Bankimchandra Chatterjee or Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, CBE was an Indian novelist, poet and journalist. He was the composer of Vande Mataram, originally in Sanskritstotrapersonifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring activists during the Indian Independence Movement. Chattopadhyay wrote thirteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treatises in Bengali.
Biography
Chattopadhyay is widely regarded as a key figure in literary renaissance of Bengal as well as the broader Indian subcontinent. Some of his writings, including novels, essays, and commentaries, were a breakaway from traditional verse-oriented Indian writings, and provided an inspiration for authors across India. Chattopadhyay was born in the village Kanthalpara in the town of North 24 Parganas, Naihati, in an orthodox Bengali Brahmin family, the youngest of three brothers, to Yadav Chandra Chattopadhyaya and Durgadebi.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 he is known for his famous book "Palamau".Bankim Chandra and his elder brother both had their schooling from Hooghly Collegiate 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 1858. He later attended the University of Calcutta and was one of the two candidates who passed the final exam to become the school's first graduates. He later obtained a degree in Law as well, in 1869. In 1858, he was appointed a Deputy Collector of Jessore.He went on to become a Deputy Magistrate, retiring from government service in 1891. His years at work were replete with incidents that brought him into conflict with the ruling British.He was, however, made a Companion in the Order of the Indian Empire in 1894.
Literary career
Chattopadhyay's earliest publications were in Ishwar Chandra Gupta's weekly newspaper Sangbad Prabhakar. Following the model of Ishwar Chandra Gupta, he began his literary career as a writer of verse. His talents showed him other directions, and turned to fiction. His first attempt was a novel in Bengali submitted for a declared prize. He did not win the prize, and the novelette was never published. His first fiction to appear in print was Rajmohan's Wife. It was written in English and is regarded as the first Indian novel to be written in English. Durgeshnondini, his first Bengali romance and the first ever novel in Bengali, was published in 1865. One of the many novels of Chattopadhyay that are entitled to be termed as historical fiction is Rajsimha. Anandamath is a political novel which depicts a Sannyasi army fighting the British soldiers. The book calls for the rise of Indian nationalism. The novel was also the source of the song Vande Mataram which, set to music by Rabindranath Tagore, was taken up by many Indian nationalists, and is now the NationalSong of India. The plot of the novel is loosely set on the Sannyasi Rebellion. He imagined untrained Sannyasi soldiers fighting and beating the highly experienced British Army; ultimately, however, he accepted that the British cannot be defeated. 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 a Muslim majority East. Drawing from the Shakti tradition of Bengali Hindus, Chattopadhyay personified India as a Mother Goddess, which gave the song a Hindu undertone that would prove to be problematic for some Muslims. Chattopadhyay's commentary on the Gita was published eight years after his death and contained his comments up to the 19th Verse of Chapter 4. Through this work, he attempted to reassure Hindus who were increasingly being exposed to Western ideas. His belief was, that there was "No serious hope of progress in India except in Hinduism-reformed, regenerated and purified". He wrote an extensive commentary on two verses in particular – 2.12 and 2.13 – which deal with the immortality of the soul and its reincarnation
Quotes
Once Ramakrishna Paramahansa Deb, playing on the meaning of Bankim, 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 and he used his excellent sense of humour and comedy to do so.
After the Vishabriksha was published in 1873, the magazine, Punch wrote:
