Giants of Bangla Literature: questions and answers
Study every question with its correct answer and explanation.
1. Which bi-weekly magazine did Kazi Nazrul Islam launch in 1922?
- A. Dhumketu
- B. Sabuj Patra
- C. Kallol
- D. Bangadarshan
Answer: Dhumketu
Nazrul launched 'Dhumketu' (The Comet) in August 1922, and Rabindranath Tagore sent a message of blessing for its first issue. A poem published in it led to Nazrul's imprisonment on sedition charges, during which he went on a long hunger strike.
2. Which was Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's first Bangla novel?
- A. Kapalkundala
- B. Durgeshnandini
- C. Anandamath
- D. Bishabriksha
Answer: Durgeshnandini
'Durgeshnandini' (1865) was Bankim's first Bangla novel and is regarded as a landmark in the rise of the modern Bangla novel. An earlier work, Peary Chand Mitra's 'Alaler Gharer Dulal' (1858), is often called the first Bangla novel.
3. Which poet wrote 'Banalata Sen', one of the most celebrated poems in modern Bangla?
- A. Buddhadeva Bose
- B. Sudhindranath Datta
- C. Shamsur Rahman
- D. Jibanananda Das
Answer: Jibanananda Das
Jibanananda Das's 'Banalata Sen' also gave its name to his 1942 poetry collection. His posthumously published 'Rupasi Bangla', celebrating the beauty of rural Bengal, is why he is called 'Rupasi Banglar Kobi'.
4. Begum Rokeya's 'Sultana's Dream', an early feminist science-fiction story, was originally written in which language?
- A. Bangla
- B. Urdu
- C. English
- D. Persian
Answer: English
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain wrote 'Sultana's Dream' in English, and it was published in 1905, imagining a land where women run society. She was born and died on 9 December, a date observed in Bangladesh as Rokeya Day.
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5. Who introduced blank verse (amitrakshar chhanda) into Bangla poetry?
- A. Michael Madhusudan Dutt
- B. Ishwar Chandra Gupta
- C. Rabindranath Tagore
- D. Kazi Nazrul Islam
Answer: Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Michael Madhusudan Dutt pioneered blank verse in Bangla, most famously in his epic 'Meghnadbadh Kabya' (1861). He also wrote the first sonnets in Bangla, collected in 'Chaturdashpadi Kabitabali'.
6. Under which pen name did the teenage Rabindranath Tagore publish lyrics in the style of the medieval Vaishnava poets?
- A. Kamalakanta
- B. Nil Lohit
- C. Hutom Pyancha
- D. Bhanusingha
Answer: Bhanusingha
Young Tagore wrote the songs of 'Bhanusingha Thakurer Padabali' under the name Bhanusingha, imitating medieval Vaishnava padavali poetry. Other well-known Bangla pen names include 'Hutom Pyancha' (Kaliprasanna Singha) and 'Nil Lohit' (Sunil Gangopadhyay).
7. Who wrote the novel 'Devdas'?
- A. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
- B. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
- C. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
- D. Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay
Answer: Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 'Devdas' was published in 1917 and has been adapted into films many times in Bangla and Hindi. Known as the 'Aparajeya Kathashilpi' (the unconquered storyteller), he also wrote 'Srikanta' and 'Pather Dabi'.
8. Satyajit Ray's first film, 'Pather Panchali' (1955), was based on a novel by which writer?
- A. Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay
- B. Manik Bandopadhyay
- C. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
- D. Rabindranath Tagore
Answer: Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay published 'Pather Panchali' in 1929, and its sequel 'Aparajito' also became part of Ray's Apu Trilogy. Manik Bandopadhyay, another great novelist of the era, wrote 'Padma Nadir Majhi'.
9. Which poet is known as 'Palli Kobi' (the rural poet), author of 'Nakshi Kanthar Math'?
- A. Kazi Nazrul Islam
- B. Sukanta Bhattacharya
- C. Farrukh Ahmad
- D. Jasimuddin
Answer: Jasimuddin
Jasimuddin's verse tale 'Nakshi Kanthar Math' (1929) tells a tragic village love story and was translated into English as 'The Field of the Embroidered Quilt'. His poem 'Kabar' (The Grave) is also widely studied in schools.
10. 'Bishad Sindhu', the famous prose epic about the tragedy of Karbala, was written by whom?
- A. Mir Mosharraf Hossain
- B. Kaykobad
- C. Ismail Hossain Siraji
- D. Sheikh Fazlul Karim
Answer: Mir Mosharraf Hossain
Mir Mosharraf Hossain's 'Bishad Sindhu' was published in three parts between 1885 and 1891. He is regarded as a pioneer among Muslim writers of modern Bangla prose and also wrote the play 'Jamidar Darpan'.