Bengali novels occupy a major part of Bengali literature. Despite the evidence of Bengali literary traditions dating back to the 7th century, the format of novel or prose writing did not fully emerge until the early nineteenth century. The development of Bengali novel was fueled by colonial encounter, booming print culture, growth of urban centers, and increased middle-class readershipChaudhuri, S. (2012). The Bengali novel. In V. Dalmia & R. Sadana (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Modern Indian Culture (Cambridge Companions to Culture, pp. 99–123). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CCOL9780521516259.008 Upanyas, the Bangla word for novel, is derived from the words upanay and upanyasta.
According to Ananda Sanker and Lila Ray, 'when the novel was introduced in Bengali in the middle of the 19th century, the form itself was new, the prose in which it was written was new, the secular tone was new in a country hitherto wholly dominated by religion, and the society in which and for which it was written was new' (p. 168). But some great novelists like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay developed the newly introduced genre in such a way that 'new' changed into 'matured' through their works. Almost all these literary activities went on in full swing in Kolkata, which was considered the cultural hub before the partition of Bengal. After 1947, novelists from East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh) gained the platform to focus on their unique identities and Dhaka emerged as a flourishing hub for Bengali novelists. Despite the Bengali common heritage and customs, the political partition was accompanied by partition of literary streams between East and West Bengal. In the twenty-first century, popular contemporary Bengali novels include those written by novelists from both Bengals. Examples include prominent and prolific authors like Humayun Ahmed from Bangladesh and Sunil Gangopadhyay from India.
Early Novels in Bengali The first Bangla novelists were Peary Chand Mitra (1814–1883) and Kali Prasanna Singha (1840–1870). Under the pen name of 'Tekchand Thakur, Peary Chand Mitra wrote the first Bengali novel Alaler Gharer Dulal (1858). His use of Cholitobhasa (colloquial form of the Bengali language) to narrate the story of Bengali society was unprecedented in the history of printed Bengali literature. Several other Bengali prose fiction published earlier are also considered as claimants of the first Bengali novels. These include: Nabababubilas (1825) by Bhabani Charan Bandyopadhyay and Karuna O Phulmonir Bibaran (1852) by Hana Catherine Mullens.The 1865 novel Durgeshnandini written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay is considered the first significant or worthwhile Bengali novel in the modern period of Bengali literature. The first Bengali Muslim novelist Mir Mosharraf Hossain (1847–1912) published his first novel Ratnabati in 1869 and the first Bengali woman novelist was Swarna Kumari Devi (1855–1932) was widely acclaimed for her novel Dipnirban (1870).
Many of the earliest published novels were written by Kolkata-based writers like Peary Chand Mitra and Kali Prasanna Singh, writers from then-East Bengal are also known to have written novels. Kangal Harinath(1833–1896), based in Kushtia District, now in Bangladesh, published three original novels Bijoy Basanta (1859), Chittachapala (1876) and 'Prem-Promila'. His 1859 novel Bijoy Basanta was so popular that a second edition was published in 1862.
Modern period of Bengali Literature (1890–1947) Although this period is often called "The Tagore Phase" because of the domination of Rabindranath Tagore in all genres of Bangla literature, the most popular novelist of this period was Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. He is best known for his novels, which often portrayed lives, struggles, and hopes of men and women in a relatable manner. His language was easy-to-read and left lasting impression on readers' minds. His work has been translated into many languages and has been adapted into films and television shows. His most popular novels include Badadidi (1913), Bindur Chhele (1914), Ramer Sumati (1914), Pandit Mashai (1914), Biraj Bau (1914), Charitrahin (1914), Chandranath (1916), Pallisamaj (1916), Devdas (1917), Datta (1918), Grhadaha (1920), Dena-Paona (1923), and Baikunther Will (1934).
Although Tagore was most notable as a poet, he wrote twelves novels where he explored the nuances of human relationships, psychological phenomena, and social issues. His most notables novels include: Bauthakuranir Hat (1883) and Rajarsi (1887) based on historical events, Chokher Bali, concerning taboo topic of illicit love, and Gora (1910) featuring a hero who is a European child brought up by a Hindu family.
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (1894–1950) was the most popular novelist to succeed Sharat Chandra. Through his work, he narrated the stories of struggle, poverty, hopes, and dreams of ordinary people of rural Bengal. His most famous novels include the trilogy consisting of Pather Panchali (1929), Apur Sangsar, and Aparajita. Among his other novels are Aranyak (1938), Debayan (1944), Drishtipradip (1935), Adarsha Hindu Hotel (1940), and Ichhamati (1949).
Other prominent novelists who shaped mainstream Bengali novels of this era include Jagadish Gupta and Kamal Kumar Majumdar,
Novelists from East Bengal during pre-partition era Before 1947, events like Partition of Bengal in 1905, Foundation of Muslim League in 1906 and Unification of Bengali in 1911 inspired the Muslim community of Dhaka to establish a new identity in the horizon of literature. Mohammad Najibar Rahman, Kazi Imdadul Huq, Kazi Abdul Wadud, Sheikh Idrish Ali, Akbaruddin, Abul Fazal, Humayun Kabir, etc. were among the novelists who tried to enrich the novels of the then East Pakistan, present Bangladesh.
Mohammad Najibar Rahman's Anowara was the first notable novel and it moved the whole Bengali Muslim community after publication. According to Rafiqullah Khan, 'The novel could not create any novelty from artistic point of view, but it carried great importance for its picturization of socio-economic and political culture and ideals of the uprising populace' (p. 25, Translation). The main themes of most of the novels in this era were Muslim society, beliefs, and orthodoxy. Examples of novels incorporating these themes are Najibar Rahman's Premer Somadhi (published in 1919) and Goriber Meye (1923), Sheikh Idris Ali's Premer Pothe (1926). In this time, for the first time the life of the Bengali farmers took an artistic delineation through Kazi Abdul Wadud's Nodibakshe (1919).
Then Kazi Imdadul Huq sprinkled a new wave. His famous novel Abdullah was published in periodicals in 1920 and it came into book form in 1933. According to Biswajit Ghosh, this novel was a 'bourgeois and humanitarian revolt against devotion to Peers, religious dogmas, purdah-system and disparity between Ashraf and Atraf'.Biswajit Ghosh page 134, translation Later, 'Kazi Abdul Wadud and Humayun Kabir extended this attitude'.Syed Akram Hussain:page 97 Another novelist, Abul Fazal, exposed human psychological analyses in his novel Chouchir (1927). He afterwards continued with his own style and wrote Prodip O Patongo (1940) and Shahoshika (1946). It is well accepted that this type of psychological approach was a first attempt in novels of Bangladesh, though not for the first time in Bengali novels.
Post-Partition/ Contemporary era (1947–Present) The independence of India and Pakistan from British rule bore more importance for the people of then Bengal. Since then the Bengali speaking community were divided into two parts – the East and the West Bengal. The practice and stream of literary practice also separated ways although both Bengals share common readership.
West Bengal stream Novels in post-partition West Bengal portrayed proliferation of socialist ideas. Two of the most notable novelists from this era are Manik Bandopadhyay and Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay. Tarashankar's goal was to write novels with a social purpose. Through his novels, he sketched the tension between socialism and capitalism. His popular novels Raikamal and Kavi, and Hasuli Banker Upakatha (1947) paints the pictures of lives of people with humble means.
Contemporary prominenet novelists from West Bengal include Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Samaresh Majumdar, Mahasweta Devi, and Ashapurna Devi.
Bangladesh stream (formerly East Bengal)
East Pakistan era The independence of India and Pakistan from British rule bore more importance for the people of then Bengal. Since then the Bengali speaking community were divided into two parts – the East and the West Bengal. It turns into the smashing of the millennium-old culture and unity of Bengali nation. Moreover, the existence of language became a great question just after the creation of Pakistan. The West-Pakistan ruling government tried to impose Urdu as the principal language on the Bengali people. But the whole society reacted strongly. This leaves a permanent impression on Bengali literature. In this tumultuous era, Syed Waliullah's Lalsalu (Tree without roots) (1948) was published. It was the foremost successful novel, both from art and reality points of view. Later Syed Waliullah translated it in English by the name Tree Without Roots. Mahbub-ul Alam wrote Mofijon, also published in 1948. A progressive novelist Humayun Kabir wrote an English novel, Rivers and Women, which was published in 1945. The Bengali form was published in 1952 by the name of Nodi O Nari.
In the first years of the Pakistan regime the authors mostly took village life as their theme, but they gradually diversified their interests. Newly born urban society began to establish itself as worthy to be literary contents. Along with them political developments also took place in fiction. Among the first novelists of Pakistan period, Abul Fazal, Akbar Hossain, Shaukat Osman, Abu Rushd, Kazi Afsaruddin, Daulatunnessa Khatun, Syed Waliullah, Sarder Jayenuddin, Abu Ishaque, and Shamsuddin Abul Kalam were the most prominent ones.
Then came a whole generation of extraordinary novelists. Chowdhury Shamsur Rahman, Satyen Sen, Abujafar Shamsuddin, Ahsan Habib, Nilima Ibrahim, Abdur Razzak, Khondkar Md. Eliash, Rashid Karim, Shahidulla Kaisar, Anwar Pasha, Abdar Rashid, Alauddin Al-Azad, Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, Zahir Raihan, Syed Shamsul Haq, Humayun Kadir, Shahid Akhand, Razia Khan, Shawkat Ali, Dilara Hashim, Indu Saha, and Ahmed Sofa were notable names.
In this time, diversity of contents of the novel was noticeable. Village life was the core theme of a huge number of novels. Sometimes it centered the superstitious village mind or the oppression by the influential groups on the common people, some other times depressed womanhood took this place. Love between men and women in pastoral context were also a subject of many novels. Lalshalu by Syed Waliullah, Kashboner Konna by Shamsuddin Abul Kalam, Surjo Dighol Bari by Abu Ishaque, Meghabaran Kesh by Ishaq Chakhari, Adiganta by Sardar Jayenunddin, Mohuar Desh by Tasadduk Hossain, Janani by Shaukat Osman, Jhar by Syed Sahadat Hossain, Karnafully by Alauddin Al-Azad, Sareng Bou and Sangsaptak by Shahidulla Kaisar, Aranya Mithun by Badruddin Ahmad, Modhumoti by Rabeya Khatun, Hazar Bachhar Dhore by Zahir Raihan, Bobakahini by Jasimuddin, Pannamoti by Sardar Jayenuddin etc. incorporated these themes.