Siddique Mahmudur Rahman
Bangla literature is one of the most ancient literatures of the world. Kobita or Kavya is the most ancient form of Bangla literature. Bangla kavya or Bangla kobita emerged from mystic genre of Bangalee people. Bangalees are predominantly poetic in nature. They hum at daytime under scorching Sun, when they work in the field sow seeds in the ploughed fields, they hum in the cool evening, while striking hammers on the red hot iron to make sickle or plow, they hum when they trim hairs sitting under the age-old banyan tree or make pottery before the spinning wheels.
The Bangalees hum in Summer and Winter, in Spring and Autumn, in Rainy Season and also in Late-Autumn. The melodies of the naiyas (boatmen) or garials (the cart driver) are heart-rendering. There are thousands of songs young belles used to hum for their beloved, sometimes they are cute and pleasant, sometimes they are painful.
From young to the old, poems and songs are ever-pervading among all classes of people. The nature of Bangla or Bengal, as the British called it, divided into six seasons, Grismwa, covering Baishakh and Jaishtha is the scorching Summer, Barsha, covering Asharh and Shravan is the torrential Rain, Sarath, covering Bhadra and Aswin is the mellow early-Autumn, Hemanta, covering Kartik and Agrahayan is the mellower late Autumn and early Winter, Sheet, covering Powsh and Magh is the congenial chilling Winter and lastly, but not the least Basanta, covering, Falgun and Chaitra is the tuneful Spring. All the twelve months and six seasons have distinctive characteristics, so they have their different poems, music and songs.
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The most characteristic feature of the Bengali landscape is its vast river system, most probably the largest delta, which illustrates the Bengali people and their literature. Among the main rivers, the Padma (the Ganges), the Jamuna and the Surma are the three most important and these are referred to in many literary compositions. Bengal was famous in ancient times for its rivers. River and sea voyages are portrayed in Bengali folklore and literature. Bangladesh is also distinguished by a unique coming together of many religions, languages, and races. One of the earliest historical references to be found to date is the mention of a land named Gangaridi by the Greeks around 100 BC. The word comes from Gangahrid (Ganga + hrid = heart; Land that has Ganges in its heart) and believed to be referring to an area in the South-Western Bengal.
The early history of Burma and Thailand tells us that before the arrival of Tibeto-Chinese tribes, these countries were inhabited by Mon-Khmer people. Dravidians migrated here and became the ruling race. Later, when non-Aryan Indians assimilated the Brahmnic culture, they introduced the Sanskrit language and traditions.
Lying at the crossroads of South-East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia, Bengal had attracted people from the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent: Central Asia, China, Arabia and Europe, as well as from rest of India.
Buddhism, the first known systematic religion flourished in Bengal, almost with the advent of Buddhism in 2500 BC. Before that, polytheism was practiced with many multiplicities with diversified deities and innumerable methods of worships.
The Bengali Buddhist mystics, one of the most difficult and mystic religion, known as the shahajia (generality) mystic school of Buddhism, used poetry as a vehicle for teaching. Without using complicated Sanskrit scripture, the mystic poets used the mother tongue of the common people to convey serious religious philosophies. These poems are an integral part of the cultural and religious heritage of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet.
Under the Sena dynasty (1000 A.D.), the rulers consolidated polytheistic Hindu religion into a systematic procedure. Under their rule, Bangla language emerged as a distinct and important language in Northern India, and Hinduism began to displace older Buddhism.
The Turkic invasion in Bengal came in the early 13th century. The invaders defeated the Sena king Laxmansena at his capital, Nabadwip in 1203 (1204?). Far before the Muslim invaders, the Muslim saints from Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, Persia, Afghanistan, Arabian Peninsula and from as far as Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, used to come to Bengal preaching Islam. All these countries practiced Islam in much softer way and with the influence from the saints of these countries, the Sufism (Sufi= temperate), another form of mystic culture, were introduced in Bengal, which interestingly fitted well with already practiced the mystic culture of Buddhism.
According to the Tibetan book, Pag Sham Jon Zang of the 11th century, Bengal occupied a revered place in the field of art. Tibetan opera or old drama combines singing and dancing reminds one of the Carya Nryta (Ph©v b”Z¨ = Carya dance) and Carya singing. It is still found in rural areas of Nepal and Bhutan today. Dance movements in Tibetan opera, found in the Carya Nrytas and some movements, such as bowing with the hands clasped, scriptures, and the use of metaphors in the Caryas, correspond with lyrics and melodies.
The earliest literary compositions in Bangla language are the forty-seven songs, called Caryapadas or Caryagiti, were composed by siddhas of the Shahajia Sect, an offshoot of Tantrika Mahayana Buddhism. It originated during 7th century. These songs were preserved in a palm-leaf manuscript in the Royal Nepalese Archive, which was discovered in 1907.
The subject matter of the Caryapada is highly mystic, centering round the esoteric doctrines and yoga of the Shahajias; the Sanskrit commentary does not make now sung and danced to. A number of poems in old Bengali have been translated into Tibetan and have been included in the Bstan-Hgyur (Tan-Jur), the Bengali originals having been lost. The metres of the Carya poems are known as matra-vritta. This discovery brought to light the oldest specimen not only of Bengali poetry but also of Indo-Aryan literature.
These poem-songs in old Bengali, designed to be sung with a particular temper, constitute an integral part of the heritage of Bangladesh and the basis of a long established tradition of poetry, which has survived to the present day. These verses by Buddhist mystic poets are not only beautifully written and add greatly to Bengali literary traditions, but they also constitute an invaluable source for the study of Bengali society and the Buddhist religion between the 7th and 12th centuries.
They give us a vivid account of the life and occupations of the common people, their work, events of birth, marriage and death, religious activities, dress and ornaments, food and utensils, and music and musical instruments of that time. There is also a beautiful description of the riverine and green eastern part of Bengal, which is Bangladesh today. The poems describe rivers, canals, ponds, muddy shores, various types of boats and their different parts, ferrying and rowing; all these were used as spiritual symbols.
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The Caryagiti in later years, influenced Gita-govinda and Vaisnava Padabali, and much later inspired poets Siraj Sain, Lalan Shah (d. 1890), Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Hason Raza (1854-1922), Kazi Nazrul Islam (1898-1976), Radha Raman and Shah Abdul Karim and some other later poets and litterateurs of Bangladesh. The Baul songs were written in a Kavya form and includes lyric drama, pastoral, an opera, a melodrama and a refined Yatra or play. The poems bear a close resemblance to the spirit and style of the Caryagiti and old Bengali poetry. The musical padabalis, although composed in Sanskrit, actually follow the Bengali manner of expression and used rhymed and melodious mosaic metres, uncommon in Sanskrit poems.
One finds the impression of Maya borrowed from the Buddhists. ‘The world is nothing – we have to leave it behind’ forms a common theme. ‘Like the dew on the grass the body is transient’ is an essential message. We lament for that neighbour who resides ‘In the mirror-town beside my abode’ and ‘(but) haven’t seen him ever once’.
Buddhism and later mystic nature of Islam in Bengal also inspired the Hindu Krishna legend, an essential element of Vaishnavism in Bengal, which was formed in Bengal as early as the 6th or 7th century A.D. Evidence of this is found in the sculptures of Paharpur, the oldest belong to sixth or 7th centuries A.D. and the latest to the 8th century A.D.
The Muslim Pathans, who occupied Bengal early in the 13th century, settled in the plains of Bengal. This regeneration is personified in Chaitanya. The pundits’ and poets’ writing were silent, but not the singers of the mystic cults and folk culture of the common people.
The Muslim rulers learnt the Bengali language and lived with the people. Mosques and temples rose side by side. The Muslim rulers ordered translations of Sanskrit classics into Bengali for the first time for the common people to understand. Poet Vidyapati praised Nasir Shah and Sultan Giasuddin for their intellectual patronage. Mahabharata was translated into Bengali. Muslim Sultans patronized translations of Sanskrit and Persian works. Brahmins were compelled to write in Bengali. Bengali was adopted in Assam, Arunachal, Orissa, Arakan, Ranchi and Bihar. Bengali Punthi literature was highly influenced by Muslims and the Persian language. The Muslims introduced many Persian, Arabic and Turkish words into Bengali.
An enriched folk culture developed in Bangladesh due to both the Hindu and Muslim common masses and Bengali was its vehicle. Bengali was the common language and literature of the people. The unity between Hindus and Muslims in Bengali arose out of racial oneness, common interest and the communal life of the village. It was usual for Hindus and Muslims to take part in each other’s social and religious festivals.
A new culture, based on folk culture thus emerged in Bengali. The decline of orthodox Brahminism and classical Hindus culture, well before the Muslim conquest, and their virtual extinction after the conquest gave the new Bengali culture full opportunity to grow. Bengali literature found room to expand in the gap left by Sanskrit.
The tradition of mysticism still goes on in modern Bengali culture— literature, music, dances and also in religion, be it among the Hindu’s, Muslims or Christians. Mystic culture is unique of its kind in Bangladesh. The journey that started with the introduction of Caryagiti in the early Buddhist era mingled with other living religions, nationality, ethnicity, custom, rituals, and culture. The country and the people assimilated all of them and turned all those into a new philosophy.
Post-Carya or Pre-Chaitanya or Early Vaishnava literature denotes the literature of the time preceding the time of Sri Chaitanya, the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. These include: Sri Krishna Kritana by Boru Chandidas; lyrical poems, known as the Vaishnava Padavali of Vidyapati and Chandidas; Sri Krishna Vijaya, the partial translation of Bhagavata Purana by Maladhar Basu and Krittivasi Ramayana by Krittivas Ojha.
Post-Chaitanya or Late Vaishnava literature denotes the literature of the time succeeding the time of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. These include: biographies of Chaitanya by Gaudiya 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 Thakura, Jayananda, Govindadasa, Jnandada, Balaram Dasa etc.
Mangal-Kāvy (Poems of Benediction), a group of Hindu narrative poetry, composed more or less between 13th Century and 18th Century, eulogize 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 Dharmathakur, who are considered the greatest among all the native divinities in Bengal, respectively. There are also minor Mangalkāvyas known as Shivāyana, Kālikā Mangal, Rāya Mangal, Shashtī Mangal, Sītalā Mangal and Kamalā Mangal etc.
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In the middle of 19th century, Bengali literature gained momentum. During this period, the Bengali Pandits of Fort William College did the tedious work of translating the text books in Bengali to help teach the British some Indian languages including Bengali. This work played a pivotal role as a background in the evolution of Bengali prose. In 1814, Ram Mohan Roy arrived in Calcutta and engaged in literary pursuits. Translating from Sanskrit to Bengali, writing essays on religious topics and publishing magazines were some the areas he focused on. He established a cultural group in the name of ‘Atmiya Sabha’ (Club of Kins) in 1815. Another significant contributor to Bengali literature in its early stage was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, whose erudite spread far and near.
In 1857, the famous Indian Rebellion (The Sepoy Mutiny) took place. With the wind of it, ‘Nil Bidroho’ (Indigo Revolt) scattered all over then Bengal region. This Nil Bidroha lasted for more than a year (In 1859-1860). The literary world was shaken with this revolt. In the light of this revolt, a great drama was published from Dhaka in the name of ‘Nil Darpan’ (The Indigo Mirror) written by Dinabandhu Mitra.
Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873) introduced Blank verse (Amitra-kshar Chhanda), Epic poetry and Sonnets in Bengali language. Dutt’s first epic Tilottama Sambhab Kabya (Birth of Tilottama) was published in 1860. This was the first Bengali poem written in blank verse. The story of Tilottama Sambhab Kabya is taken from Hindu Puranas. Michael’s greatest work Meghnad Badh Kabya (Slaying of Meghnad) was published in two parts in 1861. The story of Meghnad Badh Kabya was borrowed from Hindu epic the Ramayana and deals chiefly the final battle, death and funeral of Meghnad, son of Ravana during the Lanka War.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) is considered one of the leading Bengali novelist and essayist of the 19th century. His first novel Durgeshnandini, considered a benchmark in the history of Bengali literature, was published in 1865.
Bengali literature has also produced many other notable talents. For example, famous and popular Bengali poets include Ishwar Chandra Gupta, Biharilal Chakraborty and Kaykobad. Romesh Chandra Dutt and Mir Mosharraf Hossain are notable for there works of fiction. Girish Chandra Ghosh and Dwijendralal Ray were prominent playwrights of the time, whereas Akkhoy Kumar Boral and Ramendra Sundar Tribedi are famous for their influential essays.
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 advance and nurture of modern Bengali 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 satirically depicts “Babu” culture in 19th century Kolkata. Other notable works in this regard are “Alaler Ghorer Dulal” (The Spoilt Brat) by Peary Chand Mitra, Ramtanu Lahiri o Tatkalin Banga Shamaj (Ramtanu Lahiri & Contemporary Bengali Society) by Nyaymohan Tarkalankar, and Naba Babu Bilas and Naba Bibi Bilas by Bhabanicharan Bandopadhyay. These books arguably portrayed contemporary Bengali 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 Bengali society.
The most prolific writer in Bengali literature is unquestionably Rabindranath Thakur. Rabindranath dominated both the Bengali and Indian philosophical and literary scene for decades. His 2,000 Rabindra Sangeet play a pivotal part in defining Bengali culture, both in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Two of his popular songs were taken as the National anthems of India and Bangladesh. Other notable Bengali works of his are Gitanjali, a book of poems for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, and many short stories and a few novels. It is widely accepted that Bengali Literature accomplished its contemporary look by the writings and influence of Rabindranath.
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In the similar category is Kazi Nazrul Islam whose work transcends sectarian boundaries. Adored by Bengali people both in Bangladesh and West Bengal, his work includes 3,000 songs, known as both as Nazrul geeti and nazrul sangeet. He is frequently called the rebel poet mainly because of his most famous and electrifying poem Bidrohi or The Rebel, and also because of his strong sympathy and support for revolutionary activities leading to India’s independence from British Rule. His songs and poems were frequently used during the Bangladesh Liberation War to inspire the Freedom Fighters. Though he is acknowledged as the rebel poet, Nazrul very effectively contributed in all branches of literature. He wrote poems that light the fire against inequality or injustice and at the same time is known for his poignant romantic poems as well. He wrote a lot of Islami Ghazals and in the same time wrote quite a good number of Shyama Sangeet. Nazrul was not only a poet, he was writer, musician, journalist and philosopher. He was sent to jail for denouncing British Rule by his literary works. The mystic Baul of the Bengal countryside who preached the boundless spiritual truth of Sôhoj Pôth (the Simple, Natural Path) and Moner Mānush (A person of the heart) drew on Vedantic philosophy to propound transcendental truths in song format, traveling from village to village proclaiming that there was no such thing as Hindu, Muslim or Christian, only moner mānush, the divine spirit.
The literature discussed so far can be more or less regarded as the common heritage of Bengal (both Bangladesh and West Bengal). Since the partition of Bengal in 1947, the Eastern and Western parts of Bengal have also developed their own distinctive literatures. For example, the Naxalite movement has influenced much of West Bengal’s literature, whereas the Bangladesh Liberation War has had a similarly profound impact on Bangladesh literature.
Farrukh Ahmed, Ahsan Habib, Syed Ali Ahsan, Shamsur Rahman, Abu Zafar Obaidullah, Sufia Kamal are some of the leading poets of post-Tagore Bangladesh and our immediate predecessors in literature.
The people of Bengal never played the role of invaders. They never usurped treasures, wealth, women and happiness of other countries. This peace-loving country always became friends to all. This is the philosophy that present Bangladesh wants to offer to its Asian neighbours and to other nations of the world.
As poet Tagore wrote:
Hethaey Aryo, hethaey Onaryo, hethaey Dravid, Chin,
Shok, Hun dal Pathan, Mughal ek dehe holo leen . . . . .
Dibe ar nibe milabe milibe jabena firey.
(Here Aryans, Here non-Aryans, Here Dravid and Chinese, the Shok, the Hun, the Pathans and the Mughals, all transformed into one body. We offer something and take something, others will mix with us and we shall mix with others and shall not return).
Before I conclude, I want to say a few words about why I translate poems.
When in 1954, I was a eight-year old boy, when my father started subscribing two English newspapers at our home, ‘The Statesman’ of Kolkata (India) and ‘The Dawn’ of Karachi (Pakistan). We were then living at Calcutta (Kolkata), because my father, Fazlur Rahman, used to work at Pakistan Deputy High Commission in Calcutta in the visa section.
Abba used to return from office at three in the afternoon, take his bath and food, then lie down on his bed, and call me, ‘Choto (that’s me, I was the youngest, the choto, of the family), I don’t know English now, read these papers for me and translate, so that I can understand’. I used to read out the news, editorial, sub-editorials and other serious write-ups loudly and tried to translate those into Bangla for him. These went on for quite a good number of months.
Those were the first steps of my translation. Since then, whenever I would find a piece of article, written in English, I was in a habit to translate it into Bangla and go through it to dig out the inner meaning. Gradually, it became my hobby, and then my obsession and later my profession.
I passed more than thirty years in my job in translating medical and scientific papers and those were either published or were shown to the audience in power point presentations. Most of my colleagues were medical professionals and whenever they had to speak to the non-academic public to aware them of the problems of health and personal management, they used to come to me with their papers, obviously written in English to be converted into simple Bangla. These went on and on.
Though, at first I was easy in translating scientific papers, novels, and short stories, I was not happy with a few translations of poems that I did earlier. To me, those works were not worth mentioning, but later works started to become more and more engrossing with inner feelings and unseen meanings and also have the stance of poems.
One day, one of my literati friend came to me and asked me to translate fifty poems of fifty poets of Bangladesh. He wanted to publish a book of poems in six languages, including English. I was skeptical at first. Because I was not sure how my acumen in translating scientific subjects can be switched on to a subject, where emotions are at forte and theme is absolutely different.
When I started doing the work, I got mesmerized with the ideas, the words and the language that spoke of something else than it apparently meant, they convey other feelings, than is understood superficially. It was not an easy work. Well, I could convert the Bangla words into English easily, but it took some of my engrossing hours to select appropriate, meaningful and melodious word for each of its words.
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Bangla language is different from all other languages of the world. It has so many words in its vocabulary, which could never be converted into other languages. Such as, abhiman (it is different from conceit) or Joytsna (its not as simple as moonbeam or moonlight) or lojjya (it is not bashful or timidity), which I fail to convert into English. How could I? But somehow I managed to express the feelings and tried to impose the melody. That book was published and was accepted by the readers. And then, one by one, my poet-friends got interested, and I kept on converting the Bangla words into English and books of poems started to come out. Publishers also got interested. They too started to request me to give them more translated manuscripts.
I got the reward. I have now twelve books of translations on my credit. If I counted all the poems I translated in numbers, it surely would cross one thousand figure. I don’t know how, but I became fascinated in translating poems more than other subjects.
Bangla literature is rich – outstandingly rich. It dates back to the period, when literature of most of the countries of the world has not seen light. When Rabindranath Tagore got Nobel Prize on literature in 1913 (well, Gitanjali – Songs Offerings, was a translated work!), no other Asian, African or Latin American literature were known to world literary connoisseurs.
Since 17th century, Bangla literature is thriving happily. Since 1971, after Bangladesh became an independent country, a good number of works were translated and published each year, though its international exposure remained at its lowest level. Dailies, both Bangla and English of Bangladesh, give least importance to literature. They have two pages on sports each day, but only half a page on literature per week! Let aside a single periodical, weekly or monthly journal on literature are only a few. Whereas during fifties and sixties, there were dozens of journals of literature, which were very rich in content.
Our litterateurs DO NOT write in English or in any other European or Asian languages. A huge quantity of world literature were translated and published here in Bangladesh since 1940’s, whereas only a handful of books of Bangla novels, short stories or poems have been translated from Bangla to other languages. It’s a pity!