Biography of Kazi Nazrul Islam

Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) was a Bengali poet, musician, and revolutionary who is widely regarded as the national poet of Bangladesh. He was born on May 25, 1899, in the village of Churulia in the Bardhaman district of West Bengal, India.

Nazrul was the second of three sons of his parents Kazi Faqeer Ahmed and Zahida Khatun. He lost his father at an early age and was brought up by his mother and elder brother. Nazrul had a keen interest in music from an early age and learned to play the flute, the tabla, and the harmonium. He also showed an early talent for writing poetry and began writing at the age of ten.

In 1917, Nazrul joined the British Indian Army and was sent to the Middle East during World War I. He was deeply affected by the poverty and inequality he witnessed there and became involved in revolutionary politics. He returned to India in 1920 and began writing poetry that reflected his revolutionary views.

Nazrul's poetry and music became very popular, and he became known as the "rebel poet" for his revolutionary and patriotic themes. He wrote on a wide range of subjects, including love, freedom, and social injustice, and his works inspired a generation of young people to join the independence movement.

In 1922, Nazrul was arrested for sedition for his revolutionary writings and spent a year in jail. After his release, he continued to write and publish, and his fame grew. In 1929, he met and fell in love with a young Hindu woman named Pramila Devi, and they were married the following year. This caused a scandal at the time because of their different religious backgrounds.

During the 1930s, Nazrul's health began to decline, and he suffered from a number of physical and mental health problems. He was also struggling financially, and his family lived in poverty. In 1942, he suffered a severe stroke that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak or write for several years.

After the partition of India in 1947, Nazrul and his family moved to what is now Bangladesh. He continued to write and compose music, but his health continued to deteriorate, and he spent the last years of his life bedridden. He died on August 29, 1976, at the age of 77.

Nazrul's legacy is enormous. He wrote more than 3,000 songs, as well as poems, essays, and plays. He is remembered for his fierce patriotism, his love of freedom and equality, and his contributions to Bengali literature and music. He was posthumously awarded the Ekushey Padak, Bangladesh's second-highest civilian award, in 1976.