Peary Chand Mitra (22 July 1814 – 23 November 1883) was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur.
His pseudonym was Tek Chand Thakur. He was a member of
Henry Derozio's Young Bengal group, who played a leading role in the
Bengal renaissance
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
with the introduction of simple Bengali prose. His ''
Alaler Gharer Dulal
''Alaler Gharer Dulal'' ( Bengali: ''আলালের ঘরের দুলাল''; published in 1857) is a Bengali novel by Peary Chand Mitra (1814–1883). The writer used the pseudonym ''Tekchand Thakur'' for this novel.
The novel desc ...
'' pioneered the novel in the
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
, leading to a tradition taken up by
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (also Chattopadhayay) CIE (26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, Essayist and journalist. Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The Daily Star'', 30 June 201 ...
and others. Mitra died on 23 November 1883 in Kolkata.
Early life
Mitra was born at
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
on 22 July 1814. His ancestral village was Panisehala in
Hooghly District
Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River.
The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsura (''C ...
of present-day
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
.
[Ghosh, Manmathnath, ''Karmabeer Kishorichand Mitra'', 1926, p 11] His father, Ramnarayan Mitra, moved from Panisehala,
Hooghli District to Calcutta in early life and made his fortunes as banians to European merchants and officials.
[ Kishori Chand Mitra was his brother. As per the custom of the day, he started learning ]Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
at a young age and in 1827 joined the Hindu College
Hindu College may refers to several colleges around the world, including:
India
*Dharmamurthi Rao Bhahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty's Hindu College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
* Gobardanga Hindu College, West Bengal
* Gokul Das Hindu Girls College, Moradab ...
,[ where he started learning English. While still a student he started a school in his own home to teach others in his locality what he learnt. At some point in time his friends Rasik Krishna Mallick, ]Radhanath Sikdar
Radhanath Sikdar (Bengali: রাধানাথ শিকদার; 5 October 1813 – 17 May 1870) was an Indian mathematician who is best known for calculating the height of Mount Everest. He was the first person to calculate the height of M ...
and Sib Chandra Deb joined him to bolster his efforts. David Hare and Derozio helped him as well.
Career
Mitra joined Calcutta Public Library as deputy librarian in 1836.[ The library was established the same year in the residence of an Englishman named Strong in the Esplanade. It was later shifted to ]Fort William College
Fort William College (also known as the College of Fort William) was an academy of oriental studies and a centre of learning, founded on 18 August 1800 by Lord Wellesley, then Governor-General of British India, located within the Fort William co ...
and when the Metcalfe Hall was constructed to pay respect to the memory of Charles Metcalfe, the library was moved to the hall in 1844. Mitra rapidly rose up the ladder as librarian, secretary and finally curator, a position he held till his retirement.
He was associated with a variety of social welfare activities of his day. He was a member of the Calcutta University Senate, the society for prevention of cruelty to animals, and Bethune Society. He was secretary of the British India Society (later Association). He was also a Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
.
He had interest in the development of agriculture in the country. His criticism of the permanent settlement, ''The Zemindar and Ryots'', created a sensation. While a member of the Agricultural Society, he started an organisation for the translation of books on agriculture from English to Bengali. In 1881, when Madame Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 ...
and Col Olcott visited India, he became involved with the Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...
.
Journalism and literary work
Mitra was a contributor to the ''Englishman'', ''Indian Field'', ''Hindu Patriot'', ''Friend of India'', ''Calcutta Review'', ''Bengal Harkara'' and ''Bengal Spectator''.[ Along with his Derozian friend Rasik Krishna Mallick, he edited the ''Jnananeswan''. Another Derozian, Ram Gopal Ghosh, was associated with it.
His major literary works include:
* '']Alaler Gharer Dulal
''Alaler Gharer Dulal'' ( Bengali: ''আলালের ঘরের দুলাল''; published in 1857) is a Bengali novel by Peary Chand Mitra (1814–1883). The writer used the pseudonym ''Tekchand Thakur'' for this novel.
The novel desc ...
'' (1857)
* ''Mad Khaoya Bada Day Jat Thakar ki Upay'' (1859)
* ''Ramaranjika'' (1860)
* ''Krsipath'' (1861)
* ''Bamatoshini'' (1881)
* ''Abhedi'' (1871)
* ''Jatkinchit'' (1865)
* ''Adhyantika'' (1881)
In English he wrote ''A Biographical Sketch of David Hare'' (1877), ''The Spiritual Stray Leaves'' (1879), ''Stray Thought of Spiritualism'' (1879), and ''Life of Dewan Ramkamal Sen'' (1880) and an essay named ''The Zamindar and Royats.'' That was the age when Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century ...
was writing Bengali heavily loaded with Sanskrit words and Akshay Kumar Datta
Akshay Kumar Datta (also spelt Akshay Kumar Dutta) ( bn, অক্ষয় কুমার দত্ত) (15 July 1820 – 18 May 1886) was a Bengali writer from India. He was one of the initiators of the Bengal Renaissance.
Early life
He wa ...
was experimenting with the language in Tattwabodhini Patrika
''Tattwabodhini Patrika'' ( bn, তত্ত্ববোধিনী পত্রিকা, ''Tattwabodhini'' "truth-searching" ''Patrika'' "newspaper") was established by Debendranath Tagore on 16 August 1843, as a journal of the Tattwabodhini ...
. Both were masters of Sanskrit and used all the ornamentation of that rich language. Bengali prose was in its infancy. Learned people used to poke fun at it and ridiculed the language, and a newspaper such as Iswar Chandra Gupta's ''Sambad Prabhakar
''Sambad Prabhakar'' (also ''Sangbad Prabhakar''; bn, সংবাদ প্রভাকর) was a Bengali daily newspaper founded by Ishwar Chandra Gupta. It began as a weekly newspaper in 1831 and became a daily eight years later in 1839. It ...
'' published all that.
In 1857, Mitra and Radhanath Sikdar
Radhanath Sikdar (Bengali: রাধানাথ শিকদার; 5 October 1813 – 17 May 1870) was an Indian mathematician who is best known for calculating the height of Mount Everest. He was the first person to calculate the height of M ...
started a small magazine, ''Masik Patrika'', which used simple spoken Bengali prose everybody could understand. It was a major breakthrough in the use of Bengali, and the magazine instantly became popular. His novel ''Alaler Gharer Dulal'', written under the pseudonym Tek Chand Thakur, used simple Bengali prose, closer to the spoken speech of the day, and was serialised in the magazine. It was one of the earliest Bengali novels and became an instant success.Hana Catherine Mullens
Hana Catherine Mullens (1826–1861) was a European Christian missionary, educator, translator and writer. She was a leader of zenana missions, setting up schools for girls and writing what is arguably the first novel in Bengali. She spent most ...
wrote ''Phoolmani O Karunar Bibaran'' in 1852. This is regarded as the first novel in Bengali; ''Alaler Gharer Dulal'' was published in 1858, as per ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' page 423. Harinath Mazumdar wrote a novel ''Bijay Basanta'' at the same time as per ''Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga Samaj'', page 88. So great was its popularity that the language style came to be known as 'Alali'. That set the trend for Bengali prose then. In 1864, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (also Chattopadhayay) CIE (26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, Essayist and journalist.Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The Daily Star'', 30 June 2011 ...
published his first novel ''Durgeshnandini'' to finally lay down the standard for Bengali prose. ''Alaler Ghare Dulal'' was later translated into English.
''Dickens of Bengal''
Rev. James Long was a keen observer of the literary scene in Bengal and referred to Mitra as 'the Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
of Bengal'. He was imprisoned and fined for writing a preface to the English translation of Dinabandhu Mitra
Dinabandhu Mitra (1830 – 1 November 1873) was a Bengali writer and dramatist. He is notable for his play ''Nil Darpan'' (1860).
Early life
Mitra was born at Chowberia village in Gopalnagar P.S., North 24 Parganas and was the son of Kalachand ...
's controversial play ''Nil Darpan
Nil may refer to:
* nil (the number zero)
Acronyms
* NIL (programming language), an implementation of the Lisp programming language
* Name, Image and Likeness, a set of rules in the American National Collegiate Athletic Association allowing colle ...
''. The translation was done by 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 ...
.
Entrepreneurship
In later life, Mitra became a successful businessman.[ Along with his Derozian friend Tarachand Chakraborti, he was involved in export-import business ''Pearychand & Tarachand Limited''.
]
Family
Mitra had a brother Kishori Chand Mitra, a civil servant. He had four sonsAmrita Lal Mitra, Chuuni Lal Mitra, Heera Lal Mitra and Nagendra Lal Mitra and a daughter Uma Shashi Mitra.
References
Further reading
* ''Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga Samaj'' in Bengali by Sivanath Sastri, page 87.
* ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) in Bengali edited by Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Bose, page 292.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Peary Chand
Writers from Kolkata
Bengali writers
Brahmos
Bengali-language writers
1814 births
1883 deaths
19th-century Bengalis
Bengali Hindus
Bengali novelists
Young Bengal
Journalists from West Bengal
Indian writers
Indian male writers
Indian journalists
Indian male journalists
Indian novelists
Indian male novelists
Indian editors
Indian newspaper editors
19th-century Indian journalists
19th-century Indian novelists
19th-century Indian male writers
19th-century Indian writers
Indian activists
Activists from West Bengal