Nabinchandra Sen ( bn, নবীনচন্দ্র সেন; 10 February 1847 – 23 January 1909) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

poet and writer, often considered one of the greatest poets prior to the arrival of Rabindranath Tagore. He commented on the battle of Plassey and the arrival of British Rule in India as "A night of Eternal Gloom".

Life

Nabinchandra was born in Noapara,

Raozan Upazila Raozan,gohira ( bn, রাউজান) is an upazila of Chattogram District, in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. It was established in 1947. Geography Raozan has 45,777 households and a total area of 246.58 km2. The two main rivers ...

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

on 10 February 1847 in a

Baidya Baidya or Vaidya is a Hindu community located in Bengal. Baidyas, a caste (''jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks were drawn primarily, b ...

family. He studied at the Chittagong Collegiate School, clearing the school leaving Entrance examination in 1863, In 1865, he passed the FA exam from Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1868, he earned his BA from General Assembly's Institution (now

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

), and after teaching for a brief period at Hare School, he joined the colonial administrative services as a Deputy Magistrate. Sen retired in 1904, and died on 23 January 1909. He has been considered one of Bengal's greatest writers and poets.

Works

Sen's earliest poems were published in the ''Education Gazette'' edited by Peary Charan Sarker, and his first volume of poetry, ''Abakash Ranjani'', was published in 1871. A second volume of ''Abakash Ranjani'' was published in 1877. ''Palashir Juddha'' (1875), a long epic poem lamenting the betrayal of

Siraj ud-Daulah Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah ( fa, ; 1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Beng ...

by his followers and his defeat at the Battle of

Plassey Palashi or Plassey ( bn, পলাশী, Palāśī, translit-std=ISO, , ) is a village on the east bank of Bhagirathi River, located approximately 50 kilometres north of the city of Krishnanagar in Kaliganj CD Block in the Nadia Distric ...

, was an evocative expression of Bengali nationalism in literature, and it established his reputation as a powerful Bengali poet. A contemporary to

Michael Madhusudan Dutt Michael Madhusudan Dutt ((Bengali: মাইকেল মধুসূদন দত্ত); (25 January 1824 – 29 June 1873) was a Bengali poet and playwright. He is considered one of the pioneers of Bengali literature. Early life Dutt ...

, Nabichandra is also known for popularizing the epic narrative in the Bengali language through his reinterpretations of the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

in a three-volume epic:''Raivatak'' (1887), ''Kuruksetra'' (1893) and ''Prabhas'' (1896), where Krishna serves as the protagonist and adventurer during the fall of kingdoms. He wrote biographies of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, and

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

in the Bengali language, and made verse translations of the

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

and the

Markandeya Purana The ''Markandeya Purana'' ( sa, मार्कण्डेय पुराण; IAST: ) is a Sanskrit text of Hinduism, and one of the eighteen major Puranas. The text's title Markandeya refers to a sage in Hindu History, who is the central c ...

. Nabindrachandra's ''Bhanumati'' (a novel-in-verse) and "Prabaser Patra" ( a memoir of his travels) also brought him fame. His five-volume autobiography, ''Amar Jiban'' (My Life), is an important document chronicling the politics and social aspirations of the Bengali literati in the late nineteenth century.

Bibliography

Epics

His epic trilogy was based on New Mahabharata. * ''Raivatak'' * ''Kurukkhetra'' * ''Provash''

Poetry

* ''Abakash Ranjani'' (1871) * ''Palashir Juddha'' (1875)

Biographies

* ''Amitabha'' (biography of the

) * ''Khrishta'ra Jibani'' (biography of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

) * ''Cleopatra'' (biography of Cleopatra)

Autobiography

* ''Probasher Potro'' * ''Amar Jiban'', in 5 volumes

Poetic translations

* ''Geeta'' * ''Chandi''

Poetic novel

* ''Bhanumoti''

References

External links

*
Sen, Nabin Chandra
at the West Bengal Public Library Network {{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Nabinchandra Bengali male poets Bengali-language poets People from Chittagong District Bengali writers Bengali-language writers 1847 births 1909 deaths Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni People from Chittagong 19th-century poets Writers from Kolkata