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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

List of Bengali-language authors (chronological)


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a Chronological list of Bengali language authors (regardless of nationality or religion), by date of birth. Alphabetical order is used only when chronological order cannot be ascertained. The list also marks the winners of major international and national awards:

Nobel Prize winners are marked with Ramon Magsaysay Award winners are marked with: Bharat Ratna winners are marked with: Padma Vibhushan winners are marked with: Padma Bhushan winners are marked with: Independence Day Award winners are marked with: Ekushey Padak winners are marked with: Banga-Vibhushan winners are marked with: . and

For an alphabetic listing of Bengali language authors please refer to alphabetic list of Bengali language authors.

Ancient Age

Aryadev (9th century) Bhusukupa (9th century) Dhendhanpa (9th century) Dombipa (9th century) Kahnapa (9th century) Kukkuripa (9th century) Luipa (9th century) Minapa (9th century) Sarhapa (9th century)

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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

Shabarpa (9th century)

Middle Age

Boru Chandidas (????) Vidyapati (13521448) Ramai Pandit (13th/14th century) Krittibas Ojha (1443-15??) Krishnadasa Kaviraja (1496 - 15??) Dwija Madhab (16th century) Rupram Chakrabarty (17th century) Syed Sultan (15501648) Alaol (16061680) Abdul Hakim (17th century) Daulat Quazi (17th century)

18th century

Bharatchandra Ray (17121760) Ramprasad Sen (17201781) Ramram Basu (17511813) Lalon Shah (17741890)

19th century

Ishwar Chandra Gupta (18121859) Peary Chand Mitra (18141882) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (18201891) Lal Behari Dey (18241892) Michael Madhusudan Dutt (18241873) Rajnarayan Basu (18261892)

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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

Dinabandhu Mitra (18301873) Girish Chandra Sen (1835/1836-1910) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (18381894) Kaliprasanna Singha (18401870) Girish Chandra Ghosh (18441912) Mir Mosharraf Hossain (18471912) Nabinchandra Sen (18471909) Sivanath Sastri (18471919) Troilokyanath Mukhopadhyay (18471919) Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848 1909) Jyotirindranath Tagore (18491925) Hason Raja (18541922) Kaykobad (18571951) Jagdish Chandra Bose (18581937) Sheikh Abdur Rahim (18591931) Akkhoykumar Boral (18601919) Rabindranath Tagore (18611941) Dwijendralal Ray (18631913) Upendrakishore Ray (18631915) Swami Vivekananda (18631902) Ashutosh Mukherjee (18641924) Kamini Roy (18641933) Ramendra Sundar Tribedi (18641919) Dinesh Chandra Sen (18661939) Gaganendranath Tagore (18671938) Pramatha Chowdhury (18681946) Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad (18691953) Abanindranath Tagore (18711951) Ekramuddin Ahmad (18721940) Provatkumar Mukhopadhyay (18731932) Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay (18761938) Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder (18771957) Jatindramohan Bagchi (18781948) Ismail Hossain Shiraji (18801931)

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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

Rajshekhar Bose (18801960) Syed Emdad Ali (18801956) Qazi Imdadul Haq (18821926) Satyendranath Dutta (18821922) Sheikh Fazlul Karim (18821936) Hemendrakumar Roy (18831963) Kumud Ranjan Mullick (18831970) Gobindachandra Das (18851918) Muhammad Shahidullah (18851969) Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay (18851930) Jagadish Gupta (18861957) Sukumar Ray (18871923) Eyakub Ali Chowdhury (18881940) Mohitolal Majumdar (18881952) Kalidas Roy (18891975) Mohammad Lutfur Rahman (18891936) Suniti Kumar Chatterji (18901970) S. Wajid Ali (18901951) Sachin Sengupta (18911961) Sahadat Hussain (18931953) Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay (18941950) Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay (18941987) Golam Mostofa (18971964) Nirad C. Chaudhuri (18971999) Qazi Motahar Hossain (18971981) Abul Mansur Ahmed (18981979) Mahbubul Alam (18981981) Mohammad Barkatullah (18981974) Tarashankar Bandopadhyaya (18981971) Jibanananda Das (18991954) Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay (18991979) Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (18991970) Kazi Nazrul Islam (18991976)

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Early 20th century



Aroj Ali Matubbar (19001985) Sukumar Sen (19001992) Amiya Chakravarty (19011986) Sudhindranath Dutta (19011960) Charuchandra Chakrabarti (1902-1981) Abul Fazal (19031983) Benojir Ahmed (19031983) Achintyakumar Sengupta (19031976) Jasimuddin (19031976) Motaher Hussain Chowdhury (19031956) Premendra Mitra (19041988) Syed Mujtaba Ali (19041974) Annadashankar Roy (19052002) Abdul Kadir (19061984) Humayun Kabir (19061969) Bande Ali Mia (19071979) Satyen Sen (19071981) Nurul Momen 'Natyaguru' (1908-1990) Buddhadeb Bosu (19081974) Dewan Mohammad Azraf (19081999) Manik Bandopadhyay (19081956) Leela Majumdar (19082007) Ashapoorna Devi (19091995) Bishnu Dey (19091982) Arun Mitra (19092000) Subodh Ghosh (19091980) Abujafar Shamsuddin (19111989) Begum Sufia Kamal (19111999) Syed Waliullah (19121971) Dinesh Das (19131985) Protiva Bose (19152006)

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Narendranath Mitra (19161975) Samar Sen (19161987) Ahsan Habib (19171985) Akbar Hussain (19171980) Bijan Bhatacharya (19171978) Shawkat Osman (19171998) Amiya Bhhan Majumdr (19182001) Farrukh Ahmed (19181974) Narayan Gangopadhyay (19181970) Sarder Jayenuddin (19181986) Abu Rushd (1919-2010) Sikandar Abu Zafar (19191975) Subhas Mukhopadhyay (19192003) Nilima Ibrahim (19212002) Ahmed Sharif (19211999) Satyajit Ray (19211992) Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (19211990) Bimal Kar (1921-2003) Shaktipada Rajguru (1922- ) Narayan Sanyal (19242005) Badal Sarkar (1925-2011) Munier Chowdhury (19251971) Rashid Karim (1925-2011) Ritwik Ghatak (19251976) Shahed Ali (1925-2001) Abu Ishaque (19262003) Mahasweta Devi (1926- ) Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (19261971) Narayan Debnath (1926- ) Shamsuddin Abul Kalam (19261997) Sukanta Bhattacharya (19261947) Lokenath Bhattacharya (19272001) Mahbub Ul Alam Choudhury (1927- )

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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

Shahidullah Kaiser (19271971) Anwar Pasha (19281971) Abdur Rouf Choudhury (19291996) Jahanara Imam (19291994) M. R. Akhtar Mukul (19292004) Shamsur Rahman (19292006) Utpal Dutt (19291993) Abdullah-Al-Muti (19301998) Syed Mustafa Siraj (1930-2012 ) Moti Nandi (1931-2010) Alauddin Al-Azad (1932- ) Muhammad Mohar Ali (19322007) (King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies in 2000) Shankha Ghosh (1932- ) Amartya Sen (1933- ) Anil Kumar Dutta (19332006) Sandipan Chattopadhyay (19332005) Manju Sarkar (1933- ) Purnendu Patri (1933-1997) Abdul Gaffar Choudhury (1934- ) Atin Bandyopadhyay (1934- ) Binoy Majumdar (19342006) Mohit Chattopadhyay (1934- ) Sunil Gangopadhyay (1934-2012 ) Shakti Chattopadhyay (1934- ) Rabeya Khatun (1935- ) Shahid Akhand (1935- ) Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (1935- ) Syed Shamsul Haque (1935- ) Bipul Kumar Gangopadhyay (1935-) Abubakar Siddique (1936- ) Al Mahmud (1936- ) Amiya Kumar Bagchi (1936- )

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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

Bashir Al Helal (1936- ) Buddhadeb Guha (1936- ) Dilara Hashim (1936- ) Jatin Sarker (1936- ) Razia Khan (1936- ) Tarapada Roy (1936- ) Sanjeev Chattopadhyay (1936- ) Kabi Dilwar (1937- ) Tahrunessa Abdullah (1937- ) Mokbula Manzoor (1938- ) Nabaneeta Dev Sen (1938- ) Abdullah Abu Sayeed (1939- ) Bani Basu (1939- ) Dibyendu Palit (1939- ) Hasan Azizul Huq (1939- ) Hasnat Abdul Hye (1939- ) Iffat Ara (1939- ) Rizia Rahman (1939- ) Bipradash Barua (1940- ) Muhammad Yunus (1940- ) Rahat Khan (1940- ) Abdul Mannan Syed (1943- ) Ahmed Sofa (19432006) Akhtaruzzaman Elias (19431997) Asad Chowdhury (1943- ) Farida Hossain (1945- ) Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (1944- ) Samaresh Majumdar (1944 - ) Vattacharja Chandan (1944- ) Nirmalendu Goon (1945- ) Prabir Ghosh (1945- ) Matiur Rahman (1946- ) Haripada Datta (1947- ) Humayun Azad (19472004)

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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

Panna Kaiser (1947- ) Selina Hossain (1947- ) Sheikh Hasina (1947- ) Abu Saleh (1948- ) Humayun Ahmed (1948-2012 ) Abul Bashar (1949- ) Mohammad Nurul Huda (1949- )

Late 20th century



Ekram Ali (1950- ) Samir Roychoudhury (1933-) Malay Roy Choudhury (1939-) Suchitra Bhattacharya (1950- ) Muhammed Zafar Iqbal (1952- ) Dipak Barua (1952- ) Manju Sarkar (1953- ) Shahidul Jahir (19532008) Joy Goswami (1954- ) Imdadul Haq Milon (1955- ) Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah (19561992) Anil Ghorai (1957- ) Robbani Chowdhuri (1958- ) Moinul Ahsan Saber (1958- ) Subodh Sarkar (1958- ) Faizul Latif Chowdhury (1959- ) Zillur Rahman John (1959- ) Mallika Sengupta (1960-2011) Taslima Nasrin (1962- ) Humayun Kabir Dhali (1964- ) Aryanil Mukhopadhyay (1964- ) Anisul Hoque (1965- ) Nasreen Jahan (1966- )

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Authors of the Nineteenth Century

Sezan Mahmud (1967- ) Baby Halder (b. 1973) Srijato (1977- ) Subhro Bandopadhyay (1978- )

References
Biletey Bishshotoker Bangla Kobi, Robbani Chowdhury, Agamee Prokasion, Dhaka, 2000 History of Bengali Literature, Rabbani Choudhury, Utso, Dhaka, 2010

LINKS

Lists of writers by language

Bengali-language writers

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Ishwar Chandra Gupta

Ishwar Chandra Gupta (Bengali: ; March 1812 23 January 1859) was an Indian Bengali poet and writer. Gupta was born in the village

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Kanchanpalli or Kanchrapara, 24 Parganas district (currently in North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, India).

Peary Chand Mitra

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Peary Chand Mitra (Bengali: ) (24 July 1814 23 November 1883) was an Indian writer, journalist and a member ofDerozios Young Bengal group, who played a leading role in the Bengal renaissance with the introduction of simple Bengali prose. HisAlaler Gharer Dulal pioneered the novel in the Bengali language, leading to a tradition taken up by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and others.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

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Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE (Bengali: Ishshor Chndro Biddashagor 26 September 1820 29 July 1891), bornIshwar Chandra Bandopadhyay (Bengali: , Ishshor Chndro Bndopaddhae), was an Indian Bengali polymath and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. Vidyasagar was a philosopher, academic, educator, writer, translator, printer, publisher, entrepreneur, reformer, and philanthropist. His efforts to simplify and modernize Bengali prose were significant. He also rationalized and simplified the Bengali alphabet and type, which had remained unchanged since Charles Wilkins and Panchanan Karmakar had cut the first (wooden) Bengali type in 1780. He received the title "Vidyasagar" ("Ocean of learning" or "Ocean of knowledge") from the Calcutta Sanskrit College (where he graduated), due to his excellent performance in Sanskrit studies and philosophy. In Sanskrit,Vidya means knowledge or learning and Sagar means ocean or sea. This title was mainly given for his vast knowledge in all subjects which was compared to the vastness of the ocean.
[3] [1][2]

Early life
Ishwar Chandra was born to Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and Bhagavati Devi at Birsingha village, in the Ghatal subdivision of Paschim Midnapore District, on 26 September 1820. at the age of 6 he went to calcutta.In Calcutta, Ishwar started living in Bhagabat Charan's house in Burrabazar, where Thakurdas had already been staying for some years. Ishwar felt at ease amidst Bhagabat's large family and settled down comfortably in no time. Bhagabat's youngest daughter Raimoni's motherly and affectionate feelings towards Ishwar touched him deeply and had a strong influence on his later revolutionary work towards the upliftment of women's status in India. His quest for knowledge was so intense that he used to study on street light as it was not possible for him to afford a gas lamp at home. He cleared all the examinations with excellence and in quick succession. He was rewarded with a number of scholarships for his academic performance. To support himself and the family Ishwar Chandra also took a part-time job of teaching at Jorashanko. In the year 1839, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar successfully cleared his Law examination. In 1841, at the age of twenty one years, Ishwar Chandra joined the Fort William College as a head of the Sanskrit department.

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After five years, in 1846, Vidyasagar left Fort William College and join the Sanskrit College as 'Assistant Secretary'. In the first year of service, Ishwar Chandra recommended a number of changes to the existing education system. This report resulted into a serious altercation between Ishwar Chandra and College Secretary Rasomoy Dutta. In 1849, he again joined Sanskrit College, as a professor of literature. In 1851, Iswar Chandra became the principal of Sanskrit College. In 1855, he was made special inspector of schools with additional charges. But following the matter of Rasomoy Dutta, Vidyasagar resigned from Sanskrit College and rejoined Fort William College,as a head clerk.

Teaching career
Vidyasagar in Calcutta and many other reformers in Bombay set up schools for girls. Vidhyasagar was associated with other reformers, who founded schools for girls like Ramgopal Ghosh, Madan Mohan Tarkalankar, Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune and others. When the first schools were opened in the mid nineteenth century, many people were afraid of them. They feared that schools would take away girls from home and prevent them from doing their domestic duties. Moreover, girls would have to travel through public places in order to reach school. They thought that girls should stay away from public spaces. Therefore, most educated women were taught at home by their liberal fathers or husbands.

Vidyasagar House, in Kolkata.

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In 1841, Vidyasagar took the job of a Sanskrit pandit (professor) at Fort William College in Kolkata (Calcutta). In 1846, he joined the Sanskrit College as Assistant Secretary. A year later, he and a friend of his, Madan Mohan Tarkalankar, set up the Sanskrit Press and Depository, a print shop and a bookstore. While Vidyasagar was working at the Sanskrit College, some serious differences arose between him and Rasamoy Dutta who was then the Secretary of the College, and so he resigned in 1849. One of the issues was that while Rasamoy Dutta wanted the College to remain a Brahmin preserve, Vidyasagar wanted it to be opened to students from all castes. Later, Vidyasagar rejoined the College, and introduced many far-reaching changes to the College's syllabus. In the face of opposition from the Hindu establishment, Vidyasagar vigorously promoted the idea that regardless of their caste, both men and women should receive the best education. His remarkable clarity of vision is instanced by his brilliant plea for teaching of science, mathematics and the philosophies of John Locke and David Hume, to replace most of ancient Hindu philosophy. His own books, written for primary school children, reveal a strong emphasis on enlightened materialism, with scant mention of God and religious verities a fact that posits him as a pioneer of the Indian Renaissance.

A compassionate reformist
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar felt very sorry and compassionate whenever he saw poor and weak people were in distress. Though he was very outspoken and blunt in his mannerisms, he had a heart of Gold. He was also known for his charity and philanthropy as "Daya-r Sagar" or "Karunar Sagar" ocean of kindness, for his immense generosity. He always reflected and responded to distress calls of the poor, sufferings of the sick and injustice to humanity. While being a student at Sanskrit College, he would spend part of his scholarship proceeds and cook paayesh (rice pudding) to feed the poor and buy medicines for the sick. Later on, when he started earning, he paid fixed sums of monthly allowances to each member of his joint family, to family servants, to needy neighbours, to villagers who needed help and to his village surgery and school. This he continued without break even when he was unemployed and had to borrow substantially from time to time.

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Vidyasagar did not believe that money was enough to ease the sufferings of humanity. He opened the doors of the Sanskrit College to lower caste students (previously it was exclusive to the Brahmins), nursed sick cholera patients, went to crematoriums to bury unclaimed dead bodies, dined with the untouchables and walked miles as a messenger-man to take urgent messages to people who would benefit from them. When the eminent Indian Poet of the 19th century, Michael Madhusudan Dutta, fell hopelessly into debts due to his reckless lifestyle during his stay in Versailles, France, he appealed for help to Vidyasagar, who laboured to ensure that sums owed to Michael from his property at home were remitted to him and sent him a large sum of money to France.

Widow remarriage
Vidyasagar championed the uplift of the status of women in India, particularly in his native place Bengal. Unlike some other reformers who sought to set up alternative societies or systems, he sought, however, to transform orthodox Hindu society "from within".[6] With valuable moral support from people like Akshay Kumar Dutta, Vidyasagar introduced the practice of widow remarriages to mainstream Hindu society. In earlier times, remarriages of widows would occur sporadically only among progressive members of the Brahmo Samaj. The prevailing deplorable custom of Kulin Brahmin polygamy allowed elderly men sometimes on their deathbeds to marry teenage or even prepubescent girls, supposedly to spare their parents the shame of having an unmarried girl attain puberty in their house. After such marriages, these girls would usually be left behind in their parental homes, where they might be cruelly subjected to orthodox rituals, especially if they were subsequently widowed. These included a semi starvation diet, rigid and dangerous daily rituals of purity and cleanliness, hard domestic labour, and close restriction on their freedom to leave the house or be seen by strangers. Unable to tolerate the ill treatment, many of these girls would run away and turn to prostitution to support themselves. Ironically, the economic prosperity and lavish lifestyles of the city made it possible for many of them to have quite successful careers once they had stepped out of the sanction of society and into the demi-monde. In 1853 it was estimated that Calcutta had a population of 12,718 prostitutes and public women.[7] Vidyasagar took the initiative in proposing and pushing through the Widow Remarriage Act XV of 1856 (26 July) in India. He also demonstrated that the

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system of polygamy without restriction was not sanctioned by the ancient Hindu Shastras.

Bengali alphabet and language reconstruction


Vidyasagar reconstructed the Bengali alphabet and reformed Bengali typography into an alphabet (actually abugida) of twelve vowels and forty consonants. Vidyasagar contributed significantly to Bengali and Sanskrit literature.Vidyasagar's "Barna Porichoy" is still considered a classic.

Books authored by Vidyasagar



Betaal Panchabinsati (1847) Bangala-r Itihaas (1848) Jeebancharit (1850) Bodhadoy (1851) Upakramanika (1851) Shakuntala (1855) Bidhaba Bibaha Bishayak Prostab (1855)

Lal Behari Dey


The Reverend Lal Behari Dey (Bengali: - also transliterated as Lal Behari Day) (18 December 1824 28 October 1892) was a Bengali Indian journalist, who convertedto Christianity, and became a Christian missionary himself.

Biography
Lal Behari Dey was born on 18 December 1824 to a poor banker caste family at Sonapalasi near Bardhaman. After primary education in the village school he came to Calcutta with his father and was admitted to Reverend Alexander Duffs General Assembly' Institution (now [The Scottish Church Collegiate School], as one of the first five boys admitted by Duff/Scottish Church College), where he studied from 1834 to 1844. Under the tutelage of Alexander Duff he formally embraced Christianity on July 2, 1843. In 1842, a year before his baptism he had published a tract, The falsity of the Hindu

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Religion, which had won a prize for the best essay from a local Christian society. From 1855 to 1867 Dey was a missionary and minister of the Free Church of Scotland. From 1867 to 1889 he worked as professor of English in Governmentadministered colleges at Berhampore and Hooghly. After having served in several churches in the prime of his career, he joined the Berhampore Collegiate School as Principal in 1867. Later he became Professor of English and Mental and Moral Philosophy in Hooghly Mohsin College of the University of Calcutta and stayed with it from 1872 to 1888. Being a devout Christian but pro-British Raj, he protested against any discrimination practised by the ruling class against the natives. Known for his profound knowledge of the English language and literature, he wrote two books in English, Govinda Samanta (1874, later renamed Bengal Peasant Life) and Folk Tales of Bengal (1883) both of which were widely acclaimed. Like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Peary Chand Mitra and Dinabandhu Mitra, Lal Behari also felt very passionately for the poor and oppressed peasantry of Bengal. In 1874 his Govinda Samanta won the prize of Rs 500 offered by Baboo Joy Kissen Mookerjea of Uttarpara, one of the most enlightened zamindars in Bengal, for the best novel, written either in Bengali or in English, illustrating the Social and Domestic Life of the Rural Population and Working Classes of Bengal. Charles Darwin wrote a letter on April 18, 1881 to the publishers saying, I see that the Reverend Lal Behari Day is Editor of the Bengal Magazine and I shall be glad if you would tell him with my compliments how much pleasure and instruction I derived from reading a few years ago, this novel, Govinda Samanta. Though Lal Beharis writings were mostly in English, he edited a Bengali monthly magazine, Arunaday (1857) and penned a Bengali narrative, Chandramukhee. He was also the editor of three English magazines, Indian Reformer (1861), Friday Review (1866) and Bengal Magazine (1872). Apart from writing in these magazines, Lal Behari also contributed articles to Calcutta Review and Hindu Patriot. He was a

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member of many associations like the Bethune Society and the Bengal Social Science Association. He was made a Fellow of the University of Calcutta from 1877. He died on 28 October 1892, at Calcutta.

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Michael Madhusudan Dutt

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Michael Madhusudan Dutt, or Michael Madhusudan Dutta (Bengali: ( Maikel Modhushudn Dtto (helpinfo)); 25 January 1824 29 June 1873) was a popular 19th-century Bengali poet and dramatist.[1] He was born in Sagordari (Bengali: ), on the bank of Kopotaksho (Bengali: ) River, a village in Keshabpur Upazila, Jessore District, East Bengal (now in Bangladesh). His father was Rajnarayan Dutt, an eminent lawyer, and his mother was Jahnabi Devi. He was a pioneer of Bengali drama.[2] His famous work Meghnad Bodh Kavya (Bengali: ), is a tragic epic. It consists of nine cantos and is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content. He also wrote poems about the sorrows and afflictions of love as spoken by women. From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu landed-gentry family, he converted toChristianity as a young man, to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael. In later life he regretted his attraction toEngland and the Occident. He wrote ardently of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period. Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda (blank verse). Dutt died in Kolkata, India on 29 June 1873.

Major works

Tilottama, 1860 Meghnad Bodh Kavya (Ballad of Meghnadh's demise), 1861 Birangana Choturdoshpodi kobitaboli Brajangngana Sharmishtha Ekei Ki Bole Sovyota (Is this is called a civilisation) Buro Shaliker Ghare Rown Ratnavali Rizia, the sultana of Inde. The Captive Lady

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Visions of the Past Rosalo Sornolatika Bongobani Sonnets and other poems

Rajnarayan Basu
Rajnarayan Basu (Bengali: ) (1826 1899) was a writer and intellectual of the Bengal Renaissance. He was born in Boral in 24 Parganas and studied at the Hare School and Hindu College, both premier institutions in Kolkata, Bengal at the time. Amonotheist at heart, Rajnarayan Basu converted to Brahmoism at the age of twenty. After retiring, he was given the honorary title ofRishi or sage. As a writer, he was one of the best known prose writers in Bengali in the nineteenth century, writing often for theTattwabodhini Patrika, a premier Brahmo journal. Due to his defence of Brahmoism, he was given the title "Grandfather of Indian Nationalism"
[2] [1]

Dinabandhu Mitra
Dinabandhu Mitra (Bengali: ) (18291873) the Bengali dramatist, was born in 1829 at village Chouberia in Gopalnagar P.S., North 24 Parganas and was the son of Kalachand Mitra. His given name was Gandharva Narayan, but he changed it to Dinabandhu Mitra.

Early life
Dinabandhu Mitra's education started at a village pathshala. His father arranged a job for him on a zamindar's estate (1840). But the small boy fled to Kolkata, where he started working in the house of his uncle, Nilmani Mitra. Around 1846, he was admitted to the free school run by James Long. Dinabandhu was a bright student and won a number of scholarships. In 1850, he enrolled at Hindu College and was awarded scholarships for academic excellence. However, he did not appear in his last examination, and, instead, started working as a postmaster at Patna (1855). He served in various posts in the Postal Department in Nadia, Dhaka and Orissa. In 1870, he was made supernumerary post- master in Calcutta. In 1872, he joined the Indian Railway as an inspector.

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Literary career
Dinabandhu started writing literary pieces while still at college. His poetic style was inspired by the well-known poet Ishwar Chandra Gupta. His poems were able to attract the attention of intellectuals at kolkata, but his favourite genre was the drama. His work in the postal department had taken him to various parts of the country giving him opportunities to study human life closely and thereby adding to his ability to unfold the drama of life with a degree of realism unknown at that time. Among his books of poems are Suradhuni Kavya (first part appeared in 1871, second part appeared in 1876), Dvadash Kavita (1872). His plays include Nildarpan (1860), Nabin Tapasvini (1863), Biye Pagla Budo (1866), Sadhabar Ekadashi (1866), Lilavati (1867), Jamai Barik (1873)and Kamale Kamini (1873). He also wrote a novel titled Poda Mahehshvar. Another one of his noted contributions was the hilarious "Jamalay-e Jiyonto Manush" (An Alive man in the abode of Yama), the basic story line will later be adopted into an iconic film starring Bhanu Bandopadhyay. It has to be noted that Mitra was also a pioneer in the sense that his plays focused on humans rather than gods & goddesses. Also in Jamalay-e he involves popular Hindu gods to generate humour, which would later be done by Rajshekhar Basu too.

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Girish Chandra Sen

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Girish Chandra Sen (Bengali: ) (18351910), a Brahmo Samaj missionary, was the first person to translate the Quraninto Bengali language in 1886. It was his finest contribution to Bengali literature.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

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Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (Bengali: Bngkim Chndro Chopaddhae)[1] (27 June 1838 [2] 8 April 1894)[3] was a Bengali writer, poet and journalist.[4] He was the composer of Indias national song Vande Mataram, originally a Bengaliand Sanskrit stotra personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring the activists during the Indian Freedom Movement. Bankim Chandra wrote 13 novels and several serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treaties in Bengali. His works were widely translated into other regional languages of India as well as in English. Bankim Chandra was born to an orthodox Brahmin family at Kanthalpara, North 24 Parganas. He was educated at Hoogly College andPresidency College, Calcutta. He was one of the first graduates of the University of Calcutta. From 1858, until his retirement in 1891, he served as a deputy magistrate and deputy collector in the Government of British India. [5] Bankim Chandra is widely regarded as a key figure in literary renaissance of Bengal as well as India.[4] Some of his writings, including novels, essays and commentaries, were a breakaway from traditional verse-oriented Indian writings, and provided an inspiration for authors across India.[4] When Bipin Chandra Pal decided to start a patriotic journal in August 1906, he named it Vande Mataram, after Bankim Chandra's song. Lala Lajpat Rai also published a journal of the same name.

Literary career
Bankim Chandra, following the model of Ishwarchandra Gupta, began his literary career as a writer of verse. His majestic talents showed him other directions, and turned to fiction. His first attempt was a novel in Bengali submitted for a declared prize. He did not win the prize, and the novelette was never published. His first fiction to appear in print was Rajmohan's Wife. It was written in English and was probably a translation of the novelette submitted for the prize.[citation needed] Durgeshnondini, his first Bengali romance and the first ever novel in Bengali, was published in 1865. Kapalkundala (1866) is Chattopadhyay's first major publication. The heroine of this novel, named after the mendicant woman in Bhavabhuti's Malatimadhava, is modelled partly after Kalidasa's Shakuntala and partly after Shakespeare's Miranda.

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However, the partial similarities are only inferential analysis by critics, and Chattopadhyay's heroine may be completely his original. He had chosen Dariapur inContai Subdivision as the background of this famous novel. His next romance, Mrinalini (1869), marks his first attempt to set his story against a larger historical context. This book marks the shift from Chattopadhyay's early career, in which he was strictly a writer of romances, to a later period in which he aimed to stimulate the intellect of the Bengali speaking people and bring about a cultural renaissance of Bengali literature. He started publishing a monthly literary magazine Bangadarshan in April 1892, the first edition of which was filled almost entirely with his own work. The magazine carried serialised novels, stories, humorous sketches, historical and miscellaneous essays, informative articles, religious discourses, literary criticisms and reviews. Vishabriksha (The Poison Tree, 1873) is the first novel of Bankim Chandra that appeared serially in Bangodarshan. Bangodarshan went out of circulation after 4 years. It was later revived by his brother, Sanjeeb Chandra Chattopadhyay. Bankim Chandra's next major novel was Chandrasekhar (1877), which contains two largely unrelated parallel plots. Although the scene is once shifted back to eighteenth century, the novel is not historical. His next novel was Rajani (1877), which features an autobiographical plot, with a blind girl in the title role. Autobiographical plots had been used in Wilkie Collins' "A Woman in White", and a precedent for blind girl in a central role existed in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Nydia in "The Last Days of Pompeii", though the similarities of Rajaniwith these publications end there. In Krishnakanter Will (Krishnakanta's Will, 1878) Chattopadhyay produced a complex plot.It was a brilliant depiction of the contemporary India, lifestyle and corruption,In that complexity, critics saw resemblance to Western novels. The plot is somewhat akin to that of Poison Tree. One of the many novels of Bankim Chandra that are entitled to be termed as historical fiction is Rajsimha (1881, rewritten and enlarged 1893). Anandamath (The Abbey of Bliss, 1882) is a political novel which depicts a Sannyasi (Hindu ascetic) army fighting the soldiers of the Muslim Nawab of Murshidabad. The book calls for the rise of Hindu nationalism to uproot the foreign Turko-Afghan Muslim rule of Bengal and put forth as a temporary alternative the East India Company till Hindus were fit for Self Rule. The novel was also the source of the song Vande Mataram (I worship my Motherland for she truly is my mother) which, set to music

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by Rabindranath Tagore, was taken up by many Indian nationalists, and is now the National Song of India. The novel is loosely based on the time of the Sannyasi Rebellion, In the actual rebellion, Hindus sannyasis and Muslim fakirs both rebelled against the British East India Company. The novel first appeared in serial form in Bangadarshan, the literary magazine that Bankim founded in 1872.[8] Bankim Chandra's next novel, Devi Chaudhurani, was published in 1884. His final novel, Sitaram (1886), tells the story of a local Hindu lord, torn between his wife and the woman he desires but unable to attain, makes a series of blunders and takes arrogant, self-destructive decisions. Finally, he must confront his self and motivate the few loyal soldiers that stand between his estate and the Muslim Nabab's army about to take over. Bankim Chandra's humorous sketches are his best known works other than his novels. Kamalakanter Daptar (From the Desk of Kamalakanta, 1875; enlarged as Kamalakanta, 1885) contains half humorous and half serious sketches. Kamalakanta is an opium-addict, similar to De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, but Bankim Chandra goes much beyond with his deft handling of sarcastic, political messages that Kamalakanta delivers. Bankim Chandra's commentary on the Gita was published eight years after his death and contained his comments up to the 19th Verse of Chapter 4. Through this work, he attempted to reassure Hindus who were increasingly being exposed to Western ideas. His belief was, that there was "No serious hope of progress in India except in Hinduism-reformed,regenerated and purified". He wrote an extensive commentary on two verses in particular-2.12 and 2.13-which deal with the immortality of the soul and its reincarnation[9] Critics, like Pramathnath Bishi, consider Bankim Chandra as the best novelist in Bangla literature. Their belief is that few writers in world literature have excelled in both philosophy and art as Bankim has done. They have felt that in a colonised nation Bankim could not overlook politics. He was one of the first intellectuals who wrote in a British colony, accepting and rejecting the status at the same time. Bishi also rejects the division of Bankim in `Bankim the artist' and `Bankim the moralist' - for Bankim must be read as a whole. The artist in Bankim cannot be understood unless you understand him as a moralist and vice versa.

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Bibliography
Fiction

Durgeshnandini (March 1865) Kapalkundala (1866) Mrinalini (1869) Vishabriksha (The Poison Tree, 1873) Indira (1873, revised 1893) Jugalanguriya (1874) Radharani (1876, enlarged 1893) Chandrasekhar (1877) Kamalakanter Daptar (From the Desk of Kamlakanta, 1875) Rajani(1877) Krishnakanter Uil (Krishnakanta's Will, 1878) Rajsimha (1882) Anandamath (1882) Devi Chaudhurani (1884) Kamalakanta (1885) Sitaram (March 1887) Muchiram Gurer Jivancharita (The Life of Muchiram Gur)

Religious Commentaries

Krishna Charitra (Life of Krishna, 1886) Dharmatattva (Principles of Religion, 1888) Devatattva (Principles of Divinity, Published Posthumously) Srimadvagavat Gita, a Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita (1902 Published Posthumously)

Poetry Collections

Lalita O Manas (1858)

Essays

Lok Rahasya (Essays on Society, 1874, enlarged 1888) Bijnan Rahasya (Essays on Science, 1875)

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Bichitra Prabandha (Assorted Essays), Vol 1 (1876) and Vol 2 (1892) Samya (Equality, 1879)

This bibliography does not include any of his English works. Indeed his first novel was an English one and he also started writing his religious and philosophical essays in English.

Kaliprasanna Singha
Kaliprasanna Singha (Bengali: ) (23 February 1841{?} - 24 July 1870) is remembered for his two immortal contributions to Bengali literature viz. translation of Mahabharata, the largest epic, and his book Hutom Pyanchar Naksha. He is also remembered as a philanthropist who helped several people and movements in distress.

Publications
He also edited/published several magazines like Vidyotsahini Patrika, Paridarshak, Sarvatattwa Prakashika, Bibidhartha Samgraha etc. Paridarshak was a Benagli daily newspaper started by Jaganmohan Tarkalankar and Madangopal Goswami. For improvement of the newspaper, Kaliprasanna took over editorship of the newspaper. The quality of the newspaper was ahead of its times and Kristo Das Pal wrote, "He also started a first class vernacular daily newspaper, the like of which we have not yet seen." Bibidhartho Samgraha was first edited by Babu Rajendralal Mitra, the well known native gentleman. After him that magazine had been revived under the auspices of Kaliprasanna Singha. In 1862 the most acclaimed "Hutom Panchar Noksha" had been published. In this book he criticised the activities of the then middle class societies in a humorous manner under the pseudonym "Hutom Pyancha". He provided financial assistance to magazines like Tattabodhini Patrika, Somprakash, Mookerjee's Magazine, Bengalee, Doorbin and Hindu Patriot.

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