Byomkesh Bakshi

Byomkesh Bakshi is an Indian-Bengali fictional detective

Byomkesh Bakshi
created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Referring to himself as a
"truth-seeker" in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency
with observation, logical reasoning, and forensic science which he
uses to solve complicated cases, usually murders. Initially
appearing in the 1931 story Satyanweshi, the character's popularity
immensely increased in Bengal and other parts of India.

Byomkesh is a Hindu and wears mostly a white shirt with a white

dhoti. He does not live in luxury but possess numerous books. He
travels frequently, and does not own a gun and does not consider Rajit Kapur as Bakshi in the 1993-
himself to be an "expensive helper". His habits include smoking, 97 critically acclaimed TV series
and drinking lots of cups of tea with milk. He fluently speaks
First Satyanweshi
Bengali, Hindi, and English.
appearance
Both of Byomkesh' names have since entered the Bengali language Last Bishupal Bodh
to describe someone who is both intelligent and observant. It is also appearance
used sarcastically to mean someone who states the obvious. Created by Sharadindu
Bandyopadhyay
Portrayed Uttam Kumar
Contents by Ajoy Ganguli
Shyamal Ghosal
Character
Rajit Kapur
Byomkesh stories
Sudip Mukherjee
List of stories
Saptarshi Roy
In other media Subhrajit Dutta
See also Gaurav Chakrabarty
References Anirban
Bhattacharya
Jisshu Sengupta
Character Abir Chatterjee
Parambrata
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's most well known character
Chatterjee
Byomkesh Bakshi first appeared as a character in the story
Dhritiman Chatterjee
Satyanweshi (The Inquisitor). The story is set in 1931 in the
Sushant Singh
Chinabazar area of Kolkata where a 'non-government detective'
Rajput
Byomkesh Bakshi, owing to the permission from the police
Agnibesh
commissioner, starts living in a mess in that area under the
Chakrabarti
pseudonym of Atul Chandra Mitra to probe a series of murders. Roneet Sinha
Most of the stories are written by Sharadindu under the pen name Saikat Hasan Dip
of Ajit Bandhopadhay who is said to have met Byomkesh in the Information
mess at Chinabazar. Byomkesh Bakshi is described in Satyanweshi
Gender Male
as "a man of twenty-three or twenty-four years of age who looked
Title Satyanweshi
well educated." Later in the story it comes to be known that
Byomkesh lives on a three-story rented house at Harrison Road. Occupation Private investigator
The only other person living with him, is his attendant, Putiram. At Family Satyabati (wife)
the request of Byomkesh, Ajit starts living in the house with them. Khoka (son)
It is also mentioned that Byomkesh did not like being called a Ajit Bandopaddhyay
detective, and the word 'investigator' was even worse. Thus he (right hand and
fashioned a new name for himself and had it inscribed on a brass writer)
plate in front of his house. The plaque read "Byomkesh Bakshi Spouse Satyabati
Satyanweshi" (The Inquisitor). Unlike other lead characters in
Children Khoka, Abhimanyu
detective stories, Byomkesh Bakshi marries, ages, contemplates
Bakshi (son)
buying a car, etc. When Sukumar is charged with murder in the
story ‘Arthamanartham’, Byomkesh meets Satyabati, Sukumar's Nationality Indian
sister, whom he later marries. In the story Adim Ripu, there is
some information about Byomkesh's early childhood. His father Mahadev Bakshi was a mathematics teacher
at a school and practised Sankhya philosophy at home while his mother was the daughter of a Vaishnavite.
When Byomkesh was seventeen years old, his parents died of tuberculosis. Later, Byomkesh passed University
with scholarship. During the Second World War and after India's independence, Byomkesh, Satyabati and Ajit
live in the mess house of Harrison Road. It was the author's imagination, that the detective even assisted
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in his secret missions which was found to be written in one of the Byomkesh stories.
Later, they decide to buy land in Keyatala in South Kolkata and shift to their new home.

Byomkesh stories
Saradindu Bandopadhyay penned 32 Byomkesh stories from 1932 to 1970 prior to his death. In his early
stories, Ajit Bandhopadhyay is described as his companion, and chronicler of his stories. But in some cases Ajit
also investigates in absence of Byomkesh (Makorshar Rosh, Shoilo Rahasya). These stories are all written in
traditional formal Bengali language but later stories shift to more colloquial language. Sometimes the later
stories are not penned by Ajit, as he is much more engaged in his publication business.

The stories are not very complicated but very engaging, with a long series of surprising events. The stories
present a range of crimes, from the first story, Satyanweshi, where Byomkesh destroys an international drug
racket, to household mysteries and crimes like Arthamanartham, Makorshar Rosh, etc, all are equally
enjoyable. Byomkesh gradually ages through the series, and he has a son called Khoka (little boy) in the series.
Sharadindu did not want to continue the Byomkesh stories, which is why he stopped writing Byomkesh stories
from 1938 to 1951. During that time he was busy writing scripts for films in Bombay. After his return to West
Bengal, there was still a demand for Byomkesh stories and so he wrote Chitrachor (Picture Imperfect) in 1951
and gradually on to 1970, when his last story "Bishupal Badh" (Killing of Bishupal) was not completed owing
to his untimely death.

List of stories
In the Byomkesh series there are 32 published and 1 unpublished stories. The list is chronologically arranged.

Color key

◾ indicates "story".
◾ indicates "novel".
◾ indicates unfinished writings.
 Year of Characters
Novel/Story English title
publicaton Ajit Satyabati

Satyanweshi The Inquisitor 1932 Yes No

The Gramaphone
Pother Kanta 1932 Yes No
Pin Mystery

The Hidden
Seemanto-heera 1932 Yes No
Heirloom

The Venom of the

Makorshar Rosh 1933 Yes No
Tarantula

Where there is a
Arthamanartham 1933 Yes Yes
Will

Chorabali Quicksand 1933 Yes No

Agnibaan Calamity Strikes 1935 Yes No

An Encore for
Uposonghaar 1935 Yes No
Byomkesh

The Deadly
Roktomukhi Neela 1936 Yes No
Diamond

Byomkesh O Byomkesh and

1936 Yes No
Boroda Boroda

Chitrochor Picture Imperfect 1951 Yes Yes

The Mystery of the

Durgo Rahasya 1952 Yes
Fortress

Chiriyakhana The Menagerie 1953 Yes No

The Pristine
Adim Ripu 1955 Yes No
Enemy

The Moth and the

Banhi-patanga 1956 Yes
Flame

Rokter Daag The Bloodstains 1956 Yes Yes

Monimondon The Jewel Case 1958 Yes

The Death of
Amriter Mrityu 1959 Yes
Amrito

The Phantom
Shailo Rahasya 1959 Yes
Client

Achin Pakhi The Avenger 1960 Yes

Thus Spoke the

Kohen Kobi Kalidas 1961 Yes
Poet Kalidasa

The Invisible
Adrishyo Trikon 1961 Yes
Triangle

Khuji Khuji Nari The Will that 1961 Yes

Vanished
 Year of Characters
Novel/Story English title
publicaton Ajit Satyabati

Adwitiyo One and Only 1961 Yes

Mognomoinak The Magnificent 1963 Yes

The Crooked
Dushtochokro 1963 Yes
Circle

The Rhythm of the

Henyalir Chhondo 1964 Yes Yes
Riddles

Room Nombor Dui Room Number 2 1964 No Yes

The Man in a Red

Cholonar Chhondo 1965 No Yes
Coat

The Quills of the

Shajarur Kanta 1967 No Yes
Porcupine

The Annihilation of
Benishonghar 1968 No Yes
Beni

Lohar Biskut The Iron Biscuits 1969 No Yes

Bishupal Bodh The Annihilation of

1970
(unfinished) Bishu Paal[1]

In other media
The Byomkesh Bakshi stories have been adapted into several television series, radio programs, audio dramas,
films, and video games.

The 1993-97 Byomkesh Bakshi television series, created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, and starring Rajit
Kapur as Bakshi, and K.K. Raina as Ajit respectively, became the most critically acclaimed and most celebrated
adaptation of the character.[2][3]

There have been 20 Bakshi movies, with Abir Chatterjee portraying the character 7 times.
The satyanweshi audio drama series brought byomkesh novels in malayalam language in a youtube channel
Aneesh See Yay</ref>"Satyanweshi" (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Upwzo0R_Q8rEDzVcJ7agA).
<ref>

See also
◾ Parashor Barma
◾ Kiriti Roy
◾ Feluda

References
1. "Stories" (https://byomkesh.com/stories/). 25 December 2009.
2. "Byomkesh Bakshi (1993, 1997)" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157217/).
3. "Off the beaten track: TV show Byomkesh Bakshi is popular even now" (http://www.hindustantimes.com/t
v/off-the-beaten-track-tv-show-byomkesh-bakshi-is-popular-even-now/story-VuV7pmDwxI6Qv5SPuKKAS
I.html). Hindustan Times. Retrieved 11 August 2016.

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This page was last edited on 15 November 2019, at 13:15 (UTC).

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