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{{Short description|Hindi poet and writer (1907–2003)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Harivansh Rai Bachchan
| image = Harivansh Rai Bachchan 2003 stamp of India.jpg
| alt = Harivansh Rai Bachchan's portrait on a 2003 stamp of India
| caption = Bachchan on a 2003 stamp of India
| birth_name = Harivansh Rai Srivastava
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|11|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Babupatti]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2003|01|18|1907|11|27}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], India
| occupation = {{hlist|Poet|writer}}
| language = [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] and [[Hindi]]
| pseudonym = Bachchan
| alma_mater = [[Allahabad University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|B.A]])<br />[[St Catharine's College, Cambridge]] ([[PhD]])
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Shyama Bachchan|1926|1936|end=died}}<br />{{marriage|[[Teji Bachchan]]|1941}}}}
| children = 2 (including [[Amitabh Bachchan]])<ref>{{Cite book|title=In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography|author= Harivansh Rai Bachchan, R |publisher=Penguin books |year=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWquGT2c6DkC&pg=PA327|page=327|quote=When we entered Amit for school, we adopted 'Bachcha' as our family name, registering him as 'Amitabh Bachchan'; and when our second son was born, he was called 'Ajitabh Bachchan'|isbn= 9780140276633 }}</ref>
| relatives = [[Bachchan family]]
| parents =
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]] (1976)
| module = {{Infobox officeholder
| embed = yes
| office = [[Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://164.100.47.5/Newmembers/since1952.aspx |title=Nominated Members Since 1952 |website=164.100.47.5 |access-date=19 March 2020}}</ref>
| term_start1 = 3 April 1966
| term_end1 = 2 April 1972
| constituency1 = Nominated
| signature = HarivanshRaiBachchan Autograph Hindi&Urdu.jpg
}}}}

'''Harivansh Rai Bachchan''' ({{ne|'''Srivastava'''}}; 27 November 1907 {{endash}} 18 January 2003) was an Indian poet and writer of the Nayi Kavita literary movement (romantic upsurge) of early 20th century [[Hindi literature]]. He was also a poet of the [[Kavi sammelan|Hindi Kavi Sammelan]]. Bachchan is best known for his early work ''[[Madhushala]]''.<ref name=obituary>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20100822142158/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2003/stories/20030214007511800.htm Harivanshrai Bachchan, 1907–2003]}} Obituary, Frontline, (''[[The Hindu]]''), 1–14 February 2003.</ref> He was the father of [[Amitabh Bachchan]], and grandfather of [[Shweta Bachchan Nanda]] and [[Abhishek Bachchan]]. His wife [[Teji Bachchan]] was a social activist. In 1976, he received the [[Padma Bhushan]] for his service to Hindi literature.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

== Early life ==
Bachchan was born in [[Babupatti]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]] in [[British Raj|British India]] on 27 November 1907 into a [[Hindu]] [[Kayastha]] family.<ref>{{Cite web|date=25 November 2016|title=खुली किताब सा जीवन : हरिवंश राय बच्चन की जीवनी के चार खंड!|url=https://hindi.thebetterindia.com/2951/harivanshrai-bachchan-autobiography-snippets/|access-date=5 August 2020|website=The Better India - Hindi|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Harivansh Rai Bachchan {{!}} Indian poet |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harivansh-Rai-Bachchan |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=17 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref> His family name was [[Srivastava]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Harivansh Rai Bachchan|title=kya bhulun kya yaad karu|pages=11–12|language=en}}</ref> He began using the pen name "Bachchan" (meaning child) for his Hindi poetry. From 1941 to 1957, he taught in the English Department at the [[Allahabad University]] and then spent the next two years at [[St Catharine's College, Cambridge]], completing a PhD regarding [[W. B. Yeats]].<ref name=obituary />

== Personal life ==
Bachchan married Shyama in 1926 who died of [[tuberculosis]] in 1936. In 1941, he married [[Teji Bachchan|Teji Suri]].<ref>{{cite news |title=इस बीमारी से हुई थी हरिवंश राय की पहली पत्नी की डेथ, इनसे की दूसरी शादी |url=https://www.bhaskar.com/news/ENT-FLAS-harivansh-rai-bachchan-death-sisteenth-anniversary-news-hindi-5507471-PHO.html |access-date=1 June 2023 |work=Dainik Bhaskar |date=2017 |language=hi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=एक अफेयर से लेकर दो शादियों तक, ऐसी थी Amitabh Bachchan के पिता हरिवंश राय की ज़िंदगी |url=https://www.abplive.com/entertainment/life-facts-about-harivansh-rai-bachchan-1691718 |access-date=1 June 2023 |work=ABP News |date=24 December 2020 |language=hi}}</ref> Their elder son [[Amitabh Bachchan]] was born on 11 October 1942, followed by their younger son, Ajitabh, on 18 May 1947.<ref>{{cite news |last=Singh |first=Yash |date=6 December 2023 |title=Who is Ajitabh Bachchan |url= https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/news/who-is-ajitabh-bachchan-younger-brother-of-amitabh-bachchan-spotted-at-the-archies-screening-with-family-1263620 |work=Pinkvilla |access-date=6 December 2023}}</ref>

He had used the pen name Bachchan ("child-like" in colloquial Hindi), under which he published all of his works.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sreemita |date=28 July 2011 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/I-am-proud-of-my-surname-Amitabh-Bachchan/articleshow/9393354.cms |title=I am proud of my surname Amitabh Bachchan |archive-date=30 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830194021/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/I-am-proud-of-my-surname-Amitabh-Bachchan/articleshow/9393354.cms |url-status=live |work=The Times of India |access-date=26 July 2017 }}</ref> When looking to get their elder son admitted to a school, he and Teji decided the family's surname should be Bachchan instead of [[Srivastava]], as both parents opposed the [[Indian caste system|caste system]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/amitabh-bachchan-got-his-surname-bacause-of-caste-system-1.65525580 |title=Amitabh Bachchan got his surname because of caste system |archive-date=2 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002091321/https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/amitabh-bachchan-got-his-surname-bacause-of-caste-system-1.65525580 |url-status=live |work=Gulf News |agency=IANS |date=30 July 2019 |access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref> Thus, it became the legal surname of the family.<ref>{{Cite book |title=In The Afternoon Time |last=Bachchan |first=Harivansh Rai |publisher=Viking Pr |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-670-88158-1}}</ref> He was close friends with the Hindi cinema thespian [[Prithviraj Kapoor]].

Bachchan died on 18 January 2003 due to respiratory failure.<ref>{{cite news |title=Thousands mourn poet Bachchan |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2673563.stm |work=BBC |date=19 January 2003 |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Harivansh Rai Bachchan passes away |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/harivansh-rai-bachchan-passes-away/articleshow/34750354.cms |work=The Times of India |date=18 January 2003 |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref>

==Writing career==
Bachchan was fluent in several [[Hindi languages]] ([[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] and [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]]).<ref name="West-Pavlov">{{cite book |last=West-Pavlov |first=Russell |title=The Global South and Literature |date=2018 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781108246316 |page=167 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMdJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA167}}</ref> He incorporated a broadly Hindustani vocabulary,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Mukesh |last2=Wanchoo |first2=Rohit |title=Representing India: Literatures, Politics, and Identities |date=2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195692266 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uYTAQAAIAAJ |quote=Harivansh Rai Bachchan recalled how some of the Urdu vocabulary used by audiences in appreciating poetic recitals in Hindi kavi sammelans was consciously changed to Sanskritized Hindi creating an artificial Hindi idiom.}}</ref> written in [[Devanagari script]].<ref name="West-Pavlov"/> While he could not read [[Persian script]],<ref name="West-Pavlov"/> he was influenced by [[Persian poetry|Persian]] and [[Urdu poetry]], particularly [[Omar Khayyam]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gopal |first=Madan |title=Origin and development of Hindi/Urdu literature |date=1996 |publisher=Deep & Deep Publications |page=204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D8djAAAAMAAJ |quote=He was influenced by Persian and Urdu poetry, especially by Omar Khayyam and started versifying in the Bachchalian style.}}</ref>

==Works used in movies==
Bachchan's work has been used in movies and music. [[Couplet]]s from his work "Agneepath" are used throughout the 1990 film ''[[Agneepath (1990 film)|Agneepath]]'', featuring his son Amitabh, and also later in the 2012 remake ''[[Agneepath (2012 film)|Agneepath]]'', starring [[Hrithik Roshan]], as well as in the TV serial ''[[Ishqbaaz]]''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0045394/ Harivansh Rai Bachchan (1907–2003)]. IMDb</ref>

{{cquote|Miṭṭī kā tan, mastī kā man, kṣan bhar jīvan, merā paricay. <br />(मिट्टी का तन, मस्ती का मन, क्षण भर जीवन, मेरा परिचय)<br /> (Body of clay, mind of fun, life of a moment, my introduction)<ref name=obituary />
}}

===List of works===
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2023}}
{{col-begin}}

{{col-3}}
; Poems
* [[Chal Mardane]]
* [[Barsaat Ki Aati Hawa]]
* [[Tera Haar]] (तेरा हार) (1932)
* [[Madhushala]] (मधुशाला) (1935)
* Madhubala (मधुबाला) (1936)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bachhan |first1=Harivansh Rai |title=Madhubala by Harivansh Rai Bachchan |url=https://www.rekhta.org/ebooks/madhubala-harivansh-rai-bachchan-ebooks |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Madhukalash]] (मधुकलश) (1937)
* [[Raat Aadhi Kheench Kar Meri Hatheli]]
* [[Nisha Nimantran]] (निशा निमंत्रण) (1938)
* [[Ekaant Sangeet]] (एकांत संगीत) (1939)
* [[Aakul Antar]] (आकुल अंतर) (1943)
* [[Satarangini]] (सतरंगिनी) (1945)
* [[Halaahal]] (हलाहल) (1946)
* [[Bengal ka Kaavya]] (बंगाल का काव्य) (1946)
* [[Khaadi ke Phool]] (खादी के फूल) (1948)
* [[Soot ki Maala]] (सूत की माला) (1948)
* [[Milan Yamini]] (मिलन यामिनी) (1950)
* [[Pranay Patrika]] (प्रणय पत्रिका) (1955)
* [[Dhaar ke idhar udhar]] (धार के इधर उधर) (1957)
* [[Aarti aur Angaare]] (आरती और अंगारे) (1958)
* [[Buddha aur Naachghar]] (बुद्ध और नाचघर) (1958)
* [[Tribhangima]] (त्रिभंगिमा) (1961)
* [[Chaar kheme Chaunsath khoonte]] (चार खेमे चौंसठ खूंटे) (1962)
* [[Do Chattane]] (दो चट्टानें) (1965)
* [[Bahut din beete]] (बहुत दिन बीते) (1967)
* [[Kat-ti pratimaaon ki awaaz]] (कटती प्रतिमाओं की आवाज़) (1968)
* [[Ubharte pratimaano ke roop]] (उभरते प्रतिमानों के रूप) (1969)
* [[Jaal sameta]] (जाल समेटा) (1973)
* [[Nirman]] (निर्माण)
* [[Aathmaparichai]] (आत्मपरिचय)
* [[Ek Geet]] (एक गीत)
* [[Bhool gaya hai kyun insaan]] (भूल गया है क्यों इंसान)
* [[Agneepath (poem)|Agneepath]] (अग्निपथ)
{{col-3}}

; Miscellaneous

* Bachpan ke saath kshan bhar (बचपन के साथ क्षण भर) (1934)
* Khaiyyam ki madhushala (खय्याम की मधुशाला) (1938)
* Sopaan (सोपान) (1953)
* Macbeth (मेकबेथ)(1957)
* Jangeet (जनगीता) (1958)
* Omar Khaiyyam ki rubaaiyan (उमर खय्याम की रुबाइयाँ) (1959)
* Kaviyon ke saumya sant: Pant (कवियों के सौम्य संत: पंत) (1960)
* Aaj ke lokpriya Hindi kavi: Sumitranandan Pant (आज के लोकप्रिय हिन्दी कवि: सुमित्रानंदन पंत) (1960)
* Aadhunik kavi: 7 (आधुनिक कवि: ७) (1961)
* Nehru: Raajnaitik jeevanchitra (नेहरू: राजनैतिक जीवनचित्र) (1961)
* Naye puraane jharokhe (नये पुराने झरोखे) (1962)
* Abhinav sopaan (अभिनव सोपान) (1964)
* Chausath roosi kavitaayein (चौसठ रूसी कवितायें) (1964)
* W. B. Yeats and Occultism (1968)
* Markat dweep ka swar (मरकट द्वीप का स्वर) (1968)
* Naagar geet (नागर गीत) (1966)
* Bachpan ke lokpriya geet (बचपन के लोकप्रिय गीत) (1967)
* Hamlet (1969)
* Bhaasha apni bhaav paraaye (भाषा अपनी भाव पराये) (1970)
* Pant ke sau patra (पंत के सौ पत्र) (1970)
* Pravaas ki diary (प्रवास की डायरी) (1971)
* King Lear (1972)
* Tooti Chooti kadiyan (टूटी छूटी कड़ियां) (1973)
* Meri kavitaayi ki aadhi sadi (मेरी कविताई की आधी सदी) (1981)
* So-ham hans (सोहं हंस) (1981)
* Aathve dashak ki pratinidhi shreshth kavitaayein (आठवें दशक की प्रतिनिधी श्रेष्ठ कवितायें) (1982)
* Meri shreshth kavitaayein (मेरी श्रेष्ठ कवितायें) (1984)
* Jo beet gai so Bat gai

{{col-3}}

;Autobiography

* Kya bhooloon kya yaad karoon (क्या भूलूं क्या याद करूं) (1969)
* Neerh ka nirmaan phir (नीड़ का निर्माण फिर) (1970)
* Basere se door (बसेरे से दूर) (1977)
* Dashdwaar se sopaan tak (दशद्वार से सोपान तक) (1985), In the Afternoon of Time<ref>{{Cite book|title=In the Afternoon of Time: An Autobiography: Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Rupert Snell, Baccana, Harivansh Rai BacHChhan: 9780670881581: Amazon.com: Books |date=1 April 1998 |isbn = 0670881589|author1=Baccana |last2=Bachchan |first2=Harivansh Rai }}</ref>
* Bachchan rachanavali ke nau khand (बच्चन रचनावली के नौ खण्ड)
{{col-end}}

== See also ==
* [[List of Indian writers|Indian Writers]]
* [[List of Indian poets|Indian Poets]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

== Further reading ==
# Kaveendra, Anil Pushker. ''Harivanshrai Bachchan Ki Anuvad Drishti'' (Hindi) (Hardcover) (2013). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140415093344/http://www.rubypressco.in/ Ruby Press & Co.], New Delhi. {{ISBN|978-93-82395-20-1}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1970–79}}
{{Saraswati Samman}}
{{Sahitya Akademi Award For Hindi}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachchan, Harivansh Rai}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Hindi-language poets]]
[[Category:Writers from Prayagraj]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Bachchan family|Harivansh]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University alumni]]
[[Category:Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha]]
[[Category:Awadhi people]]

Harivansh Rai Bachchan - Revision history

Addie15A4298 at 18:45, 24 April 2026