From Aahatguri to Sambalpur: The Journey of Sahityarathi
Born in Aahatguri
Jonaki Era Begins
Passed in Dibrugarh
Lakshminath Bezbarua was born on October 14, 1864, during the auspicious night of Lakshmi Purnima in Aahatguri, Nagaon, Assam. The unique circumstance of his birth occurring on a sandbank of the Brahmaputra River, near Ahatguri Chapari, became a memorable anecdote he later chronicled in his autobiography, Mor Jiban Sowaran.
His parentage anchored him to prominence: his father, Dinanath Bezbarua, was a senior official in the British government. This heritage exposed young Lakshminath to various cultural centers across Assam, including Barpeta, Tezpur, and Sivasagar, due to frequent job transfers.
LNB confirms in Mor Jiban Xuworon his inability to recall the exact date his parents relayed to him. When required for official records later in life, he “invented a date,” November 1868, though scholarly consensus confirms his actual birth in 1864. This self-acknowledged discrepancy demonstrates his characteristic honesty and humor.
The patriarch of the Bezbarua family, Dangoria Dinanath Bezbarua, hired a man named Rabinath Majudotor Barua, who, despite lacking formal education, served as a “treasure house” of folk tales and stories from religious scriptures and mythology. Rabinath quickly became LNB’s primary mentor, guide, and companion, profoundly shaping his imagination as a creative writer.
This immersion in native folklore provided the foundational sensibility that would later characterize his most beloved works, especially the collection of stories compiled as Burhi Aair Sadhu. The oral tradition Rabinath represented became the bedrock of LNB’s literary voice.
LNB received his early formal education at Sibsagar Govt. High School. His academic path led him to Calcutta, where he completed his F.A. from City College and his B.A. from the General Assembly’s Institution. Although he attempted M.A. and B.L. degrees at the University of Calcutta, he did not complete them. His time in Calcutta was transformative, providing critical exposure to Western literary traditions. This blend of Assamese oral tradition and Western literary sophistication allowed him to pioneer a new style of prose where “emotion seamlessly merged with intellect.”
LNB’s integration into the highest echelons of the Bengali intelligentsia was cemented by his marriage to Pragyasundari Devi. She was the granddaughter of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, a connection that placed LNB within the expansive literary and social circle of the Tagore family. This strategic biographical detail validates LNB’s stature as a pan-Indian literary figure rather than simply a regional one. Pragyasundari Devi was a respected literary figure in her own right, known for her contributions to Bengali literature and her status as a celebrated cookery writer, earning her the appellation “India’s Mrs Beeton” for her famed cookbook Aamish O Niramish Ahar (1900).
LNB’s literary career took flight with his instrumental association with the Jonaki magazine, launched in 1889 under the leadership of Chandra Kumar Agarwala. This periodical marked the beginning of the Jonaki Era, a pivotal age of romanticism in Assamese literature. LNB was a driving force, serving as editor and publisher and actively contributing essays, poetry, and satirical pieces that instilled new dynamism into the then-stagnating Assamese literary world.
The period saw LNB launch an unrelenting “incessant battle” alongside contemporaries to secure an appropriate position for the Assamese language within state administration and educational curriculum, where it had been displaced. His literary and cultural crusade was fundamentally aimed at the overall social development of Assam, positioning his writing not merely as art but as a potent tool for linguistic and cultural revival.
LNB wrote extensively under the famed pseudonym Kripabar Borborua, with his first satirical works appearing early in Jonaki’s run. These works were characterized by sharp wit and humorous sentiment, using satire to respond to the prevailing social environment and push for positive societal changes. For this pioneering and perpetually popular humorous writing, LNB was honored with the unique title Roxoraj (The King of Humour) by the Asam Sahitya Sabha in 1931. This honorific validates the efficacy of his satirical output as a primary driver of social critique.
The period between 1909 and 1916, when LNB was primarily residing in Howrah, is recognized as his most prolific literary phase. However, in 1916, his professional life saw a shift when he joined the timber division of Birds and Company, leading to his relocation to Sambalpur (in modern-day Odisha) in 1917, where he would reside for many years.
The fact that LNB maintained his profound commitment to Assamese literature while managing the rigorous demands of the timber business underscores the extraordinary nature of his devotion. Crucially, the influential Assamese journal Banhi, which served as LNB’s chief literary mouthpiece and was initially launched in Calcutta in 1909, continued under his editorship from his house in Sambalpur, though it was published from Guwahati.
His life concluded on March 26, 1938, in Dibrugarh, Assam. Recognition of his significance continues today, with ongoing plans by the Odisha government to convert his house in Sambalpur into a museum, honoring his dual legacy as both literary giant and distinguished resident of the region.
Works of Lakshminath Bezbarua (1864-1938) are in the public domain under Indian copyright law.
