2. Evolution of Bangla

Bangla language has evolved over three and half thousand years in the Gangetic deltas by Australoids, Dravidians, Mongoloids tribes and Aryans, by animists, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims of Bengal. Turko-Afgan rulers of Sultani era also took interest in development of Bangla literature.

In the early years, Bengal was not like what it is today. It was mainly five major states namely: - Gaud, Banga, Rarh, Barendra (Pundra) & Kamtata and also a large number of smaller principalities. These states were continuously at war with each other. The turmoil created by continuously changing political scenario resulted mixing of lesser languages of Dravidian and Mongoloid people with Pali, spoken form of Sanskrit in Eastern India in early centuries of 1^st millennium. Shoshanko was the first Bangla King who ruled Gaud and spread his kingdom not only in Bengal but also in Eastern India. After Shoshanko again Bengal went into lawlessmess as Harshavardhan destroyed Gaud to avenge loss of his brother Rajyavardhan and his brother in law, king of Ujjain. Then in 750 A.D., a unique incident took place in Bengal. Jaminders & land holders of Bengal selected one of them, Gopal as King to lead them. Gopal established Pal dynasty. The Buddhist Pal dynasty ruled Bangladesh for four hundred years starting in 8th century.

The Pal kings accepted Sanskrit as court language but patronized the spoken language, early Bangla. Under the Pal dynasty, people used to compose fairytale, ballad, etc in Bangla and read out to the kings. Bangla was in formative stage but its distinctive identity had already taken shape. Sanskrit was language of education and religion and Bangla was the language of common people and also of poets, composer & Buddhists monks.

The first works in Bangla written in Bangali script, appeared between 10th and 12th centuries. It is generally known as the Charyapada. These are mystic songs composed by various Buddhists seer-poets: Luipada, Kanhapada, Kukkuripada, Chatilpada, Bhusukupada, Kamlipada, Dhendhanpada, Shantipada, Shabarapada etc. The famous Bangali linguist Haraprasad Shastri discovered the palm leaf manuscriptof Charypaada in the Nepal Royal Court Library in 1907.

Then Hindu Sen dynasty took over power in the 12th century. Sen Kings ruled Bengal for one hundred years. Sens came from Karnataka, unlike Pals. Under Sen Dynasty, Sanskrit continued to be the state language with emphasis. Performance of state functions in Bangla was discouraged. Bangla was not patronized in royal palaces like in the times of Pals. Bangla was considered a rustic language. However Bangla continued to flourish in the countryside. New tribes were adopting Bangla and Bangla was acquiring lots of new words during this period from different tribes inhabiting Bengal. Hindus and Buddhists were performing religious functions in Bangla. Bangla was so popular that some Brahmins had to issue religious sermon to the effect that ‘those who would even hear the religious texts in Bangla, would suffer the eternal fire of Rourab, the worst of hells. But, the language spoken by the ordinary Bangalis - Buddhists, tribal, lower caste Hindus as well as Brahmins had already dug so deep that Bangla and Bangali will be inseparable in coming times. However during Sen period Sanskrit was the royal language and Bangla was only the language of commoners.

Things did not change even after the Sen dynasty had fallen at Nadiya of Bengal to an invasion by a  Turk Ikhtiaruddin Muhammad Bakhtiar Khilji in 1201. Dethronement of Hindu king Lakshman Sen, and subsequent occupation of Bengal by Muslim rulers resulted in replacement of Sanskrit by Persian. Sanskrit was pushed to the position of religious language of Brahmins. Only few Brahmins could understand and even fewer actually spoke. On the other hand Persian was a foreign language which only ruling Turks in the court could understand. Further, Persian unlike Sanskrit was a language of distant place which common people had no association neither they could fathom. Therefore Muslim rulers had to learn either Sanskrit or Bangla for communication. Since it was difficult for Turk-Afgan Muslim rulers to learn Sanskrit, they preferred Bangla. It was a golden opportunity for Bangla. Bangla became the language of communication for all in Bengal with Persi as court language.

Throughout Muslim rule, Persi had remained the official language in Bengal and both Muslim and Hindu communities in court were proficient in Persi. But communication with peasants and artisans as well as with service providers had to be in Bangla. During this time Bangla enriched itself with Arabic and Persian words due to interaction between court and commoners.  While the Pal dynasty encouraged Bangla language, despite retaining Sanskrit as the official language, the Muslim dynasties helped Bangla language and literature flourish even though Persi remained the official language and language of prestige for the rulers.

Bengal came under the Shah dynasty when Sultan Shamshuddin Ilias Shah conquered Gouda, Barendra, Samatata and Banga regions one after another, and completed the Muslim conquest of Bengal after conquering Sonargaon in 1352. Shamshuddin Ilias Shah took the name of ‘Shahe Bangalian’ and his successors ruled the Bengal independently for more than two hundred years.
The Shah dynasty made serious efforts to understand Hindu and Buddhist population and secure their support for both ensuring good governance in Bengal and for defending its independence from the rulers in Delhi. The Sultans wanted to establish Bengal as a separate entity from Delhi and an independent state by its own right. Bangla language was an important tool for them. Islam did not spread to the countryside till then. Inhabitants of Bengal, both Hindu and Buddhist spoke Bangla or its dialects. The Sultans therefore inspired and patronised Bangla literature. The great Bangali poet Bodu Chandidas appeared during this period. Bangla took its literal shape as a language at this time. Among others -Padabali Keerton, Charitraleelamrita and Bangla Ramayana and Mahabharata were composed under inspiration of Shah Dynasties.

Sri Krishna Kirtana was written by Boru Chandidas in the latter half of 14th century AD. It is considered as the second oldest work of Bangla literature after Charyapada. Chandidas is also known for his humanist proclamation—"Sobar upare manush satya, tahar upare nai" ("সবারউপরেমানুষসত্য, তাহারউপরেনাই।")—"The supreme truth is man; there is nothing more important than he is." Lyrical poems, known as the Vaishnava Padavali of Vidyapati and other Chandidas; Sri Krishna Vijaya, the partial translation of Bhagavata Purana by Maladhar Basu and Krittivasi Ramayana by Kirtivas Ojha were all composed in 14th and 15th centuries.

Post-Chaitanya or Late Vaishnava literature denotes the literature of the time succeeding the time of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. These include: biographies of Chaitanya by Gaudya Vaishnava scholar-poets and later Vaishnava Padavali with a special sub-genre based on the life of Chaitanya. Major figures of the Late Vaishnava literature are Krishnadasa, Kaviraja, Vrindavana Dasa, Jayananda, Govindadasa, Jnandasa, Balaram Dasa etc.

Mangal Kavya (মঙ্গলকাব্য, "Poems of Benediction"), a group of  Hindu narrative poetry, composed more or less between 13th Century and 18th Century, eulogise the indigenous deities of rural Bengal in the social scenario of the Middle Ages. Manasā Mangal, Chandī Mangal and Dharma Mangal, the three major genus of Mangal-Kāvya tradition include the portrayal of the magnitude of Manasa, Chandi and Dharma Thakur who are considered the greatest among all the native divinities in Bengal. There are also minor Mangalkāvyas known as Shivāyana, Kālikā Mangal, Rāya Mangal, Shashtī Mangal, Sītalā Mangal and Kamalā Mangal etc. Major poets of Mangalkavya tradition are Mukundaram Chakrabarty, Bijay Gupta, Rupram Chakrabarty etc.

Islam started appearing in the village side by the end of 16th century. It was also the time “Puthir Gan” was composed in “Kottho Bangla”. Various Muslim adventures and conquests were depicted in these compositions. These stories were passed on through word of mouth through generations. Daulat Qazi (কাজীদৌলত) (1600–1638) and Alaol-Ali Abbas Husaini,আলাওল (1620-1658); were the first well-known Muslim poets in Bangla in 17th century. Both were from eastern Bengal, present-day Bangladesh. Daulat Kazi started translation of Avadhi narratives of Lor, Chandrani and Mayana into Bangla. But he died before he could finish his work. It was completed years later by Alaol. Alaol’s most well-known work is Poddaboti, which depicts the story of Poddaboti, the Sinhala princess and the queen of Mewar.  He is considered to be one of the most prolific medieval Bangla poets. Since most of his poems were combination of emotion with intellect, he is called the Pondit Kobi or 'Wise Poet' of medieval Bangla literature.

Mughals occupied whole of Bengal by the end of Sixteenth century. Next 150 years Bengal will be ruled from Delhi through Mughal governors. Some of These governors were almost independent but Bengal never again acquired same stature that it had under Sultani rule. Mughals did not take any interest in the language or the people of Bengal though they did not interfere in their affair as well. But Bangla Bhasha continued its journey without state support. In fact Bangla did not receive any state support during the entire sojourn except briefly during Sultani era(Shah Dynasties) but that support was also individual rather than organizational.

It is said that it was the Muslim conquest of Bengal that enabled Bangla to come out of the rural huts to the highway of literature. But Bangla was there in this country since long, even during the time of Buddha. In Sultani era Bangla came out into open. But it would be an overstatement to say that Bangla literature is the creation of the Sultans. Bangla language and literature was created by its ancient people, nurtured by Buddhists, developed by Hindus, encouraged by some Muslim rulers and reached maturity during British rule. British rule liberated the mind of Bangalis by exposing them to world literature and civilization. British rule also established rule of law in Bengal. The result was bloom in a forest, called Bangla literature.

East India Company defeated last Nawab of Bengal, Siraj- ud- dullah in 1757 AD and established British rule in Bengal. Throughout the remaining 18th century and early decades of 19th century, British laid down solid foundations for civil administration, communication, transportation, a modern bureaucracy and police. They further established modern judiciary and opened schools and colleges. Calcutta in particular became the focus of British administration, trade and commerce. Bangalis came in contact with English education and through English education world at large. The conquest of Bengal by the English and subsequent consolidation unleashed a revolution in thoughts and ideas-in religion, society, literature and many other aspects of life of Bangalis.

A new class of Bangali elite evolved which could mingle with the British. They were Bhadrolok, a socially privileged group, educated and employed under British institutes or landed gentry grown under deed of permanent settlement. They started residing in Calcutta. This elite group led Bengal renaissance initiated by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who was the most prominent exponent of the transition. During this period, Bengal witnessed an unparalleled intellectual awakening. Everything was questioned: - social status of women, marriage, the caste system, superstitious beliefs and religion. One of the earliest social movements that emerged during this time was the young Bengal movement that espoused rationalism and atheism as the common denominators of civil conduct among educated Bangalis. Suddenly there was a flood of great men in every field, in literature, music, painting, architecture, cinema, science and even in sport and adventure.

The renaissance saw a magnificent outburst of Bangla literature. While Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar were the pioneers, others like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee widened it and built upon it. The first significant nationalist detour to the Bengal Renaissance was given by the brilliant writings of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee(1838–1894). Bankim is considered one of the leading Bangla novelist and essayist of the 19th century. His first novel “Durgeshnandini”, considered a benchmark in the history of Bangla literature, was published in 1865, He also wrote “Vande Mataram", the 1st patriotic song of India, which appears in his novel Anandamath (1882). His other novels include: Kapalkundala, Bishabriksha, Krishnakanter Will, Rajsingha, Debi Choudhurani etc...

Dinabandhu Mitra wrote a drama, “Nil Darpan” (The Indigo Mirror), a drama depicting oppression of blue cultivators. Opposition and rebellion to blue cultivation spread all over then Bengal region. This Nil Bidroha lasted for more than a year (1859-1860). The Vidroho ultimately shaken the establishment and blue cultivation came to an end.

Michael Madhsudan Dutt introduced blank verse (Amitrakshar verse) in Bangla. Dutt’s greatest work “Meghnad Badh Kavya” was published in two parts in 1861. Mid nineteenth century Bangla literature was blessed with many other notable talents. Famous and popular Bangla poets include Ishwar Chadra Gupta, Biharilal Chakraborty etc… Romesh Chandra Dutt and Mir Mosharraf Hussain are notable for their works of fiction. Girish Chandra Ghose and Dwijendralal Roy were prominent playwrights writers of the time, whereas Akshay Kumar Boral and Ramendra Sundar Tribedi are famous for their influential essays. The list is virtually unending.

This era also saw a rise in new literary publications, magazines and newspapers. A number of educational institutes also appeared all over the region. Both these developments helped to nurture and advance the modern Bangla literary movement.

The Pre-Tagore era also saw an undercurrent of popular literature which was focused on daily life in contemporary Bengal. The prose style, as well as the humour in these works, were often crass, blunt and accessible. A masterpiece in this regard was "Hutom Pechar Naksha" (The Sketch of the Owl) written by Kaliprasanna Singha, and it satirically depicts "Babu" culture in 19th century Kolkata. Other notable works in this regard are "Alaler Ghorer Dulal" (The Spoilt Brat) by Peary Chandra Mitra, "Ramtanu Lahiri o tatkalin Banga shamaj" (Ramtanu Lahiri & contemporary Bangla society) by Nyaymohan Tarkalankar, and "Naba Babu Bilas" & "Naba Bibi Bilas" by Bhabanicharan Bandopadhyay. These books arguably portrayed contemporary Bangla dialect and popular society effectively and also incorporated now-extinct music genres such as Khisti, Kheur and Kabiyal gaan by stalwarts like Rupchand Pakhi and Bhola Moyra. Books like these have become rarer since the emergence of Tagore culture, and the burgeoning preference for literary elegance and refinement in Bangla society.

Rabindranath Tagore, the great Bangla poet was arguably the most prolific writer of Bangla appeared in the late 19th century. Tagore's English translation of a set of poems titled “Gitanjali” won him the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. He was the first Asian to win this award. Tagore dominated Bangla philosophical and literary scene ever since. His 2,000 Rabindrasangeets play a pivotal part in defining Bangla culture, both in West Bengal and Bangladesh. He is the author of the national anthem of both India and Bangladesh, both composed in Bangla. It is widely accepted that Bangla Literature accomplished its contemporary look by the writings and influence of Rabindranath Thakur. Dwijendra Lal Roy, Rajanikanta Sen, Atulprasad Sen were other notable poets and composer of the era.

Very soon Bangla literature grew into a peepal tree, spreading and innovating in newer fields. The new genre of Bangla poets departed considerably from Tagore's ideological style and adopted various themes and philosophies such as Marxism, Freudian interpretation of mind etc. Kazi Nazrul Islam, young Sukanto brought rebellion in Bengali poetry. Jeevananda Das, Shankho Ghose brought new style and modernism in Bangla poetry form. Pastoral poet (polli-kobi)Jasimuddin, Shamsur Rahman, Buddhadeb Basu played with words.

Later writers of the period who introduced broad discussion of social problems and more colloquial forms of Bangla into mainstream literature included the great Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was one of the most popular novelists of early 20th century whose speciality was exploring life and sufferings of women in contemporary rural Bengal. His sympathy towards the common rural folks in "pallisamaj" and a trademark simplified Bangla as a writing style made him one of the most popular writers in his time. Even long after his death many Bangla and Hindi blockbusters are based on his novels. After him Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay, Manik Bandopadhyay, are the three Bandopadhyays who broke out into a new era of realistic writing style. Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyay and Manik Bandopadhyay had strong influence on the two of the most brilliant film directors from Bengal, Satyajit Roy and Ritwik Ghatak respectively. Some of the other famous Bangla novelists are Humayun Ahmed, Satinath Bhaduri, Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay (Banophool), Saradindu Bandopadhyay, Kamal Kumar Majumdar, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Samaresh Basu, Mani Shankar Mukherjee (Shankar) etc.

Two dramatists radically brought about a major change in Bangla theatre. One was Nurul Momin and the other was Bijon Bhattacharya.  Nurul Momin created the modern and experimental plays from East Bengal, which later became East Pakistan and subsequently, Bangladesh. Nurul Momin (1908 –1990) was an educationist, playwright, director, humorist and essayist of Bangladesh. He is referred to as the "Father of Bangladeshi theatre".

Bangla literature specializes in short stories. Some of the famous short story writers are Rabindranath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay, Jagadish Gupta, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Rajshekhar Basu (Parasuram), Premendra Mitra, Kamal Kumar Majumdar, Shibram Chakrabarti, Saradindu Bandopadhyay, Subodh Ghosh, Narendranath Mitra, Ramapada Chowdhury, Bimal Kar, Narayan Gangopadhyay, Syed Mustafa Siraj, Satyajit Ray, Lila Majumder, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Ratan Lal Basu, Sandipan Chattopadhyay, Basudeb Dasgupta, Subimal Mishra, Syed Waliullah, Shawkat Osman, Mohammad Salahuddin(Abon), etc

India secured independence on 15th August, 1947 but Bengal was partitioned. Muslim majority East Bengal joined Pakistan while Hindu majority West Bengal remained with India. The partition not only divided Bengal in two but brought untold miseries to Bangali population, especially to Hindus of East Bengal. Successive massacres of East Bengal Hindu population forced millions of Hindu flee their homes, abandoning ancestral home, heritage, occupation and property. This affected Bangla literature adversely. Partition and subsequent misery encouraged a flurry of literature but it permanently separated the soul from the body. Body of Bangla is in the riverine Bengal which is largely in Bangladesh. But the mind is in Calcutta. Separation of body and mind has resulted in mediocrity. Partition has also resulted in marginalization of Bangali people. Even though Bangladesh is independent, it does not have affluence to sustain art and literature. More over Bangladesh is steadily getting drowned in Islamic fundamentalism where new thought, new idea or humanity is pariah. Bangladesh definitely cannot take Bangla bhasha ahead. The responsibility lies with West Bengal and Calcutta. But West Bengal suffers from inconsequence of its existence. The injury of partition has created permanent damage. Bangali responded wrongly. Bangali adopted Communism and only learnt how to stop work. Work environment vanished. So vanished Trade and Industry. There is few jobs and few ways of sustenance. Now Bangalis go out all over India for all kinds of jobs. Calcutta is a city of old and retired. Those who continued to stay in West Bengal, became economically marginalized. Bangali again responded negatively. Most educated Bangali have one child. Bhadrolok population is dwindling. Who will take up Bangla bhasha forward? Neither Muslims nor Hindi speakers are going to take up our responsibility. If Bangla bhasha has to survive then Bangali has to survive. Bangali need to have a space which is their own. A state where neither Muslim nor Hindi speakers are majority. A Bangali West Bengal is pre-requisite for Bangla bhasha.

Bangali must learn from history. Neglect history, history repeats itself. Partition was caused because Muslim population was more than 50% in Bengal. Today Muslim population in West Bengal is 28%, up from 19% in 1947. This has happened despite 30 million refugee influx from Bangladesh as a result of persecution. In natural course Muslim population should have been only 12 or 13 %. Even if concession is given to the fact that Muslims do not practice family planning, it can be construed that one out of every two Muslim in West Bengal is a Bangladeshi citizen. It is necessary that all Bangladeshi citizens to be identified and deported. If not, they should be allowed to stay with work permit without the right of citizenship. It is not a question of humanity vs communality. The loss will be incalculable. Once Muslim population reaches majority which is likely to happen sooner in Bengal than can be thought of, there will be no humanity. Then Islamist will decide fate of non- Muslims. And it is pre-decided. All Hindus will be driven out of West Bengal. Now there will be no West Bengal. It will be Bihar or Jharkhand. All Bangali Hindu have to change language to survive. Bangla will remain a language of Muslims only. Muslim Bangla will change to represent Islam. For the sake of Bangla Bhasa it is responsibility of every Bangali – Hindu or Muslim to maintain Hindu character of West Bengal. Without Hindu, without Bhadrolok, Bangla will die. There will be a large number of Bangali Muslim who will fight for Islam and die for Islam like the Arabs. It will be the end of Bangla Bhasha.

Next Bangali must learn trade. Do not promote art and literature for a century. No harm will be done. Business must be promoted. Bangali should be able to run industry, handle money and be proud about it. Like Gujarat we should be able to proclaim “Nokri chhoro, Dhanda Karo.”; meaning “Leave service, do business.” In three generation, Bangali will be prosperous and will become soft spoken. Bhadrolok will also become gentleman though money conscious.

Finally Bangali has to learn defending himself anywhere. The best way is to join Indian army. Bangali must join army in droves. Army job is not only well paid but it trains you in various trades Affluance will spread through length and breadth of West Bengal. Bangla will again produce great  men of literature. Bengal’s son/ daughter will again fetch Nobel Prize for literature.

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