Satyendranath Dutta

Satyendranath Dutta (1882-1922), a Bengali poet, is considered the wizard of rhymes. Satyendranath Dutta was an expert in many disciplines of intellectual enquiry including medieval Indian history, culture, and mythology.

He was the son of Rajaninath Dutta, who was a trader. He was born at Chupi in Bardhaman on February 11, 1882. His grandfather, Akshay Kumar Datta, was a great thinker, Brahmo social reformer and writer who was the guiding spirit of the Tattwabodhini Patrika. After passing the school leaving examination from the Central Collegiate School, he received his graduate level education from the General Assembly’s Institution in Kolkata. Although he left (what is now) Scottish Church College without taking a degree, his training there helped him immensely for the future. After unsuccessfully to join the ranks of his father in their family business, he quit that to devote his energies entirely to scholarly pursuits.

He composed poems and initially composed poems for the Bengali magazine Bharati. Although his stylistic nuances during this stage reflect the influence of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Akshay Kumar Boral, and Debendranath Sen, his later poetry illustrates a greater resonance with the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore. Nevertheless, he maintained his distinctive poetic style. He was well known for his material skill, and devised several metres while keeping intact the sound system and phraseology of Bangla. This is why he was known as 'the magician of metrics' or 'the king of metres'. His famous essay, Chhanda-Sarasvati, on metrics, was published in the Baishakhi issue of the Bharati magazine in 1918. He also wrote poems on the depressed classes or Dalits, such as the sweeper community.

Satyendranath Dutta wrote under several pseudonyms: Nabakumar, Kaviratna, Ashitipar Sharma, Tribikram Varman, Kalamgir etc.

He died on June 25, 1922. Rabindranath has immortalized Satyendranath in a poem written after his death.