Periods
The ancient era runs from 650 to 1200 CE and is represented by the Charyapada. The so-called dark age runs from 1201 to 1350 and has almost no literary records. The medieval era runs from 1201 to 1800 and includes Vaishnava padabali, Mangalkavya, translations and romantic poetry. The modern era begins in 1801.
Charyapada
The Charyapada is the oldest specimen of the Bengali language. It was discovered in 1907 by Haraprasad Shastri in the royal library of Nepal and was published in 1916 by the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad. It was composed by Buddhist Sahajiya mystics. The earliest poet is Luipa and the poet with the most verses is Kanhapa. Other poets include Bhusukupa, Kukkuripa and Shabarapa. There were fifty verses in total, with about forty-six and a half surviving, though scholars differ on the count.
Shrikrishnakirtan
Its author is Boru Chandidas and it is the first specimen of medieval Bengali literature. Basantaranjan Roy Bidwadballabh found it in 1909 in Kankilya village in Bankura, and it was published in 1916. Its theme is the love of Radha and Krishna.
Translation Literature
Krittibas Ojha translated the Ramayana, Kashiram Das translated the Mahabharata and Maladhar Basu translated the Bhagavata as Shrikrishnabijoy.
Mangalkavya
Monosamongol is associated with Bijoygupta, Narayan Deb and Bipradas Pipilai. Chandimongol is associated with Mukundaram Chakraborty, known as Kabikankan. Dharmamongol is associated with Rupram and Ghanaram Chakraborty. Annadamongol was written by Bharatchandra Roygunakar.
Other Traditions
The Vaishnava padabali poets are Bidyapati, Chandidas, Gyandas and Govindadas. The biographies of Chaitanya are Chaitanyabhagabat by Brindaban Das and Chaitanyacharitamrita by Krishnadas Kabiraj. Ramprasad Sen wrote Shakta songs. Shah Muhammad Sagir wrote Yusuf-Zulekha and is counted as the first Muslim poet. Daulat Kazi and Syed Alaol were court poets of Arakan; Alaol wrote Padmabati. The Mymensingh Ballads were collected by Chandrakumar De and edited by Dineshchandra Sen in 1923.
Shortcut
Krittibas is the Ramayana, Kashiram is the Mahabharata and Maladhar is the Bhagavata. For discoveries, the Charyapada was found in 1907 and the Shrikrishnakirtan in 1909.
Worked Examples
Example 1: Who discovered the Charyapada and when?
Solution: Haraprasad Shastri discovered it in 1907 in Nepal.
Example 2: Name the four Mangalkavya branches with one poet each.
Solution: Monosamongol (Bijoygupta), Chandimongol (Mukundaram), Dharmamongol (Ghanaram) and Annadamongol (Bharatchandra).
Quick Check
Question 1: Who is the first poet of the Charyapada?
Answer: Luipa.
Question 2: Who wrote Shrikrishnakirtan?
Answer: Boru Chandidas.
Question 3: Who translated the Mahabharata into Bengali?
Answer: Kashiram Das.