Vijay Gupta (poet)

Vijay Gupta was a 15th-century Bengali poet from Barisal. He was part of a revival of Bengali literature in the late 15th century and early 16th century.^[1]

Biography

Gupta was born in Agailjhara, Barisal,^[2] in the 15th century into a Baidya family. His father was Sanatan and his mother was Rukmini.^[3][4]

Gupta is believed to be the second writer (Kana Haridattar is believed to be the first) to write about the goddess Manasa. He wrote poems and epics eulogizing Manasa and spreading her worship in Bengal. He wrote Manashamanga (Padmapuran) about Manasa. The story talks about how a Shiva devotee became her devotee and how Muslims started to worship her so that they could be spared her wrath.^[3][5] The story also spoke about Alauddin Husayn Shah, who ruled from 1494 to 1519, and was an independent Sultan of Bengal.^[3] His writings also spoke about trading in Bengal and various ports Bengal traded with.^[6]

References

1. Sengupta, Nitish K. (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4.
2. Seabrook, Jeremy (2001). Freedom Unfinished: Fundamentalism and Popular Resistance in Bangladesh Today. Zed Books. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-85649-908-8.
3. Ahmed, Wakil. "Vijay Gupta". Banglapedia. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
4. Smith, William L. (1980). The One-eyed Goddess: A Study of the Manasā Maṅgal. Almqvist & Wiksell International. p. 35. ISBN 978-91-22-00408-0. Bijay Gupta, a Vaidya by caste, was from the village of Phullaśrī in the Barisal district of East Bengal. He is the most popular of the East Bengali poets and like Ketakādās, editions of his Manasa poem are numerous and permanently in print.
5. "Manasha Devi, the relentless fighter". Daily Sun. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
6. Chaudhury, Sushil (2016). Trade, Politics and Society: The Indian Milieu in the Early Modern Era. Taylor & Francis. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-351-99728-7.