Bankim Chandra Chatterji was born on 26th June, 1838 in the village of Kathalpara, in West Bengal. He belonged to a distinguished family. Bankim was the youngest of three sons of Jadabchandra Chatterji and Durgadebi. His father was a Deputy Collector. Even as a child Bankim showed great courage and virtuosity and never had any fear of the British. He completed his Law degree from Presidency College Calcutta in 1857. From 1858, until his retirement in 1891, he served as a Magistrate in the Indian Civil Service.
He was a famous Indian author, whose novels firmly established prose as a literary vehicle for the Bengali language and helped create in India a school of fiction on the European model. He did for Bengali fiction what Michael Madhusudhan Dutt had done for Bengali poetry, that is, he brought in, imagination. Bankim broke the monotony of the standard prose style and gave it a twist of informality and intimacy.
His early compositions appeared in a newspaper called, Sambad Prabhakar. In 1858 he published a volume of poems entitled, ‘Lalitha O Manas’. Bankim began his literary career as a writer of verse. He then turned to fiction. His first fiction to appear in print was ‘Rajmohan’s Wife’. It was written in English. In 1865, his first Bengali romance ‘Durgeshnandini’ was published. The next novel ‘Kapalkundala’ which was written in 1866 is one of the best romances written by him.
Bankim was not content to continue only as a writer of prose romances, but appeared also as a writer with the definite mission of stimulating the intellect of the Bengali speaking people through literary campaign and of bringing about a cultural revival thereby. With this view he brought out a monthly named Bangadarshan in 1872. ‘Vishbriksha’ in 1873, was his first novel to appear serially in Bangadarshan. His novels are considered exciting to read but were structurally faulty. Serial publication was partly responsible for imperfect integration of various episodes. His achievements, however, outweigh these technical imperfections.
In him, Nationalism and Hinduism merged as one and his creed was epitomized in his song, “Bande Mataram” (Hail to thee, Mother). This became the mantra of Nationalism and the National song. Incidentally it gave tremendous impetus to various patriotic and national activities culminating in the terrorist movement initiated in Bengal in the first decade of the twentieth century.
After the novels, the humorous sketches are the outstanding productions of Bankim. Kamalakanter Daptar contains half-humorous and half-serious sketches some what after De Quincey’s ‘Confessions of an English Opium Eater’. It shows the writer at his best.
Bankim was a superb story teller and a master of romance. He was a path finder and a path maker. No Bengali writer before or since has enjoyed such spontaneous and universal popularity as Bankim. His novels have been translated in almost all the major languages of India, and have helped to stimulate literary impulses in those languages. His collection of essays like “Lok Rahasya”, and others criticized the meaningless Bengali customs in a manner that forced an immediate change.
The British government honored him with the title, “Ray Bahadur” in 1892. He became a CIE in 1894. This great novelist passed away on 8th April, 1894.
His Other Famous works:
‘Rajasimha’, a story of Rajput heroism and Muslim oppression in 1881.
‘Anandamath’, a patriotic tale of the revolt of the sannyasis against the Muslim forces of the East India Company in 1882.
‘Debi Caudhurani’, a domestic novel with a background of dacoity in 1884.
‘Sitaram’, a marital triangle and a struggle of Hindus against Muslim tyranny.
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