REMEMBERING SAHITYA SAMRAT CHATTOPADHYAY

Bengal is the birthplace of countless famous personalities of sharp intellects and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay / Chatterjee is among those who had made an impact on not only Bengal but the whole country of India.
The exalted Bengali novelist and one of the leading minds behind the creation of Bengali prose, literary journalism and social satire, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was a literary genius. Also known as Sahitya Samrat, Bankim Chandra is the writer of fourteen novels and composer of the song ”Vande Mataram”, which became a popular marching song in India’s freedom movement and is now India’s national song. All his literary works are the bearer of great courage, nationalism, and Indian culture.
Apart from novels, verses, and poems, Bankim Chandra is also known for his humorous sketches, and Kamalakanter Daptar is a prime example of the same.
Bankim Chandra had a special place in his heart for literature which made him start composing poetries at a very young age.
Chatterjee’s literary career began with poetry, before he realised fiction was his calling. His first novel Rajmohan’s Wife became the first ever English novel written by an Indian. Although Chatterjee was a great admirer of the English language, he wanted to communicate ideas to the Bengali people in their own language.
The notable poet, novelist, and journalist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was born in a middle-class intellectual and distinguished Bengali Brahmin family on 27th June 1838 in Kanthalpara village, close to Naihati, District 24 Parganas in what was then known as the Bengal Presidency. Chatterjee got married at the age of 11. However, after his wife passed away in 1859, he remarried. Chatterjee and his second wife, Rajlakshmi Devi, had three daughters.
His father, Jadabchandra Chatterjee, was a government official who later became the deputy collector of Midnapur. Chatterjee went on to become one of the first graduates from Calcutta University, and after graduation, he was appointed the deputy collector of Midnapur by Lieutenant Governor of Calcutta in 1859. He later also acquired a degree in law from Presidency College in 1869. He was given the Rai Bahadur title during his retirement in 1891.
He worked as the deputy collector serving the British government for 32 years and retired in 1891. It was during his stint as the deputy collector that existing social order and politics began to affect him. Chatterjee began to feel a fierce sense of commitment to the art of novel writing-almost as a means of defending it from the criticism that fiction-based works ‘lack human content’.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was a brave religious nationalist who, through his literary works, awakened the whole nation to stand up against the wrongdoings of British rulers. The great storyteller took his last breath on 8th April 1894, at the age of 55. Bankim Chandra’s legacy will live on as long as Bengali literature is practiced.
His body of work left such an indelible mark on his readers that even two centuries later, his work continues to be taught, debated, and deliberated upon.