Bankim Chandra Chatterjee: Life, Education, Thoughts, Books

The most notable personality of the Hindu Renaissance was the literary emperor Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (June 26, 1838 – April 8, 1894) often spells Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. He was a prominent Bengali novelist of the nineteenth century. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee made immense contributions to the development of Bengali prose and novels, for which he is called the ‘father of Bengali novels’ and has achieved immortality in the history of Bengali literature. By profession, he was a British government official. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s pen name was Kamalakanta.

Two distinct streams of the Hindu Renaissance movement in Bengal can be identified. Firstly, partly as a reaction to the Brahmo movement and partly to protect Hindu religion and society from Western influence, several great personalities tried to build public opinion. They were dedicated to infusing new life into Hinduism by highlighting its ancient traditions and great ideals. Among them, Krishnaprasanna Sen and Shashadhar Tarkachudamani were orthodox and conservative theorists, while Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Bhudev Chandra, and Nabinchandra were Western-educated, intellectual, rational, idealistic intellectuals and literary figures. In 1891, the British government awarded him the title of ‘Rai Bahadur.’

Early life of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was born on June 26, 1838, in Kanthalpara village near Naihati town in present-day North 24 Parganas district, in an Orthodox Bengali Hindu Brahmin family. The ancestral home of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was in Deshmukho village in Hooghly district. Bankim Chandra’s ancestor Ramjivan Chatterjee married the daughter of Raghudeb Ghoshal of Kanthalpara. Ramjivan’s son, that is Bankim Chandra’s great-grandfather Ramhari Chatterjee, came to Kanthalpara after inheriting his maternal grandfather’s property and settled there. Bankim Chandra was the third son of Yadav Chandra Chatterjee and Durgadebi. Bankim’s other three brothers were eldest Shyamacharan, middle Sanjeebchandra Chatterjee, and youngest brother Purnachandra Chatterjee. Bankim’s father worked as a deputy collector in the undivided Medinipur district.

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Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Education

• At the age of five, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee had his first learning experience with the family priest, Vishwambhar Bhattacharya. Since he didn’t attend the village Pathshala (traditional school), the Pathshala’s teacher, Rampran Sarkar, was appointed as his home tutor. In 1844, when Bankim moved to Medinipur, his formal education truly began. In 1847, he studied English under Mr. F. Teed, the headmaster of Medinipur English School, and later under Mr. Sinclair. In 1849, after returning to Kanthalpara, he studied Bengali and Sanskrit under Sriram Nyayabagish. In the same year, in February, Bankim was married to a five-year-old girl from Narayanpur village.
• After some time, in 1849, on October 23, he enrolled at Hooghly College (now Hooghly Mohsin College). During his seven years of study there, in 1853, he secured first place in the Junior Scholarship examination and earned a monthly scholarship of eight rupees.
• In 1856, he left Hooghly College and enrolled in Presidency College, Calcutta, to study law. However, he left Presidency College before completing his third year because he was appointed as deputy magistrate and deputy collector of Jessore on August 6, 1858. Just a few months later, Calcutta University introduced the B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) examination. A total of 13 candidates appeared for this examination, including Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Jadunath Bose. However, due to the extreme difficulty of the examination, none could pass initially.
• However, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Jadunath Bose performed well in five out of six subjects but failed because they scored seven marks less in one subject. Due to this minor shortcoming, the University Syndicate decided to award them degrees through a Special Act of Grace, giving them 7 grace marks, though in the Second Division. This means that although they weren’t in the First Division, their merit was recognized with a degree. Among these two students in the Second Division, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee ranked first, and Jadunath Bose ranked second. On December 11, 1858, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Jadunath Bose were awarded B.A. degrees at Calcutta University’s first convocation ceremony.
• About 12 years after starting his job, in January 1869, he passed the Bachelor of Laws examination from Presidency College. He secured third place in the First Division in the examination. After working for 33 long years, he retired from service on September 14, 1891.

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Religious Thoughts of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

• Many commented that Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was extremely orthodox and a blind supporter of the Hindu religion. But this notion is completely wrong; in fact, his perspective was quite clear, and his mind was rational. He had profound scholarship in Western philosophy. He attempted to interpret Hinduism in light of Western education. Unlike many orthodox Hindu revivalists, he had no objection to progressive reforms of Hindu religion and society; rather, he wholeheartedly supported them. He welcomed the role of Vidyasagar and Brahmo Samaj in the women’s liberation movement. He even regarded Brahmo leader Keshab Chandra Sen with respect.
• He did not believe in supernatural elements of ancient texts. With a rational mind, he worked to revive Hinduism by uncovering the true essence of religion. Whatever he had to say about Hinduism, he expressed through literature. In the last ten years of his life, he deeply studied Hinduism and published his well-thought-out opinions in “Prachar” and “Navajivan” magazines. He analyzed religious thoughts in the books “Krishna Charita,” “Dharmatattva,” “Srimadvagavat Gita,” and “Devtatwa O Hindudharma” and in three novels: “Sitara,” “Anandamath,” and “Devi Chaudhurani.”
• Along with the revival of Hinduism, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee established the superiority of Hindu religion. In this matter, he agreed with Rajnarayana Basu. Explaining why Hinduism is superior to other religions, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee said, “If religion is truly a means to happiness, then every aspect of human life should be governed by religion. This is the true essence of Hinduism. Other religions do not do this; therefore, other religions are incomplete; only Hinduism is complete. Other nations believe that religion is only about God and the afterlife. For Hindus, religion encompasses this world, the afterworld, God, all beings, and the entire universe – everything. What other religion is so all-encompassing, all-blissful, and sacred?” This belief in Hinduism is repeatedly mentioned in his later novel “Sitaram.”
• However, the ideals of Hindu revival that he presented were naturally limited to educated people. Just as the ideology of Raja Ram Mohan Roy could not inspire common people, similarly, Bankim Chandra could not benefit the common people by presenting complex Hindu theological concepts in simple, plain language.

Influence of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Ideology on the Rise of Congress’s Extremist Leaders

• The thoughts and ideologies of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Swami Vivekananda, and Swami Dayananda Saraswati directly contributed to the emergence of extremist ideology within the Indian National Congress. His sharp analytical perspective, profound scholarship, deep social consciousness, religious devotion, rational intellectualism, and above all, his nationalism, created a stir in the minds of extremist leaders. His novels and essays were read in every household, which raised consciousness among common people. Although he had considerable command over Western philosophy, the source of his ideology was the Krishna doctrine from the Mahabharata, Gita, and Bhagavat. Therefore, to unite India, he said that one must maintain a sympathetic attitude towards every Shudra and oppressed farmer of India, and he also stated that not just Hinduism, but the core message of any religion is the purification of mind.
• He sharply criticized the moderate leaders’ policy of petition and prayer. Long before the extremists mockingly called the petition policy “beggar’s politics,” he had written in his notable literary work ‘Kamalakanter Daptar‘ through Kamalakanta’s voice, “Joy Radhe Krishna, Give alms, This is their politics.” Aurobindo Ghosh learned from him that, “The future lies not with the Indian un-national congress or the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.”

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Books and Novels

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was one of the greatest novelists of the first half of the nineteenth century. Although he wrote poetry in his early life, he later turned to novel writing and wrote 15 novels. Among these 15 novels, only “Rajmohan’s Wife” (1864) was written in English. He began writing his novels, focusing on various social customs and social reform movements of the time, Hindu revival and renaissance, alongside Hindu conservatism, conflicts between Eastern and Western ideologies, lack of progressive thinking, and the dominance of socialist ideology. His writing style is known as ‘Bankimi Shaili’ or ‘Bankimi Riti.’

• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s first novel was ‘Durgeshnandini,’ written in 1865. Inspired by reading Bhudev Mukhopadhyay’s novel ‘Anguriya Binimoy,’ Bankim undertook the writing of Durgeshnandini. The publication of this novel marked the beginning of a new era in Bengali novel literature.
• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novels can be mainly divided into four categories. First, romantic novels set against historical backgrounds, such as ‘Durgeshnandini‘ (1865), ‘Kapalkundala‘ (1866), ‘Mrinalini‘ (1869), ‘Sitaram‘ (1887), ‘Chandrasekhara‘ (1875), and ‘Jugalanguriya‘ (1887). Among these, the originality of Kapalkundala is undeniable. The love story of Kapalkundala and Nabakumar, along with the tale of Motibibi, are narrated very powerfully in the context of history. Secondly, according to many, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote only one true historical novel. That was ‘Rajsingha‘ (1882).
• Thirdly, philosophical and patriotic novels are ‘Anandamath‘ (1882) and ‘Devi Chaudhurani‘ (1884). Although these two novels were written in a historical context. He wrote these two novels based on the Sannyasi and Fakir Rebellion. His novel ‘Anandamath’ played a special role in the development of Indian nationalism. In this book, he inspired the youth of that era with ideals of patriotism and militant nationalism by portraying the story of a group of patriots’ self-sacrifices. His famous ‘Vande Mataram‘ song within ‘Anandamath’ became the core mantra of India’s freedom struggle. The song ‘Vande Mataram’ was sung for the first time at the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta in 1896 where the president was Rahimatullah M. Sayani. Later, it was recognized as India’s national song. Fourthly, finally, he wrote several social and family novels, such as ‘Bishabriksha‘ (1873), ‘Krishnakanter Will‘ (1878), and ‘Rajani‘ (1877).
• He also wrote two other books, which could mainly be called long stories. Examples of this type of writing are ‘Radharani’ (1876) and ‘Indira‘ (1873). He also published a Bengali monthly literary magazine called ‘Bangadarshan‘ in 1872.
• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was a man of multifaceted talent. Besides novels, his contribution to essay literature was also notable. His ‘Krishna Charita‘ (1886) and ‘Dharmatattva‘ (1888) enriched Bengali literature. Another of his distinguished literary achievements was ‘Kamalakanter Daptar‘ (1875). Through ‘Kamalakanter Daptar,’ he expressed his strong opinions against social superstitions and blind devotion to the English. He also wrote several other essay collections, which are Samya (Equality, 1879), Lok Rahasya (Essays on Society, 1874, enlarged 1888), Bigyan Rahasya (Essays on Science, 1875), and Bibidha Prabandha. To express his attitude against British rule, he wrote two satirical books, namely ‘Muchiram Gurer Jivancharita (The Life of Muchiram Gur)‘ and ‘The Period of Bengali Rule.’

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Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Death

In his final years, his health was poor. In March 1894, his diabetes had worsened considerably. Finally, he died of this disease on April 8, 1894.

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