Dinabandhu Mitra

Dinabandhu Mitra Biography

Dinabandhu Mitra was a famous Bengali dramatist. His real name is Gandharva Narayan, but he changed his name to Dinabandhu Mitra. Mitra was awarded the title of 'Rai Bahadur' by the then British government for his services rendered at the Battle of Lushai. The college Dinabandhu Mahavidyalay established in 1947 is named after him. Dinabandhu is primarily known for his play about the plight of indigo farmers Nil Darpan. His notable play Nildarpan was staged for the first time in the year 1860. Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay compared Nildarpan to Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Mitra was born in 1829 in Bengal. He completed his school education in a local village school. His father arranged a job for him on a zamindar's estate. But he fled to his uncle’s home in Kolkata where he joined a school. His uncle Nilmani Mitra was an Indian civil engineer and architect who has built many mansions of Kolkata during 19^th century. As Dinabandhu was a bright student, he earned many scholarships and continued his studies. In 1850, he enrolled at Hindu College, but didn’t write last year exams when he got a job as a postmaster at Patna in 1855. In 1870, he became supernumerary post- master in Kolkata and two years later he joined the Indian Railway as an inspector.

Dinabandhu’s literal career began during his college days. He was deeply influenced by poet Ishwar Chandra Gupta. Suradhuni Kavya (1871 and 1876) and Dvadash Kavita (1872) are his noted poetry collections while Nildarpan (1860), Nabin Tapasvini (1863), Biye Pagla Budo (1866), Sadhabar Ekadashi (1866), Lilavati (1867), Jamai Barik (1873) and Kamale Kamini (1873) are his noted plays. "Jamalay-e Jiyonto Manush" – a basic story line was another contribution of Dinabandhu. His plays primarily focused on human life than mythological figures.

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Updated: March 05, 2014