Bengali poetry


Bengali poetry is a form that originated in Pāli and other Prakrit socio-cultural traditions. It is antagonistic towards Vedic rituals and laws as opposed to the shramanic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism. During the Medieval Ages, puthis also played an important role and much Persian and Arabic influence came along. However the modern Bengali owes much to Sanskrit. The history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development: poetry of the early age, the Medieval period and the age of modern poetry. Modernity was introduced into Bengali poetry in the 1930s.
This period marked the introduction of puthi literature. It is considered that Fakir Shah Gharibullah initiated the trend with his epic "Amir Hamza". Many jongonamas, puthis based on battles, were written during this time. Jongonamas were generally elegiac in tone. Works relating to Karbala were called marsiya literature. Both janganama and marsiya literature first developed in Arabia and later Persia. Muslim Sufis and soldiers introduced this form of poetry in the Bengali language to the masses in Bengal and Arakan. Well-known poems of include Zainab's Chautisha by Sheikh Faizullah, Maqtul Husayn by Mohammad Khan and Qasim-er Lodai O Fatima-r Surotnama by Sherbaz. The works mixed Bengali folk poetry with Perso-Arabian stories and themes, and are considered an important part of the Muslim culture of Bengal.