Priyanath Mukhopadhyay (4 June 1855 – 20 June 1947)[1][2] was a Bengali writer and police detective in Calcutta during the British era.[3] He is considered a pioneer in the field of mystery and detective fiction in Bengali literature.[4]
Priyanath Mukhopadhyay | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1855 Chuadanga, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Died | 1947 Calcutta, India |
| Occupation | Author police inspector |
| Language | Bengali |
| Citizenship | India |
| Notable works | Darogar Daptar |
Biography
editMukhopadhyay was born in Chuadanga, undivided Nadia in British India. He was an inspector at Lalbazar Police Station in the detective department of the Calcutta Police. He worked in the department for 33 years, from 1878 to 1911. He was a detective of the Calcutta Police. The British Government gave him the title of Roybahadur (রায়বাহাদুর) for his excellent record in solving crimes in the city.[5]
In 1889, he began writing accounts of some of his cases in the journal Anusandhaan,[6] before moving in 1892 to Darogar Daptar (The Inspector's Files) devoted solely to his stories,[7][8] writing 206 stories[1] over the next 11 years. Some detractors claim that many of his self-proclaimed experiences written in Darogar Daptar were actually stories heavily inspired by foreign authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and others.[citation needed]
He wrote his autobiography in 1911.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b Roy, Pinaki (2008). The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories. Sarup & Sons. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-81-7625-849-4.
- ^ "প্রিয়নাথ মুখোপাধ্যায় - উইকিসংকলন একটি মুক্ত পাঠাগার". bn.wikisource.org (in Bengali). Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Kannabiran, Kalpana; Singh, Ranbir (11 November 2008). Challenging The Rules(s) of Law: Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights in India. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-0-7619-3665-7.
- ^ "'Detective fiction' back in vogue, courtesy Bengal cops". The Tribune. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
- "কী করে খুন করি". Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). Retrieved 24 February 2020.
- "বঙ্গের গোয়েন্দা-চরিত্র". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 23 December 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
- Bag, Shamik (17 January 2015). "Calcutta noir". Livemint. Retrieved 4 May 2020. - ^ "Detective dead, whodunnit?". The Telegraph. India. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
- ^ Roy, Shampa (2017). Gender and Criminality in Bangla Crime Narratives: Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. Springer. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-1-137-51598-8.
- ^ a b Abhijit Gupta (10 January 2018). "One of India's earliest crime fiction stories was about a delicious scam involving books". Scroll. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
- ^ "বাংলা সাহিত্যে গোয়েন্দা". Bangladesh Pratidin (in Bengali). 17 May 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2020.