Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Birth Anniversary: Lesser-known facts about the man who composed 'Vande Mataram'

New Delhi, Jun 26: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee or Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, is an extremely popular Indian novelist, poet and journalist. Known as the 'Literary King of Bengal', Chatterjee inspired the country with his poems and novels.

His writings, including novels, essays, and commentaries, were a breakaway from traditional verse-oriented Indian writings, and provided an inspiration for authors across India.

He was the composer of Vande Mataram, originally in Sanskrit, personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring activists during the Indian Independence Movement. The iconic song will remain an eternal inspiration for every Indian.

Bankim was born on June 26, 1838. On his birth anniversary, here are some lesser-known facts about the composer of Vande Mataram.

Born in Naihati in West Bengal, belong to an orthodox Bengali Brahmin family. He is the youngest of three brothers, to Yadav Chandra Chattopadhayay and Durgadebi.

Born into the family of a government official under the British rule of India, he is known to be one of the first two graduates of the University of Calcutta.

Bankim served as the Deputy Collector of Jessore before taking up the post of Deputy Magistrate. He retired as a civil servant in 1891.

He was married at the early age of 11.

His earliest publications came out in the weekly newspaper Sangbad Prabhakar.

Bankim was the first person to hail Rabindranath Tagore as Viswakavi (Universal Poet).

Chattopadhayay wrote fourteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treatises in Bengali. He is known as Sahitya Samrat (Emperor of Literature) in Bengali.

His first fiction to appear in print was the English novel Rajmohan's Wife. It is known as the first Indian novel to be written in English by an Indian. Durgeshnandini, his first Bengali romance and the first ever novel in Bengali, was published in 1865.

He was the author of the 1882 Bengali language novel Anandamath, which is one of the landmarks of modern Bengali and Indian literature.

Chattopadhayay wrote fourteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treatises in Bengali. He is known as Sahitya Samrat (Emperor of Literature) in Bengali.