Kazi Nazrul Islam (25 May 1899–29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, musician, revolutionary, and philosopher who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against orthodoxy and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi (Rebel Poet). Accomplishing a large body of acclaimed works through his life, Nazrul is officially recognized as the national poet of Bangladesh.
Nazrul was born on 24 May 1899 in the village of Churulia in Burdwan, west bengal. His father, Kazi Fakir Ahmed, was the imam of a mosque and the caretaker of a mausoleum. After his father's death in 1908, Nazrul took up his father's job as caretaker and also served as muazzin of the mosque to support his family. He passed the lower primary examination from his village maktab.
After serving in the British Indian Army, Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He assailed the British Raj in India and preached revolution through his poetic works, such as "Bidrohi" ("The Rebel") and "Bhangar Gaan" ("The Song of Destruction"), as well as his publication "Dhumketu" ("The Comet").
Through his written Rajbandir Jabanbandi (a political prisoner's deposition) and his 40-day hunger strike, Nazrul protested against the harassment.
In accordance with a wish he had expressed in one of his poems, he was buried with state honor beside a mosque on the campus of the University of Dhaka.
