Rajanikanta Sen, also known as Kantakobi, (26 July 1865 – 13 September 1910) 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 composer, known for his devotional (
bhakti
''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...
) compositions, as well as his patriotic songs.
Early life, education and profession
File:Sri Guruprasad Sen, Poet Rajanikanta Sen's father.jpg, Sri Guruprasad Sen, father of Rajanikanta Sen
File:Rajanikanta Sen's mother.jpg, Monomohini Debi, mother of Rajanikanta Sen
File:Poet Rajanikanta Sen.jpg, Poet Rajanikanta Sen
File:Hiranmoyee Debi.jpg, Hiranmoyee Debi, wife of Rajanikanta Sen
File:Shantilata Roy.jpg, Shantilata Roy, daughter of Rajanikanta Sen
File:House of poet Rajanikanta Sen.jpg, House of poet Rajanikanta Sen, 1909, Rajshahi
Rajanikanta was born in a
Vaidya
Vaidya (Sanskrit: ), or vaid is a Sanskrit word meaning "doctor, physician". Today it is used to refer to traditional practitioners of Ayurveda, an indigenous Indian system of alternative medicine. Senior practitioners or teachers were called ''Va ...
family in the village of
Bhangabari, Sirajganj of
Pabna
Pabna () is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about .
Etymology
* According to the historian Radharaman Saha ...
district, presently situated at Bangladesh.
He was the third child of Guruprasad Sen and Manomohini Debi. Rajanikanta's sister Ambuja Sundari Dasgupta was a renowned poet too.
Originally, his ancestors hailed from Sahadevpur village under Tangail Subdivision of Mymensingh District on right side of Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.
When Rajanikanta's great grand father Jogiram died, his pregnant wife Karunamoyee came to his Brother's residence at Bhangabari village and gave birth to Golaknath, grand father of Rajanikanta. Though Golaknath was deprived of higher education due to financial constraints, he imparted best of education to his two sons, Govindanath and Guruprasad. Govindanath practiced law in the court of
Rajshahi
Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...
in Bangladesh. Guruprasad, father of Rajanikanta, passed
LLB
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
from
Dacca university
The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country.
The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...
and became a sub-judge. He served as sub-judge in many parts of Bengal, such as Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bhagalpur, Munger, Kalna, and Katwa, and finally came to Krishnanagar and retired.Guruprasad was posted in
Katwa
Katwa is a sub-divisional town and railway junction in Purba Bardhaman district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Katwa subdivision. The town was built at the confluence of Ganga and Ajay. Katwa is a border cit ...
when Rajanikanta was born.
Rajanikanta started his schooling at Boalia Zilla School (now
Rajshahi Collegiate School
Rajshahi Collegiate School (), a public school for boys located in Boalia Thana in the center of Rajshahi, which is a metropolitan city in northern Bangladesh, is the oldest school in the country.
History
Rajshahi Collegiate School is the olde ...
). He learned Sanskrit from Rajnath Tarkaratna, a neighbour in his village Bhangakuthi during school vacations. He got Gopal Chandra Lahiri as his academic mentor. In 1882 he passed
Entrance Examination
In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typica ...
from
Coochbihar Jenkins School
Cooch Behar (), also known as Koch Bihar, is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal and it stands on bank of the Torsa river. The city is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. During the British Raj, Cooch Behar was the seat of the ...
.
Other claims such as he was from Koochbihar
are of no substance. Then he came to Calcutta and passed
FA in 1885 with second division. He completed
BA degree in 1889 and
BL degree in 1891 from
Kolkata City College.
[ He too then started practicing law in ]Rajshahi
Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...
[ where Govindanath was practicing. Rajanikanta earned reputation quickly. However, his passion lay in cultural activities like music, literature, acting in plays etc. In this endeavor he received support from his friends such as historian ]Akshay Kumar Maitreya
Akshay Kumar Maitreya (1 March 1861 – 10 February 1930) was an Indian lawyer, historian and social worker.
Life
Maitreya was born in Shimulia in Nawapara of Mirpur Kushtia District to a family originally from Naogaon district.Much of his educ ...
,[ and also from his wife.][ He worked as a ]Munsif
Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empires. ...
for some days in Natore
Natore is a city ("town" in some sources) in western Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of the Natore District. Its current administrator is Asha Khatun. The Narod river is passing through the center of the city with pollution from upstream industr ...
and Naogaon.
Orientation towards Music
Rajanikanta's father Guruprasad was inclined to poetry and music, and was a composer of Vaishnab and Shiva-Durga songs (''Padabali''). Guruprasad collected age old ''Vaishnava'' lyrics in ''Brajabuli'' dialect from Katwa-Kalna area and compiled them into a book titled ''Padachintamanimala''.[ His mother Manomohini Devi had interest in Bengali literature. She used to discuss it with young Rajanikanta. All these influenced his future compositions a lot. Sen got interested in music from Tarakeshwar Chakrabarty, his friend in Bhangabari. He was fluent in writing poems in Bengali and ]Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
from childhood. He started composing music for his poems and singing those along with playing musical instruments later. Rajanikanta's poems were published in various local magazines such as Utsaha, Ashalata etc. He used to compose songs for inaugural and closing ceremonies for various assemblies in his college days even in very short notice.
One such song is stated below, which Rajanikanta composed within a very short period of one hour for such an assembly in Rajshahi library:
Personal life
After the voluntary retirement of his father the family of Rajanikanta became financially dependent on Guruprasad's elder brother's sons Barada Gobinda and Kali Kumar. Both of them died suddenly in quick succession in 1878. Rajani's younger brother Janakikanta had also just died of hydrophobia. Suddenly the prosperous family plunged into a financial crisis. Rajanikanta had to study and practice law to support the family. However, he expressed his dislikes towards the profession in a letter written to Sri Sarat Kumar Ray. He married Hiranmayee Devi in 1883, who used to discuss with and encouraged Rajanikanta regarding his poetry and sometimes suggested themes for the poems. They had four sons – Shachindra, Gnanendra, Bhupendra, Kshitindra; and two daughters - Shatadalbasini and Shantibala. Bhupendra died at a young age. Rajani's firm belief in God is reflected in the following song composed on the next day:
Contribution to Bengali music and literature
Rajanikanta's songs may be classified into four categories:
Devotional (ভক্তি মূলক), Patriotic (দেশাত্মবোধক), Humanitarian (মানবধর্মী) and Satire (হাস্যরসাত্মক).[
There was an assembly in Calcutta town hall on 7 August 1905 for protesting against Partition of Bengal. The boycott of British goods and using ]Swadeshi
The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...
(Indian) items were decided by eminent Bengali leaders. Indian common men started using clothes manufactured in India. However, those were not so fine as compared to British ones. This made some of the Indians unhappy. In this context Rajanikanta wrote his famous song:
The song became popular across entire Bengal and so was Sen. The song was a major source of inspiration for the participants of the contemporary Swadeshi
The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...
movement as well as for the Indian freedom fighters in the years to come. He wrote another popular song with similar intention:
Three books written by Rajanikanta were published in his life time; they were Bani (বাণী) (1902), Kalyani (কল্যাণী) (1905) and Amrita (অমৃত) (1910). Durgadas Lahiri in his encyclopedia of Bengali songs (বাঙালির গান), published in 1905, mentioned about Rajanikanta Sen:
After his demise five compilations of his creations were published, they were Avoya (অভয়া) (1910), Anandamayi (আনন্দময়ী) (1910), Bishram (বিশ্রাম) (1910), Sadbhabkusum (সদ্ভাবকুসুম) (1913) and Shesdan ( শেষদান) (1916). Vani and Kalyani are collections of his songs.[ Amrita contains short poems to inculcate the right values in children. ]Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
's Kanika influenced him to compose these poems. He started composing satirical songs being influenced by poet Dwijendralal Ray
Dwijendralal Ray (19 July 1863 – 17 May 1913), also known as D. L. Ray, was a Bengali poet, playwright, and musician. He was known for his Hindu mythological and nationalist historical plays and songs known as '' Dwijendrageeti'' or the ''Songs ...
,[ who was befreiended with him during Ray's visit to Rajshahi.
Sen's major contribution towards Bengali literature and music was the immortal devotional songs which were written and composed by him. His songs were set to ]Hindustani classical
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' literally means classica ...
style, mixing Kirtan
Sikh ''kirta''n with Indian harmoniums and '' Kenya.html" ;"title="tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya">tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya (1960s)
''Kirtana'' (; ), also rendered as ''Kiirtan'', ''Kirt ...
, Baul
The Baul () are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism and Vaishnavism from different parts of Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls constitute bot ...
and Tappa
Tappa is a form of Indian semi-classical vocal music. Its specialty is a rolling pace based on fast, subtle and knotty construction. Its tunes are melodious and sweet, and depict the emotional outbursts of a lover. Tappe (plural) were sung mostly ...
. He became well known as Kantakabi[ and his songs are often called Kantageeti.
]
Rajanikanta's's songs in Bengali films
Contribution to Indian freedom movement
*Indian National Movement, the Swadeshi movement in particular, greatly influenced contemporary literature. Eminent poets including Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Roy, Debabrata Basu, Satyendranath Dutta, Atul Prasad Sen and Rajanikanta's contribution came through their patriotic poems and songs, and widely acknowledged with reverence.
*Rajanikanta was very close to Jaladhar Sen. One of such many incidences was cited by Jaladhar Sen himself: The song was "মায়ের দেওয়া মোটা কাপড় মাথায় তুলে নে রে ভাই" (Mayer deoa mota kapor mathay tule ne re bhai).
Last days
File:Last photograph of Rajanikanta Sen.jpg, Rajanikanta Sen, on 30 August 1910 at Cottage No 12, Medical College
File:Poet Rajanikanta Sen at Hospital.jpg, Rajanikanta Sen in Medical College
In 1909, Rajanikanta started suffering from throat problems. On 10 September, he was forced to move to Calcutta along with some family members. A British doctor examined him and diagnosed it as Larynx cancer. He consulted various doctors in Calcutta but his condition did not improve. As a last resort, he spent a couple of months in Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
with the hope of divine intervention. He had to sell off copyrights of his published books Vani and Kalyani to arrange for the trip. He had to return to Calcutta as his condition had worsened much. He underwent Tracheotomy operation by Captain Denham White on 10 February 1910 in Calcutta Medical College
Medical College, Kolkata, also known as Calcutta Medical College, is a Government medical college and hospital located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is one of the oldest existing hospitals in Asia. The institute was established on 28 Janua ...
. He survived the operation but lost his voice forever. He spent the remaining days of his life in the cottage ward of the hospital (Cottage no. 12). It is noteworthy to mention that Hemendranath Bakshi and Bijitendra Nath Basu, students of 4th year, took personal initiative to attend and impart all medical assistance to the poet till his last breath. Dr. Mathura Mohan Bhattacharya, and Dr. Girish Chandra Maitra was in charge of his treatment. Rajanikanta used to write in his diary quite regularly during his stay in the hospital. He also started writing an autobiography which was written only up to the first chapter. Some poetry lovers and some of the students of the Calcutta Medical College tended after him, Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandi and Sharat Kumar Ray, son of Pramathanath Ray, Zamindar of Dighapatiya, Natore, helped him financially. On 11 June 1910 Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
visited the hospital to meet Sen. Sen's son Kshitindranath and daughter Shantibala sung a song composed by him and he accompanied by playing harmonium. This is reflected in the following song composed on the day Rabindranath met him:
As gratitude towards Tagore's for visit in the hospital, Rajanikanta wrote a letter and another poem, "এই মুক্ত প্রাণের দৃপ্ত বাসনা তৃপ্ত করিবে কে ", and sent to Bolpur. Tagore wrote a letter to him on 30 July. In this, he appreciated Sen for his literary talent. During this period, he also composed a few Agamani-Vijaya songs. He died on 13 September 1910 in Kolkata.[
]
Legacy
*Many singers from Bengal, India and Bangladesh have recorded his songs through ages. They include Indubala Devi, K. L. Saigal
Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who worked in Hindi cinema, which was centred in Calcutta (Kolkata) during his time, but is currently based in Bombay (Mumba ...
, Juthika Roy, Pannalal Bhattacharya, Dilipkumar Roy, Chhabi Bandyopadhyay, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, Sandhya Mukhopadhyay
Geetashree Sandhya Mukherjee (also spelled Mukhopadhyay; 4 October 1931 – 15 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and musician, specialising in Bengali music. She received Banga Bibhushan, the highest civilian honour of the Indian st ...
, Krishna Chattopadhyay, Neela Majumdar, Dilip Kumar Roy (grandson of Rajanikanta Sen), Anup Ghoshal
Anup Ghoshal (1944/1945 – 15 December 2023) was an Indian playback singer and composer in Hindi and other vernacular Indian films, especially Bengali-language. He was known in his native Bengal primarily as one of the foremost artists of the ...
, Nishith Sadhu, Nupurchanda Ghosh, Arghya Sen, Aarti Mukherji
Aarti Mukherjee, also known as Aarti Mukherji or Arati Mukhopadhyay (born 18 July 1943), is an Indian playback singer who has sung in Hindi films such as '' Geet Gata Chal'' (1975), ''Tapasya'' (1976), ''Manokamana'', '' Masoom'' (1983), and ' ...
, Manna Dey
Prabodh Chandra Dey (; 1 May 1919 − 24 October 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar gharana, Bhendibazaar Gh ...
, Manabendra Mukhopadhyay
Manabendra Mukhopadhyay was an Indian singer and music composer in Bengali films. Coming to limelight in the early 1950s Manabendra was an innovative and stylish singer who had a strong foundation in Indian classical music. With his distincti ...
, Iffat Ara Dewan, Utpala Sen and many others.
*A statute of Rajanikanta Sen has been placed in Hedua Park, Kolkata.
*A public library, "Kabi Rajanikanta Smriti Songsod O Pathagar", is proposed to be constructed in the Bhangabari Village, Benkuchi, Sirajgaunj, Bangladesh, commemorating birthplace of Rajanikanta Sen.
Bibliography
*Sahitya Sangsad. ''Rajanikanta Kabyo Guchho''.
*Manoranjan Sen (1972). ''Kanto Geeti Malya'', Calcutta.
*Riddhi Bandopadhyay (2016). ''Rajanikanta'', Patra Bharati.
*Rajanikanta Sen (1905). ''Kalyani'' (কল্যাণী)
*Rajanikanta Sen (1902). ''Bani'' (বাণী)
*Pandit, Nalini Ranjan (1921). Kanta Kabi Rajanikanta,Bengal Book Company, Calcutta
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Rajanikanta
1865 births
1910 deaths
People from Pabna District
Indian male composers
Bengali-language lyricists
Indian lyricists
Indian songwriters
19th-century Indian male classical singers
City College, Kolkata alumni
University of Calcutta alumni
19th-century Indian composers
Bengali singers
Writers from Kolkata
Musicians from West Bengal
19th-century Bengali poets
Bengali male poets
Indian musicians
Indian male musicians
19th-century Indian musicians
Indian male writers
Indian male poets
19th-century Indian male writers
19th-century Indian poets
19th-century Indian writers
Indian male singers
19th-century Indian singers
People from Sirajganj District
Rajshahi College alumni
Indian satirists
Indian comedy musicians
Satirical musicians