List of Bengali poets

Last updated

This List of Bengali poets includes poets who write in Bengali language who produce Bengali poetry. This list classifies poets into three groups based on geographical location. These are poets from Bangladesh, poets from West Bengal of India and poets from other parts of the world including Bengali Diaspora and non-Bengali people writing poetry in Bengali. However, the list starts with early Bengali poets to be followed by those who are identified not only with Indian sub-continent before partition in 1947, but also as founders of Bengali poetry. The list also contains separate sub-lists of "rhyme composers" and "song writers". Finally, there are two sub-sets of woman poets and poets in exile. [1]

Contents

Early poets

Siddhacharyas (6th to 12th CE)

The poets of the Charyāpada (Bengali: চর্যাপদ), known as the Siddhacharyas, lived in eastern India and Nepal. The names of the Siddhacharyas in Sanskrit (or its Tibetan language equivalent), and the raga in which the verse was to be sung, are mentioned prior to each pada (verse). The surviving 50 manuscripts contains the name of 24 Siddhacharyas including Lui Pa, Kukkuri Pa, Birua Pa, Gundari Pa, Chatil Pa, Bhusuku Pa, Kanha Pa, Kambalambar Pa, Dombi Pa, Shanti Pa, Mahitta Pa, Bina Pa, Saraha Pa, Shabar Pa, Aryadeb Pa, Dhendhan Pa, Darik Pa, Bhade Pa, Tadak Pa, Kankan Pa, Ja’anandi Pa, Dham Pa, Tanti Pa and Loridombi Pa. Most of these names were pseudonyms as the poets rejected Vedic Hinduism and profess Sahajayana Buddhism. Lui Pa is considered as the earliest poet of Charyapadas. Kanha Pa's 11 poems survived which is the largest number among these poets. [2]

The poets and their works as mentioned in the text are as follows:

PoetPada (verse)
Luipāda 1,29
Kukkuripāda 2, 20, 48
Virubāpāda3
Gundaripāda4
Chatillapāda5
Bhusukupāda6, 21, 23, 27, 30, 41, 43, 49
Kānhapāda 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 24, 36, 40, 42, 45
Kambalāmbarapāda 8
Dombipāda14
Shantipāda15, 26
Mahidharapāda16
Vināpāda17
Sarahapāda22, 32, 38, 39
Shabarapāda28, 50
Āryadevapāda 31
Dhendhanapāda33
Darikapāda34
Bhādepāda35
Tādakapāda37
Kankanapāda44
Jayanandipāda46
Dhāmapāda47
Tantripāda25

Medieval Poets

PoetPen NameEraWork
Nur Qutb Alam 14th centuryNur Qutb Alam wrote poetry in Middle Bengali using the Persian alphabet. [3]
Chandidas c. 14th centuryChandidas was the first humanist in Bengali poetry. He asserted

"Shobar upor manush shotto tahar upore nai" ("Above all is humanity, none else"). [4]

Krittibas Ojha c. 1381-1461 CEHe translated Indian epic the Valmiki Ramayana into Bengali.
Shah Muhammad Saghir c. 14th centuryConsidered as the earliest Bengali Muslim poet. His best known work is Yusuf-Zulekha.
Zainuddin c. 15th centuryComposed a fictional tale titled Rasul Bijay, the source of which is said to have been a novel

in the Persian language.

Afzal Ali c. 16th centuryBest known for his magnum opus, Nasihatnama.
Dawlat Wazir Bahram Khan c. 16th centuryBest known for his magnum opus Laily-Majnu which is a thematic Bengali adaptation of

Jami's version of the classic tale.

Syed Sultan c. 16th centuryBest known for his magnum opus, the Nabibangsha, which was one of the first translations

of the Qisas Al-Anbiya into the Bengali language.

Chandravati c. 16th centuryConsidered as the first known female poet of Bengali language. Best known for her

women-centered epic Ramayana .

Khelaram Chakrabarty c. 16th centuryOne of the earliest poet of Dharmamangal kavya tradition.
Manik Datta c. 16th centuryEarliest poet of the Chandimangal kavya
Dwija Madhab or

Madhabacharya

c. 16th centuryOne of the most significant contributor to Chandimangal kavya tradition.
Mukundaram Chakrabarti Kabikankan (Bracelet of Poets)c. 16th centuryHis work, known as the Abhayamangal
Daulat Qazi 1600-1638 CEThe first Bengali poet to write under the patronage of the Arakan court during the Mrauk-U dynasty.
Alaol Pandit Kabi (Pandit of Poets)1607-1680 CEWell known work is Padmavati , which depicts the story of Padmavati, the Sinhalese princess.
Abdul Hakim 1620-1690 CEMost notable work was Nur Nama (Story of Light), a depiction of the life of Muhammad.
Rupram Chakrabarty c. 17th centuryHis work, Anadimangal
Muhammad Muqim c. 18th century
Rahimunnessa 1763–1800 CENotable works of her Bengali translation of the Persian Laily Majnu and the poem Payar Chanda.
Heyat Mahmud 1693–1760 CE
Akinchan Chakrabarty Kavindra (Great Poet)c. 18th century
Ghanaram Chakrabarty c. 1669-?
Ramprasad Sen c. 1723 – c. 1775His bhakti poems, known as Ramprasadi
Aju Gossain c. 18th century
Bharatchandra Ray 1712–1760 CEMostly known for his poetic work, Annadamangal or Annapurnamangal

Founders of modern Bengali poetry

PoetImagePen NameEraWork
Iswarchandra Gupta IshwarChandraGupta.jpg 1812-1859 CE
Michael Madhusudan Dutta Mudhusudan Dutta.jpg 1824-1873 CE
Nabinchandra Sen Nabin Chandra Sen.jpg 1847-1909 CE
Kazem Ali Quereshi Kaykobad 1932.jpg Kaykobad1857-1951 CE
Akshay Kumar Baral Akshay Kumar Boral.jpg 1860-1919 CE
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore in 1909.jpg Gurudev, Kabiguru, and Biswakabi1861-1941 CEHe was a Bengali polymath- Poet, Novelist, Playwright or Dramatist, Short-story writer, Music composer, Essayist, Philosopher, Literary critics, Social reformer, Politician, Painter. In 1913 he became the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Dwijendralal Ray Dwijendralal Roy.jpg 1863-1913 CE
Jatindramohan Bagchi 1878-1948 CE
Satyendranath Dutta Kobi-satyendranathdutta.jpg 1882-1922 CE
Jatindranath Sengupta Jatindranath Sengupta.jpg 1887-1954 CE
Mohitlal Majumdar Mohitlal Majumdar.jpg 1888-1952 CE
Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam, circa 1940.jpg 1899-1976 CE
Jibanananda Das Jibanananda Das (1899-1954).jpg 1899-1954 CE
Jasimuddin Jasimuddin Lomax 1951 (2).jpg 1903-1976 CE

Bengali poets from other parts of the world

Hungryalist poets

Metrical poets

Song composers

Poets of Kolkata

Poets of North Bengal

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali poetry</span> Bengali-language poetry

Bengali poetry is a rich tradition of poetry in the Bengali language and has many different forms. Originating in the Bengal region of South Asia, the history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development: poetry of the early age, the Medieval period and the age of modern poetry. All ages have seen different forms of poetry and poetical tradition. It reached the pinnacle during the Bengali Renaissance period although it has a rich tradition and has grown independent of the movement. Major Bengali Poets throughout the ages are Chandidas, Alaol, Ramprasad Sen, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Nabinchandra Sen, Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Ray, Satyendranath Dutta, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das, Jasimuddin, Sukanta Battacharya, Al Mahmud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangla Academy</span>

The Bangla Academy is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government that fosters the Bengali language, literature and culture, works to develop and implement national language policy and to do original research in the Bengali language. Established in 1955, it is located in Burdwan House in Ramna, Dhaka, within the grounds of the University of Dhaka and Suhrawardy Udyan. The Bangla Academy hosts the annual Ekushey Book Fair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah</span> Bangladeshi poet (1956–1991)

Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah was a Bangladeshi poet noted for his revolutionary and romantic poetry. He is considered one of the leading Bengali poets of the 1970s. He received Munir Chaudhury Memorial Award in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malay Roy Choudhury</span> Indian writer and poet

Malay Roy Choudhury is an Indian Bengali poet, playwright, short story writer, essayist and novelist who founded the Hungryalist movement in the 1960s.

<i>Charyapada</i> The oldest literary specimen of Bengali, Assamese, Oriya and Maithili language

The Charyapada is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahsan Habib (poet)</span>

Ahsan Habib was a Bangladeshi poet and literary figure in Bengali culture. He was born in the village of Shankarpasha, in Pirojpur. Before the India-Pakistan partition, he worked on several literary magazines: Takbir, Bulbul (1937–38) and The Saogat (1939-43) and he was a staff artiste at the Kolkata Centre of All India Radio. After partition he came to Dhaka and worked on Daily Azad, Monthly Mohammadi, Daily Krishak, Daily Ittehad, Weekly Prabaha, etc.

Abdul Gaffar Choudhury was a Bangladeshi-born British writer, journalist, columnist, political analyst and poet. He wrote the lyrics to "Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano", a widely celebrated song commemorating the Bengali Language Movement. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1967, Ekushey Padak in 1983, and Independence Day Award in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Mannan Syed</span>

Abdul Mannan Syed was a Bangladeshi poet, and critic. He is known for his considerable research works on Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das, Farrukh Ahmad, Syed Waliullah, Manik Bandyopadhyay, Bishnu De, Samar Sen, Roquiah Sakhawat Hossain, Abdul Ghani Hazari, Muhammad Wajed Ali, Prabodh Chandra Sen. From 2002 to 2004, he had been the executive director of Nazrul Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali novels</span> Bengali-language novels

Bengali novels occupy a major part of Bengali literature. Despite the evidence of Bengali literary traditions dating back to the 7th century, the format of novel or prose writing did not fully emerge until the early nineteenth century. The development of Bengali novel was fueled by colonial encounter, booming print culture, growth of urban centers, and increased middle-class readership Upanyas, the Bangla word for novel, is derived from the words upanay and upanyasta.

Bangla Desh – A Voice of a New Nation was an anthology of poems published in 1971, when the people of the-then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, was fighting the war of independence against the occupation army of West Pakistan. It was a collection of seventy poems by fifty poets, all translated from Bengali into English by Pritish Nandy. It was stated in the credit page that 'The translator's royalty from the sale of this book will be donated to the Bangla Desh Assistance Fund'. Notably Bangladesh emerged as an independent state on 16 December 1971.

Adamjee Literary Award, also known as Adamjee Prize, is a literary award bestowed by the government of Pakistan. It is presented by the president. The award seeks to recognize those people who have made "meritorious contribution" to the literature of Pakistan. It was first introduced by Pakistan Writers' Guild in 1959. Muhammad Shahidullah served as the permanent chairman of the award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhakaiya Urdu</span> Dialect of Urdu language used in Bangladesh

Dhakaiya Urdu sometimes referred to as Sobbasi Language, Khosbasi Language and theLanguage of Dhaka Nawab Family is a dialect of Urdu that is native to Old Dhaka and its immediate surrounding areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is spoken by the city's Sobbas community, Khusbas community, Nawab Family, and other native communities. Sobbasi / Khosbasi is not Noun but Adjective. The usage of the language is gradually declining due to negative perceptions following it being forced upon the people of erstwhile East Bengal. Dhakaiya Urdu is one of the two dialects of Urdu spoken in Bangladesh; the other one being the Urdu spoken by the Biharis and Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.

References

  1. "Bangla Literature - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  2. "Charyapada - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  3. Shahidullah, Muhammad (February 1963). "হযরত নূরুদ্দীন নূরুল হক নূর কুতবুল আলম (রহঃ)" [Hazrat Nuruddin Nurul Haq Nur Qutbul Alam (Rah.)]. ইসলাম প্রসঙ্গ (in Bengali) (1 ed.). Dacca: Mawla Brothers. p. 99.
  4. "Chandidas - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 2022-06-04.