Ishwar Chandra Gupta (; 6 March 1812 – 23 January 1859) 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. Gupta was born in

Kanchrapara Kanchrapara is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). History From earl ...

, in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

Early life

Ishwar Chandra Gupta was born in a

Baidya Baidya or Vaidya is a Bengali Hindu community located in the Bengal region of Indian subcontinent. A caste (''jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, the Baidyas have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the coloni ...

family. He was brought up in his uncle's house after the death of his mother. Gupta spent most of his childhood in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. At that time, poets were named ''Kobiwala'' and the ''kobiwalas'' were not so civilized in language. Sexual words and clashes were common. But Ishwar Chandra Gupta created a different style of poetry. He started the newspaper ''

Sambad Prabhakar ''Sambad Prabhakar'' (also ''Sangbad Prabhakar''; ) 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 was the first Bengali daily newspaper. '' ...

'' with Jogendra Mohan Tagore on January 28, 1831, which finally became a daily on June 4, 1839. Many Bengali writers of the 19th century started their careers with that magazine. He reintroduced into Bengali poetry the mediaeval style with double meaning (already seen in Sandhyakaranandi and Bharatchandra): ::''কে বলে ঈশ্বর গুপ্ত, ব্যপ্ত চরাচর,'' ::''যাহার প্রভায় প্রভা পায় প্রভাকর।'' ::''Ke bole Ishwar Gupta, byapta charachar,'' ::''Jahar prabhaye prabha paye Prabhakar.'' 'Ishwar' means God, 'Gupta' means hidden and 'Prabhakar' is the sun. So a translation runs: ::Who says God is hidden? He is omnipresent ::From Him the Sun gets its luminescence. Also, Ishwar (Chandra) Gupta ran the journal ''Prabhakar''. So a second meaning of the poem, making a tongue-in-cheek reference to the author, runs: ::Who says Ishwar (Gupta) is hidden? His reach touches the world ::For his brilliance makes the ''Prabhakar'' luminescent.

Literary style

He brought modern era of poetry in

. He did not describe the life of Gods and Goddesses, but the daily life of human beings. He also wrote biographies of many Bengali poets and musicians. Ishwarchandra Gupta often satirized the so-called modern class who blindly followed the colonial British power. ::Tumi ma kalpataru ::Amra shob posha goru ::Shikhi ni shing bankano ::Khai kebol khol-bichuli-ghash ::Jano ranga amla ::::Tule mamla ::::::Na bhange gamla ::Ma! ::Pele bhushi ::::Tatei kushi ::::::Ghushi khele bachbo na!

Political views

In his early days he was a conservative, opposing the Young Bengal movement as well as disapproving of widow remarriage. His views on widow remarriage put him at odds with

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), popularly known as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (), was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. His efforts to simplify and modernise Bengali language, Ben ...

. He was one of the earliest advocates of a Hindu view of Indian society. Later in his life, his views began to change and he championed the cause for the remarriage of virgin widows and women's education.

Important works

*Life of Bharat Chandra Roy *Probodh Pravakara *Kobitabolir Saar Sangraha

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Ishwar Chandra People from the Bengal Presidency Bengali-language poets 1812 births 1859 deaths Hindu poets People from North 24 Parganas district 19th-century Indian poets Poets from British India