Bankim Chandra Chatterjee ,composer of our national song Bande Mataram, one of the finest writers of modern India, who wrote atire, scientific, critical treatises too apart from novels. He is widely regarded as one of the key figures in Bengal’s literary renaissance, as he forged a new style, breaking away from the traditional verse oriented one, and becoming an inspiration for modern writers. Called the Sahitya Samrat, he wrote 14 novels, and many satirical, scientific, critical treatises in Bengali.
He was born in Kanthalpara , located in Bengal’s North Parganas, the youngest of 3 brothers to Yadav Chandra Chattopadhyaya and Durga Devi, in an orthodox Bengali Brahmin family. His ancestors were from Deshmukho village in Hooghly district. His father later became the Dy.Collector of Midnapore, while one of his brothers Sanjib Chandra was also a novelist, known for his work Palamau.
He did his schooling from Hooghly Collegiate School along with his brother where he wrote his first poem. Graduating from Presidency in 1858, he became the first graduate of Kolkata University, and later got a degree in Law too. He was appointed later as Dy.Collector of Jessore, and retired as Dy. Magistrate in 1891. He was the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Arambagh, and the ruins of a fort at Gar Mandaran, would provide the backdrop for his novel Durgesh Nandini in 1865.
His writing career began with Sambad Prabhakar edited by Ishwar Chandra Gupta, while he initially started with verse, he later turned to fiction. His first attempt at a novel was a Bengali one which he submitted as part of a contest, but did not win the prize, and it was not published either.Though the English novel Rajmohan’s Wife was his first one to appear in print, it was Durgesh Nandini, the first ever Bengali novel published in 1865, that would make him famous.
Set against the backdrop of the Pathan-Mughal conflicts during Akbar’s reign, the novel revolves around a love triangle between Jagat Singh, a Mughal general, Tilotamma, daughter of a Zamindar and Ayesha, daughter of a rebel Pathan leader. The story was based on legends of the Arambagh region, which were narrated to him by his great uncle.Though it was criticized by more conservative writers for the language, his contemporaries highly praised it. It was later adapted to screen in both Bengali and Hindi, as well as a 2007 TV serial.
Around the same time, he also wrote an essay ‘Shakuntala, Miranda ebong Desdemona’ (1873) comparing different female characters of literature, and is considered the first ever comparative analysis of different literatures in Bengali, which is todate studied in the comparative literature course of Jadavpur University.
Anandamath his most famous novel published in 1882, set against the backdrop of the Sanyasi Revolt of late 18th century as well as the 1770 Bengal Famine that contained the iconic Bande Mataram, the music to which was later set by Rabindranath Tagore.Though the actual revolt was a failure, Bankim comes up with an alternative narrative where the untrained Sanyasi rebels defeat the East India Company.
Anandamath was first published in serial form in Bangadarshan, the literary magazine founded by Bankim Chandra, and Bande Mataram caught on during the protests against Curzon’s decision to partition Bengal. The novel would play a major role in inspiring the revolutionary movement in Bengal, and there was a 1952 Hindi movie adaptation of it starring Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Prithviraj Kapoor, Ajit and Geeta Bali.
He was particularly impressed by the Gaudiya Vaishnava effect on the culture of 14th and 15th century Bengal, and wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Geeta published 8 years after his death. In an essay on Sankhya philosophy, he argues that it was the central foundation of many religious beliefs in India including Buddhism. And critiqued its emphasis on personal vairagya (renunciation) rather than political and social power.
His other famous novel was Kapalkundala in 1866, loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, about the heroine bought up in a forest, who marries a young gentleman from the city Nabakumar, but finds herself unable to adjust to that life. Again Kapalkundala is set in Contai in East Midnapore district, where Bankim Da served as Dy. Collector, And it was one of his more popular novels, translated into multiple languages, as well as 4 movie adaptations.
Devi Chaudhurani, about the heroine Prafulla, shunned by her father in law, who becomes a dacoit and is known as Devi Chaudharani, a Robin Hood kind of figure, and later takes on the British. After Anandamath it was his second novel, that had a nationalist theme, calling for a resistance to the British rule, through armed revolt.
One feature of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novels was the very strong woman characters in them, be it Prafulla in Devi Chaudharani, Kalyani in Ananda Math, Tilotamma/Ayesha in Durgesh Nandini or Kapal Kundala. Strong, independent women all. He was an excellent writer on Science, published a series of essays called Bijnan Rahasya, as well as many other essays on Social issues. Apart from the Gita, he also wrote commentaries on Krishna Charitra, Dharmatattva, Devatattva, as well as poetry collection called Lalita O Manas in 1858.
He also had a good bonding with Ramakrishna Paramahansa, whom he used to visit regularly. Once Guru Maharaj playing on meaning of his name Bankim(Bent A Little) asked him what made him bent in a rather lighter vein. And Bankim Chandra replied to Ramakrishna Paramahansa, that it was due to being the regular kicks he from the English man’s boot, alluding to the fact that he was a known critic of the British.
The legacy of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee endures in many ways, Rabindranath Tagore described him as a true sabyasaachi, ambidextrous, creating works of literary excellence in one hand, and guiding aspiring authors with another. As per Aurobindo , the earlier Bankim was only a poet and stylist, the later Bankim was a seer and nation-builder. His novel Anushilan-Tattva inspired Pramathanath Mitra to start the Anushilan Samiti that would play a critical role in the Bengali revolutionary movement.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, was one of the icons of the Bengali Renaissance, whose Bande Mataram became the cry of the Revolution, and Anandamath inspire many Bengali youth to plunge into the freedom struggle.
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