author
Peary Chand Mitra
1814–1883
A key figure in the Bengal Renaissance, this pioneering writer helped make Bengali prose feel more natural and modern. Best known under the pen name Tek Chand Thakur, he is remembered for Alaler Gharer Dulal, an early landmark in Bengali fiction.
1 Audiobook
The Spoilt Child: A Tale of Hindu Domestic Life
by Peary Chand Mitra
About the author
Born in Calcutta on July 22, 1814, Peary Chand Mitra was an Indian writer, journalist, librarian, and cultural activist. He studied at Hindu College and became associated with Henry Derozio's Young Bengal circle, a group known for its reformist energy and intellectual curiosity.
Mitra played an important part in shaping modern Bengali prose by writing in a simpler, more conversational style than was common in his time. Writing as Tek Chand Thakur, he published Alaler Gharer Dulal in 1857, a work widely regarded as a pioneering Bengali novel and a vivid picture of 19th-century Calcutta society.
Alongside his literary work, he was active in journalism and public life, contributing to several periodicals and working with the Calcutta Public Library. His career reflects the broad cultural change happening in Bengal in the 19th century, and he remains an important name in the history of Bengali literature.