The Portrayal of Agriculture and Farmers in the Medieval Bengali Literature

Literature is a reflection of social life, just as it is of human life. It is not possible to create literature without society. As a result, unconsciously or subconsciously, the literary work of a writer reflects contemporary politics, religion, economy, society and culture, which then becomes part of history and is deliberated as one of the sources of history by historians. At the beginning of the medieval period, various Mangal Kavyas began to be composed; such as Srikrishnakirtana, Chandimangal, Manasamangala, Dharmamangala, Chaitanya-Mangala, Chaitanyach-aritramrita, Shivayan or Shivmangala, Annandamangala etc., portrayed various aspects of contemporary social life, culture and social history. Although many descriptions of these literary contents are not considered direct sources of history, various socio-economic and political descriptions have been directly and metaphorically expressed. The main component of contemporary society, agriculture and the daily activities of farmers, are reflected in these literary pieces. Therefore, medieval Bengal literary elements are cherished as one of the most important documents in the history of Bengal as well as the Indian sub-continent. Furthermore, various rudiments of history are hidden in literature like diamonds exploration and application. In this article, attempts have been made to shed light on Bengal’s agriculture including agricultural production, the condition of the farmers with their social life and daily activities which are found to have been portrayed directly and symbolically in the available medieval literary works.