Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European Nobel Laureate in literature, was born on May 7, 1861. Though known more as a poet, Tagore is much more than that. His genius enriched whatever he touched in the field of literature, painting, education, rural reconstruction, women emancipation, patriotism, universalism, politics, religion, science etc. Tagore reshaped Bengali literature and music through his beautiful verses and tender words. In 1913 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his book of verse, Gitanjali, a collection of poems from the Bengali Gitanjali and some other books, and translated to English by Tagore himself. Highly influenced by the folk songs and Baul culture of Bengal, Tagore introduced new prose and verse forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature. He took key part in 1905 Swadeshi movement during the partition of Bengal and introduced the Rakhi Bandhan Utsav. In 1915, he was awarded Knighthood from the British, but he renounced it in 1919 in protest of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Tagore traveled to many countries around the world including England, Germany, USA, France, China, Japan, Argentina etc. Wherever he went, he presented the best of Indian culture. His dream to bring the world under one nest came true through Visva-Bharati, in Santiniketan, which he had founded in 1918. He is also regarded as the first modern painter of India with outstanding creativity in modern art. Two of his compositions Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka and Amar Sonar Bangla are the National Anthem of India and Bangladesh respectively. After a prolonged illness, Tagore passed away on 7th August, 1941.
The objective of this website is to describe the persona of Tagore in minute detail. For that the Timeline approach has been used here, so that you can select a specific decade, and then a specific year within that decade to browse through the events in Tagore's life in each year. This way you can find great details on his life, his creations, his works, and above all Tagore as a person. The timeline starts from 1861, his birth year, and ends with 1941, when he died. The Before block covers the social and political events with influence on his life, and the After block covers the events reflecting the political and social changes in our life after his death. The Before events start from the birth of Raja Rammohan Roy in 1772, and the After events go up to 1955, when Satyajit Ray filmed Pather Panchali.
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Events focus Tagore as a poet, novelist, dramatist, educationist, idealist, patriot, world traveler and above all as a person symbolizes humanity. Events include: