Bankimacandra Cattopadhyaya

Born in 1838, he became one of the key figures in 19th-century Bengali literature. Encyclopaedia Britannica credits him with helping establish prose as a major literary form in Bengali, while widely used reference sources also describe him as a novelist, poet, essayist, and journalist.

He is best known for novels including Anandamath (1882), a landmark in Bengali and Indian literature, and for the song “Vande Mataram,” which appeared in that novel and later became deeply important in Indian public life. Another notable work linked to his early career is Rajmohan's Wife, an English-language novella often described as one of the earliest Indian novels in English.

His writing career left a lasting mark on both literature and national culture. Readers often come to him not only for historical importance, but for the energy of his storytelling and the way his books connect personal drama with larger social and political change.