Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Chattopadhayay is widely regarded as a key figure in literary renaissance of Bengal as well as the broader Indian subcontinent.[7] Some of his writings, including novels, essays and commentaries, broke away from traditional verse-oriented Indian writings, and provided an inspiration for authors across India.[7]

Chattopadhayay was born in the village of Kanthalpara in the town of North 24 Parganas, Naihati, in an orthodox Bengali Brahmin family, the youngest of three brothers, to Yadav Chandra Chattopadhayay and Durgadebi. His ancestors hailed from Deshmukho village in Hooghly District.[14] His father, a government official, went on to become the Deputy Collector of Midnapur. One of his brothers, Sanjib Chandra Chattopadhyay was also a novelist and is known for his book "Palamau". Bankim Chandra and his elder brother both went to Hooghly Collegiate School (then Governmental Zilla School), where he wrote his first poem. He was educated at the Hooghly Mohsin College and later at Presidency College, Kolkata, graduating with a degree in arts in 1859. He later attended the University of Calcutta and was one of two candidates who passed the final exam to become the school's first graduates.[15] He later obtained a degree in law in 1869. Following his father's footsteps, Bankimchandra joined the Subordinate Executive Service. In 1858, he was appointed a Deputy Magistrate (the same type of position held by his father) of Jessore. After merging of the services in 1863, he went on to become Deputy Magistrate & Deputy Collector, retiring from government service in 1891. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was the first in-charge (Sub-divisional magistrate) of the Arambag subdivision in its earlier days. The ruins of a fort at Gar Mandaran provided the setting for Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Durgeshnandini, published in 1865. His years at work were replete with incidents that brought him into conflict with the colonial government. He was, however, made a Companion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (CMEOIE) in 1894.[16] He also received the title of Rai Bahadur in 1891.

Chattopadhyay's earliest publications were in Ishwar Chandra Gupta's weekly newspaper Sangbad Prabhakar.[17] He began his literary career as a writer of verse before turning to fiction. His first attempt was a novel in Bengali submitted for a declared prize. He did not win and the novelette was never published. His first fiction to appear in print was the English novel Rajmohan's Wife.[18] Durgeshnandini, his first Bengali romance and the first ever novel in Bengali, was published in 1865.[19] His essay ‘Shakuntala, Miranda ebong Desdemona’ (1873) is considered as the first attempt of comparative analysis of different literatures in Bengali and is studied closely in school of comparative literature of Jadavpur University. [20]

Second edition of Anandamath (1883)

One of the many novels of Chattopadhyay 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 a British force. The book calls for the rise of Indian nationalism. 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 by Rabindranath Tagore, was taken up by many Indian nationalists, and is now the National Song of India. The plot of the novel is loosely set on the Sannyasi Rebellion. He imagined untrained Sannyasi soldiers fighting and defeating the British East India Company; ultimately, however, he accepted that the British Empire could not be defeated.[21] The novel first appeared in serial form in Bangadarshan, the literary magazine that Chattopadhyay founded in 1872. Vande Mataram became prominent during the Swadeshi movement, which was sparked by Lord Curzon's attempt to partition Bengal into a Hindu majority West and Muslim majority East. Drawing from the Shakti tradition of Bengali Hindus, Chattopadhyay personified India as a Mother Goddess known as Bharat Mata, which gave the song a Hindu undertone.[22]

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee on a 1969 stamp of India

Bankim was particularly impressed by the historical Gaudiya Vaishnava cultural efflorescence of the 14th and 15th centuries in Bengal. Chattopadhyay's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita was published eight years after his death and contained his comments up to the 19th Verse of Chapter 4.[23] In a long essay on Sankhya philosophy, he argues that the central philosophical foundation of the overwhelming part of religious beliefs in India, including even Buddhism, lies in the philosophy of Sankhya. He was a critique of the philosophy in the sense of its emphasis on personal vairagya (renunciation) rather than political and social power.[24]

• Bankim was highly educated and influenced by Oriental thoughts and ideas. Ramakrishna in contrast, did not have knowledge of English. Yet they had a nice relation between them. Once Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, playing on the meaning of Bankim (Bent A Little), asked him what it was that had bent him. Bankim Chandra jokingly replied that it was the kick from the Englishman's shoe for he was a well-known critic of the British government.

• Tagore penned in the memory of his mentor:

"Bankim Chandra had equal strength in both his hands, he was a true sabyasachi (ambidextrous). With one hand, he created literary works of excellence; and with the other, he guided young and aspiring authors. With one hand, he ignited the light of literary enlightenment; and with the other, he blew away the smoke and ash of ignorance and ill conceived notions"

• Sri Aurobindo wrote in his memory:

"The earlier Bankim was only a poet and stylist, the later Bankim was a seer and nation-builder"

• After the Vishabriksha (The Poison Tree) was published in 1873, the magazine, Punch wrote:

"You ought to read the Poison Tree

of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee."[25]

• His novel Anushilan-Tattva inspired Pramathanath Mitra to start Anushilan Samiti.
• Bankim Puraskar (Bankim Memorial Award) is the highest award given by the Government of West Bengal for contribution to Bengali fiction.

Chattopadhyay's debut novel was an English one, Rajmohan's Wife (1864) and he also started writing his religious and philosophical essays in English.

• List of Indian writers
• Sadhu Bhasha

• Ujjal Kumar Majumdar: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay: His Contribution to Indian Life and Culture. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 2000. ISBN 81-7236-098-3.
• Walter Ruben: Indische Romane. Eine ideologische Untersuchung. Vol. 1: Einige Romane Bankim Chattopadhyays iund Ranbindranath Tagore. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1964. (German)
• Bhabatosh Chatterjee, Editor: Bankimchandra Chatterjee: Essays in Perspective (Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi) 1994.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

• Media related to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to Bankim Chandra Chatterjee at Wikiquote

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Chatterji, Bankim Chandra".

• Works by Bankim Chandra Chatterji at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Bankim Chandra Chatterjee at Internet Archive
• Works by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Chattopadhyay,_Bankimchandra