Published in 1865, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s first Bengali novel Durgeshnandini revolutionised Bengali prose writing. Many consider it to be the first modern novel in an Indian language. Durgeshnandini is set in the sixteenth century during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar, when the Mughal army was fighting the Pathans for control over territories in eastern India. Many characters in the book—Mughals, Rajputs and Pathans—are historical figures. With this as the backdrop, the author skilfully sets up a romance between a young Rajput commander of the Mughal army and the daughter of a minor ruler. The romance becomes layered when a charming Pathan princess also falls in love with the Rajput commander in defiance of her suitor, the Pathan army chief. Prevailing social norms barred love across caste and religion. Bankim Chandra seems to question this in this novel in an indirect way. The novel ran into thirteen editions during BankimChandra’s lifetime and was translated into several languages.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (27 June 1838–8 April 1894) was an Indian writer, poet and journalist. He was the composer of ‘Vande Mataram’, originally in Sanskrit stotra personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring the activists during the Indian Independence Movement. Chatterjee wrote thirteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treaties in Bengali. His works were widely translated into other regional languages of India as well as in English. One of the many novels of Bankim Da that are entitled to be termed as historical fiction is Rajsimha (1881, rewritten and enlarged in 1893). Anandamath (The Abbey of Bliss, 1882) is a political novel which depicts a Sannyasi (Hindu ascetic) 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.
Translated by Sunanda Krishnamurty
Sunanda Krishnamurty was a college lecturer in economics in India, and a consultant with U.N. organisations in Bangkok and Geneva. As a literary translator, Sunanda has earned a name by translating the stories and novels of Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, which were published under reputed banners. She is an active member of the Geneva Writers Group and has published several short stories in its literary publication,
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
,Translated by Sunanda Krishnamurty
Niyogi Books