Merch
News
Panchangam
Apps
Downloads
For Teachers
Resources
About
PEOPLE
IDEAS
PLACES
CULTURE
CREATE
STORIES
GAMES
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
बंकिम चंद्र चट्टोपाध्याय
The author of Vande Mataram — the father of the novel of Bhārat
Years
1838 – 1894
Known as
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee — the first great Bengali novelist
Birthplace
Kanthalpara, Bengal
Field
Poets & Writers
“Vande Mataram — I bow to thee, Mother.”
— Bankim Chandra, Anandamath
The Story
Born in 1838, Bankim was one of the first two graduates of the new Calcutta University and served for decades as a deputy magistrate in the British administration. But his true life was in letters: he began writing novels in the 1860s, and with his Durgeshnandini and his later masterpieces he created the modern novel almost single-handedly of Bhārat.
His historical novels — Kapalkundala, Mrinalini, and above all Anandamath, the story of the sannyasi rebels of Bengal — wove the glories of Bhārat's past into stories of courage and faith. It was in Anandamath that he wrote 'Vande Mataram', the hymn to the motherland that became the war-cry of the freedom struggle and the national song of Bhārat.
He edited the journal Bangadarshan, which became the nursery of Bengali literature, and he died in 1894, before the movement his song would inspire. When the freedom struggle rose, Vande Mataram — with its bow to the mother — was the first cry on every lip, and Bankim's name became the literary father of the nation.
Core Ideas
Vande Mataram
His hymn became Bhārat's national song.
The Father of the Novel
He created the modern novel of Bhārat.
Anandamath
His novel of the sannyasi rebels of Bengal.
Bangadarshan
His journal nursed Bengali literature.
The Past as Weapon
He gave Bhārat back its history's courage.
Why it matters today
Bankim Chandra is honoured as the father of the novel and the author of the national song of Bhārat. Every 'Vande Mataram' sung in Bhārat is his verse — and his prose gave the nation a literature worthy of its freedom.