Bengali literature

This period is considered to be the time in which many common proverbs and rhymes first emerged. The Bengali alphabet became a lot like what it currently is. Ramai Pandit and Halayudh Misra were notable writers of this period.[3]

The tomb of Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, under whose patronage were writers such as Shah Muhammad Sagir and Krittibas Ojha.

Muslim writers were exploring different themes through narratives and epics such as religion, culture, cosmology, love and history; often taking inspiration from or translating Arabic and Persian literary works such as the Thousand and One Nights and the Shahnameh.[4] The literary romantic tradition saw poems by Shah Muhammad Sagir on Yusuf and Zulaikha, as well as works of Sabirid Khan. The Dobhashi culture introduced Arabic and Persian vocabulary into Bengali texts to illustrate Muslim stories. Epic poetry included Nabibangsha by Syed Sultan, Janganama by Abdul Hakim and Rasul Bijoy by Shah Barid.[5]

Chandidas was the celebrated Hindu lyrical poet of this period, famed for translating Jayadeva's work from Sanskrit to Bengali and for producing thousands of poems dedicated to the love between Radha and Krishna such as the Shreekrishna Kirtana. Majority of Hindu writers in this period drew inspiration from a popular Maithili language Vaishnavite poet known as Vidyapati. Maladhar Basu's Sri Krishna Vijaya, which is chiefly a translation of the 10th and 11th cantos of the Bhagavata Purana, is the earliest Bengali narrative poem that can be assigned to a definite date.[6] Composed between 1473 and 1480 C.E., it is also the oldest Bengali narrative poem of the Krishna legend.[7][6] The Ramayana, under the title of Sri Rama Panchali, was translated by Krittibas Ojha.[8]

Lalon inspired and influenced many poets, social and religious thinkers including Rabindranath Tagore,[9][10][11] Kazi Nazrul Islam,[12] and Allen Ginsberg[13]

Bengali literature flourished in Arakan following its reconquest. It was home to prominent writers patronised in the Arakan royal court such as Alaol, who wrote Padmavati, as well as Daulat Qazi, Dawlat Wazir Bahram Khan, Quraishi Magan Thakur who wrote Chandravati and Maradan who wrote Nasirnama. Qazi was the first poet under the court patronage. He started writing Satimayna O Lorchandrani, considered to be the first Bengali romance. Teamwork was common in the court, and Alaol finished off Qazi's romance as the latter had died before managing to complete it.[14]

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee is considered the first successful novelist in Bengali-language and through Kazi Nazrul Islam's contributions, Bengali ghazals were enriched profusely

Rabindranath Tagore, Asia's first Nobel laureate

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Vande Mataram played a vital role in the Indian independence movement and he is widely respected in India though less respected in Bangladesh his novels are popular in a lesser extent in Bangladesh. Bankim Memorial Award is the highest literary award which is given by the Government of West Bengal, India.

Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam are the most well-known prolific writers of Bengal in this century. Tagore is celebrated as the writer of both India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla as well as being a source of inspiration for the Sri Lanka Matha and similarly Nazrul is celebrated as the national poet of Bangladesh.[18][19][20]

Bengali literature is also famous for short stories. Some famous short story writers are Rabindranath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay, Jagadish Gupta, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Rajshekhar Basu (Parasuram), Syed Mujtaba Ali, Premendra Mitra,[21]

Rajshekhar Basu (1880–1960) was the best-known writer of satiric short story in Bengali literature.[22] He mocked the charlatanism and vileness of various classes of the Bengali society in his stories written under the pseudonym "Parashuram".[22] His major works include: Gaddalika (1924), Kajjwali (1927), Hanumaner Swapna (1937), Gamanush Jatir Katha (1945), Dhusturimaya Ityadi Galpa (1952), Krishnakali Ittadi Galpa (1953), Niltara Ittadi Galpa (1956), Anandibai Ittadi Galpa (1958) and Chamatkumari Ittadi Galpa (1959). He received the Rabindra Puraskar, the highest literary award of Paschimbanga in 1955 for Krishnakali Ityadi Galpa.[23] Rajsheskhar was also a noted lexicographer, translator and essayist. His Chalantika (1937) is one of the most popular concise Bengali dictionaries, while his Bengali-language translations of Meghaduta (1943), the Ramayana (1946), the Mahabharata (1949) and the Bhagavat Gita (1961) are also acclaimed.[22] His major essays are included in Laghuguru (1939) and Bichinta (1955).[22]

Prakalpana Movement, branded by Steve LeBlanc, the noted US critic, as 'a tiny literary revolution', 'nurtured' by Kolkata, has been fostering its new genres of Prakalpana fiction, Sarbangin poetry and Chetanavyasism for over four decades, spearheaded by Vattacharja Chandan, beginning in 1969. It is probably the only bilingual (Bengali -English) literary movement in India mothered by Bengali literature, that has spread its wings worldwide through the participation of well known international avant-garde writers and mail artists such as Richard Kostelanetz, John M. Bennett, Sheila Murphy, Don Webb, with notable Bengali poets, writers and artists like Vattacharja Chandan.[24]