Ambikagiri Raichoudhury (1885–1967) was an
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
ese
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
,
lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment.
Royalties
A lyricist's incom ...
, singer, powerful prose writer, news worker, magazine editor, patriotic, social-worker and the leading freedom fighter of India's freedom struggle. He is known as Assam Kesari. He was elected president of the
Assam Sahitya Sabha
The Asam Sahitya Sabha (; Literary Society of Assam) is a non Government, non profit, literary organisation of Assam. It was founded in December 1917 in Assam, India to promote the culture of Assam and Assamese literature. A branch of the organi ...
in 1950.
Early life
Raichoudhory was born in the famous Kshatriya Kayastha Raichoudhury family of Barpeta. His father was Krishnaram Raichowdhury and his mother was Devika Devi. After his primary education in
Barpeta
Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is als ...
, he studied in class VIII of high English school in
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
. Then he joined the Swadeshi Movement and social development work from 1904 to 1905 by. He, along with a few other youths, students and formed a British Opposition Anarchist team during this period. As a result, the British government captured Ambikagiri in
Barpeta
Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is als ...
from 1908 to 1915.
Political and social life
Raichoudhury was a poet, playwright and patriot all rolled in one. He took part in the Independence Movement for
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and was imprisoned by the British for the same. He was the founder of "Asom Songrokhini Sobhaa" (Assam Preservation Council) and "Axom Jaatiyo Mohasobhaa". In his time in Barpeta, Raichoudhury avoided political activities and looked at the social life of Barpeta and insinuated in some social organization and literary-cultural activities. Among them were the formation of funds to facilitate the reading of poor students, the "Sankardeva Sarcharkas(শংকৰদেৱ চাৰ্কাচ)" organization, encouraging people to talk Assamese folk songs etc. He also greatly took a great effort to erase the effects of Bengali Yatra Naat (বঙলা যাত্ৰা নাট) from the social life of
Barpeta
Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is als ...
. In 1915, Raichoudhury went to Dibrugarh and works as a typist of Railway Department, music teacher, etc. as well as the literary editor of the literary magazine ''Assam Bandhva (অসম বান্ধৱ)'' with Harekrishna Das. In the days that followed, most of his social and political thinking was published as an editorial in the ''Chetanaa (চেতনা)'' that he himself had published. In his experience of the punishment suffered in the prison during the non-co-company movement, he composed songs of the struggle for freedom such as
* Toi Bhangibo lagibo shil(তই ভাঙিব লাগিব শিল)
* Dhar Jharu Dhar Bhai (ধৰ ঝাৰু ধৰ ভাই)
* Ki Dekhebi Bhay Karagar(কি দেখাবি ভয় কাৰাগাৰ)
which greatly instills a lot of support to other fighters. Raichoudhury was jailed again in the 1930 movement. He was appointed 'Detector' for the organizational work of the Congress at that time. On the political side, he came to be a very patriotic follower of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
.
In which case the congress leaders wanted to pressure Assamese caste from various aspects during the agitation, the encroachment of Pamua (পমুৱা) on the farm land of Assam; in view of the future of Assam and Assamese, Raichoudhury established "Assamese Rights and Interests Conservation Meeting (অসমীয়াৰ অধিকাৰ আৰু স্বাৰ্থ সংৰক্ষণী সভা)", Assam Jatiya Mahasabha (অসম জাতীয় মহাসভা), and "Assam Shiksha Prachar Samiti (অসম শিক্ষা প্ৰচাৰ সমিতি)" to protect the dignity of Assamese. Raichoudhury himself took care to show Assamese society the path of self-establishment economically by opening the "Swadeshi Kinok Sangha (স্বদেশী কিনক সংঘ)" and establishing a business company called "Mayabini Chemical Works (মায়াবিনী কেমিকেল ৱৰ্কছ)". He had also published books like 'Deka-Dekarir Veda (ডেকা-ডেকেৰীৰ বেদ)', 'Ahuti (আহুতি)' to reveal his doctrine among the people. In 1946-47, during the fear of including Assam to Pakistan, 'Assam Self-Defense Force' created by Assamese Hindu-Muslim united efforts, protesting against the formation of constituencies, declared a resolution to go on hunger strike.
Literary life
Raichoudhury published poetry books called '
Tumi (তুমি)
' in 1915 and 'Beena (বীণা)
' in 1916. In 1918, in collaboration with Chandranath Sharma, he came out with a monthly magazine called ' Chetana(চেতনা)
'. He discussed in the writings of 'Chetna' the freedom movement, non-cooperation, the place of violence and
non-violence in
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...
, various problems at home and abroad, as well as the national problems of Assam etc. He wrote a patriotic drama named Bandini Bharat (বন্দিণী ভাৰত) the script of which was intercepted by British Police in 1906. After which Raichoudhary was put under police vigilance for about 8 years until 1915. During the 1921 'The non-cooperation movement', he composed many nationalist songs while in jail. This English translation was revealed back as 'Songs of the Cell'. Other poetry books published by Raisachaudhary are
* Anubhuti (অনুভূতি)
* Sthapan kar, Sthapan kar (1958),স্থাপন কৰ,স্থাপন কৰ
* Bedanar Ulka (1964) (বেদনাৰ উল্কা)
* Aaji Bondu ki chandere (আজি বন্দো কি ছন্দেৰে)
Other than many poems are published in various magazines. The prose
'Ahuti (আহুতি)' (1954), 'Deka-Dekarir Veda (ডেকা-ডেকেৰীৰ বেদ)’' and 'Kalyanmayiকল্যাণময়ী', 'Bhaktagaurava (ভক্তগৌৰৱ)', 'Jayadratha Badh (জয়দ্ৰথ বধ)' etc.
Two main voices are heard in Raichoudhury's poem. One is the sound of visible nationalism and the other is the soft tone of mystery in 'Tumi(তুমি)' and 'the in Beena(বীণা)'. The poem 'Tumi
' begins in beloved physical attracting beauty and finally ends in the global beauty and indomitable beauty of the world. His nationalist poems have a sharp protest against the atrocities and atrocities and there are great calls to go ahead with the battle of life. The poet wishes for a life in which human beings can develop by putting away all the hypocrisy, lowness. He was also the editor of "Setonaa (চেতনা)" and "Dekaa Asom (ডেকা অসম)", two Assamese magazines. Raichoudhury is known as "Assam Kesari" (The lion of Assam) because of his firebrand nationalist character. He was the President of
Assam Sahitya Sabha
The Asam Sahitya Sabha (; Literary Society of Assam) is a non Government, non profit, literary organisation of Assam. It was founded in December 1917 in Assam, India to promote the culture of Assam and Assamese literature. A branch of the organi ...
in 1950. In 1965 he won the
Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
.
Literature and Information
in ''Annual Report 1966-67'', Department of Education
The 'Ambikagiri Raichaudhuri Award' presented by Asam Sahitya Sabha
The Asam Sahitya Sabha (; Literary Society of Assam) is a non Government, non profit, literary organisation of Assam. It was founded in December 1917 in Assam, India to promote the culture of Assam and Assamese literature. A branch of the organi ...
is named after him.
Assam Kesari Ambikagiri died on 2 January 1967 at the age of 82.
See also
* Assamese literature
Assamese literature ( as, অসমীয়া সাহিত্য, translit=ɔxɔmiya xaɦitjɔ}) is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the liter ...
* List of people from Assam
* List of Asam Sahitya Sabha Presidents
* List of Assamese writers with their pen names
Assamese literature is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes popular ballads in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contemporary form. ...
References
#
External links
Padma Barkataki passes away
in the ''Assam Tribune
''The Assam Tribune'' is an Indian English daily newspaper published from Guwahati and Dibrugarh, Assam. With over 700,000 copies of current circulation and a readership of over 3 million, it is the highest circulated English daily in northeaste ...
''
No funds for old age home- Second phase of construction stalled
in ''The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
''
Assamese identity
in '' Frontline''
Literature and Information
in ''Annual Report 1966-67'', Department of Education
Assamese ebooks of Ambikagiri Raychoudhury
in '' AssamKart''
* অম্বিকাগিৰি ৰায়চৌধুৰী
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raichoudhury, Ambikagiri
People from Barpeta district
1885 births
1967 deaths
Assamese-language poets
Writers from Northeast India
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese
Asom Sahitya Sabha Presidents
20th-century Indian poets
People from Barpeta
Poets from Assam
Indian male poets
20th-century Indian male writers