progress or modernity from the West and launch the idea of a nation. Chatterjee
argues that natives transform the Western idea of a nation in three stages. In the first stage, the natives
accept modern Western ideas of progress and modernity. In the second, the elite in the colony turn to
folk and popular cultural forms in order to generate both mass support as well as a new form of identity
based on local cultures. Finally, in the third stage, the Western and folk cultural forms are projected as a
native nationalism by the elite. The anti-colonial movement is based on the Western model mixed with
the folk elements as a truly national idea. Chatterjee terms nationalism a derivative discourse for
this reason: that anti-colonial nationalism is built on the conceptual framework and ideas of progress
and history given by the West.
Girish Chandra Ghoses Prafulla (1889) is greatly influenced by Shakespeares Othello. Othello
makes miserable his own life and the life of his near ones due to his blind trust on others, Girish
Chandras Jogesh does the same due to his alcohol-addiction. Shakespeares tragic irony is also found
in Girish Chandras play. When Othello says to Desdemona, O my souls joy! ... If it were now to die,
Twere now to be most happy, it has a tragic irony as very soon Iago would make his life miserable.
Similarly, when Gyanada seeks help from brother-in-law Ramesh, it has a tragic irony as Ramesh
would lead her life to misery. Iago has very clear impact on Ramesh. A chance or accident brings the
tragedy in Shakespeares play, for example, Desdemonas lose of handkerchief is such an accident. In
Girish Chandras Prafulla failure of Re-union Bank is such an accident.
Surasundari (1891) by Surendramohan Bhattacharya is a Bengali prose tradaptation of Othello.
Shakespeares characters are transformed into Surasundari (Desdemona), Ramrangan (Othello),
Hemchandra
(Iago),
Shibchandra
(Cassio), Akshaychandra
(Roderigo),
Sushama
(Emilia),
Mukundanarayan (Brabantio) etc. As the title suggests, it is given after the name of the heroine. The
theme of racial difference (skin colour) is here joined by the caste difference. Deviating from the
Shakespearean play, Bhattacharya has given it a happy ending with the union of the hero and heroine.
The narrative technique is also different here. The author calls it a ramanyas that is a romance.
Writing in the colonial period the author begins his tale by saying that he is talking of a pre-colonial
period, which is a postcolonial technique.
Kaliprasanna Chattopadhyays version of Othello (1893-94) is a Bengali tradaptation of
Shakespeares play. It is entitled Othello, but it has no character called Othello. There is a disparity
between the plot and its title. The author declares that the characters are given Bengali names to make
the play appeal to the readers. The setting of the play is changed: Venice is replaced by Purandar and
Mandar. Cyprus is replaced by Chaitak Hill. In the Introduction he differentiates between drama
[natak] and visual poetry [drishya kabya]. The language is simple, colloquial prose. The tradapter
dedicates the play to Bidhubhusan Tribedi.
The early native emulators of Shakespearean drama, therefore, were directing their efforts at a
metropolitan theatre exclusive to the English educated Hindu upper and middle class. In the intervening
forty odd years between Prasanna Kumar Tagores Hindu Theatre and Nagendranath Boses adaptation
of Macbeth, Karnabir (written 1884/85), the Bengali stage had acquired enough maturity and
independence to imitate and critique the colonial masters and also rediscover its traditional roots
through historical and mythical drama. Although Shakespeare had a profound impact on the
contemporary dramatists Madhusudan Dutt, Dinabandhu Mitra and Dwijendralal Roy productions
of Shakespeare, translated or adapted, only began in 1870 with a private performance of Prabhabati
(The Merchant of Venice) at the Beniatola residence of Kartikchandra Bhattacharya (Lal and Chaudhuri
96). That there were more adaptations than translations in the initial stages testifies an awareness of the
distinctive foreign-ness of the plays and the need for indigenisation in order to conform to the cultural
and aesthetic parameters of the Bengali theatre which had begun to establish its own identity.
The raison d'tre for shying away from Shakespeare were both linguistic and generic. The
exuberance of Shakespearean language replete with verbal nuances, literary allusions, and the sheer
abundance of figures of speech, idiomatic phrases and colloquialisms make inter-lingual translation
seemingly impossible especially where the target language is primarily rhythmical, melodious and unaccented. Bengali syntax is quite unlike English in its subject-verb arrangement and the construction of
interrogatives and imperatives. For instance, sentences generally end with verbs while interrogatives
frequently omit the subject altogether. Ajit Kumar Ghosh suggests incorporating Sanskrit words
abounding in conjunct consonants to infuse a masculine effect but such words do not cohabit naturally
with spoken Bengali. Blank verse, intrinsic to Shakespearean plays, was alien to Bengali literature until
Michael Madhusudan Dutt invented the amitrakshar chanda [unrhymed verse] for alienation effect in
his poetic drama, Meghnadbadh, but its lofty rhetoric is unsuitable for dialogues.
The role of translation in modern era also needs to be evaluated with a balanced attitude where
the surge of feelings of globalization does not undermine the individuality and distinctiveness of
national identities and, on the reverse side of the picture, extreme nationalism does not pose a barrier
on the pathway of world citizenship. In fact, both are complementary to each other. Nationalism rather
promotes a global vision than bars it.
Sanskrit aesthetics, to which Bengali literature written by Hindus traditionally adhered,
discourage unhappy endings (and therefore tragedy) on philosophic grounds. The Hindu theory of
karma and rebirth, premised on the belief that the sufferings of present life are just punishments for
misdeeds in previous life, which in turn would be adequately compensated for in afterlife, is
incompatible with the tragic vision preoccupied with the here and now. Tragic denouement evoking
pity and terror prioritises human potential, keeping providential design at bay; but unquestioning faith
in lifes grand design and continuity beyond death is not conducive to the sense of waste endemic to
the fall of the tragic hero.
Adaptation, more than translation, necessitates the homogenisation of the source text in a
manner that neutralises foreign-ness while fostering an interest in the narrative. This exercise proves
particularly problematic in a context foregrounding nascent nationalism and colonial repression, more
so when the source text is Shakespeare, the ultimate literary production of the master race. So the act
of adapting Shakespeare into Bengali is not merely a literary exercise but a political engagement that
simultaneously upholds and challenges the indigenous social codes. It requires an iconoclastic crosscultural approach that extends the margins of inherited tradition and homogenises alien components
with the purpose of synchronising two very dissimilar socio-cultural systems bound in a hierarchic,
exploitative relationship. It is a vertical and horizontal engagement with the source text to subvert and/
or sustain the hierarchy.
Pals Bhimsinha: Indigenised Conflict/ Conflicted Indigenisation

As the title suggests, Pal was infused with nationalist sentiments with a predominantly Hindu
orientation. This preoccupation impacted his search for cultural equivalents to give his adaptation a
local habitation and a name (A Midsummer Nights Dream 5.1.17).
The geo-political re-situating of action in the text reveals significant efforts at domestic
contextualisation. It involves a shift in communities as well. The geographical equivalents of Venice
and Cyprus are respectively, Jayanti and Avanti, leading to confusing geopolitical signifiers, but Pal is
less concerned with historical or geographical accuracy than with contextualising the conflict from a
Hindu perspective. The attack by the Turks is converted into an attack on Orissa by Jaban (Muslims),
adding a religious angle to the political conflict. Although medieval Indian history provides several
instances of battles between the Hindu Rajputs of Rajasthan and the Muslim Sultanate of Delhi, there is
a definite communal bias in the nomenclature as Jaban, a derogatory epithet used by the Hindus to
designate pagan ungodly Muslims, would automatically classify Jaban as the wrongful aggressor.
Such identification parallels the post-1857 British categorisation of the Indian adherents of Islam as
rascally Muslims (Strachey 380) and feeds the colonial regimes divisive tactics by fostering a selfemaciating internal otherisation.
The entire action of the play being located outside Bengal is an instance of eminently acceptable
domestic alienation as the Bengalis are not traditionally considered warlike nor is their past dotted with
glorious battles. So the plot of Othello, ill-suited to the Bengali locale, is transposed to the martial
community of middle of India, may be Rajasthan.
Pals christening of the major dramatis personae is quite interesting. Othello is named
Bhimsinha which is a combination of Bhima, the most powerful and fearless of the five Pandavas in
Mahabharata and Sinha (lion), a common appellation in Bengali literature for the Rajputs to indicate
their brave, warrior-like orientation. But actually Othello has far more resemblance with Karna, the
name of a famous warrior-king in the Indian epic, Mahabharata, who fights alongside the Kauravas
against his own brothers, the Pandavas. In Shakespeares play Othello is a Moor, that is a black nonEuropean, non-Christian totally different from the White Europeans.
The total disregard of Othellos skin colour in this Bengali target text deepens the suspicion that
a deliberate and concentrated effort is afoot to divert the readers attention from one of the major
factors regarding Othello. In the source text Othello concurrently dissolves the stereotype to
appropriate white characteristics and stretches it to include significant variations. The culminating
outrage is perpetrated by Othello himself. He has cabind, cribbd and confind (Macbeth III iv; 24)
his blackness within white-limd walls (Titus Andronicus IV ii; 98) in order to be accommodated as
one of the higher echelons. His Renaissance Self-Fashioning (Greenblatt 1980) is not the free choice of
a self-made man but the servile impulse of the colonized to prove his worth by interiorizing the
ideology of the masters and modelling oneself accordingly. Othellos Humanizing process entails a
partial killing of the self: by derecognizing his black consciousness he becomes his own colonizer.
Othellos enmity to the Turks goes beyond his contractual obligations. He is a mercenary with a cause.
Apart from the contradictions this involves, it is a second denial of the self, a dislocation from his basic
origins as there can be a connection between Moor and Mahomedan. But in Pals Bhimsinha the
entire dimension of Othellos partial killing of the self by derecognizing his black consciousness is
altogether effaced. So, his conflict with the Jaban does not bring the theme of denial of the basic origin
giving the target text a rather simple contextualization of Hindu-Muslim conflict mainly fostered by the
British.
Coming to the other characters, Iago is called Bhairabsinha which is a combination of Bhairab,
which is another name of Lord Shiva and Sinha (lion), a common appellation in Bengali literature for
the Rajputs to indicate their brave, warrior-like orientation. Bhairabsinha (Iago), Biswambhar
(Gratiano), Chandranath (Cassio), Shashisekhar (Roderigo) all of these are the various names of Lord
Shiva. As both good and evil characters bear the name of the same Lord Shiva, perhaps it points to the
playwrights belief in Hindu philosophy that there is no essential difference between good and evil;
both of them are the manifestations of the leela (divine will) of the same Lord. Brabantio and Montano
are respectively called Debdas and Dharmadas, which points to the essential good and pious nature of
their character. Desdemona is called Swarnalata (golden creeper), which means incredible. Emilia
becomes Sarama, which was the name of Bibhshans virtuous wife in Ramayana, pointing to the inner
goodness of the character. Further, in Bengali sarama means bitch, therefore it indicates the
faithfulness of the character. Bianca becomes Binodini, not only maintaining the consonant sound /b/,
but also implying her status in society as a courtesan using her sexuality for the entertainment of the
male members through the satisfaction of their sexual drive in exchange of money. Bengali sarama
may be taken as a derivation from the original saram, which means a sexual coyness that is considered
an essential quality in women in patriarchal society thus indicating the essential difference between
Binodini on the one hand and Swarnalata and Sarama on the other.
Pals consistent application of Hindu myths extends beyond nomenclature to allusions and
parallels. One of Debdass housemates is called Lakshman, which was the name of Rams brother in
Ramayana. Swarnalatas elopement with Bhimsinha is described time and again in terms of the
abduction of Sita by Ravana. Mentioning of the goddess Sarbamangala or of Maa Kali also refers to
Hindu religion. Sarama talks of Sabitri and Satyaban, which is an allusion to a perfect Hindu wife
defying death for her husband.
Anticipating perhaps, the insurmountable linguistic problems that a direct encounter would
provoke, Pal frequently devises means to circumvent close literal transposition and is content to
prioritise indigenisation over an alienating accuracy. His preference for acculturation through
mythological allusions acknowledges by default the complexities of negotiating the fine line between
mimicry and familiarisation and the wide gulf between the semantic, stylistic and figurative
components of the two languages. Yet he does establish a semblance of equilibrium between the poetic
substance of Othello and Bhimsinha. Following fairly closely the prose-verse division of the original;
Pal experiments with linguistic devices like figures of speech to lend a local colour. Pals use of typical
Bengali proverbs like thag bachhte gna ujar, bishkumbhah payomukhah, muktamala banarer
haste, saper mathar mani etc. lend a typical Bengali flavour to the text.
Pals signal contribution lies in the innovative choice of metre and form for the verse passages.
The balanced admixture of tripadi payar and amitrakshar chanda is symptomatic of the hybridisation
inevitable in a colonial scenario. Payar is a four line unit of two couplets with a caesura after every
twenty eight syllables and a rhyme scheme of abcb, i.e., rhyming consecutive couplets. It is one of the
most assimilative and ubiquitous verse forms in Bengali that continuously absorbs new elements and
reinvents itself while retaining its basic format. Tripadi payar is a specific variation of same formula
that splits the couplet into three units [pad] in a 2:1 ratio, each of which can be uttered normally
without a pause. Traditionally it is used for extended descriptions of incidents and situations.
On the other hand, amitrakshar chanda, a radical take-off on the payar inspired by
Shakespearean blank verse, was conceived by Madhusudan Dutt for his self-styled epicling
Meghnadbadh (The Slaying of Meghnad) (1861) based on Valmikis Ramayana but modelled on
European classics. It comprises twelve-syllabled lines and a movable caesura that occurs at the end of a
thought unit, as in blank verse, enabling a prolonged, unhindered flow of rhythm and expression.
Essentially a metropolitan Europeanised form, it was devised to facilitate Dutts declared project of
making a regular Iliad of the death of Meghnad by engrafting the exquisite graces of the Greek
mythology on our own without undermining the Hindu character of the poem Meghnadbadh
illustrates the coming of age of urban Bengali literature which consciously appropriated and deployed
occidental influences to simultaneously modernise and uphold its Hindu character. The latter is further
ensured by the profusion of chaste Sanskrit and Sanskritised Bengali in the text. There is little evidence
of amitrakshar chanda in the works of Bengali Muslims, which reinforces the paradox of utilising
heathen components to purify ones own literature and distance it from unholy contamination of the
Islamic variety. Pals adoption of amitrakshar chanda and tatsam vocabulary (i.e., words derived from
Sanskrit) aligns him lexically and stylistically with the reactionary ideological matrix of urban Bengali
Hindu high culture and its collaborative role in the colonial project even as it ekes out a distinctive
identity of its own. Further, the use of tripadi payar for less inspired passages alongside amitrakshar
soliloquies implies a hierarchy of verse forms where the popular and more secular format is branded as
inferior to its more elevated, sophisticated and uncontaminated counterpart.
Pals adaptation does not take major thematic liberties but radically otherises the context to
indigenise the play. The incorporation of epic parallels and Indian scenario mitigates the confusions
caused by the differences between the source text and the target text and simultaneously enlarges the
ideological parameters to include a religious slant. Pal experiments with several domesticating
strategies to arrive at an acceptable hybridisation, but this does not align him with modern adapters
who become virtual makers of meaning providing radical new interpretations with provocative sociopolitical localisation. The repositioning of Othello in the nineteenth century Bengali milieu is effected
through an eclectic time-space retreat into a fictional past that simultaneously Indianises and alienates
by relocating outside Bengal.
Paradoxically, internal distantiation operates in the process of seeking appropriate cultural and
linguistic equivalents as well because it eschews much of available traditional resources, especially
popular forms of entertainment and colloquial usage with its rich amalgam of non-Sanskrit vocabulary.
Shakespeares England was pervasively Christian and the dramatist was working primarily within a
monotheistic ethos (albeit with fierce sectarian rivalries) where the general connotations of God,
Christ, devil etc. would not be widely divergent. Although the majority of the affluent, educated
nineteenth-century Bengalis practised Hinduism a polytheistic religion accommodating numerous
gods and sanctioning idolatry there was a substantial community of Muslims whose religious tenets
and originary impulse were closer to Christianity. The sacred language of the two communities is also
different Sanskrit and Arabic respectively leading to distinctive usage of Bengali in the two
communities. Owing to the historical contingencies mentioned earlier, the Hindus and Muslims lived in
mutual segregation that adversely affected Bengali culture and language as a whole. Bhimsinha is
consciously confined within a Hindu Bengali ethos through its exclusionist preference for Hindu
mythological parallels and Sanskritised Bengali. Consequently, it fails to access the storehouse of
Bengali vocabulary or literature enriched by Urdu, Arabic and Persian.
There is a further sectarian bias within the communal regional parameters set for the adaptation.
The literacy rate for the third quarter of nineteenth century in British India was as follows: 1881- 4.8%;
1891 - 5.6%; 1901 - 5.3% (Population of India, 70). Bengals literacy rate, while exceeding that of the
other states, was obviously lesser, and the number of Western educated Bengalis was even less. Pals
efforts are directed at this miniscule but prominently visible minority who claimed to be the
spokespersons for the entire society while at the same time felt patronisingly towards the illiterate
masses, as the colonial sahibs felt towards [them] and subscribed to the identification between the
educated Indian and the colonial state [that] consolidated the boundary walls around school
knowledge (Heredia 368; Kumar 15). Pals Bhimsinha, thus participates in the circulation of a coterie
literature aligned with an elitist nationalism that excludes the minorities and the masses both from
readership and representation. The indigenised conflict of Shakespearean tragedy thus bears
overwhelming traces of conflicted indigenisation.
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Abhishek Chowdhury is a Ph.D research scholar at Department of English, University of Kalyani. His
research area is Shakespeare in Bengal.
Shakespeare Studies in Bengal: Bengal Renaissance and After
Arindam Mukherjee
Students came to believe firmly that there was no poet equal to Shakespeare and that English literature
was the best in the world.
----Sivanath Sastri, Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin BangaSamaj
Shakespeare and Bengal

Shakespeare studies during the days of the British Raj were undertaken for a practical purpose. With
the introduction of English education in Bengal the BhadrolokBabus had started to take up English
language well enough just to appease their colonial masters who initially in an indirect way allured
them with secured government jobs that would also provide better pay. There is no denying that, the
impact of the British rule, the introduction of the Western culture was felt first in Bengal, and it did
produce an awakening known as the Bengal Renaissance. Not only in social, cultural and political
activities had Bengal outshone the rest of the country but also in literary practices, Bengal had proved
to be the quintessence of an ideal for the whole nation. It was the initiative of Rammohan Roy, who in
the first three decades of nineteenth century brought in socio-cultural changes along with the
implementation of Western education. The debate that started between the Oriental and Occidental
systems of education resulted in a victory for the latter and thus western learning became more
necessary, as was felt even by the detractors of Rammohan like Radhakanta Deb. 1 Thus, Hindu College
was established in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1817, which fostered western education and philosophy
along with vernacular language.
Young Bengal vs. Revivalists

Just at this time, ultra-radicalism was destined to be famous under the name of Young Bengal
movement, which sprang from the precincts of Hindu College and created a furore for a period in the
conservative social life. The English radicalism possibly gave birth to this movement, which had an air
of free thought in it. The inspiration of Young Bengal came from one of the strangest figures of
Bengal Renaissance, a Eurasian named Henry Louis Vivian Derozio. By then English as a medium of
education started not only in Calcutta but also in suburban areas like Hoogly, Chinsurah,
Chandannagore and Serampore. All these places had colonial influences of the Portuguese, Dutch,
French and Danish respectively. These places were culturally and economicallymuch advanced. It is
also a fact that Serampore College established jointly by the missionaries like William Carey, Joshua
Marshman and William Ward introduced English Literature, Vernacular literature and theological
studies related to Christianity. English education in Bengal had become more cemented by the
proposals of the General Committee of Public Instruction in 1823.
Beginning of Derivative Study of Shakespeare in Bengal

The English teachers like Captain David Lester Richardson (popularly known as D. L. Richardson) had
taken the initiative and enthused in the minds of the native Indian students a true love for literature and
admiration for the greatest writer by unraveling before them the rich treasures of Shakespeares
dramatic art. Being inspired by his teachings, young students of Hindu College not only enjoyed
Shakespeare but also expressed their appreciation in enthusiastic language. Shakespeares creative
powers seen in the plays and poems did not escape Richardsons speculative insight. He saw
naturalness in Shakespeares representation of characters and surely, he was the first to realize the
naturalness that the masters creations received their universal validity and the power to appeal
forcefully to the Indian readers. However, his erudition was not free from defects as he failed to realize
the bards equal competence in creation of the glamorous and voluptuous female characters in
Shakespeares plays. Possibly, he could not do this because he was aware that the conservative
nineteenth century Bengali society was not permissive enough to accept such liberal views on women.
He even appreciated the talents of the intelligent young Hindu students who could identify the
jealousies of Othello and the ambition of Macbeth.2 Against the unstinted admiration for
Shakespeares male characters, there is discernible in Richardson a strained effort to hide his partial
views with a glorification of Shakespeares faithfulness to life with an account of less varied gallery of
women: the female characters in Shakespeares plays are less prominently marked and less
prominently distinguished than those of sterner sex. 3 Even then, Richardsons zeal in Shakespeare
studies had a most salubrious influence on the interested students of Hindu College of his time that is
evident from Macaulays documents who was then legal adviser to the Government of India and the
chairman of the Royal Public Instruction': I may forget everything about India, but your reading of
Shakespeare, never.4 Richardsons teaching of Shakespeares plays also enthralled the Indian students
and pupils like Michael Madhusudan Dutta who imbibed the poetic talents from Richardsons teaching
of Shakespeare. Apart from making the native Bengali students recite parts from Shakespeares plays,
he also made his pupils to be more interested in the adventure of the intellect by encouraging the
appreciation of Shakespeares drama on literary front. Therefore, he acted as a father figure in the
initial stages of Shakespeare studies in Bengal and helped the native students to articulate distinctly
with proper intonation and accent. A long line of Shakespearean scholars and teachers succeeded him
mostly at Presidency College and other renowned institutions of Calcutta and all of them were
Englishmen.
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, the Eurasian poet and teacher also had become a prodigy in his
short life span of twenty-three years when he taught at Hindu College. Soon he was popular with his
pupils at Hindu colleges who mostly belonged to high caste Hindus and were from affluent Bengali
families. It is learnt that as a boy Derozio acted well the role of Shylock when he was a student of
Drummonds Dhurrumtulla Academy in December 1822. 5 His sonnet on Shakespeares love tragedy
Romeo and Juliet (1827) acted as animpetus to the Young Bengal students. What is more striking is
that the epigraph to the poem, which had been taken from Byrons Don Juan, Canto-3, celebrates a
rich banquet of witty- sallies, mocking everything for the sake of love:
Oh Love! What is it in this world of ours
That makes it fatal to be loved?
No doubt, these lines possessing the effulgence of romantic yearning amidst the veil of corrosive satire
appeared as a rude shock for the Bengali Babus of the early nineteenth century. However, a century
later when the society became a little more liberal towards literature, Derozio was reassessed and read
with keen interest. The opening of the sonnet by Derozio on Romeo and Juliet is strikingly
remarkable even in this Post (--) Colonial context:
I thought upon their fate, and wept; and then
Came to my mind the silent hour of the night,
The hour, which lovers love,and long for,when
Their young impassioned soul feels that delight
Which Loves first dream bestows-How Juliets ear
Drank every soft word of her Cavalier!
(Derozios Sonnet on Romeo and Juliet-Lines-1-5)
Written in typical Petrarchan pattern, this sonnet and the one written on Yoricks Scull, in 1827, based
on his reading of Hamlet; show Derozios love and devotion for Shakespeare which highly had an
impact on his pupils of Hindu College. These young boys soon participated in scenes from
Shakespeares plays and could recite long passages from Shakespeares popular tragedies and
comedies.6 Even after his death in1831, students of Hindu College carried on the legacy of enacting
and reciting from Shakespeare with enormous competence. Rightly has Dr. R. K. Das Gupta called him
a Bengali poet who wrote poetry in English and also a poet of Bengali Renaissance who came to our
cultural life as a stormy bird and who sang new songs of life. 7 When Hindu College was renamed as
Presidency College, there were some distinguished teachers like Charles Henry Tawney, who taught
from 1864 to 1892 and was a worthy successor of Richardson in his teaching of Shakespeare. His
edition of Shakespeares Richard III, published by Macmillan, (London, 1888) became an asset to the
Indian students in no time as it was in the syllabus of postgraduate study in the three universities that
had then been established. Towards the closing decade of the nineteenth century, the stupendous
teacher Harrington Hugh Melville Percival carried Shakespeare study in Presidency College forward.H.
M. Percival's permanent contribution to Shakespeare teaching is his annotated editions of 'As You like
It' (1910), 'The Merchant of Venice' (1912), 'The Tempest' (1928), 'Macbeth' (1929) and 'Antony and
Cleopatra' (1955). Two Indian teachers like H. L. V. Derozio and H, M. Percival had deceptively
Western names but they never had any anti-nationalistic feelings and carried the profession of teaching
in oriental pattern.
H. M. Percival injected the concept of urgency in the Shakespearean debate over colonialism. In
'The Tempest', Prospero had taught Caliban how to speak but the latter also learnt how to abuse (I, ii,
363-4). Commentators in accordance with their respective ideological inclinations differently interpret
this duality. Pro-imperialists focus on the gains, which Caliban has derived out of foreign rule, while
pro-nativists harp upon the losses that he has suffered due to the same reign. However, Percival
credited Caliban with the capacity of acquiring knowledge and held him responsible for misusing it. To
prove the point, Percival refers to Caliban's high comfort level with men like Stephano and Trinculo
who have fair skin and dark hearts (Act II, scene ii). Percival, thus, believed that Caliban is neither an
epitome of evil nor a paragon of virtue. Refusing to consider the character either as a beneficiary or as a
victim of imperialism, Percival commented:
Caliban's life and character are a type of those of other American savages, seen from
their worst side. The pages of Haklyut show that the type is not an exaggeration; his
pages and those of Las Casas, and of others, Englishmen and Spaniards, show that for
the formation of this type, are answerable two causes: the inherent depravity of man in a
savage state, and the superadded depravity of the vices of the civilized mean white;
and by making Caliban take to Stephano and Trinculo at first sight, Shakespeare shows
that he means to spare neither the black nor the white man, but to paint both as they are,
and show how like goes to like. (xxxv)
His teaching tenure which lasted for thirty-one years (18801911) reflect the integrity and dedication
of his as a teacher not only of English Literature but also of Economics, History and Political
Philosophy at the honours and Post Graduate levels which show that he was a true polymath .
Unfortunately today all these editions are out of print. Until late seventies of the twentieth century
when any Bengali scholar published any edition of a Shakespearean play, the edition contained a large
number of references from Percival.8 Indeed, he was one of the most independent minded and sincere
editors of Shakespeare and his contribution to the elucidation of textual cruxes in Shakespearean
drama was outstanding.9 It is evident from the study that like the translation, the interest in academic
pursuance came from the efforts made by the English teachers.
Shakespeare in Colonial Education vis-a-vis Spirit of Nationalism

In the nineteenth century, the early indigenous critical evaluation of Shakespeare was purely the
appreciation of his genius. In the first place, the Indians simply indulged in an exuberance of praise of
the masters literary elegances in general. Hardly anybody touched or dwelt on the dramatic or stage
aspects of the plays. In 1843, Banquo Behari Dutta appreciated Shakespeares uncultivated genius. He
had admitted that though his contemporaries and successors have ruthlessly criticized Shakespeare in
his own birthplace, which according to him is coldly approved, while Shakespeare is praised to a
degree almost bordering on idolatry.10 In 1877 John Bright, in expressing his views before an English
audience remarked while introducing LalmohanGhosh before an English audience, There were as
many students of Shakespeare on the bank of the Ganges as on the bank of the Thames. (The Bengal
Harkara, 5th June 1877. Later on appeared in K.C. Lahiris- Shakespeare Criticism in Bengal J. D. E.
C. U, Vol V; 1969--70). This is most pertinent as of today the number of Shakespeare learners by the
Ganges will be a few times more because students start reading a Shakespearean play from class nine
onwards, while in England only a cross section of the population read him sincerely.
Michael Madhusudan Dutta

The legendary poet was also one of the pioneer Shakespeare critics in Bengal who wrote in English. He
is indeed the worthy successor in this field of his illustrious teacher, Captain D. L. Richardson. He was
appreciative of Shakespeares works all through and in his Shakespeare criticism; Dutta is equally
competent in the literary elegances of the master along with stage aspects of the work. In his critical
writings on Shakespeare, which appeared as stray essays in 1860, Shakespeares realistic presentation
of life have been admired highly, and his power of comprehending human passions in their extreme
intensity recognized. He observes that Shakespeares plays has the stern realities of life, lofty passion,
and heroism of sentiment.11 In this, he ranks Shakespeare with the great European dramatists, and
incidentally notices the contrast between Shakespeares realistic drama and the romantic drama of
India, which is surely the classical Sanskrit drama. However, Madhusudan ignored the romantic
characters of Shakespeares plays, as distinct from the strictly classical type of Greek and Latin dramas,
his implied occasional contrast between Shakespearean drama and Sanskrit plays, whichwere taken up
earnestly. This had gradually developed into comparative studies of dramatic situation and atmosphere,
plot and character, in the plays of Shakespeare and Kalidasa by his successors in the history of the
Bengali criticism to Shakespeare. In a letter to his actor and friend Kesabchandra Gangopadhyay, he
mentions in relation to the humour in the play Krishnakumari:
.that we Asiatic are of a more romantic turn of mind than our European neighbours.
Look at the splendid Shakespearean drama. If you leave out theA Midsummer Nights
Dream, Romeo and Juliet and perhaps one or two more, what play would deserve the
name Romantic? Romantic in the sense Sacoontala is Romantic? In the great
European drama, you have the stern realities of life, lofty passion, and heroism of
sentiment. With us, it is softness,all romance. We forget the world of reality and dream
of Fairylands.
(MadhusudanRachanabali)(Complete Works of Michael MadhusudanDutta), EditedSuresh Chandra Maitra, Model Publishing House, 1989; p. 336, Letter No. 80.)
He was one of the pioneering critics from Bengal to draw attention to the stage performance of
Shakespeares drama. He observed that Shakespeares plays are highly stage--able, though at first these
were not better acted than Indian dramas. This opinion of Dutta appears too biased but then it is
certain that the art of dramatic performances was at its infant stage. He had the Shakespearean
influence in him and he expressed it candidly to his friend Gour Basak:
Some of my friends- and I fancy that you are among them as soon as they see a drama
of mine, begin to apply the canons of criticism that have been given forth by the master
pieces of William Shakespeare. They perhaps forget that I write under different
circumstances. Our social and moral developments are of a different character.(Letter41, p. 316)
Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar

Vidyasagar, one of the pioneering leaders in the cultural Renaissance of nineteenth century Bengal was
not only a humanitarian social reformer and an innovator of a prose style for original writing in
Bengali, but also one of the first Bengali writers to have studied Shakespeares plays. This clearly
reveals that he possessed a cosmopolitan interest and catholicity in literary taste. In his occasional
criticism of Shakespeare, Vidyasagar follows the pattern of the then English educated Bengalis in his
own appreciation of Shakespeares genius in general. At the same time, he shows his distinctive
individual approach in making comparative approach of the bards particular plays. In the preface to the
Bengali comic sketch, Bhranti Bilas, that is an adaptation of the The Comedy of Errors, Vidyasagar
admires in idolatrous manner the energy of Shakespeares poetic powers and the excellent style in the
plays, but he is also speculative in pointing out the minor slips in the individual plays. He had even the
clarity of vision to see how the The Comedy of Errors is much inferior to Shakespeares other
comedies which possessed the loftiness of theme and relevant subject matter. Nevertheless, he
appreciated earnestly the amusing quality of Shakespeares storyline coupled with his rare skill in
creating humour. He has also pointed out the social responsibility of the comic artist whose prime
responsibility is to create fun, wit and laughter for the audience. In 1869, Vidyasagar made his own
assessment:
Shakespeare composed thirty five plays which proved his poetic skill as well as his art
of composition. He wrote four poetic pieces and a few pieces in poetry. The drama The
Comedy of Errors does not possess that unparalleled skill. Therefore, this play fails to
attract the attention of the audience. In order to eradicate this flaw the native name
Bhranti Bilas, has been used as this process of adaptation can never be faulty at all.
(Vidyasagar Rachanabali', 1st Volume, Edited by Tirthapati Dutta, Published byTuliKalam, p. 343, Translation mine)
The Bengali writers of the late nineteenth century had more a pro-colonial approach but the most
recognized ones had an independent mind, which made them focus on a comparative study of drama
between Shakespearean and Indian writers. They also made comparative speculations of the great
literature of the east and the west, between Shakespeares plays and Sanskrit plays of Kalidasa and
Bhababhuti. However, strangely enough their vision of life, their comprehension of human relationship
and their nature of appeal to the audience had an unexpected similarity. Their approaches from their
study in tracing similitudes are sometimes from an identical angle and at times from varied
perspectives.
Haraprasad Shastri
Despite being an oriental scholar, he had an intense interest in Western Literature, particularly the plays
of Shakespeare. Like his predecessors, he indulged in a lengthy critical comparison of Kalidasa and
Shakespeare as writers of drama. His nationalistic pride did not stand as a hindrance to his enthusiastic
recognition of Shakespeares higher power and superior artistic perfection in natural representation of
the heights and depths of human nature. He showed with competence through his own convictions how
both the poets had enormous skills in presenting the soft and sweet aspect of human nature, the tender
elegance of maidenly characters and their intense feeling of love and affection. Simultaneously Shastri
appreciates Shakespeare because of his presentation of villainy and cruelty in human kind. He also
pointed out that Kalidasas Shakuntala lacks mental maturity and intellectual acumen which most of
Shakespeares heroines have in abundance. He at first found similarity between Shakespeares
Desdemona, Miranda and Kalidasas Sakuntala which Shastris predecessor Bankim Chandra
developed meticulously. In estimating Shakespeares brilliance, he says:
As readers are fond of comparative study we have decided to discuss the talents of
Kalidasa and Shakespeare in the light of comparative study. It is difficult to find out
whose poetic talent is greater. None but Shakespeare has shown us how to create human
characters. His Miranda, Desdemona, Portia, Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth are some of
the female characters that prove the poets talents in creating the characters we ask for.
Kalidasa would admit his incompetence as he is very much aware of the goodness of
human beings and all his characters bear this quality. (Nirbachito Prabandho, 26)
Dwijendra Lal Roy

D L Roy, a Bengali poet and dramatist of distinction, also paid unstinted tribute to Shakespeares
genius. He felt Shakespeares universal appeal was primarily because of his humanistic outlook. In his
own manner, he compared Shakespeares plays with the multifarious nature of Kalidasas. The two
master creators, though separated by wide distance of time and space are placed side by side as if they
share the bond of fraternity:
Your name would be sung from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, it would be
echoed in the ocean at the south. The whole of Europe would forget the racial contempt
and admire your fame. At the distant land of the Aryans, the gentle Indian on the bank of
the Ganges considers Shakespeare as a loving brother of Kalidasa, embraces him as the
world poet, and pays homage to him reverentially. (Dwijendralal Rachanabali

(Complete Works of D. L. Roy Part-2, 54)
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

His literary predecessors tempted him to pick up the casual resemblances and significant parallelisms
of situations and characters between Shakespearean and early Sanskrit plays into a systematic and
elaborate study of comparative literature. His critical essay Sakuntala, Miranda O Desdemona (1887)
is one of his many rich and thought-provoking essays. (Bankimchandrer Nirbachito Prabandho
Sangraho (Bengali) (Selected Articles of Bankim Chandrain Bengali pp. 104-111). He pointed out in
his discussionsthe surprising similarity of the characters created by Kalidasa and those of Shakespeare,
though both the poets had not met, rather being separated from each other by many centuries and
thousands of miles. Bankim Chandras discerning eyes finds Sakuntala a divided self of halves
between Miranda and Desdemona. Young Sakuntala in Kalidasas Abhijnam Sakuntalam resembles
closely Shakespeares mature product Miranda by her simplicity and childlike innocence. Matured
Sakuntala is in Chattopadhyays view more akin to Desdemona as both the characters are calm even
in the times of embittered relations to their husbands and both show patient fidelity and consolidated
credibility of their characters.
Bankimchandra also notices this in his essay Sakuntala, Miranda O Desdemona that the two
girls are not spoiled by the gorgeous impact of the society or high-fashioned court life. Miranda more
so beyond the world of seas away from the world of men, while Sakuntala though brought up in the
hermitage with flowers and young deer in the forest, was not too far from the human inhabitants. The
critical essay also focuses on the mannerism and the nature of the two girls whose response to love
appears different because of their respective upbringing. Kalidasas heroine exhibits coyness and
modesty while Shakespeares Miranda is more frank in speech and effusive in her confession without
being the least reserve for showing her attraction and admiration for the young Ferdinand.
In the final part of the essay, Bankimchandra shows how Desdemona bears adamancy as in her
effulgence and Sakuntala realizing that the lover had wronged her, remains unwavering in her devotion
and shows her fidelity to him. Unlike Shakespeare, Kalidasa unites the couple ultimately as an oriental
aestheticism forbade tragedy, opined Chattopadhyay. Sakuntalas condition of being twice separated
from her husband is far from Shakespeares plays though Shakespeare unites estranged lovers in
Leontes and Hermione in a melodramatic fashion. However had Bankimchandra drawn another
comparative study between The Winters Tale and AbhijnamSakuntalam on the themes of child
born or token of recognition like Sakuntalas ring and Perditas scarf, his comparative study would
have been more sublime. Bankimchandras views regarding the poetic imagination of Shakespeare are
pertinent today:
The Tempest of Shakespeare depicts two qualities---anger, malice and jealousy in one
hand, and lustre, tenderness and graceful song in the other. Its a rare gift in the world of
literature. (Bankim er Nirbachto Probondho Sangraha, Bibidha Prabandha, p. 190,
1887).-(Selected Essays of Bankim Chandra).
Rabindranath Tagore
Before Rabindranath Tagore, Shakespeare study by the Bengalis was just a casual affair though it was
highly suggestive, finding out the similarity between Shakespeares works and that of Kalidasas plays.
These studies were more analytical rather than critical. It was Rabindranaths rare critical insight and
introspective bent of mind that brought a new dimension to Shakespeare study in colonial Bengal. His
artistic sympathy and keener sensibility penetrated deeper into his literary creations and revealed
intimately the poets approach to human life and Nature. Though Rabindranath touched upon the same
mode of comparative study between Kalidasa and Shakespeare, his study was more intense and
critically penetrating. In one of his critical essays titled Sakuntala, (Bengali, 1902,) Tagore elaborated
in his masterly fashion the points of similarity and contrast between the characters of Sakuntala and
Miranda. He observed their resemblances in being represented fundamentally as children of nature and
both being reared in isolation from society and growing in the simplicity of natural environment, which
his literary predecessor Bankim Chandra had not noticed. (Rabindra Rachanabali, Prachin Sahitya;
Vol.3; p. 273)
Rabindranath Tagore considered The Tempest inferior to Abhijnanam Sakuntalam in respect

of uniting man and nature. In Shakespeares play, the characters of Ariel and Caliban represent external
nature. Both represent natures unsullied energy; one standing for the crude power while the other
represents the keener essence of power. Although both are in human shape, Caliban is a beast in the
shape of a human being while Ariel is more a spirit than human being is. However, neither of the two
personifications has any loving relationships with man and both keep away from human company.
Once these creatures are liberated from bondage, they will not lament their loss of human associations
nor bear any sentiments of past remembrance. These facts appeared as a rude shock to Tagore.
The Indian Classical poet Kalidasa, in Tagores view, was not only true to the characteristic
spirit of forest civilization but also had wonderfully realized unison with man and nature. The Flora
and Fauna of Indian nature have at the same time mixed with human life in a sweet relationship, and
they gladly play their graceful role along with humanity and cosmic drama of life. In this essay
Abhijnanam Sakuntalam, Tagore observes the representation of nature. Shakespeares concept varies
radically from the art of Kalidasas conception of nature, which provides a fundamental distinction
between the western and eastern outlooks on life and the universe. In the Shakespearean plays, there is
always a conflict between man and nature for gaining supremacy and the character of the protagonist
reaches the zenith through this struggle while in the Oriental plays of Kalidasa, permanent peace
prevails between the world of humanity and the realms of natural environment. Bankim Chandra was
the first who fostered this idea in his comparative study of the plays. In the essay Abhijnanam
Sakuntalam published in the third volume, Prachin Sahitya (Ancient Literature), Tagore beautifully
brings out this contrariety very significantly:
In The Tempest man has not grown up by expanding himself through a loving union
with the universe, but has aspired to be the lord by way of subjugating and suppressing
the rest. Indeed, the spirit of antagonism, the struggle for power is most prominently
present in The Tempest. Prospero being dispossessed of his own kingdom is extending
by his magical power, his severe sway over the realms of nature. Even among the few
surviving creatures who have escaped from the clutches of impending death from the
tempestuous sea, there are conspiracies, secret attempts of murder and enormous
treacheriesall for the sovereignty of that desert island. At the end of the drama all the
conflicts come to a cessation, but nobody can be sure that they end for good that is
certainly not a treaty but peace.
(Rabindra Rachanabali Vol.3, p.729, Prachin Sahitya [Ancient Literature])
In Tagores assessment,Shakespeare has presented in his plays the diversified career of his heroes
gripped in the life and death struggle with nature, while the Indian poet Kalidasa has achieved the
greater glory of truthrealization at the end of all conflicts. He further noticed that in Shakespeares
plays, the imitation of reality has to be accurate and faithful to actual life but in Kalidasas
Abhijnanam Sakuntalam truth should not be akin to facts but of ideas and the story of life should
reach beyond death to eternity. Tagore further shows that while in Shakespeares dramas plot
construction follows the naturalistic course of cause and effect, Kalidasa projects his plot beyond the
causal chain to meet the demand of the soul, though the Divine force may intervene in these earthly
matters. What was strikingly novel about Tagores comparison of Kalidasa with Shakespeare was that
these two dramatists should not be judged by the same rules. They had their own social, cultural and
aesthetic tradition, which must be taken into account when we compare them. This is where Tagore
deviated from Bankims stand on the literary scene. Perhaps Tagores warning reveals a unique
perception of Western hegemony influencing our own literary value system. It can also be regarded as
the first step towards the post-colonial evaluation of Indian Literature, vis--vis Western Literature. It is
a pity that our Shakespeare scholars did not take Tagores observation seriously. As a result, a
breakthrough in the derivative of Shakespeare studies was postponed. Whenever Tagore mentions the
European poets in his essays, he particularly has Shakespeare in his mind and whenever he writes
about the estrangement in western drama, he suggests in the essay of the disciplined order of
Shakespeares universe. Tagore even feels that the subsequent development of plot in Kalidasa has least
similarity to that of the Shakespearean pattern. He also specified at length regarding the elements of
chance or accident in Shakespeares plays and when anything went beyond control, the bard brought in
divine intervention to bring in a satisfactory conclusion.12 In the same essay while penning on the
historical plays, Tagore cites an illustration of this from Antony and Cleopatra and points out that the
main issue in this tragedy of love is a common truth of daily occurrence.
Tagore keenly observed that Shakespeares greatness lay even in creation of realistic and
universal characters that represent the strongest relief of abiding the elements of human nature. He also
emphasized how the rich creation of living men and women possesses an eternal and universal appeal
transcending all barriers of limits and he wrote about Shakespeares concept of humanism, which
carries a permanent value through his plays. They are unaffected by eternal variety of life or by the
changing tastes or fashions of the society. He also emphasized how the basic feelings of man gets
represented in the Shakespearean plays and was impressed by his powers of revealing the eternal man
in his wonderfully varied creation of particular human specimens.
Rabindranath echoed his feelingsand paid tribute to Shakespeare on the latters tercentenary
death in 1916 through his illuminating and glorious poem in both languages in claiming that though the
sun of Shakespeares genius rose on the English horizon, the light of his creation illuminated gloriously
through the groves of the palms on the distant shores of Bengal. However, Tagores Bengali tribute Je
din udile tumi, viswa kabi, dur Sindhu pare was of greater merit, his English tribute vers d occasion
was also no less touching. Another translation of the same poem, made by Edward Thompson, was
published in 1925 as Rabindranath Tagore in the Augustan Book of Verse series. Addressing
Shakespeare, as Viswa Kabi, the world poet, which as the rendering of the original phrase, is better
than Thompsons title Universal Poet. Tagores English rendering, as follows still attracts readers:
When by the faraway sea your fiery disk appeared from behind the unseen, O poet, O
sun, Englands horizon felt you near her breast, and took you to be her own.
She kissed your forehead, caught you in the arms of her forest branches, hid you behind
her mist mantle and watched you in the green sward where fairies love to play among
meadow flowers,
A few early birds sang your hymn of praise while the rest of the woodland choirs were
asleep.
Then at the silent beckoning of the Eternal you rose higher and higher till you reached
the mid-sky, making all quarters of heaven your own.
Therefore, at this moment, after the end of the centuries the palm groves by the Indian
sea raise their tremulous branches to the sky murmuring your praise.
(Rabindranath Tagore; A Book of Homage to Shakespeare, 1916.)
The significant phrase here is took you to be her own, though it is a cramped phrase, not as close to
the original as Thompsons Englandfor her own believed you -- held you hers, and hers alone!
Tagores statement is historically pertinent. During the early modern period, Shakespeare was of
interest only to the cross section of British population alone and his contemporaries were equally
admired. Only in the eighteenth century, the English critics pointed out that Shakespeare was far above
his contemporaries or immediate successors. Even at the same time, the sensitive thinkers of Germany
and France found in Shakespeare, a writer of immense talent and unequalled genius in modern history.
That is why translators and adapters all over Europe showed interest inhis works along with the
Classical authors like Homer, Virgil, Sophocles, Aristotle, Plato and Dante. This was then the
traditional cultural heritage in Europe. Tagore has amplified significantly with images his tributary
verse on Shakespeare. As the East was exposed to the West, there was a cultural transaction between
them. The East took up Western science, literature, especially Shakespeare, the Indian philosophy;
Sakuntala and Gita were greatly admired by the West. Gradually there grew up great adulation both in
India and in the West for Shakespeare. This adulation has increased considerably in the twenty first
century, as Shakespeare has become a seminal force for the Indian writers and academics alike. That is
why the palm groves by the Indian sea sway and murmur with Shakespeares name and has become
part of Indias modern literary heritage since Tagores time. Rabindranath like AurobindoGhosh sought
to interpret Shakespeare as the supreme expression of Renaissance spirit of liberation of life force from
the bondage of medieval aestheticism. For him Shakespeares own age was an expression of that
Renaissance spirit in which man wanted to liberate his inner nature from all restrictions and allow the
complete expression of its excessive energy.13 In the essay Nara Nari (Man and Woman) in the
sequence Pancha Bhut Vol. 1, pg.895; (The five Elements), Tagore starts with illustrations from
Shakespeare. His discussions on the contrast between the supremacy of the hero and heroine in English
literature and the overshadowing of the male characters by the female in Indian literature from
Kalidasas Abhijanam Sakuntalam to Bankim Chandras Kapalkundala.
In English poetry and in prose fiction, the profundity of both the hero and the heroine is
most distinct. Othello and Iago are not lacking in brilliance beside Desdemona,
Cleopatra has completely enthralled noble Antony by her subtle snares, yet the grandeur
of the Roman triumvir is discernible to all like a broken monument. But in Bengali
literature the distinction of the heroine is to be observed
[Nara Nari (Man and Woman) in the sequence PanchaBhut (The Five Elements.) Vol.
1, p. 895].
Despite offering effusive admiration of Shakespeares genius Rabindranath at no point of time deflects
from his essential oriental philosophy. Rabindranath only sets his creative acumen and critical bent of
mind to work on Shakespeare, but never allowed Shakespeares artistic methods to be affected in his
creative writings. Only in the last decade of the nineteenth century, he was preoccupied with
Shakespeares art. In no other phases in his career do we come across any appreciations on
Shakespeare: Though Tagore did not write plays after Shakespearean pattern, it is with Shakespeare
that he belongs rather than any other English writer. (Shakespeare and Rabindranath - A Literary
Miscellany by T. N. Sen, p. 52; Rupa & Comp, 1972)
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy

Better known as Sir A. P. C. Roy today, he has been a scientist-critic of Shakespeare in Bengal of no
mean stature, and true to his spirit of science, his has been a humanistic interpretation of Shakespeares
plays. He has not simply been a chemist of international repute and a pathfinder for the economic
regeneration of his country through initiating the spirit of industrial enterprise in a country still in
bondage, but one who preached untiringly humanism all his life. He also taught his fellow citizens how
to adopt the scientific and rational attitudes in all the matters and interests of life, particularly literary
appraisal and religious pursuits.
A. P. C. Roy himself showed the way by appreciating Shakespeares essential humanism and
freedom from political and religious partisanship. He pointed out that Shakespeare was universally
acclaimed because of his understanding and representing the universal human nature with all its
inherent weaknesses and native dignity, not reflecting any particular age or time:
Shakespeare took up his pen when the country was passing through serious theological
controversies and the monarchy of England had more than a single claimant. It is
perfectly natural, then, that the present day critic will be very much interested to know
whether Shakespeare was a Papist or anti-Papist. Like every other question, this too
affords no easy solution. We may search all his dramas in vain to know what actually his
political as also religious views had been and the remark that critics have found reasons
for thinking him a catholic, an Anglican, a Puritan, a free- thinker, but a conflict of their
opinions only shows how well the dramatist kept his secret holds perfectly true. After
many troubles, we have to discover that we stand at the same place from where we had
to start.
(P.C.Roy, The Shakespearean Puzzle - Endeavours after its Solutions p. 46, 1940)
In P. C. Roys view, the artist in Shakespeare assumes freely the attitudes and views of most varied
characters and creeds, without losing in such faiths by his own outlook, which was fundamentally
human. His independent study of Shakespeares plays were clearly reflected in the series of articles
contributed to The Calcutta Review from November 1939 and later published in a book entitled The
Shakespearean Puzzle- Endeavours after its Solutions. He has discussed the main problems in
Shakespeare study, from the life and career of the man to the authenticity and emendation of the text. In
the book, he has also made intensive study of the Elizabethan social conditions, history of the
Elizabethan stage and the condition of the players and playwrights in Shakespeares London. Such
exhaustive studies were rationally in the right spirit. They possess scientific touches, which scholarly
Bengalis did not dare to think to do before him.
Aurobindo Ghosh
Since his student days at Kings College, Cambridge, he made significant responses to Shakespeare
through his comparative essay on Shakespeare and Milton, which fascinated his examiner Oscar
Browning.14 Immediately after this incident he wrote a letter to his father, which shows his original
bent of mind since the age of eighteen as a student:
In this essay (a comparison between Shakespeare and Milton), I indulged my oriental
tastes to the top of their bent, it overflowed with rich and tropical imagery, it abounded
in antithesis and epigrams and it expressed my real feelings without restraint or
reservation. I thought myself that it was the best thing I had ever done, but at school it
would have been considered as extraordinarily Asiatic and bombastic. (2nd Dec, 1890).
To understand his poetry one must delve deep into numerous insights and his critical observations on
Shakespeare that he made by a commentary further expounding and applying them. His Future Poetry
and Last Poems contain numerous Shakespearean echoes and refers even to Homer. One such poem
is:
One dreamed and saw a gland write Hamlet, drink
At the Mermaid, capture immortality;
A committee of hormones on the Aegeans brink.
(Composed The Iliad and the Odyssey. [Last Poems, Pondicherry, 1952], p. 27.)
He has treated the essential Shakespeare in brief under the three aspects and hit off in his two lines in
the verse. The drinking at the Mermaid brings out poetic exuberance from the effect of intoxication
with the vital spirit of life. The captivation by immortality sums up a much greater propensity for
Shakespeare and he rightly becomes as in Thorpes dedication to the sonnet our ever living poet. 15
He has categorized the greatest poets of the world and placed Shakespeare along with Homer, Valmiki
and Vyasa as poets of first class.16 In the second row he places Dante, Kalidasa, Aeschylus, Sophocles,
Virgil and Milton. Goethe stands out in the solitary grandeur in the third group. He has compared all
the writers with Shakespeare and on one such occasion, he shows how Shakespeare outstrips Goethe in
profundity and poetic originality:
Yes, Goethe goes much deeper than Shakespeare; he has an incomparable greater
intellect than the English poet and sounded problems of life and thought Shakespeare
had no means of approaching even. But he was certainly not a greater poet; I do not find
myself very ready to admit either that he was Shakespeares equal. He wrote out of high
poetic intelligence but his style and movement nowhere came near the poetic power, the
magic, the sovereign expression and profound or subtle rhythms of Shakespeare.
Shakespeare was a supreme poet and, one might almost say nothing else. (Letters of Sri
Aurobindo -Third Series: On Poetry and Literature, Bombay, 1949), pp. 305-6.)
He justifies in his own way why there were no greater poets than Homer or Shakespeare. He explained
their essential forces and beauty and not of the scope of their works as a whole; for there were poets
greater in range but their strength and achievements over a larger field was less than the whole dramatic
world of Shakespeare. Comparing Miltons poetic excellence with Shakespeares multifarious
brilliance, he writes in one of the letters:

Shakespeares poetry, for instance, is that of a man with a vivid and many sided
response to life; it gives the impression of a multifarious knowledge of things but it was
a knowledge picked up from life as when Miltons gets a certain colour from his studies
and learning; in neither case is the genius or the excellence of the poetry due to culture,
but there is a certain turn or colouring in Milton which would not have been there
otherwise and which is not there in Shakespeare. It does not give any superiority in
poetic excellence to one over the other. (Letters p. 278, sic)
In comparing Shakespeare and Goethe, Sri Aurobindo has used the phrase an absolute, intensely
inspired inevitability and he justifies this epithet with suitable instances from the great tragedies like
Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and KingLear. This clearly indicates his philosophic bent of mind and
intense love for Shakespeare. To him Shakespeare has found for the highly original turns to which he
has subjected to the idea of retribution, a verbal scheme with a warp of repetition and a woof of variety,
which combines both awe and bewilderment. In comparing Shakespeare and Racine, Sri Aurobindo let
Racine come nowhere near Shakespeare:
It might be said of Shakespeare that he was not predominantly an artist but rather a
great creator, even though he has an art of his own, especially of dramatic architecture
and copious ornament; but his work is far from being always perfect. In Racine, on the
other hand, there is an unfailing perfection; Racine is the complete poetic artist. But if
comparisons are to be made, Shakespeares must be pronounced to be the greater poetry,
greater in the vastness of its range, in its abundant creativeness, in its dramatic height
and power, in the richness of his inspiration-even though he sinks to flatness which
Racine would have abhorred and generally a glory of Gods making which is unique.
(Letters pp.138-139)
He also elsewhere calls attention to the lines of Hamlets dying words particularly the semantic and the
phonetic effect, which strike us with the absoluteness of pain of living:
Shakespeares lines have a skilful and consummate rhythm and word combination, but
this gets its full value as the perfect embodiment of a profound and moving significance,
the expression in a few lines of a whole range of human experience. (Letters p.4)
Sri Aurobindo was one of the first Bengalis to have responded and commented on Shakespearean
Sonnets. Taking up sonnet 86, about the Rival Poet, he speaks in undertone:
Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write?
About a mortal pitch, that struck me dead. (ll 5 - 6)
The implicit irony of these lines is a compliment to Shakespeare. We may feel an ironical or satirical
undertone, the hyperbole itself serving quietly as a weapon of ridicule. Sri Aurobindo takes up the
significant line of sonnet 73, Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang. This portrays
leafless trees devoid of birds in chilly weather. This evokes many cathedrals and churches whose
choirs, once rich with beautiful ornaments and hangings are filled with sitting boys in a row. He brings
a new sensitive appreciation in the rhythmic pattern of Shakespearean sonnets that his predecessor
critics in Bengal failed to point out. In Aurobindos own words as he judges Shakespeares plays, it is
not a drama of mere externalized action, for it lives from within and more deeply than our external
life. He further continues his original appreciation in The Future Poetry (pp. 100-101).
More than any other poet Shakespeare has accomplished mentally the legendary feat of
the impetuous sage Viswamitra. His power of vision has created a Shakespearean world
of his own, and it is, in spite of its realistic elements, a romantic world in a very true
sense of the word, a world of the wonder and free power of life and not of its mere
external realities, where what is here dulled and hampered finds a greater enlarged and
intense breath of living, an ultra-natural play of beauty, curiosity and amplitude.
However, the saint and seer was fascinated by the phrase Elizabethan Viswamitra, but such a phrase
appears not only paradoxical but also epigrammatic. To mark how Shakespeare is different from other
writers in structural pattern and thematic relevance, Aurobindo writes with alacrity:
It is needful in any view of the evolution of poetry to note the limits within which
Shakespeare did his work, so that we may fix the point reached; but still within the work
itself his limitations do not matter. And even his positive defects and lapses cannot lower
him, because there is an unfailing divinity of power in his touch which makes them
negligible. (The Future Poetry, 101)
When Sri Aurobindo says the limits within which Shakespeare did his work refers to the appeals of
the dramas to the inner self than to the external life, his view as an orientalist had attracted even the
European readers. Moreover, his habitual interest lay in shaping our ends rather than in the divinity. He
has not only given an Asiatic treatment to the Bard but also showed that the Indian vision of the
world and existence was wider and intense than Shakespeares works because it embraced substances
much above life that connected to the whole universe including Nature and cosmos. This interpretation
appears not only stimulating but also unique. K. D. Sethna considers Aurobindo as one of the finest
literary critics particularly of Shakespeare. (Sri Aurobindo on Shakespeare by K. D. Sethna, p. 102)
The Detractors of Shakespeare in Colonial Bengal

Rabindranaths nephew Balendranath Tagore was a detractor of Shakespeares plays. He emphatically
pointed out that on his reading of the dramas he was of the impression that the playwright did not
possess the power to socialize with nature though he loved nature whole-heartedly. He felt that nature
overshadowed the characters and incidents but it did not have rapport with them as it has a pervading
presence in the Sanskrit plays. Commenting on The Tempest, he feels that the whole play takes place
in a lonely island and there lacks a proper bonding or social affinity between nature and the dramatist.
He further feels that a bulk of devilish powers have so long ruled over the desolate area undisputedly.
When Prospero the rightful Duke of Milan is sent to that island, the two inhabitants of the island, Ariel
and Caliban, become frightened with him and obey the duke only to get back their freedom. They have
not been in any relationship with either Prospero or Miranda despite living in the island for many years.
Ariel and Caliban serving Prospero represent the typical oppressed subaltern victims of postcolonial
study of today. He feels that Shakespeare has shown the humanity estranged from nature and at the
same time subjugating her:
Shakespeares idea about love has no relationship with nature. When the characters are
in ecstatic love, they yearn for the past happy days and the present gets intermingled and
glorified. But nature plays the role of a foe who dwindles like a shadow. The greatest
examples are the love-scenes of Lorenzo-Jessica in The Merchant of Venice and that of
Ferdinand-Miranda in The Tempest. (1891)
(Shakespeare Chaturtha Janma Satabdi Swarak Grantha), pg.11.
Purna Chandra Basu, in the first decade of the twentieth century dissects Shakespeares Macbeth
ruthlessly and does not hesitate to call it not a tragedy but a slaughter house. He could not withstand
the series of murders from the beginning to the end. He points out that in such a devastating tragedy,
repentance is noticed only once through the utterance of Lady Macbeth whose nature was the most
heinous. He feels that this outcome was necessary for the sake of tragedy:
All the great plays of Shakespeare have shown us such hideous incidents that shake our mental
balance. The last act of Hamlet seems to be a slaughterhouse. All the plays like Richard II,
King John, Coriolanus and other tragedies are depicted with the theme of morbidity. In
Julius Caesar, the words Beware the Ides of March (I, ii, 23) - have been echoed so
shockingly that our hearts are filled with pity and horror that our hearts are shaken when we
think of these words after the murder of Caesar. Where has the dramatic pathos gone? Even
today, I stand afar on hearing the name of Hamlet. I have resolved not to read Shakespearean
tragedies anymore.
(Sahitye Khun Murder in Literature pg.11-12, 1906)

Priyanath Sen, another intellectual of the early twentieth century, opines that a poet like Shakespeare
can boast of his creation and excellence and it is for the critics to recognize it. Considering the play
The Tempest, Sens view is that the chain of events are incoherent and the story line is fragmentary.
Even then, the playwright has suggested that the dramatist has shown superbly the humanism of the
different characters. In a similar fashion like Tagores Chitrangada, Shakespeare has composed the
character of Miranda who does not possess shyness and hesitation and above all education. Sen cites
instance from Mirandas blatant appeal to her lover to marry her. He further cites similarities between
Shakespeares and Kalidasas epic:
It would be illogical if Shakespeare paints Miranda as a wanderer in the forests in the form of
cultural Uma. Our hearts will not only accept it but it will appear out of the way place if the
simple and emotional dialogues of Miranda are put in the lips of refined Uma. (Sic, 1909)
Dawn of Academic Studies on Shakespeare in Bengal

The tradition of comparative study of Shakespeares plays and similar works in literature continued in
the first half of the twentieth century though such critical ventures tended to shift from greater literary
circles to the narrower periphery of academic sphere. The emphasis of teaching Shakespeare in the
confines of classroom had started since the days of D. L. Richardson and the greatest of the English
teachers both at Hindu College and at Presidency College were initially Englishmen who enthralled the
minds of young learners by exploring the treasures of Shakespeares plays. In 1910, Lalit Kumar
Banerjee was a successful Shakespeare teacher in a Calcutta college who was also an original writer
and critic. He was one of the pioneers among the Bengalis to observe a parallelism between a
Shakespearean creation of Miranda and a character of Bankimchandra Chattopadhyays novel
Kapalkundala. He was the first to point out that both the heroines Kapalkundala and Miranda met
their lovers Naba kumar and Ferdinand respectively on the seashore. Apart from pedagogic excellence
from men like H. M. Percival, P. C. Ghosh, Manmohan Ghosh and others, the Bengali academics
became more interested in research and in bringing out good editions of Shakespeares plays for
helping the students to perform well in the examination and for better understanding of Shakespeare in
the classroom. In Shakespearean scholarship, the University of Calcutta, the pioneer University in
Bengal, had conducted research on Shakespeare studies not only on literary and linguistic side but also
in social and historical perspectives. Nevertheless, these were mostly appreciative and interpretative
rather than analytical in scientific spirit. During the days of colonial rule, the Bengali academic
scholars were more concerned with the poetry and philosophy in Shakespeare rather than with the
dramaturgical, technical and textual problems of Shakespeare. The most significant article is Srikumar
Banerjees Hamlet and Ophelia, published in Presidency College Magazine (1945). This is
undoubtedly the first thought provoking article along with Mohini Mohan Bhattacharyyas books like
Courtesy in Shakespeare (Calcutta University, 1940) and Elizabethan Stage and the Audience of
Shakespeare. (Calcutta University, 1948) Both the works have a bearing on an important aspect of
Elizabethan social life and manners. They represent photographic sketches of Shakespeares stage,
audience and theatre. A few editions of individual plays that had come out evince remarkable analytical
insight and the beauty of expression. A work like Jitendralal Banerjee or Srikumar Banerjees editions
of Macbeth could be compared favourably with English counterparts like the edition of Verity or
Deighton. These editions were not only commercially successful but were very popular among the
students.
Scholars realized their difficulty in research works on Shakespeare, which could not be done
because of the paucity of resources and inadequate exposure to contemporary western criticism.
Primarily the works that were done did not match with the tradition of high standard of Shakespeare
teaching in the classrooms in Calcutta. Though it was a matter of regret, the reasons were obvious. The
failure had been not because of any inability or incompetence of the academics and researchers, but
because of non-availability of critical and original materials and difficulties to access to source
materials and authentic documents.
Notes and References

1Susobhan
Sarkar, On the Bengal Renaissance,(Calcutta,Papyrus,3rd Ed.2002.),p.16.
2K.C.Lahiri,
Shakespeare Criticism in Bengal, Journal of the Dept. of English, Calcutta University;
(Vol.V,No.i,1969-70);p.23.
3
Ibid.
4Taraknath
Sen, Presidency College and Shakespeare, Shakespeare Commemoration Volume, Presidency
College, Calcutta,(1966),p.vii.
5Report
of Indian Gazette December 31 st 1822. Later reprinted in Ananda Lal and Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.)
Shakespeare on the Calcutta Stage,(Calcutta,Papyrus,2001),p.33.

6Ibid.
(p.24-25).
7Dr.Abirlal
Mukhopadhyay, et. al. Complete Works of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, (Calcutta, Progressive
Publishers, 2001),p.xvi.
8Popular
editions of Srikumar Banerjee, S. C. Sen Gupta, D. N. Ghosh and Sadananda Chakravorty contained
frequent references to Percivals text.

9Taraknath
Sen,p.xix.
10Srikumar
Banerjee (Ed.)Shakespeare Chaturtha Janma Satababdi Swarak Grantha, (Kolkata, 1964) p.42.
11ibid.
12Sahitya(Literature):
13JibanSmriti
14
Tagores correspondence with his friend Lokendranath Palit, Letter No.4.
(Memoirs) Vol.9;Bhagna Hriday (Broken Heart), Vol.14; 1911.
Indian Thoughts on Shakespeare-Edited by: Goutom Ghosal (School of Sri Aurobindo Studies,
Calcutta,1998; pp.5. Oscar Browning remarked on the essay It was wonderful.

15ThropesSonnet
No:115.
16
Sri Aurobindo on Shakespeare- K. D. Setna, p.8.
Dr Arindam Mukherjee holds a PhD from Dept of English, University of Calcutta. He teaches English
at a Government school in Hooghly, West Bengal, India.
French Educationists in Colonial Chandernagore: A Tale of a

College.
Antara Mukherjee
In 1673 a Frenchman, Duplessis, bought twenty Arpints of land, approximately sixty bighas, in
Tautkhana, north of Chandernagore , for four hundred and one rupees and stepped into one of the
important trading ports of colonial Bengal. His stay, in this Granary of the East however was short
lived. Reeling under a debt of eight thousand rupees, Duplessis, as well as the French, left
Chandernagore. From the letter of Walter Cavell, the chief representative of the English Companies at
the Bay, one comes to know about the arrival and departure of Duplessis: They made a small house
near the Dutch factory, from which the Dutch by their application and present to the Moores have
routed them, & they thereupon pretendedly but really because they can borrow no more money, have
lately left Hugly & are intended for the Coast in an open boat, & taking a long farewell of Bangala
where they are indebted about rupees 8,000 ( qtd. in Hooghly Zella: Sekal-O- Ekal, 85). Within few
years, in 1688, French East India Company got permission from Emperor Aurangzeb to set up factory
house at Chandernagore and brought nine hundred and forty two hectors of land. Accordingly, in 1690,
Andra Boureau Deslandes, set up a permanent factory house at Chandernagore and a new chapter - of
French settlement in Chandernagore in colonial history of Bengals began. European Settlement in
colonial Chandernagore mostly developed on the eastern part of the city, near the Bhagarathi/Hooghly
river, in the surrounding areas of Fort d Orleans (1695). In contrast to this posh, fort area lies the three
adjoining villages Borokishanpur, Khalishani and Gondolpara which coalesced to form the entire
Chandernagore. In Chandannagorer Sonkhipto Itihas [A Brief History of Chandernagore ] Biswanath
Bandyopadhyay observes the gradual conversion of Chandernagore from a rural to an urban habitat in
the colonial times: Gore uthlo kella, Kaman boslo, Gongar dhare toiri holo Strand, Latsaheber bari.
Dole dole sahebra ese baganbari banalo, kuthi gore uthlo. Toiri holo sada elaka, kalo elaka. Sada elakai
toiri holo chowra rasta aar nistorongo gram Chandandannagore porinoto hote laglo sohore, ekti ullekh
joggyo byabsakendro [Gradually canons were installed to fortify the fort, Strand was constructed by
the side of the Ganges and Governors house was built. Frenchmen flocked to Chandernagore and built
factory houses and garden houses. The entire area was divided into White and Black localities.
Beautiful and broad roads were constructed in the White locality and soon a village turned into a city, a
renowned trading port centre.] (19). Thus during the French rule, Chandernagore shuffled off its rural
coil and flourished immensely as a modern, cosmopolitan city.
One of the principle trajectories of developments of this French ruled city was the establishment
of a Higher Educational Institute, popularly known as Duple College, by the French missionaries in
the posh, fort area of the city. Incidentally, Duple is the Bengali nomenclature for General Dupleix,
the French Governor who ruled Chandernagore from 1731-1741. Generally speaking, there are two
separate views regarding the origin of the College. The populist view is that the seed of the College
was sown in a free primary school in 1835, known as Piru Saheb-er School [The School of Mr. Piru].
Initially, the school was partly funded by the French Indian Government at Pondicherry and partly
relied upon contributions from generous residents of Chandernagore. Originally the school was located
on the south-west of Fort de Orlean, by the Grand Trunk Road, known then as Rue de Paris. It was later
shifted to the Barabazar area of the city. Sri Harihar Sett, the first President of the Free City of
Chandernagore, believes that this school, under the supervision of Father Barthet, was converted to
College. In other words, the school which later came up at Rue General Martain (later Rue Barabazar),
was taken over and re-established by Rev. Fr. Magloire Barthet, a Jesuit priest of the order of Frres de
Saint Esprit. Contrary to this view lies the conviction of Basanta Kumar Samanta, ex-Principle of the
College, who traced its origin to another school known as Rissy Saheb-er School[ The School of M.
Rissy] . M. Piru, however, was only a teacher in the school, which was headed by M. Rissy (Majumder
11). Majumdar finally concludes that St. Mary's Institution or Ecole de Saint Marie developed from
either of the schools in 1862 from which College Dupleix came into existence in 1901. After initial
closedown the College was reopened as College de Bussy in 1895 and since 1948 the College was
renamed as Chandernagore College (12).
St. Mary's Institution or Ecole de Saint Marie was a free primary school, Ecole Elementaire,
where French and Bengali had been taught. Sudhir Kumar Mitra in History of Hooghly District in
Bengali notes Eha Sorkar kotrik porichalito hoi ebong ei college e onanyo Bhashar sohit Brevet
Elementaire porjonto Forashi bhasha sikkha dewa hoi[This college was run by the French
Government and along with other languages french language was also taught up to the Brevet
Elementaire standard] (447). In fact the French missionaries gave maximum stress in teaching French
to native students. Jogendrakumar Chattopadhaya in Smrite Sekal [Memories of Those Days] notes that
Oi school e forasi bibhager chatroder beton chilona, seijonyo oi school e forasi bibhage doridra
chatrogon e odhayon korito[ Most of the poor students got enrolled into the french section because
education was available for free] (139). Interestingly enough, English was not the official language in
French-ruled Chandernagore. So, initially, this school which was run by the French missionaries, gave
utmost importance to teaching French rather than English. When entire Bengal was engrossed in
receiving English education, St. Marys Institution, Chandernagore, was offering free French
education to students. The students, interested in learning English, however, thronged to Gorbati
School of Chandernagore. Gradually, due to the pressing need for English education, an English
section, Ecolo Anglaise, was opened alongside the earlier French section in 1872. As per necessity,
arrangements were made with the British government to let the students of the English section of St.
Mary's Institution appear for the Entrance examination under the University of Calcutta. When St.
Mary's Institution was handed over to the French Indian Government on December 15, 1887 by the
missionaries, the institution was secularised and came to be known as Ecole Publique de garons or
Boys' Public School. In 1891, First Arts (F.A.) course was introduced and the Institution was divided
into two sections School or Junior section and College or Senior section. The journey of the College
thus officially begun only in 1891and was affiliated to the University of Calcutta for Intermediate
classes up to the First Arts (F.A.) standard. The main teachers in 1891 include Pyarimohan
Bandyopadhyay (French), Nandalal Bhattacharya ( English), Shyamlal Sarkar (Science), Gour Krishna
Kar (Mathematics), Dwaityabhanjan Bhattacharya (Sanskrit), Shyamacharan Saha (History). Students
of the Institution first appeared for the F.A. Examinations in 1893, with three students, passing in the
second division and three passing in the third division. Apart from Intermediate classes, the College
then had an English school section, teaching up to the Matriculation standard of the University of
Calcutta, and a French section teaching up to the standard of Brevet Elementaire of the French
curriculum. In terms of administration, the College followed the Directorial system, with a Director and
a Sub-Director for both the school and the College sections. The institution was placed under the
control of the Chef du Service de l'Instruction publique[Director of Public Instruction]. The College
had five French Directors from its
affiliation in 1891 to its shutdown in 1908: M. De Larue,
M.J.F.Duillo, M.Sirot, M.F.Decosta and M. Poudens. In 1893 the eminent Indian revolutionary, Sri
Charu Chandra Roy, a native of the soil, was appointed as a Professor of English in the institution. A
member (later President) of the revolutionary group Bandhav Sammilani at Gondalpara, Sri Roy was
led into the mainstream of revolutionary activities by Barindra Kumar Ghose, brother of Aurobindo
Ghose. He was, for a long time, the Sub-Director (and the Director for a short while in 1903) of the
College and was widely popular. His fervent patriotism, towering personality, depth of knowledge and
selfless love for the students made him popular among the young revolutionaries. It was he who was
largely responsible for the emergence of the College as among the epicentres of revolutionary activities
that followed the Partition of Bengal in 1905. Among his students were eminent revolutionaries like
Upendranath Bandopadhyay, Narendranath Bandopadhyay, Rash Behari Bose, Srish Chandra Ghosh,
Dr. Nagendranath Ghosh, Kanailal Dutta and Manindranath Nayek. It was this group of revolutionaries
- known infamously as the Chandernagore gang in the report of Charles Tegart on the revolutionary
activities in Bengal in 1913 - that was involved in a number of activities such as the spread of Swadeshi
and boycott in Chandernagore, the obtaining of arms from France and supplying them to various
revolutionary groups, the attempt to blast the train of Andrew Fraser at Mankundu, the supply of arms
at Alipore Jail, Kolkata, for the murder of the treacherous Naren Goswami by Kanailal Dutta, the
attempt at the life of M. Tardival, the Mayor of Chandernagore, and finally the granting of shelter to
Aurobindo Ghose ( Majumdar 21). It must be noted that there is hardly any documented evidence to
trace whether the College campus was used as a centre for revolutionary activities.
Yet the ever-increasing participation of the students and the youth of Chandernagore in the antiBritish revolutionary activities alarmed the British rulers. In 1908 Charu Chandra Roy was arrested by
the British police due to his alleged involvement in the Maniktala bomb conspiracy case and the
College was shutdown on account of its role in the spread of revolutionary activities. Although official
records stated that college classes were abolished due to lack of students, it was evident that the French
government had been under pressure from the British. Prof. Sudhangshu Sekhar Datta opines that the
French Indian Government found it difficult to continue the Intermediate classes attached to College
Dupleix, and ultimately had to abolish them in the year 1908 (25). By this time, the College was
known as College Dupleix. This renaming of the College, from Ecole Publique de garons to
College Dupleix, took place in 1901, by an order from the French Indian Government, in memory of
the great French General Joseph Franois Dupleix.
College Dupleix, thus abolished by the French Indian Government, remained closed for a period
of twenty three years. However, efforts were made towards the end of 1917 by Sri Hari Har Sett who
promised to bear all costs for two successive years for the maintenance of the College (Datta 1) if the
College was re-established. Although M. Martinaux, the then Governor of French India, agreed to this
proposal and issued an Arrt dated July 27, 1918 to this effect, it didnt come into effect, as the new
Governor, M. Gerbinis, was not in favour of spreading English education (Datta 2). The efforts of Sri
Narayan Chandra De, the then Mayor of the city of Chandernagore, too, turned futile as the grants
which he had promised on behalf of the Municipality was considered inadequate by the Conseil
Gnral (General Council) of French India. Thus from the year 1908 till 1930, Chandernagore could
only look forward to and rely on the mercy of Hooghly College (now Hooghly Mohsin College) for
imparting higher education to her children. The third attempt at reopening the College was given by Sri
Charu Chandra Roy, the then Mayor of Chandernagore as well as a member of the Conseil Gnral.
Aided by M. Champion, the then Administrator of Chandernagore, Roy was able to bring home to the
French Indian Government the dire necessity of reinstating the abolished College-classes in
Chandernagore (Datta 2), and the latter ultimately had to yield to the popular demand voiced through
him as well as many others. In 1931 the new Governor of French India, M. Adrien Juvanon, granted
Rs. Six thousand for the re-establishment of the College and Charu Chandra Ray granted Rs. Four
thousand on behalf of the Municipality and the long-closed College was finally re-established as
College Dupleix.
College Dupleix was established in a separate building, Somerset House, a rented house on the
south of the Kuthir Math area of Chandernagore. Due to a rapid increase in the student strength in the
Junior section, there was a dearth of space to commence the Intermediate course. Incidentally, in 1907,
the F.A. course of the Calcutta University was discontinued and a two-year Intermediate course (in
Science Stream as well as in Arts stream) was introduced. This Intermediate course of the College
began in a rented building and the French named this institution as Cours d'Intermediate which was
affiliated to the I.A. and I.Sc standard of the Calcutta University (Datta 3). Sitish Chandra Basu
observes : On the 4th of July 1931, after a brief official ceremony, presided over by late Sri
Devaprasad Sarvadhikary, the college was started in a rented house on the south of the
Kutirmat(original emphasis; 13). Thus the previous Senior and Junior Sections of the Institution now
acquired completely separated identities the Intermediate College and the Higher Secondary School.
The College, on its re-establishment, was kept on an experimental basis from 1931 to 1939. During the
initial two to three years the institution was run by French administrators like M. V. Champion, M. H.
Vendome, M. J. desEssars and M. R. Bartheux. In 1932, M.J. Buffard, the teacher of French, was
temporarily appointed the Principal of the College (Basu13).
The laboratory equipments and library of the College were in a deplorable state. For this
purpose, Sri Charu Chandra Roy secured donation of valuable books from a number of benevolent
gentlemen of Chandernagore. While M. V. Champion and M. Lehureux donated collections of French
Books, Sri Panchanon Banerjee of Gondalpara, Sri Satyakishore Banerjee of Telenipara, Sri Phatiklal
Das, Ex-Director of the college, donated valuable books on History, English literature and Sanskrit
respectively (Basu 14). During this year 120 students were admitted; eighty four in the First year and
thirty six in the Second year. The institution was placed under the direct control of Governor of the
French India, and was financed by the French Indian Government which realised an annual grant from
the local Municipality (Datta 3). In October, 1933, Sri Dhirendranath Mukherjee, the Professor of
Mathematics, was appointed the Principal of the College. Sitish Chandra Basu opines: Sri
Mukherjee was a very efficient man. He fought with the government continuously for the continuance
of this institution to which the government of the time was not favourably disposedevery year the
College ran the risk of being abolished. It was mainly through the efforts of Sri Dhirendranath
Mukherjee that such an unpleasant consequence was averted (15).
Prof Sudhanshu Sekhar Datta also notes that due to a rapid increase in the student strength from
year to year the need for a wider accommodation was felt Accordingly, the College was shifted from
the old rented house to a new one with wider accommodation(3). The College was now shifted to
Bholanath Nandis house where from, in due course, a permanent building of the College rose. A
permanent status was finally given to the College in 1938 as it came under the Public Instruction
Department of the French Indian Government and the service of the College staff was regularised.
Once more the name of the College was changed. College Dupleix- Cours d Intermediate now came
to be known as College Dupleix Section dEtudes Superieures Franco- Anglaises de
Chandernagor( Majumdar 31).
During the visit of Chef du Service de l'Instruction publique [Director of Public Instruction]
in 1944, Principal Sri Dhirendranath Mukherjee proposed the necessity of introducing Degree course,
in the Section d Etudes Superieures Franco-Anglaises (Basu 17). The Chef responded positively but
requested to wait till the end of the Second World War. After the war, in order to separate the College
from the school section, an Arrt issued by the Chef du Service de l'Instruction publique in 1945 and
the name of the College was changed to 'College de Bussy', after the French General de Bussy. On 27 th
November 1947, Chandernagore became a free city- free from the control of Pondicherry. The
administrative council of the Free City was interested in the development of higher education and thus
concentrated on the expansion of the College. Due to the expansion of work, a second teacher of
Mathematics was appointed [] Sri Sudhanshu Sekhar Datta ( Basu 17).On 17 th May, 1948 College
de Bussy was renamed Chandernagore College by virtue of an administrative order which also caused
the Junior section of the School to be named as Kanailal Vidyamandir, after the famous revolutionary
and martyr Kanailal Dutta. The wide popularity of the College due to the brilliant instruction and
University results now called for degree courses. By this time the financial admistration of
Chandernagore was transferred to Chandernagore Municipal Assembly. The body consisted of local
members who realized the necessity of degree courses at Chandernagore. Financial assistance from the
body was well complemented with the efforts of Prof. Sudhangshu Sekhar Datta who was also a
member of the Representative Assembly at Pondicherry. Accordingly, Degree courses (Pass Course)
were introduced in the college in the year 1947-48 in English, Bengali, Sanskrit, Philosophy, History,
Accountancy and Mathematics, together with the introduction of Honours courses in English and
French. Majumdar notes that along with the degree courses, Intermediate Commerce course,
Commercial Arithmetic and Commercial Geography were also taught (35). In 1948 science subjects
Pass course in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and Honours Course in Mathematics were
introduced and taught in a separate building, constructed within the College campus. In 1949 B.Com
classes were started and in the Degree classes Honours affiliation was secured in Economics and in
History (Basu 19). Chandernagore College now became a self-sufficient institution. The tutorial staff
was strengthened by fresh recruitment and the library was enlarged to meet the growing demand.
Though the pay structure of the staff was not at par with the teachers at colleges under West Bengal
Administration, Prof Datta notes, the efficiency of the teaching staff of the College is of very high
order and is not in any way inferior to that of the Colleges maintained by the West Bengal Govt (5)
On 2nd May 1950, Chandernagore was included in the Union of India as a Union Territory,
before being included in the state of West Bengal on 2nd October in the same year. On 9th June 1952
Chandernagore became completely merged with the Government of India by a treaty of cession with
the French (Basu 19). Sri B.B. Roy, who was in charge of the administration of Chandernagore,
appointed Sri Phanibhusan Mitra, Professor of Physics, as the new Principal. The responsibility of the
college, too, went in the hands of the Government of West Bengal in 1954, following the
recommendations of the Jha Committee, article XIV of the Indian Constitution, which stated that the
maintenance of Chandernagore College should be the responsibility of the State Government. Since
then, it has flourished profoundly. Presently, Chandernagore College is affiliated to the University of
Burdwan and has been considered equipped enough to run Post-graduate degree courses. Interestingly
enough, the joint efforts of the French and the Bengalis, which contributed to the advancement of the
institution, is, perhaps, best reflected in the successful commencement of Post graduate courses both in
Bengali and French.
As one of the premier institutions in the district of Hooghly, Duple college was the only
College in colonial Bengal to impart French education to native students. The college is also a
historical monument, for it bears witness to the concerted efforts of disseminating seeds of education
by the French and the Bengalis in colonial Hooghly. It reflects how amicable relationship between the
French and the native intellectuals could ultimately felicitate the native populace. The efforts of Rissy
and Piru, the missionary zeal of Father Barthet, the persistent enthusiastic attempts of Monsieur De
Larue , M. V. Champion, M. H. Vendome, M. J. desEssars, M. R. Bartheux. Harihar Sett and Charu
Chandra Roy and the immense contribution of Prof. Sitish Basu and Prof. Sudhanshu Sekhar Datta
reflected the peaceful colonial-native educational tie in colonial Chandernagore. Still popularly known
as 'Duple College', the colonial architecture continues to bear the memory of the French General
Dupleix, two hundred and seventy five years after his departure from Chandernagore.
Works Cited
Basu, Sitis Chandra. A Brief History of Chandernagore College. Chandernagore: n.f, 1955. Print
Bandyopadhyay, Biswanath. A Brief History of Chandernagore. Chandernagore: Chandernagore

Corporation, 2007. Print.
Chatterjee, Rudranarayan. Hooghly Zella : Sekal-O-Ekal: A collection of research based articles on
Hooghly District. Chunchura: Anima Prakashani, 2010.
Chattopadhaya, Jogendrakumar. Memories of Those Days. Kolkata: Chorjapod Publicaton Pvt.
Ltd.,2009.Print.
Datta, Sudhangshu Sekhar. Our College. Chandernagore :n.f, 1955. Print.
Majumdar, Subhendu. From Dupleix College to Chandernagore College: A Historical
Journey.
Chandernagore: Santosh Pustakalaya, 2006. Print

Mitra, Sudhir Kumar. History of Hooghly District in Bengali. Part 1. Ed. Soumitra Sankar Sengupta
and Pallab Mitra. Kolkata: Deys Publishing,2013. Print
Dr Antara Mukherjee is Asst Professor of English in Chandernagore College, West Bengal, India.
The Effect of Colonial Encounter on Medical Organization and

Practice in Bengal
Avijit Singha
Abstract: From times immemorial, humans have been undauntedly trying to preserve a priceless treasure that has
been endowed upon them and this attempt was later termed as healthcare. Medicines in India have been existent to
as long as 3rd millennia B.C. Archaeological findings establish a high level of social sanitation and hygienic
conditions. The first Indian manuscript describing medicine based on the ethos of exorcism of demons and magic is
the sacred text of Atharvaveda. Ayurveda is regarded as the traditional medicine system of India. Air, Bile and
Phlegm corresponded to Vata, Pitha and Kapha as referred by Ayurvedic physicians; they are the three humors or
doshas. These were the fundamentals of Ayurvedic practices and diagnosis. In medieval India, Unani system of
medicine was brought in by the sultans which was derived from Egyptian and Greek arenas developed in Persia and
Arabia under the Khalifa of Baghdads influence. After 1820, gradually indigenous medicine was drawing back in
confrontation of western medicine because the latter has some obvious advantages.
Objectives: Through this article, I want to discuss some issues like I) The basic conceptions highlighting the kind of
health condition of ancient India prevailing before the pre-colonial era and II) what were the changes with the coming
of the British regime? III) Was there any difference in the Indian medical policy?
Key Word: Medicine, Ayurveda, Unani, Allopathy, British, Medical Institution.
Introduction
Brief Outline of Indian Indigenous Medical System
As per the stories from Mahabharata diseases were created for the purpose of abolition of mankind.
As per the laws of nature, ever since man started propounding the message of mankind, diseases have
remained an acquaintance to human health and he has also attempted to get rid of such diseases by
evolving new and advanced method of healthcare.
Medicines in India have been existent as long as 3rd millennia B.C. Archaeological findings
uphold a high level of social sanitation and hygienic conditions. Rheumatism was also supposed to be
treated using certain therapeutic substances. Such evidences were excavated from Mohen -Jo- Daro in
Sindh and at Harappa in Punjab.1
The first Indian manuscript describing medicine based on the ethos of exorcism of demons and
magic is the sacred text of Atharvaveda. There is also a wide number of herbal tidbits complete
knowledge for long life. Ayurveda sprouted itself in the millennium B.C there and is yet regarded as
the traditional medicine system of India.2
The emergence of the Ayurveda revolves around mystical supernaturalism and mythology. It is
generally accepted that "it reveals an awareness of the scientific thinking and attitude of the early
Indians towards life and health".3 The extensive medical knowledge filled up in the chief-texts of India
astound to the fact of the scientific nature of the Ayurveda. These are the Charaka- Samhita, the Susruta
Samhita and the Astanga- Samgraha, collectively called the Vriddha-Trayi or the Elder Ones.4
Air, Bile and Phlegm corresponded to Vata, Pitha and Kapha as referred by Ayurvedic
physicians; they are the three humors or doshas. These were the fundamentals of Ayurvedic practices
and diagnosis.5
In medieval period, the Greco-Arab or the Unani system of medicine, based on important
medical system of Egypt, was brought in by the Sultans in India which was derived from Egyptian and
Greek arenas developed in Persia and Arabia under the khalifa of Baghdads influence. The Mughals
also in their time promoted Unani.6
Madanu-Shifa-Sikarshahi, a well known work among the books of Unani medicinal properties
which incorporates the usage of many useful herbs along with Ayurvedic medicines to derive presence
of four humors namely blood, phlegm, yellow-bile and black bile which caused pain and health.
Practitioners tried to correlate the proportion of humors to conditions of pain and health.
Hakeems divided the drugs according to the magnitude and temperament of the disease as
sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic. The difference did not alter the treatment methods
adopted and as a result supported Ayurveda and Unani.7
Unani was successful in conjoining its links deeply with the royal lineage as an effective
alternate medicinal type in India, making much of its progress during Indian Sultanate and the Mughal
period, which has its close proximity with Ayurveda. Both lay greater emphasis on presence of
elements that lead to health and vice versa, as per according to the propagandists.8
How Western Medicine Achieved Success In India

The encounter between Indias indigenous medicine and western medicine was termed as a cultural
envisage among the two societies. Mark Harrison told in his Medicine and Orientalism: Perspectives
on Europes encounter with Indian Medical Systems
that from 17th century onwards western and
traditional system passed with collaboration and contradiction. According to him after 1820 the attitude
of the British changed towards Indian medical system. 10 Though Ayurvedic and Unani systems were
prevalent in India but it was not so much organized. It was mainly professionalized. In Government
institutions like Beneras Sanskrit College, Calcutta Sanskrit College and Native Medical Institution in
Calcutta where Sanskrit and Arabic text were read till 1835 by the patronage of the British. After that
Governmental paternalism was diverted to western medicines and Indian medicine was marginalized.
New medical colleges were set up in metropolitan cities. Gradually indigenous medicine was drawing
back in confrontation with western medicine because it has some advantages and it performed very
well. As a result, western medicine was the only stream taught at the medical colleges and practiced in
government hospitals and dispensaries.11
David Arnold told in his Colonizing the Body that the interaction happened between colonial
medicine and indigenous medicine in a limited manner because superior attitude of western medicine.
By the subordination and the marginalization, gradually western medicine marked its victory over
Indian traditional medicine.
It must be noted that western medicine attained its uniqueness and superior knowledge in
anatomy, physiology and chemistry.12 But western medicines had some limitations, especially for
lethal diseases like kala-zar. Most of the Indians preferred a synthesis between indigenous medicine
and western medicine. However, the British officials wanted to exclude the Indian medicine from the
Governmental periphery.13
Conclusion
Thus, in a very well-planned manner, the indigenous medicine ultimately was pushed back from the
ambit. With the help of medical institutions, hospitals and the Indian Medical service the western
medicine was able to hegemony over the traditional Indian medicine and official patronage was
withdrawn from it.
Reference
1.Bala, Poonam - Imperialism and Medicine in Bengal: A Socio-Historical Perspective, New Delhi,
Sage, 1991. p-19
2.Ibid, pp-20-25.
3.Chattopadhyaya, D. P - Science and Society in Ancient India, Reprint, Calcutta, Research India
Publications, 1979.
4.Ibid, p- 55.
5.Siddiqui, T -"Unani Medicine in India", Ind. J. His. Sc., 1981, 16 (1) pp-22-25.
6.Keswani, N. H - Medical Education in India since Ancient Times, 1968 (A talk presented at the
International Symposium held at California), p-61 (Hereafter written as medical education).
7.Syed Zillur Rahman , Hakim - Arab Medicine During The Ages By Studies In History Of Medicine
and Science, IHMMR, New Delhi, Vol. XIV, No. 1-2, 1996, pp-1-39.
8.Government of India. New ed., published under the authority of His Majesty's secretary of state for
India in council. Vol. IV Administrative. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1909. The Imperial Gazetteer of
India; pp. 45780.
9.Pati Biswamoy and Mark Harrison (eds) - Health Medicine and Empire Perspective on Colonial
India, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp-37-87.
10.Ibid, pp-62-65.
11.Palit Chittabrata and Achintya Dutta - History of Medicine in India, The Medical Encounter, Delhi,
Kalpaz Publication, 2005, pp-42-43.
12.Kumar Deepak - Disease and Medicine, New Delhi, Tulika, 2001, p-XVII.
13.Jeffery Rojer- The politics of Health in India, London, Berkeley, University of California Press,
1988, p-99.
Avijit Singha is a Ph.D Scholar in the Dept of History, Visva Bharati University, West Bengal, India.
His research area is social history of Medicine in Bengal. He has published articles on public health in
Birbhum, Unani medicine of the medieval period, History of Malaria and Tuberculosis in post-colonial
Bengal.
Sir William Jones and Max Muller: The Kalpataru of

Scholarship
Somnath Sarkar
The names of world poets Kalidasa and Sir William Jones are inseparably concatenated. Sir William
Jones had rediscovered Kalidasa's magnum opus, of whose beauty and grace the people of India had
become oblivious, and the rest of the world did not have even an inkling. When Jones published his
own translation of Abhijnansakuntalam in 1789, it quite created a sensation in the entire literary circles
of the Europe. European scholars were not ready to pin their faith on the fact that such an exquisite
work of art could be penned in a country like India, and that too thousands of years before Shakespeare.
Some persons had gone to the extent of rejecting the whole lot of translations made by Jones alleging
that they were counterfeit. When the German translation of this work reached the great Italian poet,
Goethe, he was exhilarated and composed a poem appertaining to Kalidasa's Sakuntalam with an
overwhelming appreciation, when he observed that if the fascinating beauty and grace of the spring
season, the ripeness of summer in its copiousness and whatsoever, is attractive and satisfactory in this
world all these and ,along with them the union of heaven and earth can be conjointly found at one
placethat is only in the Kalidasa's Sakuntalam. Goethe drew inspiration from Kalidasa in completing
his famous play 'Faust'. Several noted romantic poets of Europe right from Goethe down to Schiller
were under the spell of Kalidasa's compositions which were basically cast by the translation of the
Sakuntalam, undertaken and done by Sir William Jones.
Jones' inherent talent was a legacy from his father, and his magnanimity and compassion a
gift from his mother. Jones' parents were exceptionally great. When a family physician told Jones'
mother, Mary, that her husband had a problem with his heart and could not live long, she firmly
decided to keep her spouse happy till his last breath. It was due to her that Jones could commit several
stanzas from Shakespearean plays to his memory, when he was only four years old. When Jones was
just five years old his heart underwent a hypnotic influence and was simultaneously submitted to a state
of spiritual silence, during the course of the study of the tenth chapter of the Bible. The impact of the
said part of the Bible on the tender mind of the child Jones was so enduring that he could not forget it
till the end of his life. Later on, remembering the austerity practised at that time and the spell which
was cast on his mind, Jones said that the part of the Bible referred above is still unequalled in the world
of literature.
Jones was admitted in Harrow School of London in 1753. How talented was Jones as a student
can be guessed in the context of the staging of The Tempest. At that time Jones was 12 years old. His
friend had proposed that a play be staged at school. Jones suggested The Tempest. It was just a chance
that not a single copy of this play was available with the students of the said school at that time. But
Jones was able to write down the whole script of the play in original only with the help of his
extraordinary memory and thus, The Tempest could be staged at Harrow School. Jones played the role
of Prospero in the above-mentioned play. At this early age Jones had translated several poems of Virgil
and Ovid and also written an original tragedy. He got that drama staged at the school and played the
role of the leading character in that.
At that time Dr. Thackeray was the principal of the Harrow School. He had earned fame for his
strictness and also for not praising even the best of students. At the time of his superannuation the same
Thackeray had said about Jones "Jones' mind is so active that if he is left in the lonely field of
Salisbury naked and alone, even then he will find out a way for earning unlimited fame and wealth." At
that time Jones was fifteen years of age. He had mastered Greek, Latin, French, and Hebrew languages.
During those days he used to study for the whole night by taking tea, sugar or coffee. At this age the
fame of Jones had spread so much by transcending the boundaries of his school that strangers from far
and wide used to come to meet him after hearing his name as a scholar. It was during these days that
Jones wrote a satirical play and also organised a mock parliament. During this period, the literary
writings of Jones in his school days, were published under the pseudo name 'Simon'.
Jones took admission in the Oxford University in 1764. It was here that he wrote poems and
plays in Greek and Latin. After joining Oxford, Jones Inclination towards Eastern learning went on
Increasing. He also started the study of Arabic and Persian. He started translating Arabic stories into
English also at this time. Jones was greatly attracted towards Sadi's Gulistan and Haphez's poetry.
Jones' desire to become a multilingual scholar was so strong that he learnt Italian, Spanish and
Portuguese and read their available literature in those languages.

Considering his qualification after, matriculation, Jones ought to have been awarded. fellowship
of the Oxford University but due-to some reasons he was not granted, the same Compelled by
circumstances, Jones had to work as personal teacher of Lord Ethop since August, 1766. During this
period he got an offer to work as translator of eastern languages which he declined due to his
predilection for acquisition of knowledge with independence. In this year itself, Jones got an
opportunity through Lord Ethop to meet Dr. Shipley and his daughter. At the first sight of Maria, he
was overpowered by the feelings of love but he controlled the rising waves of emotions with the firm
and strong sense of J restraint, for he did not like even to think of marriage till he stood on his own feet.
Not only this, Jones did not utter a single word of love for several years to come, but the springs of love
overflowing in the young heart did not dry up and as the time rolled on, the fountain of love watered
the soil of Jones' matrimonial life with Maria Jones !
Jones' activities always remained multi-dimensional. He was fond of music and got training for
dance and also for wielding the sword. At the age of 21 he started writing commentaries on the Asiatic
poetry and went through the manuscripts of Arabic and Persian. At the same time, he started learning
the Chinese language. During these days, the King of Denmark came to know about Jones' mastery of
the eastern languages. He became desirous of getting Nadir Sahnama translated by him into French. A
handwritten copy of the said manuscript was with him. Jones declined the offer as he was not interested
in this kind of work. But later on, he accepted this job on the strong supplication of his friend Lord
Upton, who was also a powerful person under the British government and on the alluring assurance of
the publication of his detailed criticism of the Arabian poetry; he took this, work in his hand along with
the essay; his translation referred to above was published in 1770.
In 1769 Jones had completed the Writing of his Persian grammar. During this period he set
about the composition of a lexicon on a big scale. But on being asked by his mother and friends,
concerned for his welfare seriously, Jones started the study of law properly in 1770. In 1774, he passed
the law examination, but did not join the bar and continued with the studies and writings appertaining
to the oriental learning. Jones started his legal practice in 1776 and became famous in England on
account of his outstandingly impressive speaking power. At this time he also started taking part in
politics and contested for a seat in the Parliament but despite his popularity could not get elected.
In March 1784, Jones was appointed as a judge of the supreme court at Fort William in Calcutta
(India). He had a strong desire of visiting India since long. In April that year he fulfilled his desire of
marrying Maria. He had been cherishing this desire in his heart for the last several years. After
marriage with Maria, Jones left for India immediately. Before his scheduled departure, tin-Government
of England honoured him with the title of the Knight. Jones knew beforehand that he could get closer
to the real field of his work during his stay in India. With extraordinary meticulousness, he planned his
pursuits of knowledge. He had made a long list of subjects which he had to study in India: Hindu and
Muslim penal codes, Sanskrit, ancient history, archaeology, Indian politics and geography, Ayurveda,
chemistry, mathematics and music, etc. Notwithstanding the daily busy life of a Judge, his academic
pursuits continued.
Jones established the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 1784. The objective of this society was
research in the domain of ancient learning in India. Under the chairmanship of Jones this Society
arranged a series of lectures and publication of books. Sir Jones is helped greatly in his undertakings by
the then governor general, Warren Hastings.
After coming to India, Jones made an in-depth study of the Veda, Puranas and the Bhagavadgita
and other Sanskrit texts in their original. Jones' greatest achievement was the translation of Manusmrti
and the Qur'an. He worked very hard in this field. Being a scholar of law his interest lay in the Indian
Penal Code, but while translating these works into English, he had., also the idea that he was making
the foundation of British rule in India strong because these authentic translations would help the
English judges. The multifarious talent of Jones is evident from the fact that he had learnt 28 languages
and made a serious study of Indian plants and had also written several books by this lime.
Jones had studied Tibetan literature and culture too. He had translated several Persian poems as
well as some of the hymns from the Vedas. During these days he had also composed an epic poem on
the Indian deities.
Jones has given an interesting account of his first acquaintance with the Sakuntalam in the
preface to his translation. He was overjoyed to learn that Sanskrit has a treasure of dramatic literature
called the natakas. Thinking that he would read at leisure the best book among plays, he asked
Radhakant, the pandit who had been helping him in his Sanskrit studies, as to which is supposed to be
the best play. Radhakant informed him that Kalidasa's Sakuntalam was undoubtedly the best. Although
during those days Jones was very busy in the translation of Manu, he could not suppress the desire of
translating Sakuntalam. In the preface to his translation he expressed the View that Sakuntalam is one
of the most astonishing creations in the world of letters.
Although Jones regarded Kalidasa as the 'Shakespeare of India' and was under a spell of the
great poet's other writings too, he could not find time for the translation of those compositions. Hard
labour and unfavourable climate had made him very weak. The Indian climate had attacked Jones and
his wife in the shape of deadly diseases. Jones could not return to England because he had several
works to do in India and they were pending. Notwithstanding the supplication of her husband, Maria
was not willing to go back to England alone because she had to live and die with Jones and both of
them knew that death was tightening its clutches on them slowly. Ultimately, in the very beginning of
1793 Jones made Maria ready to leave for England on the promise that he too would come there after
finishing his works in India. Simultaneously, he made a plan for returning to England after winding up
his works. But a different plan had already been hatched tip for him and before Jones left for England
the message-of death came up to him. In 1793 Jones shuffled up his mortal coil on the soil of this
country.
Jones had made innumerable friends by dint of his spirit of membership and noble feelings. He
started a sequence of research on Indian learning and more importantly, contributed to the creation of a
new mentality, notwithstanding the fact that it might not have been his objective. The Asiatic Society
founded by him is a living monument of the glorious life of Sir William Jones.
Al-beruni cites five reasons why an alien fails to produce an authentic and true account of the
culture of another country (in his case India). They are (i) The alien might be having some vested
interest in giving a false account (ii) he might be nourishing dislike for the people of that country, (iii)
he might be a coward of mean nature, (iv) he might be a habitual liar, and (v) he might be giving a false
report due to ignorance. Al-beruni also cites a number of factors that create barriers between the
visitors and the natives. They are (i) differences of language, (ii) religious prejudices of the natives (iii)
fundamental differences in respect of lifestyles, ethics and habits-(iv) visitor's status as a conqueror (v)
ego of the natives arid their rejection of all that is alien.
Max Muller was one of the very few western Indologists who not only overcame these
limitations and demolished the barriers by his learning, he sometimes went to the other extreme. He did
not consider himself an alien; India became a 'longed land' for hima land of Vedas and rsis: and also
a land of 'romantic-poetic ecstasy7 that was felt by the great poet Goethe, when he read the German
rendering of the translation of Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam.
Germany had become a great centre of Sanskrit studies when Max Muller was born. The
knowledge of Sanskrit in Germany was first received at the hands of Friedrich Schlegel when he went
to Paris and met an English naval officer Alexander Hamilton, at that time the only person in European
continent having knowledge of Sanskrit. In 1808 Friedrich Schlegel published Uber die Sprache und
Weisheit der Indier. Friedrich Schlegel's brother August Wilhelm Von Schlegel (1767-1845) was
appointed on the chair for Indology in the University of Bonn in 1818. Wihelm Von Humboldt (17671835), Franz Bopp (1791-1867), Herman Brockhaus (1806-1877), Friedrich Ruckert (1788-1866) were
stalwarts who created strong traditions of Indological researches in Germany.
Born on 6.12.1823 at Dessau in Germany, Max Muller breathed his last at Oxford on
28.10.1900. His father was one of the most eminent musicians of his times. Max Muller also displayed
rare skills and mastery in musical compositions right from his childhood. He could have become one of
the greatest musicians of Europe. He sacrificed his career as a musician for his devotion to Sanskrit. A
worried mother reluctantly allowed him to pursue his studies in Sanskrit. He joined Leipzig University
in 1843 and was awarded Ph.D. from that university. Even as a student, he had been working on editing
and translating Sanskrit texts. His translation of Hitopadesa with text appeared in 1844. He moved to
Paris in 1845 for higher researches and was initiated into Vedic lore by Burnour. It was at the initiation
of his guru, Burnour, that Max Miiller resolved to prepare a complete edition of Rgveda with Sayana's
commentary. Max Muller started copying the manuscript of Rgveda with Sayana's Bhasya given to him
by Burnouf. It was in four volumes each running approximately in 1000 pages. Max Muller started
preparing two copies of this voluminous text one for himself and the other for his teacher. After that
readings from other manuscripts were collated. Max Muller worked single-handedly and arduously on
Rgveda for twenty years.
He came to Oxford in 1847 and in 1848 settled there. It was at Oxford that he devoted himself
to preparing and publishing the first complete edition of the Rgveda with Sayana's commentary. The
publication of Rgveda with Sayanabhasya was an epoch-making event in the world history. It can also
be termed as the most important event in the field of Sanskrit studies during the past three centuries.
Max Muller was just 26 years old when the first volume of his Rgveda came out. It was the result of
years of painstaking research. The four volumes of his the Rgveda were brought out between 1849 and
1875. Volumes of the second edition came out between 1880 and 1892. "There is no page, no line, no
word, no letter, no accent in he whole commentary for which I am not personally responsible. Nothing
was ordered for the press which Iliad not carefully examined.. .." Max Muller wrote in his preface to
the Rgveda.
Raja Radhakant Dev Bahadur had been critical of Max Muller's work and he had given vent to
his feelings about the endeavours of an 'alien' in the following words "It is surely a very curious
reflection on the vicissitudes of human affairs that the descendants of the divine rishis (prophets)
should be studying on the banks of Bhagirathi, the Yamuna and the Sindhu their holy scriptures as
published on the banks of Thames by one whom they regard as a distant mlechcha, and this mlechcha,
the descendant of the degraded ksatriyas, according to our Sastras and claiming the cognate origin with
Hindus, according to the investigations of the modern philologists who will ere long rise to the rank of
a Vedavyasa of the Kaliyuga (Heimo Rao, p. 31). But the Raja did not fail in his appreciation to the
great task Max Muller had accomplished by bringing out Rgveda, and he wrote to Max Muller "By
your successfully embarking on such an arduous undertaking, you have done to the Hindus as
inestimable benefit, supplying them with a correct and superb edition of their holy scriptures." (Heimo
Rao, p.31).
With the publication of the Rgveda, Max Muller became a celebrity and a revered name in
India. While he had to apply tactics to obtain funds from the East India Company for the printing of the
first edition of Rgveda, there was no dearth of funds for printing the second edition. The Maharaja of
Vijayanagar, Sir Pashupati Anand Gajapati Raya donated 4,000=00 pounds (Heimo Rao, p.-4l).
The publication of Max Muller's Rgveda is to be regarded as one of-the most significant events
in the world history for the following reasons: (i) it initiated a meaningful dialogue between the East
and the West, (ii) principles of textual criticism came to be applied and practised by: ; modern
scholarship in India with it, (iii) ..it revolutionised the whole concept of the growth of civilisation, the
world history and the culture.
In Maharashtra S.P. Pandit was one of the first savants who appreciated Max Muller's work. Not
only this, he also followed Max Muller's model when he took up the work of preparing a critical edition
of Atharvaveda, But S.P, Pandit could achieve something which Max Muller could only dream about
besides manuscripts, he had access to the notice of oral textual traditions and took due notice thereof.
After Max Muller, Raja Ram Shastri Bodas and Shivaram Shastri Gore also brought out Rgveda with
Sayanabhasya. They followed Max Muller's edition but also utilised fresh manuscript material. When
the Bombay edition of Rgveda by Raja Ram Shastri Bodas and Shivaram Shastri Gore came out, Max
Muller had already issued three volumes of the second edition of his Rgveda. Hence he could consult
this Indian edition only for the last volume of his second edition. But Max Muller thoroughly checked
the Indian edition and accepted its readings at four places in the last volume of his second edition of
Rgveda. In this way it was the beginning of an era of correspondence between Sanskrit scholars of
India and Europe. The episode of Max Muller's Rgveda being taken up for correction of its manuscripts
by the brahmanas of Pune, but left untouched by them and its being read by a non-brahmana in an
assembly, was recorded by Nirad C. Chaudhury and other biographers of Max Muller.
The Sacred Books of the East(SEE) is another epoch-making venture by Max Muller. His own
translations of all important Upanisads were included in the first 15 volumes of SEE, he also gave his
renderings of Grhyasutras. an I Vedic hymns for inclusion in other volumes.
He was accused of discrediting the Christianity and the whole endeavour to publish the SBE
was strongly opposed by a section of the British intellectuals. It should be -remembered that Max
Muller's appointment to professorship of the Oxford University was deferred as he was not considered
to be as devout a Christian as H.H. Wilson, and the selectors were afraid that his appointment would
lead to the enhancement of the glory of India's heritage. It is, in this context, that some of the remarks
of Max Muller describing some portions of the religious texts of the East as 'rubbish' should be
perused. He has written to a Christian friend about the Sacred Books of the East 'they are full of
rubbish but among that rubbish there are old stones which the builders of the true temple of humanity
will not reject It is the same Max Muller who had written this also in one of his letters about the Sacred
Books of the East "All here on earth tends towards right, and truth and perfection; nothing here on
earth can be quite right, quite true, quite perfect, not quite Christianity or what is now called
Christianity so long as it excludes all other religions, instead of loving and embracing what is good
in each."
Sacred Books of the East led to the conception of other series like Sacred Books of Buddhists
(Rhys Davids), Sacred Books of Hindus, and Sacred Books of Jains (Heimo Rao, p. 74). It also
accelerated the process of critical editions of and translations from Sanskrit classics into modern
European and Indian languages. Max Muller himself was repeatedly approached in connection with
such activities. He wrote introduction to Ramesh Chadra Datta's translation of the Mahabharata. Next
year Datta published his translation of the Ramayana and dedicated it to Max Muller.
Living in England, Max Muller certainly could not remain unaffected with the colonial politics/
but he strongly condemned colonial prejudices that wronged India. He refuted the prejudices spread ,by
James Mill's History of British India, and wrote "I can imagine nothing more mischievous/ more
dangerous, more fatal to the permanence of British rule in India than for the young civil servant to go to
that country with the idea that it is a sink of moral depravity an ant's nest of lies".
Max Muller, in a way became a citizen of India, as he always dwelt in the India of his vision.
Visitors from India could feel the transformation that devotion to Sanskrit learning could bring about in
his person. He appeared to Keshab Chandra Sen as a pandit of Kashi. When asked while never visited
India and Banaras; he said I feel I am always in Banaras. I love to imagine this house as Banaras. I do
not desire to see the geographical Banaras with my physical eye. My idea of that city is so high that I
cannot risk disillusionment."
Max Muller was held in such a high esteem in India that the sacred thread (yajnopavita) was
sent to him on a number of occasions. His house at Oxford was viewed as a place of pilgrimage by all
Indians coming to England. He is not only as the best interpreter of ancient-Indian literature, but also as
the truest friend of modern India.
Vivekananda met him and visualised a seer in him. "When are you coming to India? Every heart
there would welcome the one who has done so much to place the thoughts of their ancestors in true
light" I said. The face of the aged sage brightened up - there was almost a tear in his eyes, a gentle
nodding of his head and slowly the words came out " I would not return then, you will have to cremate
me there" (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, vol. IV. 1993)
It was for the love of Sanskrit that he Sanskritised his own name as Moksamulara (Heimo Rao,
p. 60). The following was printed on the inner cover of his edition of Rgvcdn He composed a
Matsya Sukta in the Vedic Sanskrit. It was a salmon for the fish served in a banquet at Stockholm.
Max Muller is perhaps the only example of 'a scholar extra-ordinary' who can influence social
and political fabric of another country. He has also started sympathising with India's struggle for
freedom. He appreciated Lord Ripon's liberal policy for India in his letter to the London Times
(6.8.1883) and the Viceroy from India thanked him by writing a letter. (Heimo Rao, p. 33). Malabari
sought his support in eradicating child marriage and for re-marriage of widows; Max Muller openheartedly came out in his support. Ht wrote to him 'Thai the infant marriage has no sanction whatever
from either Sruti or smrti... you remember how in case of suttees, the Sastris quoted passers from lost
Sakha(branches) of the Veda, intended to show that the widows should be burred with their husbands.
They actually tampered with a passage from their own sacred Veda, and not till I published the passage
from Asvalayana Grhyasutras forbidding widow burning, should they become silent...."
Beharamji M, Malabari who was supported by Max Muller in his social reforms, writes
"Hindu politicians regard Max Muller as one of their wisest and safest guides. Hindu reformers
consider him as their linal court of appeal." It was his genuine interest in modern India that led him to
write a book like, Life and Sayings of Ramakrishna..
It was through the studies and researches of scholars like Max Muller and William Jones that
the disciplines like comparative religion, comparative mythology and comparative philology emerged
and an impetus was given to the studies on Indo-European linguistics.
References
A History of Indian Literature : A. Weber, Eng. Trans. By John Mann and Theodore Zachariae, 2nd ed. ,
1882.
A History of Sanskrit Literature : A.A. macdonell, London, 1900.
A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature : F. Max Muller, Allahabad, 1926.
A History of Indian Literature : M. Winternitz. Eng. Trans. By Shilavati ketkar, Calcutta, 1927.
A History of Sanskrit Literature : S.N. Dasgupta and S.K. De, Calcutta, 1947.
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, vol. IV, 1993.
F. Max Muller : What He Can Teach Us ? : Ed. Heimo Rao, Mumbai, 1974.
The Wonder That Was India : A.L. Basham, London, 1954 (rpt. 1956).
Dr Somnath Sarkar is Asst Professor and Head, Dept of Sanskrit, Kanchrapara College, West Bengal,
India.
Review
Into the Exotic, Around the World: Our First Globetrotters
Ramnath Biswas and Bimal Mukherjee
Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta
Since the time of Bengal renaissance, Bengalis went to different parts of the world and recorded their
experiences. But traveling through all the continents in a spirit of globetrotting is a tough task and in
the modern period we do not hear about our own globe trotters until Ramnath Biswas came. For a very
long time it was Ramnath Biswas who was acknowledged to be the first globe trotter that Bengal
produced. His memoirs and travelogues were widely published. But then during 1995-96 a Bengali
travel magazine serially re-published a little known out-of-print book written by Bimal Mukherjee,
claiming him to be the first Bengali (and Indian) globetrotter. We shall go into that contention.
As the energy of Bengal renaissance was getting transformed into the electrifying spirit of
Swadeshi movement, among other things it encouraged the Bengali youth to get out of their home and
know the world. Nazrul Islam wrote, Thakbo Nako Boddho Ghore, Dekhbo Ebar Jogot take (Will not
live within the closed room, and will see the world), and that captured the spirit of exploration that was
a part of the nationalist awakening.
Interestingly, Ramnath Biswas, an Anushilan revolutionary, joined the Bengal regiment during
the first world war to fight for the British, just like Nazrul himself did. These were not stray instances.
Ramnath and Nazrul were not alone, there were many others like them who did the same in a spirit of
adventure. They did it because they wanted to learn warfare which they thought would be useful later
in freeing India. Educated Bengalis were increasingly under the sway of adventure, bravery and martial
spirit.
As Bengalis took risks to explore new domains, Ramnath, the Bengali regiment's soldier in
Mesopotamia would keep alive the explorer in him through his wanderlust. Traveling around the world
can be seen as a Bengali mapping project during this period, though not exactly in the vein of
European 'discovery' of the world, because there was nothing imperialistic about that Bengali project.
The Bengali globetrotter reminds us rather of the ancient Indian and Bengali tradition of travel and
seafaring. The figure of the scholar- traveler (poribrajok), the figure of the merchant (bonik), the figure
of the penniless wandering monk frequently recur as motifs in our ancient texts. Ramnath Biswas and
Bimal Mukherjee exist within that tradition, where a traveler is not just a gatherer of information, but is
a seeker of wisdom and self-realisation.
However, Bengalis, like other Indians, during the later historical periods became homebound
owing to a complex set of historical circumstances. Investigating those circumstances is beyond the
scope of this review, but it can be safely asserted that in a certain sense what the Bengali globetrotter
represented was a nationalist revolution that attempted to retrieve a glorious tradition from the past
through a course-correction of history. An ancient history of navigation notwithstanding, any voyage
abroad (particularly sea voyage) became prohibited for the Bengalis during the middle ages, and the
journeys of Biswas and Mukherjee could be said to attempt a revival of a long lost spirit.
Bimal Mukherjee ate beef while he was in the west. He was remarkably free from any kind of
prejudice, and did not practise casteism. At the same time, he was anti-colonial, was a proud Bengali
and a Hindu, as one can fathom from his travelogue.
One major accomplishment of his travels was that he ended up tracing the obscure Bengali
footsteps in the remotest parts of the globe. For example Mukherjee had a chance encounter with the
Turkish widow of a dead Bengali soldier whose name is only given as Mr Bose, who fought for Turkey
in the first world war. He met Bengalis in the remotest and unlikeliest corners of several continents, and
his narrative weaves them into a common matrix of movements across space and time, providing a
holistic perspective on the Bengali diaspora in the backdrop of geography and history. First world war
caused dispersal and dislocation. Many Bengalis who fought in the Bengali regiment, after the war had
to suffer the disbandment of the regiment and settled in the Arab lands, marrying Arab women, as
Mukherjee's account attests.
Ramnath Biswas's accounts of travel in sub-Saharn Africa is particularly striking for a number
of reasons. He freely mingled with the Africans (whom he calls Negros as per contemporary
convention), and when he took them as companions in his train travels, he had to face severe resistance
from fellow Indians in Kenya who practised a sort of untouchability with the Africans and did not
approve Biswas's unorthodox ways. Elsewhere Biswas registers the sad condition of children born from
the inter-racial marriage between Indians and Africans, as Indians do not accept them into their schools
and do not allow them to enter into their society. Biswas was right to observe that the Indians have no
moral right to demand equality with the Europeans unless they themselves extend the same gesture of
equality to the Africans. Ramnath Biswas's humble mission against racial discrimination is in stark
contrast with the apertheid practised by most Indians (predominantly Gujarati) settled in Africa during
those days. Exceptions were also there. Biswas comes across a Gujarati who knows Bengali, is a
subscriber of Hitabadi, the famous Bengali journal of the Swadeshi era where Biswas's travelogue is
being serially published, and that person expresses his fond support for Biswas. While travelling in
Zanjibar, Biswas observes how the Arabs continue to oppress the local Africans and the emigre Indians
alike. He notes that the British usually encourages ethnic tension and communal clashes, and also
records one occasion where Sikhs responded to Arab violence with violence in a decisive manner
which ensured that riots completely stopped out of fear for Sikh retaliation.
Meeting Sylheti Bengalis in some remote part of the world is a common phenomenon for both
Mukherjee and Biswas. For example, Mukherjee met a Sylheti who settled in Cuba, Biswas met one at
Zanjibar.
Extensive travel took a toll on their health again and again. Both Biswas and Mukherjee
repeatedly suffered from parasite attacks from insects that acted upon skin, and this was owing to the
traveler's inability to take regular baths, stay at clean places and maintain hygiene.
Both of them became frequently penniless. A globetrotter shouldn't be carrying too much of
money for the fear of robbery, and in Ramnath's travelogue we see that he considered money to be a
source of anxiety at the time of travel, and sometimes donated all his money to the needy. In case of
Bimal, he was frequently at the point of starvation because no monetary help arrived from Kolkata
though many people promised to help before the journey began. He continued to receive no help and
was on his own for eleven years of globetrotting, but quite ironically, Bengalis created a lot of fanfare
after he returned to Kolkata in 1937, as his account records.
It is interesting to note that both of them undertook their journey during the 1930s. Bimal
Mukherjee started in 1926 and finished in journey in 1937. Ramnath Biswas conducted his three world
tours from 1931 to 1940.
One major difference between their respective travelogues is that Ramnath was simultaneously
traveling and writing his travelogue which was getting published. But Bimal Mukherjee started writing
his memoir in 1989, as he makes it clear in the very first sentence of his book. Apparently he kept a
diary, otherwise those minute remembrances could not be made. However, because the account was
produced after half a century, the authenticity cannot be above doubt.
Going back to Biswas, we find that he remains strongly critical of the pro-empire Bengalis loyal
to the British crown whom he frequently met in different parts of the world. He records the Russian
influence in Afghanistan in the early 30s.
Bengalis are either wizards specialising in mantra and magic (particularly those Bengalis who
come from Dhak Bangal, though it's not clear what does Dhak indicate here), or are wanted
revolutionaries (Bahadur Bangali), according to the perception of common Afghans, as Biswas
records.
Further he records a strange piece of information, that these Muslim Pathans consider
themselves to be real Hindus, and that in Detroit, America, the Pathans and Punjabi Muslims have
founded Hindu Association, while people from the rest of India have formed Indian association. It is
evident that the term preserved its original ethnic import in the Pathan and Punjabi identity.
He meets a kabuliwala who married a Bengali woman named Lokkhi in Kolkata following
Hindu custom, though Lokkhi now wears a Burqa. Biswas however does not protest against Hijab the
way Mukherjee does repeatedly in his travelogue. Anyway, it is interesting that even in many remote
places of Afghanistan Biswas found Bengali men who have settled there for work, who are doing
business or working as employees.

Biswas continually educates and sensitises his readers against all forms of xenophobia. Biswas
dismisses the negative stories which were in circulation among Bengalis portraying Afghanistan and
Afghan people in a poor light. His travelogue is full of praise for the Afghan people. And yet while
interacting with them, he always proclaims himself to be a Bengali speaking Hindu. The two are not
mutually contradictory. One who suspects identity to be the cause of xenophobia and therefore wants to
erase identity itself is a bishshomanob, and Biswas is not one. He is a nationalist and loves other
nations.
Tamal Dasgupta, my husband and founder-editor of JBS, tells me that he vaguely remembers
having come across an article in some Bengali daily, probably Aajkal or Ganashakti, some 16-17 years
ago, that suspected a casteist, brahminist agenda in the uusurpation of Biswas's place as the first Indian
globetrotter by those who promoted Bimal Mukherjee to that honour.
This is a misleading statement, if it was made as such. Of course here we talk of an article
which cannot be exactly located, and deliberating on an absent source might be unwarranted. But we
should note that there is a gross factual error in conceiving Biswas to be a non-brahmin just by looking
at his surname, because Biswas as a surname belongs to a plethora of castes and is by no means limited
to the oppressed castes. In his Afghan travelogue Biswas very clearly mentions that he is a brahmin
(94).
However, we have a few things to observe regarding that issue of usurpation. Biswas was
renowned as a globetrotter and his travelogues were popular with his contemporary readers. He
continued to write as he traveled, and his books are now available in the digital library of the
government of West Bengal (dspace). They are free of copyright now. But Mukherjee wrote his account
much later, as we have already observed. We cannot rule out the possibility of inaccuracy and false
memory (e.g. Mukherjee's meeting with Adolf Hitler while he was traveling in Germany during the
interregnum of two world wars reads like a bit concocted and contrived from hindsight). Biswas's
travelogues, because simultaneous with his travels, have an element of authenticity which Mukherjee's
travelogue lacks. Mukherjee does not give any explanation in this regard, and we wonder why he had
to wait for 52 years before he could write down his travelogue.

Mukherjee started his journey on a bicycle in 1926. After moving through India, he entered
Afghanistan, as his travelogue records. Now, very curiously, when Biswas was writing his Afghan
travelogue in 1933, he mentions that very few Indians actually travel to Afghanistan, and he got to
know from the officer (at the border) that before him, three Parsi young men came on cycles, and prior
to that a Bengali Boishnob went to Kabul with an ektara in his hand, singing the name of Hari. During
last six years, Biswas was the fifth traveler from India in Afghanistan.
Now, If Mukherjee went to Afghanistan in 1926 (who was not alone and had few companions
with him: all of them Bengalis on cycles), why is no mention of him made by the Afghan officer to
Biswas? However, he was talking of last six years and that only covers the period from 1927. But if a
group of Bengalis traveled to Kabul on cycle, the officer should have remembered it, unless his tenure
began after Mukherjee and his friends traveled through those terrains.
Given that Biswas's travel accounts were produced simultaneously, and Mukherjee's accounts
were produced half a century later, veracity seems to be on the side of Biswas. Biswas was a known
figure among Bengalis, and Mukherjee completely unknown till a popular Bengali travel magazine
serially published Mukherjee's travelogue during the late 1990s, which previously came in book form
from some obscure press in the preceding decade before quickly going out of print.
The vocation of the globetrotter is such that the figure of globetrotter has been a recurrent motif
in adventure literature. The globe trotter is also a recurrent spoof, because chances of false accounts
have been there since ancient times (one can remember John Mandeville). Satyajit Ray's Sonar Kella
had a false globetrotter, Mandar Bose. Doubts are cast upon the globetrotter who is the central figure in
Satyajit Ray's Agantuk too, and the ending of the movie is perhaps a lesson in Tagorean ethic:
manusher opore bishshash harano paap (it's a sin to lose trust on humans). One can choose to trust
Bimal Mukherjee's travel accounts in the same vein. However, the first fame belonged to Ramnath, and
he righteously occupies the place of the first known globetrotter among Bengalis. Ramnath's bicycle
reputedly carried a board: Around the World, Hindoo Traveler. His contemporary people perceived him
to be the first globetrotter, and there is no doubt that his travel accounts came first. Mukherjee however,
completed his travels at one go, and after leaving Kolkata in 1926 returned only in 1937. Biswas made
three world tours between 1931 and 1940, and came home between them.
Going back to Biswas, one can observe that he was a prolific writer, while Mukherjee authored a single
book. Biswas's travelogues are numerous, as he wrote columns in Bengali periodicals while traveling.
Biswas was keenly aware of the history and contemporaneity of any country that he traversed. He
traveled through Korea at a time when it was under Japanese rule. He provides a detailed account of the
complex relation between the Japanese, the Chinese and the Koreans in his travelogue. Biswas also
wrote novels. His novel Aguner Alo traverses through several continents. Beginning in north America,
it moves through Britain and finally achieves its climax in the Malay region in Asia. Another novel,
Americar Negro is written in the first person narrative mode from the perspective of the African
American protagonist.
Both Biswas and Mukherjee stand out as exemplary representatives of the Bengali spirit of quest
during the first half of twentieth century. The free fall that the Bengalis attained since then, that
continues with full momentum to this day, makes their narratives both incredible and worth
remembering.
Bimal Mukherjee. Du Chakay Duniya (The World on Two Wheels). Kolkata, Swarnakhar, 2014. pp319,
Rs 150.
Ramnath Biswas. Afghanistan. Dspace. Web.
---. Aguner Alo. Dspace. Web.
---. Americar Negro. Dspace. Web.
---. Dwichokre Korea Bhromon. Dspace. Web.
Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta is co-founder of Journal of Bengali Studies and Asst Professor of English
at Aurobindo college, Delhi University.
Interview
West Never Liked Russia, Never in the History, Be It Tsarist
Russia, or Soviet Russia:
Arun Som in Dialogues with Tamal Dasgupta
TD: I see that you went to USSR for the first time in 1965, from the two Bengali interviews of
yours, one given to the Aharnish magazine and another to a Bangladeshi site.
AS: Yes, I had a fellowship in Moscow State University. To study Russian Language.
It was a turbulent period in the history of Indian communist movement, and the communist
party was split one year ago, and in another four years another split will follow. Did that period
come as a traumatic experience for you?
We, at that time....I came out of the university in 1961. Those were the times... turbulent, yes. But I was
never directly a member of the communist party. Not of the undivided, not after division. Anyway,
when we were students in college and university, it was the undivided party, Our thinking was of
course influenced by it, and cultivating the Russian language perhaps was to some extent under that
influence...
I was kind of in the middle. Many people whom I knew closely went to CPM. I had contacts with both
the sides. Still later when the Naxalite split happened... I also had acquaintances with them. But I was
never a member of any party, though I had personal friendship with many...
As students of college and university we used to volunteer those communist party bookstalls draped in
red clothes at the time of Durgapuja. It was still National Book Agency (NBA), the publishing arm of
undivided communist party, Manisha was not yet formed, it was formed later. We used to sell books all
night at the time of Durgapuja, our biggest stall used to be at Park Circus Maidan during our student
days in the fifties. We used to enthusiastically select books from the Godown...
Vostok's Godown?
No, Vostok came much later. Vostok, so to say, came just the other day (chuckles). Even Manisha was
not there yet, like I just said. NBA was the direct agent of the books which came from Soviet Union. At
the time of undivided communist party, NBA was the sole distributor, not exactly sole, because there
were some small distributors, but it was the only big distributor of Soviet books. When the party was
split, then there was this new organ, named Manisha, that was CPI's, and NBA went to CPM. Vostok
was a later development and it directly got books from Soviet Union. And there was another house
named Bingsho Shotabdi who also distributed and even published some Soviet books in Bengali.
Vostok happened during the 1970s
Noni Bhowmik and you, you two were legends for our generation. You are a living legend. Did
you exchange notes on the methods of translation with him, did you ever partner with him in any
act of translation? Nikolai Dubov's Sagartire is only one text that I have come across so far which
carried both of your translations. In that book you translated the novella titled Nodir Buke
Aalor Mala and Bhowmik's translation is Sagartire
Yes, there is perhaps hardly a collaboration between me and him, barring a few selections or collections
where both of our translations appear. Though, I started working as a translator after he recommended
me...
Yes, I read that in your Bengali interview.
It was him who was behind my shift to USSR, not the party. I was indeed involved with the IndoSoviet cultural society. In a sense one can say that it was close to the CPI, it was predominated by their
people. So one might assume that I was close to CPI. But my main interest was Russian culture. And
yes, we used to study and take the Russian revolution too.
No doubt, it was the biggest event of twentieth century.

Yes.
You mention elsewhere that you were lucky to have an editor who was very cooperative, was
younger than you, gave you full liberty in acts of translation, and that was unfortunately not the
case with other translators. These editors used to be Russians who had a little knowledge of
Bengali and they imposed a lot of restrictions. I personally always loved your translations most.
Yes, much younger than me. They later realized and understood... Though the senior translators,
including Noni Bhowmik worked under their pressure, and there was so much of workload, that the
translator often simply used to abide by what the editor said. As a result the Bengali translations
sometimes sounded awkward.
Sounded a bit wooden...
Yes, because of the interference and bossing of those editors. The editors used to ask so many crooked
questions that a translator often gave up and said, okay, let's keep your version. But those of us who
were young, went to USSR at a later period sometimes used to emphasize our points.
Did you get this editor from 1974 itself?

No, persons used to change. Editors were changed. It was not the case of the same editor being
permanently assigned to a translator. The house that I joined later, Raduga, had me as the only Bengali
translator, though they published some books by Noni Bhowmik too. But he and other translators were
external, I was the only internal staff in charge of Bengali translation in Raduga. There were some four
editors for the Bengali wing of Raduga. The editor varied from assignment to assignment.
So this cooperative person was one among the four editors working in the Bengali wing of
Raduga.
Yes, he was young, and he understood. He once told me, though we argue and all, but at the end of
the day, I shall never be able to know Bengali like you. We never again had a problem. During the
initial years I faced a lot of problems with editors.
Can you specify the translations which you produced while working under that editor?
Those were Raduga publications of course, but I don't remember the specific details now. He too
earlier was with Progress and when Raduga was formed he came to it.
There was one children's fiction which left a massive impression in our mind as children, and
that was Vsevolod Nestaiko's Dui Iyarer Joto Kando (Two Toreadors from Vasiukovka, 1987). By
any chance was that editor with you in that project?
Yes. He was involved with many of my translations. The editor often cross-checked the translations,
gave suggestions, and the translator had the job of convincing the editor about the version that the
translator wanted to keep.
I think we all need to be grateful to this man. Because he did not intrude, we have found such
wonderful translations from you. What was the name of that editor?
Slava Korovin.
Slava. The editor was a lady?
No, no (chuckle). A name ending in 'a' does not always belong to a lady.
Are you still in touch with him or any of your former colleagues?
No, I am not in touch with any of them. I tried to find them in the internet, to no avail. Many of my old
colleagues are probably dead because of age.
Are you into social networking, like facebook?

No, not in facebook. Just a bit of internet. Not very familiar, though.
We know you as a translator. You have authored a few critical works after coming back to India.
Did you ever attempt any creative writing? Do you have any plan to do that in future?
No, I have no such plan. I have been so much into translations, that having original thoughts of my own
has become almost impossible. There's an issue of getting influenced by the styles of whom you
translate. It's very difficult for a translator to protect his originality.
Nevertheless, a translator leaves a unique imprint in his works. Whenever we saw that phrase
mul rush theke onubad Arun Som (Translated from original Russian by Arun Som), we knew
that we are about to witness a certain style, your style. But then perhaps translation is a world of
its own, a complete world, and that why...
Yes, true. That's why once you enter it you will hardly find any space outside it. And I have so much of
unpublished translated materials lying with me, and I continue to translate...
I would come back to that. After Your first visit to USSR, you went back and settled there in
1974. There was an expansion drive for the Bengali wing of Progress Publishers, after the newly
created Bangladesh.
Yes.
It was the time of Brezhnev. How do you look back at Soviet Union under Brezhnev?
I remember Brezhnev's time.... The way most people have talked about those days is that there was a
stalemate. But things were stable. They maintained an equilibrium with the west. The period was also
one of stagnation, people say. But if you look back, there was prosperity. And I think of that period as a
good one. But corruption also might have increased during that period. In some respects, yes, it
probably did. When I went to USSR for the first time, Brezhnev period just began. This time when I
went there to settle, I noticed that people had much more prosperity compared to the previous time.
Brezhnev died in 1982. It was the year when Raduga was formed. Why do you think they decided
to set up Raduga?
Raduga was a continuation of older policies, and to understand them, one has to go back in time. It was
even before Progress Publishing was founded, there was the Foreign Language Publishing House
(Bideshi Bhashar Sahityo Prokashonaloy). If you remember books like Dadur Dostana, they were
published under the aegis of Foreign Language Publishing. I'm talking of 1960s. They either published
children's books, or published socio-economic treatises, what you can say propaganda literature.
Mostly it was meant for propagation of Soviet ideology. Propagation of Soviet and Russian literature
was also there, but that ranked low in the scale of priority. If you want a ratio, it was like 60% of the
books were of socio-political propaganda, and 25% belonged to children's literature, and the remaining
15% belonged to other genres, classics, etc. This is how it continued. Progress continued the same
pattern.
The emphasis was on non-fictional.
Yes, but as USSR was moving towards liberalization, they decided to give more emphasis on classics,
children's literature instead of pure propaganda. It was at that point of time that they felt the need for
Raduga.
Raduga, the name literally meaning rainbow in Russian, was known for publishing children's
literature. Did it also publish classics?
Yes it did. My last published work from Raduga was Proshanto Don (Quiet Flows the Don). I had
many other manuscripts of translated classics and children's literature submitted to Raduga's office.
Soviet Union collapsed before they could get published. As I have no copies with me, they are now lost
forever.
That's a tragedy. Couldn't you bring any of those manuscripts with you?
The work of translations was contractual in nature. We were not salaried staff and were paid according
to the amount of translated material. None of my writings existed as draft, there was no question of
having a copy, I still don't produce a draft, because that hampers the progress of the work. I used to and
still make the fair and final write-up straightaway.
I never thought that things will come to an end in this way, so did never keep a copy with me. Those
days there was no xerox and one could only keep a carbon copy. But I didn't feel the need for that,
either. So they are lost. At least a thousand pages...
You mention that the payment the translators received was proportionate to the amount of pages
translated. Did you get any royalty?
No, the copyright was with the house. There was no royalty. They gave a fixed amount. These many
pages, these many rubles.
We know that Brezhnev was in power between 1964 and 1982, a rather long period. And it was
the time when you came in contact with Russia and settled in Russia. Was there any change in
policy during the Andropov years?
Andropov did not have much time. People expected that some positive change will take place and
corruption will lessen a bit, but Andropov's rule lasted for a brief time, Chernenko too had a very short
time, Chernenko was not a significant figure anyway, and in him there was nothing to write home
about. When Gorbachev came, he was relatively young, and people had some hope. No one became the
general secretary at such a young age (Gorbachev was 1931 born). People started talking about change
and about freedom. Gorbachev also started raising a hue and cry about freedom. After two years
passed, people assumed that Gorbachev was only a talker. But thereafter things were going out of hand,
and I realized that Soviet Union would not last. So I brought my daughters out of Russian schools and
sent them to the Kendriya Vidyalaya at the Indian embassy, where they studied Hindi.
Let me go back to the mechanisms of Soviet publishing. What was the usual number of copies
printed per edition, do you remember that? Say for a popular text like Dui Iyarer Joto Kando.
That used to be printed on the back of a text, which you won't be able to read as it was in Russian. But
they never printed less than 10000 copies for an edition.
How many language wings were there in Raduga?
I don't remember now but all the major Indian languages were there.
And you were the lone Bengali staff in Raduga.
Yes but there were many Bengalis in Progress and they used to work in Raduga's projects. And I myself
continued to work for Progress.
Syed Mujtaba Ali mentions in his column (during the early 1950s) which he used to write during
his sojourn in delhi, titled Rai Pithaurar kolome, about Soviet books which started coming to
Indian market during 1950s, and as per my research, this is probably the first time when a notice
of soviet books was being taken by a mainstream Bengali writer. He says two important things
about Soviet books. That these books have great quality of printing, page and binding (American
books look poor in comparison to them he says), and that they are very cheap. When exactly the
Soviet books started appearing in India?
1951-52, I would say. Early fifties by all means. We were students then. Those books were under the
aegis of Foreign Language Publishing House.
The price was usually written with a pencil. How were they originally priced?
Yes, the people in India fixed the price. Now, I'll again assert that behind such a huge machinery, the
Soviet state was there. It was not just subsidy.... Books published for internal consumption in USSR too
came at a very cheap price for the Russian public too. But these books had the purpose of propaganda
and it was not just subsidy, but the entire cost was borne by the state, and there was no question of
profit and loss. Sometimes state gives subsidy. The Indian state gives some subsidy for Sahitya
Akademi where I work as a translator now. If the price in the market is 350, they will probably sell it at
200. They try to run on a no-profit-no-loss method. But in case of Soviet books, the entire expenditure
was taken up by the state. They had the purpose of circulating Soviet literature I wouldn't say
Russian, because literature from other republics too were translated, but through Russian of course.
They wanted to publicise their ideology, they also wanted to propagate their culture. So Propaganda,
first. Secondly, for the books which entered India, who were the distributors? Party, again. Earlier it
was NBA, for the undivided party. Kind of monopoly. This was what we call in Bengali paiye deoa,
giving doles. That is, helping India's communist party. You can say that practically all the books came
to India without a price. It was communist party here which decided about the price.
What was exactly the payment you received for your translation work?
It often depended on the nature of work. For classics, it was 150 Rubles for one forma, i.e. 15 pages.
For other works, it varied between 120 and 150 Rubles. For a translation of children's fiction like Dui
Iyarer, 120 Ruble for 15 pages (apparently Soviet forma consisted of 15 pages, instead of 16).
During those days 150 Rubles was certainly above average income. Many people did not even earn 150
Rubles a month. And things came very cheap. Telephone, house rent, cooking gas they were all
heavily subsidised and came at a nominal price, not more than a few Kopecks.
Did you have a chance to meet the contemporary writers whom you translated? Say, Nestaiko or
Dubov?
No, no. Never had the opportunity. Never met any writer.
Did Indians or coloured people face any kind of racial discrimination after the fall of Soviet
Union? Did you or anyone you know face any such incident?
I don't have any such personal experience. But well, it might have been experienced by others, I won't
deny. I have mingled with so many Russians, and I have never faced any discrimination. Because of a
sustained contact with Asia, central Asians, the people in Russia are familiar with colored people. But I
won't deny... Many such incidents took place, particularly after Perestroika. Because earlier there was a
provision of strict punishment if anyone turned out to be racist. It was no longer the case after
Perestroika. There was chaos, and some untoward incidents happened. I thinks racism is more or less
present everywhere, but that is not the final truth. They speak of anti-Semitism in Soviet Union, but I
have seen many Jews who have entered deep into the Russian society, they call themselves Russian.
The western propaganda about anti-Jewish nature of Soviet state, is not entirely true. It's like the
Hindu-Muslim problem in India. Don't we have problems? But we also have deep interactions. So, one
cannot generalise.
How do you look at the Yeltsin era? You personally suffered a lot of hardship during that period.
You were the Russia correspondent for the Bengali Daily Aajkaal during that period. Do you find
it different in the contemporary times when Russia is headed by Putin?
Difference... Answering that would be to narrate a long history. People talk about democracy, but I
don't think the idea in its pure form is possible, democracy in pure form cannot happen anywhere.
Russians always prefer authoritarianism, I'd say. From the times of the Tsar, throughout the Soviet era
to the present day, they have been administered by authoritarianism. This western notion of
democracy... they don't believe in it. Putin is doing a lot for Russia. They are still going through
hardship. But they aslo want to bring back the lost glory. Crimea, for example. It was a controversial
region. Putin took it. West never liked Russia. Never in the history. Be it Tsarist Russia, or Soviet
Russia. You look at the history of the world. The west never liked Russia. Be it Crimea or elsewhere,
one finds that west has interfered time and again. And Russia too does not trust the west. Only once a
time came, that of Yeltsin, when they tried to be close to the west and thought that by opening up doors,
open air would fetch them a lot. But then they understood that it would not work, and closed their doors
again.
Let's go back a little. What was the first alarm that the Gorbachev period set in?
Any state, any machinery cannot be changed overnight. When Gorbachev started talking about change,
in retrospect, that was probably the first alarm. And it came from the top. So those who were within the
system, they took the advantage. When everything was privatised, the party bosses and bureaucrats
became capitalists. Common people had a horrendous plight. I witnessed that, I used to record that in
my column. I never thought that I would see Russians scavenging for food in dustbins. I saw Bengalis
doing that in Kolkata after coming from east Bengal (in the 1940s). But never thought that Russia
would come to that. People wearing good cloths were working as hawkers on the street, because of no
salary, no pension. Russians suffered for many years. And Russia has not fully recovered yet. Today
Moscow is as big as any western city, but the people in countryside continue to suffer.
Did Glasonost and Perestroika influence any policy change in Raduga?
Policy change... Well, I understood that the organisation will not last. The way the state machinery was
changing, a publishing house Raduga was fully outside the ambit of the logic of Gorbachev's reforms.
They were moving towards capitalism. But in capitalism such an enterprise cannot exist. They gave
books practically free of cost. Some of us wanted to calculate the viability cost, to estimate for the
recovery and find out a way. I said that there was no use for such an exercise. How can you sell the
books here for profit? There will be no profit, because our people won't be able to buy them at such a
steep price, as production cost would be extremely high.
So when the entire system was changing, I assumed that this publishing house will not survive. Those
of us who worked there started to do various odd jobs, took up jobs in the business houses. I myself did
for some time. It broke up in 1991, and I was there till 1995. I spent four years that way. But gradually
it was becoming impossible for me.
The translator's job, surely there were no takers for that skill of yours.
No (chuckle). That was gone. But majority of those Bengalis who worked there chose to stay.
Particularly those like us, who have mixed families, married to Russians, they certainly chose to stay
back. I always had a zeal for translation. Translation was my passion from my student days, and that
was why I went to Russia. At that time, I was already well employed here. I was a faculty in the
Russian language department in Burdwan University. I also got a job in Jadavpur University just before
going to Russia. I did not have a lack of jobs here. That was not why I went to Russia. When
everything was gone, there was nothing left for me.
A tragedy. Now, going back to the evolution of the 1980s. When I look at the say the choice of
materials for translation in Raduga, the material that we find in Dubov (1985) is remarkably
different from that in Nestaiko (1987). You translated Nodir Buke Alor Mala from Dubov, and
when we contrast that with Nestaiko's Dui Iyarer Joto Kando, it's rather interesting to note that
some self-criticism of Soviet system can be found in the latter work. Do you think that this could
be because of Glasonost?
Yes, criticism was of course there. But it already existed. Criticism of the Soviet system could be found
in some other works too. If you look at Chingis Aitmatov, he has thoroughly criticised the Soviet
system in his fictions. One fiction describes how an honest man gets expelled from the party and all.
These books characterised the later years, when things became a little liberalised. I'd say that such
trends began during the period of Brezhnev.
Utpal Dutt produced a monograph titled Protibiplob. He gives an account of the counterrevolution that gripped Russia in 1991 and he dates it back to the rise of Khrushchev. Dutt also
alleges that Stalin was assassinated, and it was not a natural death. Your take on that.
Well, so many people, so many versions. Khrushchev... Well, USSR could not survive with Stalinism
for eternity. It was needed for the war. But Isolation from the rest of the world would not work for long.
Those slogans could not work for long. This is a question of practice. So many things can be said in
theory. Reality does not depend on theory.
Have you or other translators been members of CPSU? Was Noni Bhowmik a member of CPSU?
No, membership of CPSU was not there... CPSU did not give membership to those who were not
citizens of Soviet Union. All of us had Indian citizenship. Some of the translators might have been
members of CPI. But not of CPSU. Noni Bhowmik remained an Indian citizen. Soviet Union did not
give its citizenship easily. They used to give a green card though. I also had one.
Some rare cases were there, those of the exiles. The Bengalis who were exiled in Russia a long time
ago had Soviet citizenship. But they did not mingle with us, they lived like Russians. Never saw them
in any Indian cultural activity. Some were political exiles. Some of them went there before Indian
independence.
Looking back, the love affair of the Bengalis with Russia, do you think of that as unilateral? Did
the Russians also translate any Bengali writer's works (apart from Tagore) into Russian? Did you
ever translate any Bengali work into Russian?
No, I never did. But looking back, some writings of Sharatchandra were translated. Later, some fictions
of Narayan Gangopadhyay were translated. Still later, some works of Sunil and Shirshendu were
translated too. Apart from Tagore, nobody was translated on a large scale. There was no specific
organisation for transating foreign authors into Russian. These translations of Bengali authors were
brought out by different Russian publishers.
What is your take on the occult similarity in some Russian sounds and Bengali sounds. George
Biswas once told a Russian delegation about such words, which one can find in his autobiography
Bratyojoner Ruddhoshongeet. Satyajit Ray's Lalmohonbabu says how Prokhor, a Russian name,
completely suits the Bengali hero of his fictions.
Yes, these similarities (chuckles). This is a case of homophones. Words like Dom, for example, can
sound familiar to a Bengali ear. But such similarities are age old. Latin and Sanskrit are also very
similar.
There is a predominance of O in Bengali, and in Russian too perhaps.
Yes, in Bengali I am Orun. But in Hindi they will say Arun. In Bengali we have such a preponderance
of O.
Orumov is a Russian surname in a James Bond movie. Orun can sound Russian. I wonder what
did they call you in Russia, Arun or Orun?
Arun. By the spelling of the name.
We did an issue on Ognijug for the very first issue of JBS, and I made a point that we are going
to write Ogni and not Agni. Later it turned out that the ancient Slavic god for fire was called
Ogni.
Yes, they say Agon,in Russian, that's the word for fire. Russian Agon and Bengali Agun.
A resemblance extraordinaire. Also, I want to know about the veracity of a joke I heard about a
Bengali in Moscow named Kajol, apparently it meant goat in Russian.
(Chuckles) That joke is not incorrect. K-a-z-e-o-l in Russian means goat.
So if it is a person from east Bengal, he would pronounce the name exactly as Kazol.
Yes (chuckles). We have that z sound in our eastern dialect, though not in Bengali proper.
The post-communist times you have seen in Russia. Now you see the post-communist times in
Bengal, though we never had a revolution like them, but we too like them lived under the regime
of Communists. Would you draw any comparisons?
Comparisons... yes, there are enough similarities. That was in macro-form, this is in micro-form. The
fall of communists also had a similar pattern. Lost popular touch. After staying in power for a very long
time, the bureaucracy cannot simply see the grass-root. They see from the top, and lose all contact with
the lower strata, whose aspirations, desires can no longer be understood by the bosses. Gradually, it
culminates in a landslide defeat. The communist party did good work after coming to power in both the
cases. Nothing is left in the revolution when they lose contact with the people.
So Kolkata in 2011 was a deja vu moment for you, reminding of Russia in 1991.
Yes.
You continue to translate the classics after you came back to Kolkata. I see that you have
translatef Bulgakov's Master and Margarita. Was it for Nabarun's magazine? He was very fond of
that text.
Yes, I did it for Nabarun. Publication of Bhashabandhan has become irregular now, after Nabarun's
death, but they came to me day before yesterday to take another installment of translation. I have the
whole translation ready with me, and they are saying that they would publish it as a book in the next
Kolkata book fair in 2017.
Do you think that his conceiving of the fyatarus might have been influenced by Master and
Margarita?
Yes, certainly (chuckles). Indeed influenced by Bulgakov. But Nabarun's style is different. Those slangs
which are heavily used are Nabarun's own, you don't find such words of the lowest strata of the society
in Bulgakov. But the idea of certainly taken from Bulgakov.
I will say that majority of Bengali people have not heard of Bulgakov. Nabarun was after me for three
years, asking me to get this translation done. A publisher will not publish such a work unless it is a
labour of love.
It was a very tough job, translating Bulgakov. Nevertheless, the translator cannot give up.
Nabarun himself was associated with Soviet Union in some way.
He worked in Soviet Information Bureau. That was situated at Wood Street first, and then at
Pramathesh Barua Sarani. He was stationed in Kolkata.
I had a personal conversation with Nabarun once. He was very highly critical of Stalin. He said
that it was his perennial nightmare that he would wake up as an artist in Stalin's Russia. The fact
that he was fond of Master and Margarita also suggests that he shares a critical attitude to
Stalinism. Now, you have clarified that according to you, the policies of Stalin period were no
longer viable, and you do not consider Khrushchev to have started the counterrevolution...
(Intervenes) Yes, I would not speak of it fully as a counterrevolution, but it is also true that
Khrushchev's role was not good, people did not really like him.
He was practically forced to give up power.
Yes, yes.
But, do you share this critical attitude to Stalin's Russia? Though let me clarify I no longer
consider Stalin in a purely negative light and in many respects I now think that the man named
Stalin was a necessary historical moment...
Yes, any other alternative for that period cannot even be imagined. Were not there excesses? Yes, there
were. But more excesses were there in the western propaganda. I would go back to that question of
Russophobia. West had that, and they still have it. They still have a hostile attitude. What does that
mean? Soviet Union is no longer there. KGB is no longer there. But still they hate Russia. This has
nothing to do with Soviet. They still have that hostile attitude. Even now, whenever the west speaks of
international mafia, they speak of Russians. Huh! What does that mean? I have not seen this much of
negative propaganda in Russia against the west. The anti-Russian propaganda in the west works on
such a large scale, they show it in movies, in fictions. Everywhere.
As a counter-propaganda, communists in India have tried to portray Russia in positive light. If a
positive impression of Russia is made in the minds of children, that would work as a vaccination
against Russophobia in future, which is true about our generation, as many of us grew up with a
Russophilia, because of these Soviet books we read as children. Shyamal Chakraborty gives a
very interesting account of Crimea, in a book titled Shishutirthe Shishura, brought out by NBA,
meant for instilling a sense of love for Russia in the minds of children. Anyway, I want to ask you,
did you travel inside Russia? Did you love to travel? Did you love the Russian landscape? Or
eastern Europe?
The nature of our work rarely gave such opportunities. But yes, we traveled to many places in the
Soviet Union. I loved central Asia most. Samarkhand, Bukhara. And on the western side, I loved
Leningrad, what is now St Petersburg. Many places near and around Moscow are worth traveling and I
loved them too.
After reading your works, we developed a love for Ukraine that acted as a backdrop of Nodir
Buke Alor Mala and Dui Iyarer Joto Kando. The landscapes of Kiev and Ukrainian countryside
impressed us through your translations. You have been to Ukraine too, I guess.
Yes, yes. And you will find Ukraine in Gogol's classics too. These divisions which are now rifting apart
Russia and Ukraine were not there during Soviet times. They have come from the same cultural roots.
Such conflicts, one can say, even if they existed, they lacked any expression during the Soviet times. I
will go back to that point. Divisions are true in case of every state. That is not the only truth, however.
Malorossiya, little Russia. Ukraina means the borderland. All major Ukrainian writers wrote in Russian
itself. Ukrainian language has remained in the condition of a dialect in that regard. All Ukrainians are
bilingual.
Do you feel like writing an autobiography? Because the history that you are a witness to needs to
be preserved.
Autobiography... Well, who writes an autobiography? One who writes autobiography considers himself
to be a historical person. In my case it would be arrogance.
You are being modest.
What I suspected was that the kind of personal experiences that I had in my life might be written down,
and but that will not be liked by many people, because it would be straightforward and would have
many controversies. It would be on Russia as I saw, Russian mind, Russian culture, cities like St
Petersburg, and how the social, political changes took place. I have kept a diary, and I have kept it tidy.
This is a very important chapter in the history of twentieth century Bengalis. The Soviet contact.
This history cannot be allowed to be lost. I think that people will continue to undertake research
on that part of our history for many years to come. My last question will be, Arunbabu, are you
still in touch with Russia? Your wife is Russian. Have you ever returned to Russia after leaving
that country in 1995?
Yes, many times. Used to go there once a year. My wife is entitled to a pension. I am too entitled for a
pension. But travel costs have increased a lot, and that makes any travel to Russia to get the pension
non-viable. For last five years we have stopped going there.
The consulate at Gorky Sadan, Kolkata does not help about getting pension?
No, the consulate does not help in transferring pensions. So, we are without pensions at present.
Russia is a land and a culture that you have been associated with for the most important part of
your life, and you are still very much associated with Russia through your translations. What will
you say, what do you think about Russia, about culture as your last word in this interview?
Every culture is unique and indescribably beautiful. I would say the same thing about Russia. I went to
Russia, went to its language and its culture and I never faced any obstruction from any side.
(Telephonic interview conducted in Bengali on 8 May, 2016. Questions in bold letters are asked by
Tamal Dasgupta followed by responses from Arun Som in normal letters)
Workshop
My Great Great Aunt Who Died: A Story
Amit Shankar Saha
We always thought that Gora was Irish. So, one day when we were playing Name, Place, Animal,
Thing and the letter we I, I wrote in the animal column Irish wolf. It was marked wrong. Those
who wrote Ibis for the alphabet I got it right. But it was so common and all got wrong and no
marks were added in anyones total. Who won the game that day I do not remember. But I remember
that I wrote Irish wolf and was called clever but not clever enough. The elders always do that kind of
thing. One moment they raise you to the skies and the very next moment they let you fall on the earth
by removing their support. It seems that if you dont become sinister you dont grow up.
What I heard of the story was that he had got into the house on account of being white and he had been
kicked out also on account of being white. Being white was a boon and bane for him at the same time.
He got privilege but not privilege enough. The elders always do this.
They say that when the body was brought down but they say everything I am interested in in such a
hush hush way that I have to strain my ears to listen.
Everything that happens in the past becomes so murky and dim that nothing can be seen or heard
clearly later. Memory keeps a chronicle of the times but with time its pages too get buried or burnt and
become one with the atoms of the world losing all identity. No philosophy or macro narrative can
reclaim the specificity of each atom we breathe in. It is always vague. The world tends towards
vagueness as we progress over time and nothing seems to attain clarity specially those things that had
their origin in the past and now no longer exist.
It was said that he came for food. He liked fish and my great great grandfather invited him for a meal.
And the cook was the great great aunt of mine who died. He appreciated her cooking so much that he
became a regular at the dinner table with all the family members but they did not know that he was also
no less regular at the lunch table when they were scarcely there. And so they encouraged his coming. In
return he got them large scale contracts from the British ships that docked in the Ganges.
If the way to a mans heart is through his stomach, the way to a womans heart is also through that
stomach. At every burp of his she fell in love with him. All elaborate cooking centred on his likes and
dislikes. The days when the white man was on the ship and did not come the food appeared bland and
tasteless. Either there was a want of salt in some dish or the spices were disproportionate or the sugar
was too much. But no one made the connection between the quality of food and the presence or
absence of the white man in their midst. Until
And here the grownups always put their hands over their open mouths as if they are going to speak
something they had not anticipated was coming. The mistake that my great great aunt made was to fall
in love and that too with a white man. It was sacrilege. Can love ever be a mistake? Can it be made
consciously? One fine day she found that she was in love and that was that. She had no options. She
was given no options. She just happened to find herself in such a predicament and could not extricate
herself out of it. She got sucked in and this had nothing to do with any weakness of character but rather
her amicability to such feelings. It was her strength which was seen as her misdemeanor. But this is just
what I think. Others dont.
So, my great great aunt who died started to live under surveillance and the white man was not made
welcome in the house even though they could not tell him off straight away. It was made known to him
firstly by the fall in the quality of food served to him, secondly by the absence of my great great aunt at
the table waiting on him and the reason given was that she was indisposed, and thirdly by maintaining a
relative silence during his presence and if at all they had to speak they spoke in Bengali especially to
the servants. The servants were now bold enough to speak in loud whispers of Bengali dialect in front
of the white man expressing their displeasure of serving him until they were gently chided by any one
of the elders, which actually meant a sort of endorsement of their point of view.
The white man could get a hint in a few days gauging by the change in the behavior of the household.
So, one day when he landed at lunch hour and could find no one but the servants serving him he asked
them about my great great aunt. He insisted that he would not have his food until he sees her. Through
this overture he got an audience with the eldest woman member of the family. He was told in clear
terms that the family does not welcome him any more as he has crossed the limits of decency by falling
love with the person he was desiring to meet. The white man did have a soft spot for my great great
aunt who died due to reasons gastronomic but was not willing to accept the accusation of being in love.
He protested and wanted an immediate audience with my great great aunt but was denied.
The white men dont give up fast. Do they? If they see injustice they try their level best to impose their
ideas of justice and so did this white man too. He came back one day with a retinue of police men along
with a search warrant of the house. The house was searched and my great great aunt was found and
questioned by the white man in private. The conversation which happened in a hybrid of English and
Bengali sentences did reveal to him that the young woman he was interrogating did have a heart in love
with him. But he also came to know that this young woman does not harbor any desire to marry him or
elope with him. She had confessed about her love but insisted that her love was just a state of her mind
which kept her happy. The white man understood this but the family did not. The message-bearing
servants had done their jobs and there was a confrontation at the gate between the male members of the
host family, who returned immediately on being fed the news, and the intruding white force.
Here the family whispers exaggerate. It is unlikely that they would have been able to do or say very
much except register their protest meekly in a world of colonial hierarchy of the master and the native.
But my forefathers did have their sources amongst the whites and they ensured that the white man was
told by his superiors to stay away from the Bengali household and not to make rampant use of any
colonial institutions of justice to serve personal ends in the name of a social cause.
Two things happened a few days after that. One was that a bomb was thrown at a white mans convoy
by the extremists injuring a few natives. And just a few days before that, my great great aunt committed
suicide by hanging herself. I am sure there was no link between the two incidents. But the talk that
spread at that time among the native community was that my great great aunt who died was linked to
an extremist group where she had been tasked to bomb a white mans convoy. She had grown cold feet
at such a prospect and had committed suicide unable to reconcile with the idea of her inability to
exercise the task. Whoever spread this rumour perhaps was asked to do so because this immediately
raised the family reputation in the community. These things I came to know not from the family
whispers whose narrative still meandered around the scandal and how fortunate they were that the
timing of the suicide was at the time of her periods and so no stigma was attached to it that could lead
to any speculation of sexual transgression and unwanted pregnancy. One of my uncles insisted at the
dining table that the servants rumour network was deliberately fed the false news of my great great
aunt who died being involved with extremist politics.
Whatever happened and the politics of it make me sad that ultimately it was the universal sentiment of
love that was sacrificed. Something that is basic to human life and existence was seen as a mark of
shame in this colonial encounter between Bengal and Britain. But hush hush! This story must not be
told, this palimpsest must be wiped out. Hush hush!
Dr Amit Shankar Saha holds a PhD from Dept of English, University of Calcutta. He is a renowned
creative writer, and has published poems and stories which have been acclaimed. He also maintains a
blog. He has contributed research articles on the topics of diaspora and multiculturalism.
Commentary
Friday Island Othoba Noromangsho Bhokkhon O Tahar Por: A
Bengali Novel in Search of Arthetypal Narratives
Champak Dyuti Majumder
Acknowledgement: This paper could not be written to its fullest without Mr. Apurbajyoti Majumdar, who served as my
supervisor, as well as one who challenged and encouraged me throughout my time spent studying under him. He would
have never accepted anything less than my best efforts, and for that, I thank him.
The editor of the magazine in which Friday Island Othoba Naromangsho Bhokkhon O Tahar Por
(Friday Island or Human Feasting and Thereafter) was first published, had said in an interview that in
order to read the novel he went through Robinson Crusoe twice but failed to find any connection
between Defoes novel and Majumdars. The title, it seems, promised him a reinterpretation (which
would be called an alternative reading in todays criticism-parlance) of Crusoes fable of capitalism
and individualism. But it is not. Neither is it an allegory. Friday Island is a magic realist tale set in the
island Crusoe had colonised, of mans urge for, and efforts to, create a narrative of his own .This paper
aims to establish the contention by analysing the text chapter wise and, in the process, throw enough
light on the diverse themes the canvas of the novel presents before a careful reader.
The Prologue gives an island a local habitation and a name. As has been said in the first
paragraph, Friday Island is no allegory- it IS an island. In the first page we read: the empty cans from
Johnson Breweries can be seen floating sporadically in the sea after one has left Jamaica. Friday
Island is decidedly not a never-never land, It is thematically important to understand that Friday Island
DOES exist. The novel tries to give the reader its actual location. The island is placed in the Caribbean
Sea (incidentally the word itself has got something to do with cannibalism). It is a place where a
General of Napoleon was slapped in the face (Napoleons brother in law) in which case the island is
Haiti. But it is not Haiti either. Rather, one has to read in it the novelists eye for detail and his
persuasion that a real island is being talked about.
The Prologue introduces Atkinson, the face of commerce and ruling power. The head of the
islands Tourist Bureau (which is the product of a public private partnership). Atkinson is a white
bearded healthy old man with a monocle (Narod dari mondito, mukh hashyomoy, mangshol ghaar o
monocle porihito). He is the richest man in the island. His company Atkinsons and Atkinsons
comprises at least eight ships, no less than four hotels in the island, and a Coca Cola factory. We are
also introduced to Benifico Castiglino, the young poet in search of the immense (we receive a hint that
he will be the revolutionary, ultimately he fails though). He, we are told, is desperately in search for a
personal system of mythology- for fresh symbols. The omniscient narrator wonders, was not the very
similar search the actual motivating force that drove William Butler Yeats and his Celtic Twilight?
Scouring the hills, lakes, the birds, their movements and everything available in their search for new
symbols? Or, as opined Oscar Wilde, Art is not mere mimesis. Rather, what the artist imagines while
writing becomes the subject of narration. If epochs ended naturally in the course of history, what is the
need for so much struggle, bloodbaths, so many revolutions? It is the efforts of the individual that
matters.
Next we meet John Joachim Freda- he remains enigmatic. Artistic design keeps him so. Will he,
can he, be the symbol of the new age? One notices that the words Mrs. McBride, an older and
experienced woman, uses to describe the handsomeness of Freda constitute a literal translation of
Crusoes description of Friday when they first met. Here is the germ of a major theme of the novel
conflation of Freda with Friday, which briefly will threaten the dominance of the disposition led by
Atkinson.
The novel therefore, presents before us three narratives the first of which is Defoes The
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe which for a time served the establishment of the island. But when this
narrative becomes inadequate for Atkinson et al, they need another. Benefico Castiglino comes up with
his Friday Notes to meet this need and Tourist Bureau approves it. It helps the tourism industry; a myth
is generated, surpassing Defoe. But as we find later in the novel, Human Feasting and Thereafter,
Beneficos independent narrative that is not backed by the Tourist Bureau challenges the continuum of
belief. It vexes Atkinson because his establishment is aimed at, and the conflict starts. One may find a
parallel in the new narrative of the one the students sought to create and that immensely disturbed the
Communist Party of China in 1989, leading to the mowing down of the students by battle tanks in
Tiananmen Square. This narrative failed; on the other hand, the narrative of Cultural Revolution
successfully supplanted the one called Let Hundred Flowers Bloom.
The Prologue ends with the introduction of the imported revolutionary lifted from Nick Carter,
related to the coup dtat, which fails to dislodge Atkinson. The hired operator enters the island in the
manner his job demands- in the dead of night. But the night itself is the dark, swollen bosomed
Polynesian woman painted by Paul Gauguin. This is a reminder that what man does is insignificant
compared to the scale of nature; yet, only what man brings about is important. This is one of the
tensions that keep the thematic complexity in place.
Chapter two is titled High Ground, Low Ground. It is devoted to explore the magic of Dona
Mia Freda- the human counterpart of flowers and the trilling of birds. Yet of this experienced woman,
we need to remember the details. Her vital statistics are probably 38-32-34 and she bears an old scar
on one of her thumbs. She is already forty, and there is a mark of surgery on her temple which is
prominently reddish on her golden face. She is attached to Golf and Tennis and her confident
movements, though slightly affected by her ageing, heavy buttocks, exudes affluence, experience, and
individualism. In fact, she moves like a lonely but contented tigress. Young Atkinson is attracted to her
(and alluding to Eliot the author reminds us that April is the cruelest month). Together the two
introduce the conquer the old mother theme in the story: nothing is older than the mother. His
attraction towards her is the aspiration of man, the infant, in the scale of geo-chronicle, to conquer the
nearly billion year old Earth! An exploration of a very old archetype that has manifested itself in a
range of stories from the times of yore. In Greek creation myth, the old mother is Gaia or Tellus (born
from Chaos) who gave birth to Pontus (the Sea) and Uranus (the Sky) and took as her husband Uranus.
With Uranus she gave birth to Titans and other offspring. She gave birth to the Cyclopes and to three
monsters that became known as Hecatonchires. The spirits of punishment known as the Erinyes
were also offspring of Gaia and Uranus. The gigants, finally, were conceived after Uranus had been
castrated by his son Cronus. Gaia is thus the primordial element from which all the gods originated and
each generation of her male offspring keeps struggling to achieve her.
In our own Bhatarchandra we find the story of Sati showing her real form, Kali, to Shiva who
does not want to let Sati go to her fathers house. When Shiva asks her why she was behaving like this,
Kali says it was to remind him of what had happened in the beginning. When, after giving birth to him,
Vishnu, and Bramha she was floating on the primal waters as a stinking corpse, Bramha, disgusted by
the stink, was trying to avoid the sight and the smell. Thus he acquired three more faces. Vishnu simply
left the place. Only Shiva among her three children had the guts to accept her as she was and became
her husband- fit for the sadhan of the Adya Shakti- the Mother. So here too, the only thing that is older
than the mother or land is Chaos or the abyss- the primal waters. Thus, this theme is much older than
the Oedipus myth. The pagan Greeks and the pagan Hindus could accept the idea of the primordial
presence of the female - that the woman predates man- but the Abrahamic scriptures cannot. Amiya
Bhushan Majumdar - Shakta tradition being an important part of the legacy that had come down to him
- finds no problem in depicting Dona Freda as the old mother (conflated with Isabella the guardian
saint of the island later in the novel) who is conquered by Joachim Freda in the end.
We meet old Atkinson after this- the richest man in the island in his cabin with Dona Freda. The
old man seems to hold Dona in a sure grasp. That April does not spare him either the pull towards Dona
is revealed clearly during their interview.
Who art thou God, who brought this day is the third chapter. In this chapter the theme of
rootlessness is introduced through John Joachim Freda, and Jade and Jeff: his colured servants. Friday
Island is peopled by settlers: the aboriginal red Indians are almost extinguished. We have Africans who
did not come here at their own will. The white settlers have imposed their culture and ways on
everyone but have not been able to eradicate the native ways completely. The myths, the archetypes:
elements from their collective unconscious remain. We find Jeff is almost obsessed about finding out
his roots. The conversation below between him and Jade illustrates his quest while also showing the
contrasting reactions of Jade to the issue.
Jeff: Doesnt every man have a root?
Jade: Ha ha! Man with a root! How can he have one?
Jeff: Well, he may not have a surname but he must have a father, mustnt he? And his father has a father
and that father has his, and he. . .
Jade: Jeff, either you shut up or I break your head with this frying pan!
Hearing this conversation from outside, John Joachim Freda reflects: how peculiar it is that man
searches for his roots! What is that? A procession of fathers that has its root buried in the black soil of
Africa?
Jade also refers to the Sodom city the Bible speaks about. The place that has no woman. Where
man penetrates man. The paragraph has the qualities of an impressionist painting. Their life has become
a kind of hell - a world without woman. This theme of root and the body of the woman and land is a
recurrent theme in Majumdar. The man Jeff was uprooted. What remains inside him?
Friday Island is also a study in everyones unwillingness to accept the pattern designed and
imposed by a very powerful machine with a very soft nomenclature: Tourist Bureau. Joachim Freda
feels in a different manner: Am I an exhibit? The Tourist Bureau and Castiglino both want to use
Freda but in different ways. Castiglino wants to have his own system and wants Freda, as we find later
in the novel, to fit into his design/narrative. The theme of mans root is concretised in the binary
complements of woman the earth and man the plant; as such, the uprooted man, then, ought to be
decadent. The quest for the root must remain unfulfilled for Freda and Jeff.
The fourth chapter, The Dark Beauty of Gorgeous Tresses. . . introduces Lucky Walter. His
name is ironic and may remind the reader of Lucky in Waiting for Godot like whom he is helpless. He
seems to know what lies beneath the brilliantly fashioned world, and that knowledge makes him
unhappy. He gropes for a meaning of it all. We learn that there was a time when he was in charge of
milking the goats of the cheese factory. Later he had become the driver of the delivery van. All this
happened before the mechanisation of these processes. Now his sole job is to look after the pedigree
goats that attract a lot of tourists and, as the legend goes, they are the descendants of those whom
Crusoe himself had domesticated. They have bushy furs and large, twisted antlers. Some are too oldtoo old to be bothered about the she-goats. One of them does not even bother to stand up anymore.
According to the vet, he is edging very fast. This goat becomes a counterpart of Lucky Walter himself.
We learn in the conversation between him and Mrs. Dogluck that he, like the old and cold goat, is never
aroused by any stimulant and takes utmost care to avoid anything that is a potential threat to the stupor
he has taken refuge in. When Mrs. Dogluck expresses her doubts about the lineage of the pedigree
goats, on whether they had descended from Crusoes goats, Walter gives his view that the question
hardly mattered. Either you believe in the myth or you dont. He offers Mrs. Dogluck the examples of
the Biblical story that He created everything in six days and took rest on the seventh and that of the
Crusoe myth itself. Both subsist on mans belief and man sustains them because he needs narratives for
his survival.
Matador Evening, the next chapter, deals with the blood myth: does blood permeating earth
ensure Shakespeares foison, a rich harvest? Looking at the evening sky, Lucky Walter visualises it as
a bleeding bull at the end of a bullfight from whose jugular veins blood gushes down in innumerable
streams. The bleeding bull metaphor continues when Mrs. Dogluck violently makes love with Walter at
night. She again reminds him of the furious, wounded beast who gradually loses the fury owing to the
constant loss of blood. After a while arrives night again: that dark Polynesian woman by Gauguin gleam of stars in her bright locks. This scene studies in the contrast between the humdrum life and
techno commercial bliss. And then Lucky Walter puts out to the sea. We get one more peep into
Walters psyche. The old man is unhappy, dissatisfied, yet seeking for meaning. In the following
chapter, Jessy Jenkin and the Dead Fishes, his pathos are revisited. Walter finds only shades of grey
all around and recalls the master Crusoe talking about his visit to a cave in the island where he is first
startled and then scared hearing a peculiar sound that gave him an unearthly feeling! Then he realised it
was the last sigh of an old goat who had gone to the cave to breathe his last few breaths. That darkness
of the cave provides the tranquility where his heart could beat in peace for a number of times before
stopping forever. The cave symbolises for Walter the sleep- the escape from the grey landscape that his
life has become.
The Prologue also introduces the two central themes of Friday Island: a) the conflict of
narratives, and b) reification. In Castiglinos first narrative Friday Notes, which is approved by the
Tourist Bureau, white men who are not naked and are yet cannibals are seen dancing around the two
burning people and singing Te deum laudamus (O God, we praise Thee and acknowledge Thee to be
the supreme Lord). They are ambushed by John Michel Friday and his son and most of them lose their
lives. The survivors try to make for their boat. Friday and his son try to comfort and cover the white
person who was on the verge of losing life in the hands of the well attired cannibals. Friday tells his
son: What you dont understand owing to your lack of experience is that this is a woman. See how
these people eat the flesh of women which we never eat and neither do our enemy Caribbs! - because
they (women) never take arms against anyone. What a religion the race of our Master (Crusoe) has!
They will surely perish for trying to burn a woman who is the fertile land after the rains. He continues:
Exactly in this manner I had discovered my father (Crusoe) in a boat and had brought him grapes,
raisins, bread, and water! You do the same!
Friday continues the narration telling his readers, I and my son John are Carribs and savages
too- because the Master says so though we dont worship Benamuckee anymore. Moreover, I know that
God, who creates light simply by speaking His wish, creates devils too and can destroy them saying
perish and yet refrains from doing it as He wants to see them repentant. After a while the woman
saved from the fire by Friday and his son, says to him: O handsome savage, make love to me and
inevitability shines in her amber eyes. And she is, we are told by John Michael Friday, St. Isabella. For
she is seen in the sugarcane fields after the rains are over- the field that drive the Johnson Breweries.
Or, when one looks at the vines laden with grapes, he is reminded of her ripened breasts. She is the one
who makes Friday the President of the island owing to which the mammoth Friday Castle has been
erected by some superhuman strength where, even after Fridays death, she rules the island for another
twenty years as Dowager Mrs. President.
She, we know from Fridays narration, does not keep distance from anyone. She establishes the
Atkinson clan after Bill Atkinsons sons all die in war. When old John Smith is depressed by family
feuds, she establishes Johnson and Smithson clans splitting the same family. And it is again she who
distinguishes white Atkinson, Smithson et al from black Atkins, black John Smith, black Jenkin, and
their like. None knew who sired her first-born, the first-born of the proto-mother - this puzzled Michael
Friday no end - but the new-born begat John begat Matthew begat Joshua begat Michael begat Graham
begat John, and the unending line of the Fridays went on in the island.
In the novel Hombres de maiz (Men of Maize) ([1949]1988) by the Guatemalan novelist Miguel
Angel Asturias, whose magic realist (not magical realist) writing is closely connected to the European
post-expressionist form of Franz Roh, the magical realist aspect arises from the cross-cultural context
of the European perspective being influenced by and influencing that of the Mayan. A large section of
the novel involves a husbands search for his lost wife after he has lost his land to colonialists. This plot
structure reflects the Mayan myth of the rain woman or the mother of maize who is lost to the
worlds of the earth and the sky and lives caught between the two. It emphasises the association of the
mans loss of his wife with the loss of his land and ability to grow maize. The novel ends when the man
seeking his wife finds rain woman. In this instant the man appears to be reunited with the earth after
having his land taken from him by colonialists. Because the effects of colonisation and the story of rain
woman from Mayan mythology are intertwined in this denouement, the depth of the effects of
colonisation on both the colonisers and the indigenous people is revealed in the novel (Maggie Ann
Bowers). In Friday Island likewise, though Majumdar does not introduce any shapeshifters or magical
happenings like Asturias, his intertwining of the effects of the Christian appropriation of the island and
the pagan Hindu (or pre-Olympian Greek) theme of the primordial mother who is fertility personified
(Kali, Jagaddhatree) helps Majumdar reveal the coexistence in the psyche of the inhabitants of Friday
Island the effects of Chistianisation and their pagan past.
Anyway, Castiglinos second narrative Human Feasting and Thereafter dislodges Crusoe from
the core and Friday and Isabella are given the centre stage. According to Human Feasting therefore,
Friday has been cheated out of his possession by the scoundrels Crusoe had left in the island at the time
of departure. Is it getting at the root? While the general grouse against the Anglo Saxons in America is
that they did down the Black and the Hispanic, this narrative questions the destitution of Indians. More
importantly, Isabella will be conflated with Dona (reification).
In the next chapter Flowers Bloom, Benefico is discovered in his forest castle - alone first
and then with his accomplices. Benefico de Castiglino, poet and revolutionist, to be betrayed by those
who had colluded him (did the author have Che Guevara in mind while depicting him?). He is found
seated on his hammock, his legs dangling below. His head is bare. His thick and curly sideburns merge
with the almost quadrangle imperial below his chin. His thin moustache is waxed at their ends. There is
a shiny short Stylo knife suspended from his waist.
The forest is like a circular auditorium on one end of which there are breadfruit trees and cacti,
and shrubbery on the other. This is that part of the island that is mentioned as the backyard forest in
the Tourist Bureau pamphlet. It is not plain- rather it is on the escarpment of the hill. A strangely silent
stream gathers itself in a pool, and then makes a sudden sally which leaves in its wake an expanse of
swamp. To sum up, the backyard forest with all its cacti, stream, and marshlands is a labyrinth where
you can easily hide yourself for a whole day and many of the tourists do that in couples. Our poet has
chosen this forest as his shelter. When he decides that watching sunrise was over, he thinks he will now
read the poem he has written the previous night. He is down on his hammock with the text and pushes
against the ground with his feet so that he starts shaking with his hammock. He loves to watch the sun,
the moon, and the stars from behind the breadfruit leaves while lying down on his hammock.
Sometimes he even writes poetry in this posture, holding his writing pad vertically on his chest and
almost always he remains hanging on his hammock. His latest modernist poem goes like this:
I counted them... .one, two, three and four. sitting on the hump, black changing to gray and
crimson. Two sticking to the jugular decorating the spring in their incisive cruelty, the sun-gleamed
foils. You had called him Spring, our own, the first, the hooves, horns and testicles - power and ecstasy
Now your shapely fingers painted in red, make signs of forgotten significance on your cheeks.
Look now, the grayish day will be black and the light oozes red.
This poem by the revolutionary poet Castiglino anticipates the theme of reification that becomes
prominent a little later in the novel. After this he is seen in the gathering for breakfast in the middle of
his forest castle. This poem is about their one hundredth bull that some matador recites to his rich
bosomed wife. While reflecting on the beauty of the bleeding bull of the poem suddenly Castiglino gets
a glimpse of a pair of wild, burning eyes- about three yards from him on a branch of a breadfruit tree.
He slowly realises, it is a Robinson Tabby. One of the descendants of the cats Crusoe had salvaged
from the sinking ship. The sample Castiglino has met is probably a small one but it is already double
the size of a common domestic cat. But as if by magic, the tabby becomes invisible the next moment.
However, Castiglino deems his stay in the forest richly rewarding.
Now the narrative voice wonders where the poet heads in search of breakfast (the narrator
reminds us from time to time that the writer is not always omniscient). We learn that the aroma of
cooking food reaches Castiglino and fills his mind with the promise of a new health and vigour.
Suddenly we find a fire under the open Sun on which is suspended from a breadfruit tree, a bull. A full
bull whose belly is slightly cut, and who is thoroughly skinned. From whose body burning in the slow
fire exudes a tasty aroma and molten fat trickles down. But on his head that has not been skinned
remain his still, dead eyes that look like gleaming emeralds in the light of the fire and his horns seem to
pierce the ground below. We understand Castiglino knew about these arrangements and also the men
we now discover seated around the roasting bull. All of them but one have taken off their upper wears.
The one who has not, is wearing a jersey with the number 727 printed on it and the number has already
faded a lot owing to too much wash. He is very dark with a big nose that is blunt, very thick lips that
seem swollen out of annoyance or hurt sentiment. He has big, red eyes and very black hair that is curly
to the point of looking like wires. But that along with his pointed moustache is carefully cut. An
ornamented pistol is suspended from his golden waist belt. The black pistol, save the first one or two
inches at the mouth of the barrel is covered with intricately designed plates of silver. The man
obviously is a class apart. The others in the assembly are not that conspicuous in appearance. They are
all dark though the darkness varies. There is difference in the build of their nostrils too, but their lips
and hair easily show that Caribbean, Teutonic, and Spanish blood have mingled into their Negroid
bloodstream many a time in different volumes. Their overall appearance clearly shows they are
labourers.
But what sort of a breakfast are they going to have? The narrator wonders. How would such a
small number of men manage such a huge beast? Poet Benifico de Castiglino sits down with the others
on the grassy ground and looks at the roasting bull with a strange awe and the others do the same.
Then, after a brief exchange with the man with the designer pistol who, we learn, is Waldo Sebastian,
he takes two knives, the type used by matadors, in his hands. He approaches the bull slowly with them
and cuts a considerable chunk of meat from the bulls hips and keeps it on a large breadfruit leaf spread
on the ground. He starts moving towards the bull again but, thinking something, starts orbiting the bull.
Don Waldo Sebastian follows the procedure right from cutting meat from the bull. Castiglino and
Sebastian feel embarrassed finding each other orbiting the burning beast and keep orbiting to overcome
the embarrassment. The others follow the two while shouting hip hip hurrah now and then. After all
this is over, all of them sit down and have their breakfast. We learn from Sebastian that the breakfast
has been arranged in his honour. Castiglino tells him that the bull they are now about to consume was a
really brave one. Sebastian wonders whether it was because of this that they had to felicitate the bull by
dancing around him before eating his meat. Castiglino tells him that before dying the bull had sent an
apprentice matador to hospital for no less than two months. He points to the four wounds on his body
made by the matadors sword.
Finishing off the breakfast the labourers quickly get up as they hear the whistles from the
Brewery and the sugarcane plantation that are calling them back to work. We learn Sebastian is a
fugitive hiding in the forest and that he had earned gold for pistol shooting in the Olympics. He tells
Castiglino to turn away from him so that the way to his hideout remains a secret to the poet. After he
has left, Castiglino goes back to his hammock. Lying there, he wonders what poetry he would write
now! And he thinks: how a breakfast becomes something much more than that! How it becomes
something of a ritual! But when they had it they never thought that the way they danced around their
food was no less sublime than wishing grace on the dinner table. Rather, it is the assimilation of a
spiritual power, a kind of energy without form, into ones own soul. And he continues eulogising the
bull they have just eaten as the symbol for many a poem he has written.
This chapter thus brings the theme of Eucharist to the fore. Part of Christ, the red wine (blood)
and wafer (flesh) of the Messiah inside a man makes him less sinning. Eating the strong bull likewise,
is supposed to make Castiglino invincible. As in other chapters the theme is advanced in a rich
complexity of details. Benefico is shown with his accomplishes, but the sacrifice of the bull is like a
Homeric hero's offering to gods. And the bull itself is a symbol of Zeus. In the shape of a bull, he
ravished Europa and a new civilisation was born. Also, eating the meat is a form of Homeopathic
Magic (James Frazer: The Golden Bough) - like effects like: bull's flesh consumed also ensures
acquisition of its strength and courage. Castiglino and others, albeit not completely aware, attempts
reification while dancing around and then eating the bull.
Next Castiglino moves to Jessy Jenkins beer booth where we find Jeff too. Jessy is depicted as
a comic alternative of Madame Thrse Defarge from A Tale of Two Cities. We come to know that there
is a mystery around the Mimosa tree by the beer booth. Castiglino and Jeff offer different versions of it
and Jessy is not ready to divulge the secret. Jeffs question remains unanswered despite the bribe she
offers the lady. Castiglino, the poet, is busy acquainting the mass with the new myth. The whole
episode gives the indication that something is in the offing. Jeff behind the hearse: why should a group
of happy tourists be pall bearers? Their delight at the sights wonderful is also a celebration of beauty
not to be renewed. Beauty framed as in a photo: quadrilateral, confined within a limit, not curvaceous
promising the opening up of new vista.
In the next chapter, Crystal coffin and the march of candles the theme continues. The novel is
about seeking the origin and here is Jeff, who wants to know where he belongs. Crystal is well shaped,
well defined, finite and hence not answering questions, non-living coffin. The novel is about seeking
the origin and here is Jeff, who wants to know where he belongs and his question remains unanswered.
A Midday Song, the next chapter, brings together different narratives. Our poet and
revolutionary Benefico Castiglino de Hammock (this is how Atkinson introduces him to Joachim Freda
later in this chapter) wonders whether he will be able to do what W.B. Yeats did with his Irish Poetic
Movement: to invent fresh and new symbols from the old sources: to rewrite the history of a
community. Next he visits Atkinsons office room where the old business tycoon listens to Castiglinos
poem. After Castiglino has finished, Atkinson comes to business and paying the former off for his
poetry, starts telling the poet about his reservations about his reconstruction of the history of the
Friday Island. And the argument starts on whether the Matador fight was an anachronism in Beneficos
text and then, more important, whether it was justified to make Joachim Freda as the most important
man in the island, he being the legitimate heir of John Michael Friday. The argument which grows
bitter continues through the next chapter (A Lunch Full of Arguments or A Midday Song 2). Atkinson
counsels Benefico that to dislodge Crusoe from the core wont be wise. He tells the poet that Robinson
XVII was already contemplating a defamation suit against the poet: to say that Crusoe died a lonely
man robs Robinson XVII of the proud legacy. Atkinson keeps persuading Castiglino to change his
narrative which the Tourist Bureau, Robinson XVII, and many others find immensely disturbing, but
the poet is adamant. Rather, he counters all Atkinsons claims by producing data from his research.
(Ironically though, there was a hint in the Prologue that Beneficos first research may not have been
entirely truthful).
The next conversation takes place between Benefico and Joachim Freda. He calls Freda Mr.
Friday and the latter is surprised. Benefico tells him how wonderfully true it is that he (Freda) still lives
in his own castle! Benefico would want Freda to be the face of revolution. It is not made explicit but
Freda seems to have in mind something more fundamental than a political revolution. He is unhappy to
continue as an exhibit in a museum. Am I a mummy which these people preserve? About whom the
tourists wonder whether to call it Friday or Freda and derive pleasure out of that unsolved mystery? Am
I a showpiece? However, from the conversations emerges a new myth: Freda is established by the poet
as the direct descendent of Man Friday. His glamour of tribulation has all the potential to make the new
myth more acceptable in the new age than the one it aims to replace and Tearguts words in the
Epilogue confirm it.
In the chapter The Seventh day and the Yellow Cactus, a group of tired, news-hungry war
correspondents in two jeeps finds the poet revolutionary out beside a yellow cactus after a tedious drive
up to the valley above the hill. We find a dejected Castiglino de Hammock with his hairs withered,
untrimmed sideburns lost in his dusty imperial, and his shirt considerably torn near his shoulders. In
admirable economy of expression Majumdar presents him to us as a portrait in sepia. The appearance
of the reporters is also described with a technique which is like impressionistic style of painting. One
has a triangular face that is red, another seems to have both his eyes on the same side of the nose which
is steel blue, and yet another has his lips at a wrong place in the face, and fear makes the teeth
transparent through the cheeks. The whole scene has been portrayed in a purely impressionistic manner.
After assuring the poet that they were not marine or commando forces sent after him by the Tourist
Bureau, and revealing their identities, the war correspondents tell him that those the poet was expecting
would follow them at Atkinsons orders. The reporters, sure of Castiglinos impending death, requests
the thirsty and starving poet to give them his last poem. Benefico smiles and tells them to write it down
as he himself had no paper to write on. His swan song goes like this:
I said to the Tree
My heart, O WoodAnd then my soul in genuflection
Mixed tears in prayer (Could I even pray?)My soul gathered prayer in its palms
And poured and said, Take it oh, take, give

me a lotus,
a yellow lotus, not executed, not executed
before a Book. For I want a new phrase of
faith. Then the Tree shaken with storm cried
out in agony, Witches danced on every branch
of The great wood, its hundred thousand
branches; green leaves and twigs
disintegrated in the revolution of supersonic dance.
Then he was himself again,
for He is great wood.
A seed penetrated the Earth
I picked up a flower.
This utterly yellow world....

Benefico smiled weakly and said - Isnt it?
As soon as he finishes reciting his poem, the three reporters ask him together where they would
deposit the royalty for the poem and assures him that it would be published in all the newspapers. The
second reporter asks Castiglino if he would call it the great deluge, for a minority so successfully
terrorises the majority and a new narrative is born and everyone thinks: though my neighbours die, I
remain unscathed! Castiglino agrees with him and shortly after this the reporters suddenly leave the
place as if whatever little time they had for the poet was up and a tracer bullet bursts nearby. The poet
hears footsteps and then more tracer bullets burst in quick succession. A grey curtain seems to veil the
burnt yellow landscape and eventually it becomes a vast desert of grey. A bunch of yellowish grey
men approaches and ravishes the grey landscape with a shower of bullets from their lightmachineguns. The revolutionary poet presses the trigger of his sub-machinegun which whirrs first and
then stops suddenly with a loud click. Don Waldo Sebastian had betrayed him. Castiglino shakes and
so does the yellow cactus. He stumbles forward, and then shakes from left to right, and then falls
prone to the ground at the base of the cactus. He feels thirsty. He did not get any water for the last two
days. He in his last moments remembers the bull whose part he had eaten and whose strength and
courage he had aspired to acquire by the act and we understand his attempt at reification has failed
him beyond words. Dying, he thinks: o brave beast, we also view the world by our glasslike still eyes
with our body upside down and then our brain fails to make any sense! We see, neither do the
fireworks that are displayed in the island to celebrate the failure of the coup that had attempted to
topple Atkinson and his Tourist Bureau. We hear conversations that are banal, repetitive: nothing has
changed.
In the meantime the failed coup dtat is described with brief and sure touches as of a brush. An
air-force officer comes down to death with his plane in a crater, the electricity vanishes, ruffians or
revolutionaries (difficult to tell one from the other) take possession of the roads, and far-off states
publish their theses about what happens in the Island, and Charles Teargut the member-secretary of the
Sipiefow and Inspector General of Forests takes charge (one does not fail to notice the morality play-
like nomenclature - one who tears guts a person absolutely remorseless). The sense we get that
though every detail is realistic, what actually happens escapes the understanding.
Finally, the Epilogue deals with the last narrative that is created in Friday Island- the
documentary. We were told about the rescue of Isabella in the Prologue and the Epilogue shows us the
rescue of Dona Mia Freda. The child who is uncertain of his roots - the male infant without the mother
- identifies Dona with Isabella, the guardian saint and eternal mother for Friday Island. Freda and Dona
make love, but Dona, instead of being Isabella capable of bringing forth a new civilisation ends up
being Jocasta, one who is pitifully aware of her own impropriety. The creation myth is falsified for the
second time in the novel. Joachim Freda on the other hand is more like the Titans. He feels no guilt like
Oedipus did in copulating with the mother. Atkinson says that the tattered regalia like Robinson XVII
do not matter anymore. This is the change. The coup has replaced all other narratives, but the old
system will continue: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that
which shall be done (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and the narrator reminds us again that there is no new thing
under the sun .Under this apparent cynicism lies the acknowledgement that newness can be asserted
only in Art which is ambivalent and sympathetic.
As Majumdar himself observed in an interview, If someone thinks that the subject of this novel
is a novel by Defoe and its impact, I mean a text and its impact, I mean how texts influence the
civilised world (quotation marks mine) we live in, what the outcome of that influence can be, how
ridiculous, crude, and meaningless events it may cause to happen, and how, ultimately, those
happenings become history worthy of becoming the subject of documentaries, and people get materials
to write more books! The book could be Defoes novel, could be Das Capital, or the Bible. And human
feasting continues. And those who feast on human flesh are not savages. They are civilised people in
coats and trousers and shout Te deum laudamus etc. while consuming their prey. Or perhaps culture is
one of its facets.
He says in another context (in his novel Chandbene), that for explaining the material world,
thoughtful men down the ages have posited extraterrestrial non material criteria. It would seem that
those criteria would include Religion, God, Law of History, Social Darwinism, or whatever may be the
latest dominant view in the academic circles. But a novel is ultimately about man alive and live
woman (Lawrence). To survive, they need such extraterrestrial non material criteria: ideas, myths etc.
and these they procure from a narrative that has been established as the supreme truth over the ages.
Interestingly, both intellectual men (Castiglino, Freda et al) and very humble individuals (Jade, Jeff,
Mrs. Dogluck, Lucky Walter et al) need it equally. And there is an eternal conflict between the life one
lives and the life that he thinks he should have lived. The individual seeks for ways to transform the
first into the latter, in the narrative that he deems the provider of all solutions.
Sensitive man will grope for new images, new myths. And the stern realist that Majumdar is,
cannot keep what has been called Reification beyond his understanding of human fate. To reify is to
convert an abstraction, etc. mentally into a thing - in other words, to materialise. And in the present
novel there is a series of reifications each of which ultimately proves the futility of the idea. The poet
and revolutionary Benifico Castiglino attempts a reification of the strength and courage of the brave
bull by eating him and his life comes to a gory end. Dona Mia Freda who, it was hoped, will be Europa
who brought with her new civilisation, even Tellus who in a manner created the universe, ends up
becoming Jocasta who is conscious of the sin of the union with son and yet decides to continue. Jeff,
the butler, brings home a donkey in the hope that it will bring with it a Man who will cure the world
from all maladies as happened in the Bible where the Virgin Mary pregnant with the Messiah rode on
the back of a donkey. He thought only a donkey can carry a new man (Jeff and his ass). But nothing
like that happens. Rather, the donkeys braying startles and terrifies Jade into taking it for the camel the
Bible speaks of. White with scare, Jade starts praying to Jesus and in the anticlimax that follows, he
understands it was only a donkey.
(The lines from the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe that Jade had just read before the entry of
the donkey and Jeff and which had already made him terrified may remind one of the Trinity Vision
of the Swiss mystic and hermit, Brother Nicholas of Flue which is discussed and described in detail by
C. G. Jung, both in his Brother Klaus and Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious. It
preoccupied Brother Nicholas so much that he painted it. He elaborated the symbol and eventually he
concluded that he must have gazed upon the Holy Trinity itself the eternal love. But the original
experience was entirely different. It was a sight so terrible that his own countenance was changed by it.
It was a vision of the utmost intensity. According to Jung, this vision has rightly been compared with
the one in Revelation [1:13]: that strange apocalyptic Christ-image, which for sheer gruesomeness and
singularity is surpassed only by the monstrous seven-eyed lamb with seven horns. Charles de Boulles
describes this vision in a letter to one of his friends as . . . a vision which appeared to him in the sky,
on a night when the stars were shining, and he stood in prayer and contemplation. He saw the head of a
human figure with a terrifying face, full of wrath and threats)
Following the theorist, we find the word reification pejorative. The creative artist is aware of
the negative aspect; yet what his large comprehending soul grasps is the fact that it is mans fate to
create new myths, and later to realise that for what he has done the theorist has a neat definition
reification: Man is tragically doomed to create myths. That is one reason Friday Island quotes the
Ecclesiasts.
In the final analysis, Friday Island othoba Naromangsho Bhokkhon o Tahar Por is a magic
realist novel that seeks to explore the inevitable conflict of narratives in the course of human evolution
and does so in suggestive touches and often using magic realist (and not magical realist the latter
presents supernatural happenings as if they are everyday realities whereas the former seeks to find the
magic latent in everyday realities) techniques. It establishes that the conflicts really change nothing but
only give birth to new narratives. Interestingly, in a novel first published in the early 1970s, a time
when magic realism was hardly popular in India, a time when the literary world of the country hardly
bothered about Jacques Lacan and Edward Said, a Bengali novelist used magic realist techniques to
provide small details and show the enigmatic nature of myths, and dealt with the themes of the
formation of the identity of the other by the dominant party.
Champak Dyuti Majumder is Asst Professor of English, Rahul Foundation, Durgapur, West Bengal,
India. He is also the grandson of novelist Amiya Bhushan Majumdar.
Read us, reach us, post your comments and find the
Call for Papers at
http://bengalistudies.blogspot.in/
Contact us at
editjbs@gmail.com and shoptodina@gmail.com

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ISSN 2277-9426

Journal of Bengali Studies

Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad

Buddhapurnima, 7 Joishtho 1423

Journal of Bengali Studies (ISSN 2277-9426) Vol.5, No.1

Journal of Bengali Studies

Foreign Encounters: Bengal and Abroad

Editor: Dr Tamal Dasgupta

The commentary, article, review copyrightsindividual contributors, while the Journal of

Captain Suresh Biswas: Myth and Reality

Ata Dpakara rjna The Erudite Monk-Scholar of Bengal

Sister Nivedita in Bengal: The Irish Bengali Encounter

Bengali Identity in Seventeenth Century Arakan: Language, Identity and Emotion

East West Dialectics, 'Indian Renaissance' and Swami Vivekananda

Vivekananda and the Spirit of Internationalism

Othello in Nineteenth Century Bengal: A Case of Conflicted Indigenization

Shakespeare Studies in Bengal: Bengal Renaissance and After

French Educationists in Colonial Chandernagore: A Tale of a College

The Effect of Colonial Encounter on Medical Organization and Practice in Bengal

Sir William Jones and Max Muller: The Kalpataru of Scholarship

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Soviet-era authoritarianism is in many respects a continuation of the Tsarist practice, in spite of

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Fig. 8: Front Cover of Ispat Vol. 1

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Fig. 9: Rush Biplob Ki Ghotechilo. History of 1917 in comics format

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Fig. 15: The back cover of Ispat Vol. 2

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Fig. 17: Shishutirthe Shishura

Fig. 18: Duronto Eagle

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Fig. 19: Jai Prakash Bharti's Soviet Shishujogot

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Fig. 22: Front cover of Rushdesher Upokotha

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Fig. 23: Ukrainer Upokotha of 1988

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