{{short description|Indian civil servant, poet, playwright, and musician}} {{Use Indian English|date=November 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] --> | name = Dwijendralal Ray | image = Dwijendra Lal Roy.jpg | caption = Dwijendralal Ray | birth_date = {{birth date|1863|07|19|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Krishnanagar, Nadia|Krishnanagar]], [[Nadia District]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]] (now [[West Bengal]], [[India]]) | death_date = {{death date and age|1913|5|17|1863|7|19|df=y}} | death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]] (now [[West Bengal]], [[India]]) | occupation = Civil servant, playwright and musician | period = [[Bengal Renaissance]] | influenced = | signature = | awards = | spouse = Surabala Devi | children = 2, including [[Dilip Kumar Roy]] | genre = Drama, Song, Essay | language = [[Bengali language|Bengali]] | nationality = Indian | movement = [[Bengal Renaissance]] | notableworks = }} '''Dwijendralal Ray''' (19 July 1863 – 17 May 1913), also known as '''D. L. Ray''', was an [[British Raj| Indian Bengali]] poet, playwright, and musician.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murshid |first=Ghulam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9o4SEAAAQBAJ&dq=Dwijendralal+Ray&pg=PT294 |title=Bengali Culture Over a Thousand Years |date=2018-01-25 |publisher=Niyogi Books |isbn=978-93-86906-12-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ghosh" /> He was known for his [[Hindu]] [[Puranas|mythological]] and [[Indian Nationalism|nationalist]] historical plays and songs known as ''[[Dwijendrageeti]]'' or the ''Songs of Dwijendralal'', which number over 500, create a separate subgenre of [[Bengali music]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharyya |first=Sudip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0EoDwAAQBAJ&dq=dwijendrageeti+500+songs&pg=PA73 |title=Over The Years |date=2015-12-26 |publisher=Educreation Publishing |language=en}}</ref>
==Early life and education==
=== Early life === Dwijendralal Ray was born in [[Krishnanagar, Nadia|Krishnanagar]], [[Nadia district|Nadia]], in the modern-day [[India]]n state of [[West Bengal]], on 19 July 1863. He was the seventh child of Kartikeyachandra Ray, Dewan (Chief Officer) of Krishnanagar palace.<ref>{{Cite web |last=বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় |first=সুদীপ |title=কিরণ-মাখা রঙ্গমঞ্চের ক্লান্ত নায়ক দ্বিজেন্দ্রলাল |url=https://www.anandabazar.com/patrika/a-special-write-up-on-poet-dwijendralal-ray-1.1096967 |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=www.anandabazar.com |language=bn}}</ref> From his mother's side, he was a descendant of [[Vaishnava]] ascetic [[Advaita Acharya]], one of the apostles of the medieval Bengali saint Shri [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|Chaitanya]]. Ray had six elder brothers and a younger sister.<ref name = ghosh>{{cite book |title= Dwijendralal Ray |last= Ghosh|first= Ajit Kumar|year= 2001|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|location= New Delhi|isbn= 81-260-1227-7|page=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/DwijendralalRayAjitKumarGhosh2001ShaityaAkademiMS/page/n7 }}</ref><ref name=":0" />
As a child, Ray was temperamental, introverted, thoughtful and a lover of nature, although he possessed the gift of the gab. He passed the Entrance Examination in 1878 and the First Arts Examination in 1880 at the Krishnanagar Collegiate School. Later, he received a B.A. from [[Hooghly Mohsin College|Hooghly College]] and subsequently an M.A. in English in 1884 from [[Presidency College, Calcutta]], as a graduating student of the [[University of Calcutta]]. Being a brilliant student, he received a scholarship owing to his performance in the Entrance and First Arts examinations, and was second among all students receiving M.A. degrees from the University of Calcutta in 1884.<ref name = ghosh />
''Aryagatha'' Part I, a collection of Ray's songs written between the ages of twelve and seventeen, was published in 1882. It was his first publication.<ref name = ghosh /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bengaliportal |date=2020-08-25 |title=দ্বিজেন্দ্রলাল রায় এর জীবন পরিচয়: Dwijendralal Ray Biography In Bengali - Bengaliportal 2023 |url=https://www.bengaliportal.com/dwijendralal-ray-biography-in-bengali/ |access-date=2023-05-11 |language=en-US}}</ref>
===In England=== In 1884, Ray got a state scholarship for study of [[agriculture]] in [[England]]. "His description of the sea-voyage and his keen observation on the manners, customs, food-habits and dresses of British people" was serialised in a weekly named ''Pataka'' and later published by his brothers as ''Bileter Patra'' (''Letters from England'').While in England, he received the news of his beloved parents' death.<ref name = ghosh /> In 1886, he published ''The Lyrics of Ind'', a collection of English lyrical poems written in England.<ref name = ghosh />
Ray Passed the examination from the [[Cirencester College]] and was enrolled as a member of the [[Royal Agricultural College]] and the [[Royal Agricultural Society of England|Royal Agricultural Society]]. After obtaining a diploma in F.R.A.S., he returned to India in 1886.<ref>{{Cite web |title=আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা - কল-eকাতা |url=https://archives.anandabazar.com/e_kolkata/2012/july/atiter_tara.html |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=archives.anandabazar.com}}</ref>
===Career=== On his return from England, Ray was appointed as a Deputy Magistrate in 1886 and worked in the Departments of Survey and Settlement, Excise, Land Records and Agriculture, Administration and Judiciary in different parts of [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], [[Bihar]] and [[Central Provinces and Berar|Central Province]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Bhowmik |first=Arindam |title=মেদিনীপুরে দ্বিজেন্দ্রলাল রায় {{!}} Dwijendralal Roy in Kajlagarh, Purba Medinipur |url=https://www.midnapore.in/people/Dwijendralal-Ray-D-L-Ray-in-Medinipur.html |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=www.midnapore.in |language=en}}</ref> In 1887, Ray married Surabala Devi, daughter of Pratap Chandra Majumdar, a renowned [[Homeopathy|homeopath]] physician. In 1890, he was transferred to [[Kajlagarh]] as the land settlement officer of the Sujamutha division of [[Purba Medinipur district|Medinipur]], he diligently worked and even led a peasant protest against the excessive tax rates. He composed some of his best works there.<ref name=":1" /> He was appointed the First Inspector of the Excise Department in 1894, the Assistant Director, Land Records and Agriculture Department in 1898 and the Assistant to the Commissioner, Excise Department in 1900. Later again he was appointed Inspector of Excise Department.<ref name = ghosh />
Surabala Devi died in 1903. In 1905, Ray was transferred to [[Khulna]]. Later he served at [[Murshidabad]], [[Kandi, Murshidabad|Kandi]], [[Gaya, India|Gaya]] and [[Jehanabad|Jahanabad]] also. In 1908, he took long leave to stay in Calcutta. Next year, he was appointed Deputy Magistrate of 24 Parganas. In 1912, he was transferred to [[Bankura]] and within three months he was again transferred to [[Munger]] where he had fallen seriously ill and due to this illness he took voluntary retirement and returned to Calcutta.<ref name = ghosh />
===Last days=== In the same year, Ray started editing a journal named ''Bharatbarsha''. But he did not live more than two months after his retirement. He died of a sudden attack of epilepsy on 17 May 1913 in [[Kolkata]].<ref name = ghosh /><ref>{{Cite news |title=DL Roy's death anniv today |url=https://www.newagebd.net/article/137992/dl-roys-death-anniv-today |access-date=2023-05-11 |work=New Age |language=en}}</ref>
==Political activity== Though from a landed Bengali aristocratic family, Ray was known for his pro-peasant sentiments. In 1890, while working for the government at [[Kajlagarh]], in [[Purba Medinipur district|Purba Medinipur]] he clashed with the Bengal Governor on the issue of peasant land rights and tithing obligations. He valiantly protested against the excessive tax that the peasants and small landowners had to pay to the [[Jotedar|Jotedars]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Poet-playwright Dwijendralal Roy fought for the farmers of Kajlagarh - GetBengal story |url=https://www.getbengal.com/details/poet-playwright-dwijendralal-roy-fought-for-the-farmers-of-kajlagarh-getbengal-story |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=Get Bengal |language=en}}</ref>
Following the [[1905 Partition of Bengal]], Ray joined the cultural movement to reunite the two new Bengali provinces. It was during the time he wrote several patriotic songs, including "''[[Dhana Dhanya Pushpa Bhara]]''", that are still immensely popular today.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mallick |first=Sadya Afreen |date=2016-07-19 |title=DL ROY Patriotism to the fore |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/arts-entertainment/dl-roy-patriotism-the-fore-1255669 |access-date=2023-05-11 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref>
He was known also for his commitment to the uplifting of women, and his strong stance against Hindu religious orthodoxy and ritual. His collection ''Hanshir Gaan'' was a satire against upper-caste Hindu dominance of religious practices.<ref name = ghosh />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Internet Archive author}} * [https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Roy,_Dwijendralal Roy, Dwijendralal] in Banglapedia
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Dwijendralal}} [[Category:Writers from Kolkata]] [[Category:1863 births]] [[Category:1913 deaths]] [[Category:Bengali Hindus]] [[Category:19th-century Bengali poets]] [[Category:20th-century Bengali poets]] [[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]] [[Category:Bengali male poets]] [[Category:Bengali nationalists]] [[Category:Hindu poets]] [[Category:People from Krishnagar]] [[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]] [[Category:Indian civil servants]] [[Category:Poets from West Bengal]] [[Category:Hooghly Mohsin College alumni]] [[Category:Krishnagar Government College alumni]] [[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]] [[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]] [[Category:Indian male poets]] [[Category:19th-century Indian poets]] [[Category:20th-century Indian poets]] [[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Indian editors]] [[Category:Indian magazine editors]] [[Category:Bengali-language lyricists]] [[Category:Indian lyricists]] [[Category:Indian musicians]] [[Category:Bengali musicians]] [[Category:19th-century Indian male musicians]] [[Category:20th-century Indian male musicians]] [[Category:Indian male musicians]] [[Category:19th-century Indian songwriters]] [[Category:Indian male songwriters]] [[Category:Musicians from West Bengal]] [[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from British India]] [[Category:People from the Bengal Presidency]] [[Category:Musicians from British India]] [[Category:Poets from British India]] [[Category:20th-century Indian songwriters]]