Bankim Chandra Chatterjee: Novelist & Vande Mataram Composer

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee — also spelt Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) — was a Bengali novelist, essayist, and administrator whose work shaped both the modern Bengali novel and the ideological vocabulary of Indian nationalism. He is remembered above all as the composer of “Vande Mataram“ — the song that became the rallying cry of the Indian freedom movement and, in its first two stanzas, India’s National Song.

Bankim wrote fourteen novels in Bengali plus one in English, a large body of essays on philosophy and religion, and founded one of the most influential periodicals of 19th-century India — Bangadarshan. His career sits at the centre of the Bengal Renaissance and marks the transition from medieval Bengali literary forms to the modern novel.

Early Life and Education

• Born: 27 June 1838 at Kanthalpara, near Naihati, in the 24 Parganas district of Bengal
• Family: upper-caste Brahmin household; father Yadav Chandra Chattopadhyay was a Deputy Collector under the British
• Schooling: Hooghly Mohsin College, Hooghly
• College: Presidency College, Calcutta (then Hindu College)
• University: enrolled at the newly established University of Calcutta and in 1858 became one of its first two graduates (the other being Jadunath Bose)
• Later earned a Bachelor of Laws (BL) from the University of Calcutta in 1869

Administrative Career

• In 1858, appointed Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector — becoming one of the first Indians to hold this rank in the colonial civil service
• Served at several postings across Bengal — Jessore, Khulna, Midnapore, Murshidabad, and Hooghly — over nearly three decades
• Retired in 1891
• Conferred the title Rai Bahadur in 1891 and Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1894

His administrative career meant he wrote his novels in spare hours — and the tensions of writing nationalist literature while serving the colonial state shape much of his fiction.

Literary Career

Bangadarshan — 1872

In 1872, Bankim founded Bangadarshan (The Mirror of Bengal) — a monthly Bengali literary journal. Under his editorship, Bangadarshan:

• Serialised his own major novels
• Published essays on history, religion, and politics
• Featured contributions from the next generation of writers — including Rabindranath Tagore in his youth
• Became the defining literary magazine of late-19th-century Bengal

The Novels

Bankim's fiction is marked by:

• Historical romance as a dominant genre
• Strong female protagonists — Kapalkundala, Devi Chaudhurani, Shanti (in Anandamath)
• Critique of contemporary Bengali society — widow remarriage, caste, Westernisation
• Cultural revivalism — a turn to an imagined Hindu past as moral resource

He is widely regarded as the father of the modern Bengali novel.

Vande Mataram

The Song

"Vande Mataram" — meaning "I bow to thee, Mother" — personifies the motherland as a divine mother.

• First published: 1875 in Bangadarshan magazine, as a standalone poem
• Incorporated into: Anandamath (1882), where it is sung by the Sannyasi revolutionaries
• Composed in a hybrid of Sanskrit and Bengali
• First two stanzas describe the natural bounty of the land; later stanzas invoke the Mother as Durga and Kali

Political Adoption

• Adopted as a rallying song during the Partition of Bengal agitation (1905)
• Sung at the Varanasi session of the Indian National Congress (1905) by Rabindranath Tagore — who composed its most famous musical setting
• Became the anthem of the Swadeshi Movement (1905–08)
• Used by revolutionaries including Aurobindo Ghose, Bipin Chandra Pal, and later Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose

Post-Independence Status

• On 24 January 1950, the Constituent Assembly, on the motion of Dr Rajendra Prasad, resolved that:
• "Jana Gana Mana" would be the National Anthem
• "Vande Mataram" — specifically the first two stanzas — would be the National Song, with "equal honour" to the anthem
• The decision to limit the National Song to the first two stanzas was a compromise — later stanzas, which invoke Durga and Kali, had raised objections during the freedom movement and Constituent Assembly debates

Major Non-Fiction — Philosophy and Religion

Later in life, Bankim turned to philosophical and religious writing. Major works include:

• Krishna Charitra (1886) — a rational, historical reinterpretation of Krishna, stripping the narrative of purely mythological elements and presenting Krishna as an ideal ethical and political actor
• Dharmatattva (1888) — a dialogue on the philosophy of religion
• Kamalakanter Daptar (1875) — satirical essays in the voice of an eccentric narrator
• Lok Rahasya (1874) — social satire
• Vividh Prabandha — collected essays

Bankim and the Bengal Renaissance

The Bengal Renaissance (c. 1800–1920) was the intellectual and cultural awakening of Bengal under colonial modernity. Bankim's contribution was distinct:

• Earlier Renaissance figures — Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar — focused on social reform, Western education, and rationalist religion
• Bankim moved the Renaissance toward a cultural nationalism rooted in Indian (particularly Hindu) religious and literary traditions
• He mediated between two intellectual currents — European rationalism and a reclaimed Hindu tradition — producing what has been called a "reformed Hindu revivalism"

This ideological tilt, while culturally productive, also carried problematic elements — later invoked in communal politics. Historians distinguish between Bankim's cultural nationalism in the 19th century and the communal political uses of his imagery in the 20th.

Influence on Indian Nationalism

• Aurobindo Ghose called Bankim the "prophet of Indian nationalism" and wrote influential commentaries on Anandamath
• Rabindranath Tagore — though critical of some of Bankim's ideological positions — set Vande Mataram to music and acknowledged his literary debt
• Bhagat Singh recited Vande Mataram at Lahore Conspiracy Case hearings
• The Indian National Army (INA) used Vande Mataram as one of its ceremonial songs

Death

Died: 8 April 1894 at Calcutta, aged 55.

Bankim Chandra at a Glance

UPSC Relevance

GS1 (Art & Culture, Modern India): Bengal Renaissance; evolution of Indian literature; cultural nationalism; National Song.

Key Prelims facts:

• Born 27 June 1838 at Kanthalpara, Naihati; died 8 April 1894
• Among the first two graduates of the University of Calcutta (1858)
• Among the first Indians appointed Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector
• Founded Bangadarshan magazine in 1872
• First major Bengali novel: Durgeshnandini (1865)
• Only English novel: Rajmohan's Wife (1864)
• "Vande Mataram" — first published 1875 in Bangadarshan; incorporated into Anandamath (1882)
• Constituent Assembly adopted Vande Mataram (first two stanzas) as the National Song on 24 January 1950, alongside Jana Gana Mana as National Anthem
• Major philosophical works: Krishna Charitra (1886), Dharmatattva (1888)

Mains pointers: Bankim's career is a case study in the cultural politics of colonial modernity — the making of modern literary Bengali, the invention of national imagery, and the origin of symbols (Bharat Mata, Vande Mataram) that continue to shape Indian political life. His work bridges the Bengal Renaissance and the early nationalist movement.

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