Khagendranath Mitra (1896–1978) was an Indian writer known for his

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

children's literature.

Early life

Mitra was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

(now Kolkata). He hailed from the Mitra family of Nilmani Mitra Street ,

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 ...

(

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

). His father Shailendranath Mitra was a ''Mukhtar'' of

Tagore family The Tagore family ( ) has been one of the leading families of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, and is regarded as one of the key influencers during the Bengali Renaissance. The family has produced several people who have contributed substantially ...

estate in

Shilaidaha Shilaidaha () is a village in Shilaidaha Union, Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia District in Bangladesh. The place is famous for Shilaidaha Kuthibari; a country house built by Dwarkanath Tagore. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore lived a part ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(now in Bangladesh). In school life at

Kushtia District Kushtia District (; ) is a district in the Khulna Division, Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh largest city in the country. Kushtia has existed as a sepa ...

he became attracted with revolutionary politics and attached with

Bagha Jatin Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist. He was one of the principal leaders of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolu ...

. Mitra also joined in

Non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

in his youth and became imprisoned before the independence.

Overview

He was the first Indian children's writer whose books were translated into foreign languages. The

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

translation of '' Bhombol Sardar'' was of immense popularity. '' Bhombol Sardar'' was one of the Rapid Text in Russian junior classes. Mitra, besides writing more than 100 books, was an editor as well. ''Kishor'' ��িশোর(The Preteens), the first child periodical in

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was the brain child of his, though it was not published for a year. ''Notun Manush'' ��তুন মানুষ(New Man), ''Chhotoder Mohol'' ��োটদের মহল(The Gallery for Children), ''Banshory'' ��াঁশরী(The Flute), ''Sonar Kathi'' ��োনার কাঠি(The Golden Stick), ''Shishusathi'' ��িশুসাথী(The Children's Friend; Annual) were among the periodicals he edited.

List of works

Stories

*''Moutuski'' ��ৌটুসকি*''Sei Chhokrata'' ��েই ছোকরাটা(That Lad) *''Kopaler Lekha'' ��পালের লেখা(The Fate) *''Swapne Paoya Golpo'' ��্বপ্নে পাওয়া গল্প(The Story Obtained in a Dream) *''Kortababur Petni Dekha'' ��র্তাবাবুর পেত্নী দেখা(The Female-Ghost Kortababu Saw) *''Mintur Chhobi'' ��িন্টুর ছবি(Mintu's Picture) *''GoneshChandrer Ashubho Jatra'' ��ণেশচন্দ্রের অশুভ যাত্রা(The Unholy Journey of GaneshChandra) *''Parghater Alapeer Pallay'' ��ারঘাটের আলাপীর পাল্লায়(The Gossiping Man of Parghat) *''Chorer-o Adhom'' ��োরেরও অধম(Even Inferior Than a Thief) *''Badanpur Bungalowr Sei Rat'' ��দনপুর বাংলোর সেই রাত(That Night At Badanpur Bungalow)

Novels

*''Bagdi Dakat'' ��াগদী ডাকাত(The Bagdi Bandits) *''Africar Jongole'' ��ফ্রিকার জঙ্গলে(In the Forests of Africa. Inspired by R.M Ballantyne's novel The Gorilla Hunters) *''Sundarbaner Pothe'' ��ুন্দরবনের পথে(On the Way to Sundarban) *''Black Arrow'' ��্ল্যাক অ্যারো*'' Bhombol Sardar'' ��োম্বোল সর্দার(Bhombol the Leader),in 4 volumes- This is a fascinating account of life of a preteen village boy, Bhombol. Perhaps, this is a nostalgic memory of his own childhood. *''Pujoneeyo Dosyu'' ��ূজনীয় দস্যু(Adorable Dacoit)- ''Prohelika Series'' ��্রহেলিকা সিরিজof Deb Sahitya Kutir *''Dakait Omnibus'' - Stories of Bishe Dakait ( Biswanath Sardar) and other decoits of rural

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 ...

Adaptation

''Bhombol Sardar'' was turned into a verbal drama conducted by

Akashbani All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, the governmental radio network in

. It was also adapted to 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 ...

movie.

Awards

Khagendranath Mitra received many awards such as ''Bhubaneshwasi Padak'' (Medal) and ''Mouchak Sahitya Purashkar'' from

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

for his works. He also awarded Girish Silver Medal. In 1975 his name was nominated for National award in literature but since the authority showed dishoner to the child literutre, he refused to receive it.

References

.https://www.bengaliportal.com/khagendranath-mitra-biography/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Khagendranath Bengali writers Indian children's writers Writers from Kolkata 1896 births 1978 deaths Place of death missing 20th-century Indian novelists Novelists from West Bengal