Context:
India observed the 131st death anniversary of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
He was born on 27th June 1838 in Naihati, West Bengal to an orthodox Brahmin family.
He was a civil servant and novelist, who pioneered modern Bengali literature while fueling India’s freedom struggle through works like Anandamath and Vande Mataram.
He was one of the two students who passed B.A from Calcutta University’s first Batch in 1857.
Later, he joined the lower executive job (sub-ordinate executive service) and ended up as a deputy magistrate and deputy collector.
He believed in a strong Indian identity rooted in ancient cultural heritage, advocating for a revival of Indian wisdom and self-reliance.
Chattopadhyay’s nationalism was deeply intertwined with the concept of “Bharat Mata” (Mother India).
He was the composer of “Vande Mataram” in a blend of Sanskrit and Bengali, originally included in his novel “Anandamath”, which was later adopted as the National Song of India.
- “Vande Mataram” was formally recognized as the national song of India on January 24, 1950, by the Constituent Assembly of India.
He passed away on April 8, 1894 due to complications related to diabetes.
Literary and Nationalist Contributions
- He was famously known as the Sahiya Samrat (Emperor of Literature) in Bengali.
- He authored Rajmohan’s Wife (1864)- India’s first English novel, and classics like Durgeshnandini (1865)- blending romance with social reform.
- He challenged the societal norms of women’s rights and caste oppression through novels like Kapalkundala (1866) and Vishabriksha (1873).
- Anandamath (1882) was set against the backdrop of the Sannyasi Rebellion of the late 18th century.
- He founded Bangadarshan, a Bengali literary magazine, in 1872. It was later revived in 1901 under the editorship of Rabindranath Tagore.
- His subsequent works, “Devi Chaudhurani” (1884) and “Sitaram” (1886), solidify his role as a literary nationalist.
- Influenced Tagore and later freedom fighters, cementing his status as a cultural icon.