Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, or Chatterjee, the author of our National Song Vande Maataram is considered to be the pioneer of the revival of Bengali literature in the nineteenth century. His novels firmly established prose as a literary vehicle for the Bengali language and helped create in India a school of fiction on the European model. His work influenced thousands of writers including stalwarts like Rabindranath Tagore, Surendranath Dutt, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and many others.

The Definitive Bankim contains his major works like The Poison Tree, Rajmohans' Wife, Durgeshnandini, Kapalkundala and the English translation of the national song, Vande Maataram in verse form by Sri Aurobindo. Admired as a nationalist writer, Bankim Chandra Chatterer’s masterpieces have gone beyond the limited popularity of regional readers, and have been translated to wide acclaim.