Subhadra Kumari Chauhan | |
|---|---|
 Subhadra Kumari Chauhan | |
| Born | 16 August 1904 Allahabad, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India |
| Died | 15 February 1948 (aged 43)[1] Seoni, Central Provinces and Berar, India |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Hindi |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Period | 1904–1948 |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Subject | Hindi |
| Spouse | Thakur Lakshman Singh Chauhan |
| Children | 5 |
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (16 August 1904[2][3] – 15 February 1948) was an Indian poet famous for the popular poem "Jhansi ki Rani" (about the Queen of Jhansi).[4]
About her Early life
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan was a prominent poetess in India, whose writings used to be very emotionally charged. She was born in 1904 at the Nihalpur village in Allahabad district.
About her family
She married with Thakur Lakshman Singh Chauhan of [Khandwa] in 1919 at age of sixteen, with whom she had five children.
Career
In 1921, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan and her husband joined Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement. She was the first woman Satyagrahi to court arrest in Nagpur and was jailed twice for her involvement in protests against British rule in 1923 and 1942.[5]
Writing career
Chauhan authored a number of popular works in Hindi poetry. Her most famous composition is Jhansi Ki Rani, an emotionally charged poem describing the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai. It is one of the most recited and sung poems in Hindi literature, and is often taught in schools across India.[6] A couplet repeated at the end of each stanza reads:
- बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
- खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।[7]
This and her other poems, Veeron Ka Kaisa Ho Basant, Rakhi Ki Chunauti, and Vida, openly talk about the freedom movement. Here is the opening stanza of Jhansi ki Rani:
Original Hindi text:
सिंहासन हिल उठे राजवंशों ने भृकुटी तानी थी,
बूढ़े भारत में भी आई फिर से नयी जवानी थी,
गुमी हुई आज़ादी की कीमत सबने पहचानी थी,
दूर फिरंगी को करने की सबने मन में ठानी थी।
चमक उठी सन सत्तावन में, वह तलवार पुरानी थी,
बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी,
खूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी।।
Roman transliteration using ITRANS:
sinhasan hil uthe, rajavanshon ne bhrikuti tani thi,
boodhhe bharat mein bhi aayi, phir se nayi jawaani thi,
gumi hui azadI ki keemat sab ne pahachani thi,
door firangi ko karne ki sab ne mann mein thani thi.
chamak uthi san sattawan mein, woh talwaar puraani thi,
bundele harbolon ke munh ham ne sunI kahani thi,
khoob ladi mardani woh to jhansI wali rani thi.
English translation:
The thrones shook and royalties scowled
Old India was re-invigorated with new youth
People realised the value of lost freedom
Everybody was determined to throw the foreigners out
The old sword glistened again in 1857
This story we heard from the mouths of Bundel bards
Like a man she fought, she was the Queen of Jhansi
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan wrote in the Khariboli dialect of Hindi, in a simple, clear style. She also wrote poems for children and short stories based on the life of the middle class.
Death
She died in 1948 in a car accident near Seoni M.P. on her way back to Jabalpur from Nagpur, where she had gone to attend the assembly session as a member of the state legislative assembly.
Memorials
The ICGS Subhadra Kumari Chauhan,[8] an Indian Coast Guard ship, was named after the poet.[1] The government of Madhya Pradesh placed a statue of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan before the Municipal Corporation office of Jabalpur. On August 6, 1976, India Posts released a postage stamp to commemorate her.[9]
Works
Collections of poems
- Khilonewala
- Tridhara
- Mukul (1930)
- Yeh Kadamb Ka Ped
These anthologies consist some of the well-known poems like "Jhansi ki Raani", "Veeron Ka Kaisa Ho Basant" and "Yeh Kadamb Ka Ped", " Rakhi ki chunauti ".
- "Seedhe-Saade Chitra" (1946)
- "Mera naya Bachpan" (1946)
- "Bikhare Moti" (1932)
- "Jhansi ki Rani"
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Biography of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan". All poetry. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ↑ Rai, Alok (4 October 2008) Chauhan (née Singh), Subhadra Kumarilocked (1904–1948). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97283
- ↑ सुभद्रा कुमारी. bharatdarshan.co.nz
- ↑ Rajaswi, M.I. (2016). Rashtrabhakt Kavyitri Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (Hindi) (1 ed.). New Delhi: Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 978-9384344375.
- ↑ "Biography of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan". www.bharatdarshan.co.nz. Bharat Darshan. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ↑ "Poems of Bundelkhand". www.bundelkhand.in. Bundelkhand.In. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ↑ Chauhan, Subhadra Kumari. "Jhansi ki rani". www.poemhunter.com. Poem hunter. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
- ↑ India, Pakistan plan hotline on maritime security - NATIONAL. The Hindu (April 29, 2006). Retrieved on 2018-12-13.
- ↑ Indian Postage Stamps | Commemorative | Definitive | Miniature Sheets | Sheetlets. Stampsathi.in. Retrieved on 2018-12-13.
Further reading
- Nalini Natarajan, Emmanuel Sampath Nelson (1996). Handbook of Twentieth-century Literatures of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-28778-3. by Natarajan, N.
External links
- [link Subhadra Kumari Chauhan at Kavita Kosh]
- Another brief biography at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
- Short note and recitation of the poem Jhansi Ki Rani
- Jhansi Ki Rani English Translation By Qazi Muhammad Ahkam
- [1]
- [2]