These illiterate poets have sung their songs in simple Bengali words with a rhythm of inspiration. There are some Urdu words in these songs, and we have no reason to object to that. Over the past five to six hundred years, the Bengali language has become a part of both Hindus and Muslims. The religious scriptures and social ideals of Muslims are largely recorded in Arabic and Persian literature, and the knowledge of that literature is essential for their daily activities. Just as we have a connection with Sanskrit, they also have some connection with Arabic and Persian. Moreover, Muslims have been in possession of state power until now, and for various reasons, there has been some interaction between Bengali vernacular and Urdu.
Muslims are our neighbors, and it is impossible for us to avoid them in any way. For this reason, the language of the immediate western regions of India has mixed to some extent with the Bengali language, and it has become an integral part of our everyday speech. This mixed language has penetrated even into the cottages of our farmers and the inner sanctums of Hindus. It can no longer be excluded from the Bengali dictionary.
However, the Hindu writers, while speaking certain words, transform them into something else when they write, influenced by the strong impact of Sanskrit. The word 'khajana', which is spoken and heard a hundred times, becomes 'rajashva' in their writings— the well-known 'ijjat' stands as 'honor'. In this way, 'jabar-dasti' becomes 'by force', 'dusti' turns into 'friendship', 'jomi' is written as 'earth', 'asman' becomes 'sky', and hundreds of other commonly used foreign words, which have taken on a local form in the Bengali climate, are compelled to give up their place in written literature to the Sanskrit intruder. At one time, the scholars of Fort William College had imported massive Sanskrit words into Bengali literature, turning this language's humble abode into a grand hall, which became laughable. In the same way, the scholars of Arabic-Persian are still creating a bizarre entity called Muslim Bengali by using inadequate and illegitimate words from the two languages.
Indeed, Muslim Bengali and scholarly Bengali are neither of them the true essence of Bengali; they are a mockery of our language and should be entirely avoided. Language is not a preserve of scholars or clerics. It is nourished by the climate and light of the country. It moves along its own living path, discarding and accepting as it wishes, and does not seek to be recognized by the imprint of any teacher on its forehead.
In the Mymensingh Geetika, we find the essence of the Bengali language. Due to centuries of cohabitation, the languages of Hindus and Muslims have become a common heritage. It is the language of all Bengalis. In this case, there is no distinction of caste. The Urdu elements in this Mymensingh Geetika have been incorporated to the extent that they have genuinely become Bengali in this land. This literary work belongs to both Hindus and Muslims, and there is nothing here for the scholars to be overly concerned about. Among the writers, there are as many Hindus as there are Muslims. In this literature, we also find Hindu heroes, Muslim heroines, and Muslim heroes and Hindu heroines. The poets have often recorded the actual events they have heard. Feeling a lack of opportunity for free love in Hindu households, Bankim Chandra took refuge in Muslim Aysha. This is not a result of Muslim animosity. The introduction of English narrative elements into Bengali literature is inevitable, thus on one hand, an unprecedented character of societal disruption has been conceived, while on the other hand, to fulfill the writer's heartfelt desire, Aysha has been drawn from the Muslim community. Bankim Babu created these characters for his own convenience in literature.
The Muslims, however, have taken this matter as a sign of ethnic prejudice. They do not like it at all. Nowadays, many Muslim writers are showing Hindu women as admirers of Muslim heroes in retaliation for Bankim's actions. However, in the songs of Mymensingh, I do not see any such cross-sectional sentiment or signs of ethnic prejudice. The Muslim poet Kalidas Gajdani has unreservedly described the love between him and Momina Khatun, and alongside that, there is a depiction of Kedar Ray's sister, who is in love with Ishakhan. In another verse, the Brahmin Jaychandra has fallen in love with a Muslim woman, and in yet another, there is a love story between Suratjamal and the Brahmin princess Adhura. The audience for all these folk songs includes both Hindus and Muslims. The deity who plays and smiles over the tender emotions of the heart does not acknowledge caste distinctions, even if he is conceived by Hindus. These verses contain not a trace of ethnic prejudice; they stand on the pedestal of true events, attracting the audience's affection with their inherent glory.
Hindus and Muslims had lived together in mutual affection for many centuries, and this is irrefutably evidenced in these songs. There are many instances of the oppression by the Dewan Sahibs, but it would be unjust to label it as 'Muslim oppression.' This oppression is the strong oppressing the weak, the debauchery of the debauched—there is no state name for this; it is not an event related to the religion or ethnicity of Hindus and Muslims. On one hand, Dewan Jahangir is oppressing the Maluwars, while on the other hand, he is hanging a Muslim kazi without any trial. On one side, Dewan Bhavna is forcibly taking Sonai, while on the other side, Sonai's maternal uncle, the Brahmin Kulagaurav Bhatuk Thakur, is helping him. On one side, we see the oppressive kazi, Dewan Jahangir, and Dewan Bhavna—on the other side, we witness the treacherous oppressive Hindu Kulatilak Hiran Sadhu and the ruthless figure of Abu Raja of Magadhipati Ranchapur.
Indeed, during that era, the oppression of the powerful was everywhere. If the king had been good, there would have been no limit to the happiness of the subjects. The children of the peasants would play with golden toys, people would build brick houses by selling banana leaves, and those selling grass would aspire to buy elephants. People would dry their wealth wherever they pleased, and even if precious gems were left on the road, there would be no trouble from thieves. On the other hand, if the king or the ministers were oppressive, the peasants would not find relief even by selling their plows, yokes, and sickles; they would sell their milk-producing children due to excessive taxes. The oppressive jail of Dewan Dulal of Baniyachong is not described as less cruel than the jails of the Sinhalese kingdom.
Therefore, the oppression of the weak is a historically established phenomenon, and it should not be used as an occasion to incite communal hatred by labeling it as Hindu or Muslim. During Muslim rule, Muslims held more state power, which may have resulted in a greater number of oppressors among them—but this fault does not belong to any particular class of power. In Vijay Gupta's Padma Purana, it is seen that on one side, an oppressive Muslim is taking the sacred thread from a Brahmin and spitting in his face, while on the other side, a Hindu cowherd is pulling the beard of a Muslim Qazi and smearing his face with goat's blood; thus, neither side is lesser.
The Bengali language is a variant of Prakrit. However, the scholars of the tols have introduced inadequate Sanskrit words into this language, thereby altering its beauty; for this reason, some may think that the Bengali language has originated from Sanskrit. Reading the literature from before the Sanskrit era, especially these songs, will clear up that misunderstanding. It will be clearly understood how close pure Bengali is to Prakrit and how far it is from Sanskrit. In all these verses, words like 'হস্তী' (hasti) are used as 'আত্তি' (atti), 'বর্ষা' (barsha) as 'বাস্যা' (basyā), 'শ্রাবণ' (Shravan) as 'শাওন' (Shaon), 'মিষ্ট' (misht) as 'মিডা' (mida), and 'শিকার' (shikar) as 'শিগার' (shigar) in a Prakrit manner. Even now, farmers converse in this language in the villages. The scholars of the tol have confused us; we are identifying the modified language, corrected with the help of dictionaries, as the Bengali language. Bharat Chandra carried out this modification in such a way that some of his composed Bengali hymns, when written in Nagari script, could be accepted as pure Sanskrit.
Note: November 20 marks the death anniversary of the renowned historian of Bengali literature, the discoverer of 'Bengal', writer, and cultural activist Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen. On this occasion, this important piece of writing is being shared with the readers of 'Akhra'. The text is extracted from the introduction of 'Mymensingh Geetika', edited by Dinesh Chandra Sen.