Today is the 151st anniversary of death of the legendary Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt.
Born on January 25 in 1824 to Raj Narayan Dutt and Janhabi Devi at Sagardari village in Jashore, Madhusudan Dutt, also known as 鈥楳ahakabi鈥� for his tragic epic 鈥楳eghnadbadh Kabya鈥�, earned fame for his extraordinary literary works.
Although Madhusudan initially wrote poems in English, he eventually switched to Bangla and is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bangla literature and introducer of Bangla sonnet. He also pioneered what came to be called blank verse in Bangla poetry.
鈥楰apataksha Nad鈥� is one of his extraordinary creations in which he showed his profound love towards his country.
Apart from being an outstanding poet, Madhusudan Dutt demonstrated prodigious skill as a playwright as he was the first to write successful Bangla play.
He also pioneered writing farces in Bangla, including 鈥楤uro Shaliker Ghare Roan鈥� and 鈥楨kei Ki Bole Sabhyata鈥�.
His literary works include 鈥楶admabati鈥�, 鈥楥haturdashpadi Kabita鈥�, 鈥楾ilattamasambhab Kabya鈥�, 鈥楤irangana Kabya鈥�, 鈥楾he Captive Lady鈥�, 鈥楻izia, the Sultana of Inde鈥� and 鈥楻osalo Swarnalatika鈥�.
Madhusudan Dutt passed away on June 29, 1873.
