| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | First major Indo-Anglian poet Born: Calcutta, Anglo-Indian (Portuguese-Indian father, English mother) Teacher: Hindu College, Calcutta (age 17) Young Bengal Movement: Leader, rationalist, reformer Death: Age 22, cholera Dismissed: From Hindu College for radical views |
| Poetry | Poems (1827): Published age 18 "To India—My Native Land": Famous patriotic poem "The Harp of India": Lament for lost glory Romantic style, influenced by Byron, Shelley ~500 poems in short life Themes: Patriotism, freedom, past glory of India |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | Born: Bengal, Hindu family Converted: To Christianity Went to: England, France (studied law) Returned: To Bengali language later in life Pioneer of blank verse in Bengali poetry |
| English Works | The Captive Ladie (1849): Long narrative poem Visions of the Past (1849) Early plays in English Later switched to Bengali (Meghnad Badh Kavya - Bengali epic) |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | Born: Calcutta, Bengali Christian family Educated: England, France Death: Age 21, tuberculosis Languages: English, French, Sanskrit, Bengali |
| Poetry | A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields (1876): Translations from French poets Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (1882): Published posthumously "Our Casuarina Tree": Famous poem, childhood home "Sita": Based on Ramayana "Lakshman": From Ramayana Themes: Indian mythology, nature, nostalgia |
| Novel | Bianca, or The Young Spanish Maiden (1878): Posthumous, incomplete |
| Reputation | Edmund Gosse praised her work First Indian woman poet in English to gain recognition |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Nobel Prize | 1913: First non-European to win Literature Nobel For: Gitanjali (Song Offerings) Citation: "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse" |
| Gitanjali (1910/1912) | Originally: Bengali (1910), 157 poems English version (1912): Tagore's own translations, 103 prose poems Introduction: W.B. Yeats wrote preface Published: India Society, London Themes: Devotion, spirituality, divine love, nature Opening: "Thou hast made me endless..." Famous poem: "Where the mind is without fear" |
| Poetry Collections | The Gardener (1913) The Crescent Moon (1913) Fruit-Gathering (1916) Lover's Gift (1918) Crossing (1918) Stray Birds (1916) |
| Novels | Gora (1909): Bengali, about identity and nationalism The Home and the World (1916): English version, Swadeshi movement, Bimala/Nikhil/Sandip Original: Ghare Baire (Bengali 1916) Chokher Bali (1903) Four Chapters (1934) |
| Short Stories | "The Postmaster" "Kabuliwala": Afghan fruit-seller, father-daughter bond "The Hungry Stones" "The Cabuliwallah" (alternate spelling) Dozens of collections |
| Plays | Chitra (1892) The Post Office (1912): Dak Ghar, symbolic Red Oleanders (1925) The King of the Dark Chamber (1910) |
| Essays | Nationalism (1917): Critique of Western nationalism Sadhana: The Realisation of Life (1913) The Religion of Man (1931) Crisis in Civilization (1941): Last essay |
| Other Achievements | Composer: 2,000+ songs including national anthems of India ("Jana Gana Mana") and Bangladesh ("Amar Sonar Bangla") Founded: Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan (1921) Knighted: 1915, renounced after Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) Painter: Started painting at age 60 Education reformer, social critic |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | "Nightingale of India" Born: Hyderabad, Brahmin family Educated: King's College London, Girton College Cambridge Political: Indian National Congress leader, first woman Governor (UP, 1947) Close associate: Mahatma Gandhi ("Mickey Mouse" - his nickname for her) |
| Poetry Collections | The Golden Threshold (1905): First collection, introduction by Edmund Gosse The Bird of Time (1912) The Broken Wing (1917) The Feather of the Dawn (1961): Posthumous |
| Famous Poems | "In the Bazaars of Hyderabad": Most famous, sensory imagery, "What do you sell, O ye merchants?" "Palanquin Bearers": "Lightly, O lightly we bear her along" "Bangle-Sellers" "Indian Weavers": Three stages of life (birth, marriage, death) "Coromandel Fishers" |
| Style | Lyrical, musical, romantic Indian themes, colors, imagery Influenced by: English Romantics, Pre-Raphaelites Decorative, sensuous language |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | First graduate of Calcutta University (1858) Deputy Magistrate in British administration Primarily wrote in Bengali "Father of Bengali novel" |
| Novels | Rajmohan's Wife (1864): First Indian novel in English (serialized) Durgeshnandini (1865): Bengali, first Bengali novel Anandmath (1882): Bengali, most famous, nationalist Contains: "Vande Mataram" (national song of India) Themes: Historical romances, nationalism, social reform |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | ICS officer (Indian Civil Service) Historian, translator, novelist |
| Works | The Lake of Palms (1902): Novel Mahabharata (condensed English verse, 1898) Ramayana (condensed English verse, 1899) Economic History of India (1902-04): Influential critique of British economic policies Novels in Bengali as well |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | Born: Peshawar (now Pakistan) Educated: Punjab, London (PhD), Cambridge Lived in England 1920s-40s Close to: Bloomsbury Group, George Orwell, E.M. Forster Padma Bhushan: 1968 |
| Untouchable (1935) | First novel Preface by: E.M. Forster Protagonist: Bakha (18-year-old sweeper, "untouchable") Time span: Single day in Bakha's life Events: Humiliations, slap incident, Gandhi's speech Social realism, caste critique Solutions proposed: Gandhi's reform, Christian conversion, flush toilets (technology) |
| Coolie (1936) | Munoo: Poor orphan boy, various jobs Picaresque journey through colonial India Death from tuberculosis Marxist perspective, exploitation |
| Two Leaves and a Bud (1937) | Tea plantation workers in Assam Gangu: Peasant exploited by British planters Harsh working conditions |
| Other Works | The Village (1939): First of trilogy Across the Black Waters (1940): Indian soldiers in WWI The Sword and the Sickle (1942): Completes trilogy The Private Life of an Indian Prince (1953) Seven Summers (1951): Autobiographical |
| Themes | Social injustice, caste, poverty Working-class struggles Humanist, progressive |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | Born: Karnataka Educated: Aligarh, Nizam College Hyderabad, Montpellier (France), Sorbonne Lived: France, USA (taught at University of Texas) Padma Bhushan: 1969 Sahitya Akademi Award: 1963 |
| Kanthapura (1938) | First major novel Setting: Small South Indian village (Kanthapura) Narrator: Achakka (old woman, oral storytelling style) Plot: Village's involvement in Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement Moorthy: Young Brahmin, Gandhian activist Harikatha tradition: Narrative style mimics Indian oral epic tradition Famous Foreword: "The telling has not been easy... We cannot write like the English. We should not." Indianization of English language |
| The Serpent and the Rope (1960) | Semi-autobiographical Rama: Indian intellectual, marriage to French woman Madeleine Philosophical, metaphysical novel Advaita Vedanta philosophy Sahitya Akademi Award |
| Other Works | The Cat and Shakespeare (1965): Novella, comic-philosophic Comrade Kirillov (1976) The Chessmaster and His Moves (1988) The Cow of the Barricades (1947): Short stories The Policeman and the Rose (1978): Short stories |
| Style | Experimental, philosophical Indianized English syntax Influenced by Indian epics, Vedanta |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | Full name: Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanswami Born: Madras (Chennai) Lived: Mysore most of life Graham Greene: Helped publish early works, lifelong friend Padma Bhushan: 1964; Padma Vibhushan: 2000 Sahitya Akademi Award: 1958 (The Guide) AC Benson Medal, Royal Society of Literature |
| Malgudi | Fictional town: Setting for most novels South India: Composite of Indian small towns Timeless quality, everyday life |
| Early Novels | Swami and Friends (1935): First novel, schoolboy Swaminathan Graham Greene helped find publisher The Bachelor of Arts (1937): Chandran The Dark Room (1938): Savitri (unhappy wife) The English Teacher (1945): Krishna, autobiographical (wife's death) US title: Grateful to Life and Death |
| Mr. Sampath (1949) | Printer, film production US title: The Printer of Malgudi |
| The Financial Expert (1952) | Margayya: Financial advisor under banyan tree |
| The Guide (1958) | Masterpiece, most famous novel Raju: Tourist guide → Rosie's manager → imprisoned → "swami" (spiritual guide) Rosie: Dancer, unhappy marriage to archaeologist Marco Structure: Alternates between past and present Ending: Raju's fast for rain, ambiguous (dies? enlightened?) Sahitya Akademi Award Film (1965): Hindi film, Dev Anand |
| The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961) | Nataraj: Printer, Vasu (taxidermist, antagonist) |
| Other Novels | The Vendor of Sweets (1967): Jagan, generation gap A Tiger for Malgudi (1983): Narrated by tiger Raja Talkative Man (1986) The World of Nagaraj (1990) |
| Short Stories | Malgudi Days (1943): Collection An Astrologer's Day and Other Stories (1947) Lawley Road (1956) A Horse and Two Goats (1970) Under the Banyan Tree (1985) |
| Memoir | My Days (1974): Autobiography |
| Retellings | Gods, Demons and Others (1964): Indian mythology The Ramayana (1972): Prose retelling The Mahabharata (1978): Prose retelling |
| Style | Simple, lucid prose Gentle humor, irony Middle-class life, ordinary characters Apolitical (compared to Anand, Rao) |
| Play | Details |
|---|---|
| The Post Office (1912) | Bengali title: Dak Ghar Amal: Sick boy confined to room, awaits King's letter Symbolic, allegorical Death, freedom, spiritual release |
| Chitra (1892) | Based on Mahabharata Princess Chitra loves Arjuna |
| Red Oleanders (1925) | Symbolic drama Criticism of mechanization, dehumanization |
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Life | Philosopher, yogi, poet, nationalist Educated: England (King's College, Cambridge) Revolutionary: Indian independence movement, imprisoned Spiritual turn: 1910, Pondicherry ashram Integral Yoga: Spiritual philosophy |
| Poetry | Savitri (1950): Epic poem, 24,000 lines, based on Mahabharata legend Blank verse, spiritual/mystical Collected Poems (1942) |
| Prose | The Life Divine (1939-40): Philosophy Essays on the Gita (1916-20) The Synthesis of Yoga (1948) |
| Drama | Perseus the Deliverer (1907) Rodogune (1908) Vasavadutta (1915) |
| Year | Event/Publication |
|---|---|
| 1827 | Derozio's Poems (age 18) |
| 1864 | Rajmohan's Wife (Bankim) - first Indian novel in English |
| 1882 | Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (Toru Dutt, posthumous) |
| 1905 | The Golden Threshold (Sarojini Naidu) |
| 1910 | Gitanjali (Bengali version, Tagore) |
| 1912 | Gitanjali (English version, Tagore) |
| 1913 | Tagore wins Nobel Prize |
| 1919 | Tagore renounces knighthood (Jallianwala Bagh) |
| 1935 | Untouchable (Anand), Swami and Friends (Narayan) |
| 1936 | Coolie (Anand) |
| 1938 | Kanthapura (Raja Rao) |
| 1947 | Indian Independence |
| 1950 | Savitri (Sri Aurobindo) |
| 1958 | The Guide (Narayan) - Sahitya Akademi |
| 1960 | The Serpent and the Rope (Raja Rao) |