The first Bengali novelist

Peary Chand Mitra was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. His pseudo name is Tekchand Thakur. He was a member of Henry Derozio's Young Bengal group, who played a leading role in the Bengal renaissance with the introduction of simple Bengali prose. His 'Alaler Gharer Dulal' pioneered the novel in the Bengali language, leading to a tradition taken up by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and others.
Mitra was born at Kolkata on 22 July 1814. His father, Ramnarayan Mitra, moved from Panisehala, Hughli District to Kolkata in early life and was one of those 18th century businessmen who made their fortunes as banians to European merchants and officials. As per the custom of the day, he started learning Persian at a young age and in 1827 joined the Hindu College, where he started learning English. While still a student he started a school in his own home to teach others in his locality what he learnt.
At some point in time his friends Rasik Krishna Mallick, Radhanath Sikdar and Sib Chandra Deb joined him to bolster his efforts. David Hare and Derozio helped him as well. Peary Chand Mitra started his career as a deputy librarian at Calcutta Public Library (1836), later becoming its librarian, and, still later, the secretary of the organization. He was involved with a number of enterprises. He was partner and director of several companies such as Great Eastern Hotel Company Ltd., Port Canning Grand Investment Co, and Howrah Docking Co. As a social and cultural activist, Peary Chand Mitra organized and managed many organizations that contributed to the Bengal renaissance. 

The organizations he was actively associated with were Association of General Knowledge (1830), Bengal British India Society (1843), David Hare Memorial Society (1844), Race Club (1847), Bethune Society (1851), and Agricultural and Horticultural Society (1847).

Peary Chand held a number of important honorific offices, such as Justice of Peace (1863), Fellow of Calcutta University (1864), Visitor to Jail and Juvenile Correction Centre (1864), Grand Juror of Calcutta High Court (1868-1870), member of the Bengal Legislative Council (1868-1870), and honorary magistrate of Calcutta Municipal Board.

To posterity, however, Peary Chand Mitra is particularly known for his contribution to the development of journalism and Bangla literature. He was a regular con