List of Bengali poets
This List of Bengali Poets includes poets who write in Bengali language who produce Bengali poetry. This list classifies poets into three groups based on geographical location. These are poets from Bangladesh, poets from West Bengal of India and poets from other parts of the world including Bengali Diaspora and non-Bengali people writing poetry in Bengali. However, the list starts with early Bengali poets to be followed by those who are identified not only with Indian sub-continent before partition in 1947, but also as founders of Bengali poetry. The list also contains separate sub-lists of “rhyme composers” and “song writers”. Finally, there are two sub-sets of woman poets and poets in exile.
Early poets
Siddhacharyas
The poets of the Charyapada, known as the Siddhacharyas, lived in eastern India and Nepal. The surviving 50 manuscripts contains the name of 24 Siddhacharyas including Lui Pa, Kukkuri Pa, Birua Pa, Gundari Pa, Chatil Pa, Bhusuku Pa, Kanha Pa, Kambalambar Pa, Dombi Pa, Shanti Pa, Mahitta Pa, Bina Pa, Saraha Pa, Shabar Pa, Aryadeb Pa, Dhendhan Pa, Darik Pa, Bhade Pa, Tadak Pa, Kankan Pa, Ja’anandi Pa, Dham Pa, Tanti Pa and Loridombi Pa. Most of these names were pseudonyms as the poets rejected Vedic Hinduism and profess Sahajayana Buddhism. Lui Pa is considered as the earliest poet of Charjapadas. Kanha Pa’s 11 poems survived which is the largest number among these poets.
Classical Poets
- Dhoyin or Dhoyi Sen
- Sandhyakar Nandi
- Vidyapati
- Jayadeva
- Chandidas
- Krittibas Ojha
- Khelaram Chakrabarty (c. 16th century)
- Dwija Madhab or Madhabacharya (c. 16th century)
- Rupram Chakrabarty (c. 17th century)
- Akinchan Chakrabarty (c. 18th century)
- Ghanaram Chakrabarty (c. 1669-?)
- Ramprasad Sen (c. 18th century)
- Aju Gossain (c. 18th century)
- Alaol
- Daulat Qazi
- Syed Sultan
- Bharatchandra Ray
Founders of modern Bengali poetry
- Iswarchandra Gupta
- Michael Madhusudan Dutta
- Nabinchandra Sen
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Jatindramohan Bagchi
- Dwijendralal Ray
- Satyendranath Dutta
- Kazi Nazrul Islam
- Mohitalal Majumdar
- Jibanananda Das
- Jasimuddin
- Amiya Chakravarty
- Bishnu Dey
- Sudhindranath Dutta
- Buddhadev Bose
- Sukanta Bhattacharya
- Ahsan Habib
- Farrukh Ahmad
- Syed Ali Ahsan
- Shamsur Rahman
- Al Mahmud
- Abul Hasan
- Quazi Johirul Islam
Bengali poets from other parts of the world
Hungryalist poets
Metrical poets
- Annadashankar Roy
- Sukumar Roy
- Farrukh Ahmad
- Shamsur Rahman
- Motiur Rahman Mollik (1950–2010)
- Abu Zafar Obaidullah
- Rafiqul Haque
- Fayez Ahmed
- Ekhlasuddin Ahmed
- Abdur Rahman
- Nirmalendu Goon
- Asad Chowdhury
- Mustafa Majid
- Bimal Guha
- Shahabuddin Nagari
Song composers
- Lalon Shah
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Dwijendralal Ray
- Atulprasad Sen
- Rajanikanta Sen
- Kazi Nazrul Islam
- Hason Raja
- Kangal Harinath
- Shah Abdul Karim
- Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal
- Shahabuddin Nagari
- Motiur Rahman Mollik
- Anjan Dutt
- Kabir Suman
- Nachiketa
- Gobinda Haldar
Poet of Kolkata
Poet of North Bengal
Bibliography
- Biletey Bishsotoker Bangla Kobi, Rabbani Choudhury, Agamee Prakashani, Dhaka 2000
- Bangladesher Gronthoponji Boimela 2009, Rabbani Choudhury, Agamee Prakashani, Dhaka 2009
- Shanghati Tritio Banglar Lekok Porichithi Boimela 2009, Shanghati Literary Society, UK