Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (27 June 1838 - 8 April 1894) (Bengali: বঙ্কিম চন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায় Bôngkim Chôndro Chôţţopaddhae) ('Chattopadhyay' in the original Bengali; 'Chatterjee' as spelt by the British) was a Bengali poet, novelist, essayist and journalist, most famous as the author of Vande Mataram or Bande Mataram, that inspired the freedom fighters of India, and was later declared the National Song of India. Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Year 1838 ( MDCCCXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between Bangladesh and India) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating Bande Mataram redirects here for other uses of the term see Bande Mataram (disambiguation. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

Life

Chattopadhyay was born in the village Kanthalpura in Naihati, the youngest of three brothers, to Yadav (or Jadab) Chandra Chattopadhyaya and Durgadebi. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Naihati (In Bengali: নৈহাটী is a town and an important railway junction station on the His family was orthodox, and his father, a government official who went on to become the Deputy Collector of Midnapur. Midnapore (also written as Medinipur and Midnapur Bangla: মেদিনীপুর meːd̪in̪ipʊɾ IAST: medinipur is a town in West Bengal, One of his brothers, Sanjeeb Chandra Chatterjee, was also a novelist and his known for his famous book "Palamau". He was educated at the Mohsin College in Hooghly^[1] and later at the Presidency College, graduating with a degree in Arts in 1857. Presidency College Kolkata is one of the affiliated colleges and a co-founding college of the University of Calcutta. He was one of the first two graduates of the University of Calcutta . Formally established on the 24 January 1857, the University of Calcutta (also known as Calcutta University) (কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ^[2] He later obtained a degree in Law as well, in 1869.

Appointed Deputy Collector, like his father, of Jessore, Chatterjee went on to become a Deputy Magistrate, retiring from government service in 1891. Jessore (or Jashahor) is a district in south western Bangladesh with a population of 154000 in 1991 His years at work were peppered with incidents that brought him into conflict with the ruling British of the time. However, he was made a Companion, Order of the Indian Empire in 1894. The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of Chivalry founded by Victoria in 1878

Married at the young age of eleven, his first wife died in 1859. He later married Rajalakshmi Devi. They had three daughters.

Literature

Chatterjee, following the model of Ishwarchandra Gupta, began his literary career as a writer of verse. Hindu politics refers to the political movements professing to draw inspiration from Hinduism. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP (भारतीय जनता पार्टी, Translation: Indian People's Party) founded in 1980 is a major Political Shiv Sena ( Devanāgarī: शिव सेना Śīv Senā, meaning Army of Shiva, referring to Shivaji Bhosle) is a Political party Akhil Bhāratīya Hindū Mahāsabhā (अखिल भारत हिन्दू महासभा All-Indian Hindu Assembly a Hindu nationalist organization was originally The Bharatiya Jana Sangh (abbreviated BJS and often known simply as the Jan Sangh existed from 1951 to 1980 whereupon it was succeeded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of Ram Rajya Parishad (Rām Rājya Pariṣad Sanskrit, Forum of Rama's Kingdom was a traditionalist Hindu party in India. Integral humanism is the Political philosophy practised by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the former Bharatiya Jana Sangh of India. Hindu nationalism is a nationalist Ideology that sees the modern State of the Republic of India as a Hindu Polity For Veer Savarkar's book see Hindutva (book. Hindutva (Devanagari हिन्दुत्व "Hinduness" a word coined by Vinayak Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (बाळ गंगाधर टिळक ( July 23 1856 - August 1 1920) was an Indian nationalist Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946 was an Indian politician notable for his role in the freedom struggle and his espousal of Hindu nationalism. Vināyak Dāmodar Sāvarkar (विनायक दामोदर सावरकर (born May 28, 1883 in Bhagur – February 26, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar (माधव सदाशिव गोळवलकर (February 19 1906 - June 5 1973 popularly known as Golwalkar Guruji, was the second Keshava Baliram Hedgewar (केशव बळीराम हेडगेवार ( April 1, 1889 – June 21 1940) was the founder of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee (or Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, শ্যামা প্রসাদ মুখার্জী ( thumb|right|200px|An Indian postage stamp featuring Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya (पण्डित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय ( September 25, 1916 - February 11, 1968) along Bal Keshav Thackeray (बाळ केशव ठाकरे (born January 23, 1926) popularly known as Balasaheb Thackeray is the founder and Koenraad Elst (born 7 August 1959) is a Belgian Writer and Orientalist (without institutional affiliation François Gautier, born 1959 in Paris, is a writer and journalist based in India Sita Ram Goel (सीता राम गोयल Sītā Rām Goyal) (1921 – 2003 writer and publisher influential in late twentieth century Hindu nationalist Kishori Saran Lal (1920 &ndash 2002 was an Indian Historian. He wrote many historical books mainly on medieval India Harsh Narain is an Indian author He has a PhD from Lucknow University and was a professor at Benares Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University and Yvette Rosser is an American author and scholar Yvette Rosser was born on January 31 1952. Arun Shourie (born 1941) is a prominent Indian Journalist, Author, and Politician. Ram Swarup (राम स्‍वरूप born Ram Swarup Agarwal ( 1920 - December 26, 1998) was an independent Hindu thinker and prolific author Ishwar Chandra Gupta (ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র গুপ্ত March 1812 - January 23, 1859) was a Bengali poet and writer He soon realized, however, that his talents lay in 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. A novelette (or novelet) is a piece of short Prose fiction The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms like a Novella, is usually based 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. Durgeshnondini, his first Bengali romance and the first ever novel in Bengali, was published in 1865. Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year

Kapalkundala (1866) is Chatterjee'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. The term mendicant (Latin mendicans, begging refers to Begging or relying on charitable donations and is most widely used for religious followers or "Kalidasa" redirects here For the true bug Genus, see Kalidasa (insect. In Hindu mythology Shakuntala ( Sanskrit: शकुन्‍तला Śakuntalā) is the mother of Emperor Bharata and the wife of William Shakespeare ( baptised In Shakespeare 's play The Tempest, Miranda is the beautiful daughter of the old Duke Prospero. He had chosen Dariapur in Contai Subdivision as the background of this famous novel. Contai (also known as Kanthi) (( Bengali: কাঁথি is a Subdivisional town in the District of East Midnapore, West Bengal,

His next romance, Mrinalini (1869), marks his first attempt to set his story against a larger historical context. This book marks the shift from Chatterjee's early career, in which he was strictly a writer of romances, to a later period in which he aimed to simulate the intellect of the Bengali speaking people and bring about a cultural revival through a campaign to improve Bengali literature. He began publishing a monthly literary magazine Bangodarshan in April 1872, the first edition of which was filled almost entirely with his own work. The magazine carried serialized novels, stories, humorous sketches, historical and miscellaneous essays, informative articles, religious discourses, literary criticisms and reviews. Vishabriksha (The Poison Tree, 1873) the first novel of Chatterjee's to appear serially in Bangodarshan.

Bangodarshan went out of circulation after 4 years. It was later revived by his brother, Sanjeeb Chandra Chatterjee.

Chatterjee'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, Rajani(1877), followed the autobiographical technique of Wilkie Collins' "A Woman in White". William Wilkie Collins ( 8 January 1824 &ndash 23 September 1889) was an English Novelist, Playwright, and The title role, a blind girl, was modelled after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Nydia in "The Last Days of Pompeii". Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton 1st Baron Lytton ( May 25, 1803 – In Krishnakanter Uil (Krishnakanta's Will, 1878) Chatterjee produced the work of his that comes closest to resembling a western novel. The plot is somewhat akin to that of Poison Tree.

The only novel of Chatterjee's that can truly be considered historical fiction is Rajsimha (1881, rewritten and enlarged 1893). Anandamath (The mission house of Felicity, 1882) is a political novel which depicts a Sannyasi (Brahmin ascetic) army fighting Indian Muslims who are in the employ of the East India Company. Anandamath ( Bangla: আনন্দমঠ Anondomôţh) is a famous Bengali novel written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and published The Honourable East India Company ( HEIC) referred to most commonly as the East India Company, also historically and colloquially as John Company, or The book calls for the rise of Brahmin/Hindu nationalism but, ironically, concludes with a character accepting British Empire as a necessity. The novel was also the source of the song "Vande Mataram" (I worship the Mother) which, set to music by Rabindranath Tagore, was taken up by many secular nationalists. The novel is loosely based on the time of the Sannyasi Rebellion, however in the actual rebellion, Hindus sannyasis and Muslim fakirs both rebelled against the British East India Company. The Sannyasi Rebellion or Sannyasi Revolt ( Bengali: সন্ন্যাসী বিদ্রোহ The Monk's Rebellion) is a term used to describe "Sanyasi" redirects here For the motion picture see Sanyasi (1975 film Sannyasa, ( Devanagari: संन्यास A fakir or faqir is a Sufi, especially one who Performs feats of Endurance or apparent magic. The novel first appeared in serial form in Bangadarshan.

Chatterjee's next novel, Devi Chaudhurani, was published in 1884. His final novel, Sitaram (1886), tells the story of a Hindu chief rebelling against Muslim rule.

Chatterjee'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, somewhat on the model of De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. Confessions of an English Opium-Eater ( 1821) is an autobiographical account written by Thomas De Quincey, about his Laudanum (

Some critics, like Pramathnath Bishi, consider Chatterjee as the best novelist in Bangla literature. They believe that few writers in world literature have excelled in both philosophy and art as Bankim has done. They argue 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.

Trivia

• Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Chatterjee were good friends, and both enjoyed humour. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa ( Bangla: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস Ramkṛiṣṇo Pôromôhongśo) ( February 18, 1836 - Once, the former, playing on the meaning of Bankim (Either Bright Side of the Moon or A Little Bent), asked him what it was that had bent him. Chatterjee replied that it was the kick from the Englishman's shoe.
• After the Vishabriksha (The Poison Tree) was published in 1873, The Times of London observed:

• When Bipin Chandra Pal decided to start a patriotic journal in August 1906, he named it Bande Mataram, after Chatterjee's song. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. Bipin Chandra Pal ( Bangla:বিপিন চন্দ্র পাল was born on November 7, 1858 in Poil village in the Habiganj, (now Lala Lajpat Rai also published a journal of the same name. Lala Lajpat Rai ( Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਲਜਪਤ ਰਾਯ لالا لجپت راے Hindi: लाला लाजपत राय was an Indian

Bibliography

Fiction

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

References

1. ^ His fight for freedom, A. DEVA RAJU, The Hindu, 2001-08-18.
2. ^ Biography, from Banglapedia. Banglapedia, or the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, is the first Bangladeshi encyclopedia

External Links

• Biography at Calcuttaweb.com

Further reading

• Ujjal Kumar Majumdar: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay: His Contribution to Indian Life and Culture. Calcutta : The Asiatic Society, 2000. ISBN 8172360983.
• Walter Ruben: Indische Romane. Eine ideologische Untersuchung. Vol. 1: Einige Romane Bankim Chatterjees iund Ranbindranath Tagore. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1964. (German)

See also

External links

• Works by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay at Project Gutenberg
• भारतीय साहित्य संग्रह में बंकिम चन्द्र