Basantaka (Calcutta: Board of Principals, Chorbagan Balika Bidyalaya, 1874-1875)

Basantaka on FID4SA Repository

Basantak started publication from 31^st of January 1874, just one month after the appearance of the first cartoon magazine in Bangla, Harabola Bhand. Prananath Datta, the editor of this periodical, was an activist of the Municipal Movement in Calcutta. The main demand of the movement was active participation of Indians in the Calcutta Corporation. This illustrated periodical with cartoons on the mismanagement of the city, its thoughtless implementation of arbitrary laws and various caricatures on social issues was used as a tool to justify the cause of the Municipal Movement. The illustrator of Basantak was Girindrakumar Datta, an activist of the movement. The periodical continued only for two years, but is a landmark in the history of political cartoons in the Bangla language.

Editors:

Prananath Datta
Yogendracandra Gupta

Illustrator:

Girindrakumar Datta

Custodian of microfilm copies:

Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, Kolkata, W.B., India

Vol.1, no.1 (January, 1874) - Vol. 2, no.12 (December, 1875)

Custodian of paper copies:

Bangiya Sahitya Parishat, Kolkata, W.B., India