Epic
মহাশ্মশান
Not translated into English
Kaikobad · 1904
Synopsis
January 1761, on the plain of Panipat: the Maratha army and that of Ahmad Shah Abdali face each other. Hindus and Muslims prepare for a clash that the poet presents in advance as a common ruin, and between the camps love affairs arise that cross both sides, while the leaders prepare for battle.
Context
Marked by the epics of Hemchandra Bandyopadhyay and Nabinchandra Sen, and by that of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the poet brings the epic verse to the third battle of Panipat, in 1761: for him, this Muslim victory was a ruin for both sides, hence the title, the great cremation ground. He mingles several love stories with the war, and the tone is closer to elegy than to heroic narrative; the poem also seeks to convey the bravery of Hindus and Muslims alike.
Who it is for
A long narrative poem in an elevated language; the names of the Maratha and Afghan leaders are numerous, and a chronology of the campaign helps.
Prizes and reception
The work by which its author is chiefly known, regarded as his masterpiece, although the epic was never very popular.