Early Bengali literature written with the Newari script

Some of the earliest known examples of the written Bengali language are from a 10th-12th century anthology discovered in 1907 by Mahamahopadhyay Haraprasad Shastri, written on palm leaves. They are part of the Charyapada, which was intended to be sung as part of a tantric ritual, and other parts of which are written in Assamese, Oriya and Maithili. Some sources (K. Ayyappa Paniker, Medieval Indian Literature, p 24) claim that much of the Bengali text was written in the Newari script, although other sources claim that Newari writing is not attested until much later.

At around the same time in the early 20th century, a number of 18th century plays were discovered in Bhaktapur, Nepal, written in the Bengali language using the Newari script. The titles of the plays are The Lamentation of Vidya, the Mahabharata, The Life of Rama, and Madhavanal Kamakandala. These works are believed to have been written by Bengalis who had been living in Nepal for some time, as there are some Nepali and Maithili words interspersed throughout the text. The plays were written during the reigns of the last two Malla kings, Bhupatindra and Ranajit, who are known for being great patrons of learning and who invited scholars from all over the Indian subcontinent to their court. These included a number of influential Bengali Brahmins, which may account for the presence of these plays in Bhaktapur, the old Nepali capital city. These plays are discussed further in Chapter 6 of P. Guha-Thakurta’s The Bengali Drama.

This article formerly appeared on ScriptSource.