D is for Detectives of Bengali Fiction

Hi folks!

Going by our reading habits, we Bengalis would appear to be obsessed with murder! You would be hard put to find a reader of Bengali fiction who hasn’t or doesn’t love detective stories. More interestingly, you would be hard put to find a writer of Bengali fiction who hasn’t tried their hand at writing detective stories. From Nalini Das to Leela Majumdar and from Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay to Rabindranath Tagore, everyone has written about a detective or two.

Before I dive deeper into the topic, I have a confession. My original idea for this A2Z Challenge was this very topic. Unfortunately, though perhaps not unpredictably, I couldn’t find names for every letter of the alphabet. Which was exceedingly frustrating because, according to another post I came across, a survey conducted a few years ago found over 90 fictional detectives in Bengali literature. That number must have increased by now, yet, I couldn’t find fictional detectives whose names started with Q or Z or even N!

What I did find after scouring the internet, though, was a list of 20-25 of the most popular Bengali fictional detectives. Given that discussing all of them here will turn this post into a thesis, I’m going to talk about a dozen of them briefly. Maybe I’ll manage to do more detailed posting on this subject in the future, but until then, here’s my dirty dozen list of Bengali fiction’s most wanted—detectives, that is—in alphabetical order.

Arjun Roy – Created in 1983 by Sahitya Academy Award winner Samaresh Majumdar, Arjun is a young detective from the small town of Jalpaiguri. He is known for his down-to-earth and adventurous personality. He is also uniquely relatable, especially in his relationship with his mother and neighbours. In the 44-book series (last one published in 2019), he starts off as an assistant to his mentor, retired cop Amal Shome, but comes into his own as a detective later in the series. Several of his adventures have been adapted for TV, films, radio, and other platforms.

Byomkesh Bakshi – Probably one of the best known of Bengali fictional detectives, Byomkesh Bakshi was created by iconic author Saradindu Bandopadhyay in 1932. Known for his brilliant intellect and insistence on being considered a Satyanweshi (seeker of truth) rather than a detective or investigator, Byomkesh is accompanied by his close friend and chronicler Ajit Bandopadhyay. Unusually among fictional detectives, Byomkesh marries, has a son, ages, and makes other realistic life-choices over the 32-story series (last one in 1970, incomplete). There have been many adaptations of the stories in Bengali and Hindi, and even in Malayalam, including by renowned filmmakers like Satyajit Ray and Basu Chatterjee. In an episode of the hugely popular series The Big Bang Theory, Sherlock Holmes is called the “English Byomkesh Bakshi” in a twist from usual colonial norms.

Darogar Daptar – Written by Priyonath Mukhopadhyay, this was a series of true crime stories based on the author’s own experiences as a Daroga. These stories, published over two decades from 1892 to 1910 are one of the earliest instances of detective fiction found in Bengali literature. Immensely popular both at the time of publishing and later, this series contains stories of kidnappers, murderers, counterfeiters, dacoits, thieves, bodies, dismemberment, and a whole range of shocks and thrills!

Eken Babu – Though originally created in 1991, Eken Babu (real name Ekendra Sen) has gained huge popularity in recent years, thanks to the TV and movie adaptations of the books. In the books, Eken Babu is a brilliant police detective who looks like an ordinary Bengali man with plain looks and a comical manner. He is trained in criminology from the USA and solves crimes in his unique and atypical manner. He is accompanied by his friends Bapi and Promotho (who is also the chronicler) in the 33-story series that captures the life of expat Bengalis in New York beautifully.

Feluda – Created by the legendary Satyajit Ray in 1965, Feluda (real name Pradosh Chandra Mitter) is likely the best known of fictional detectives for young readers. Accompanied by his chronicler and cousin, Tapesh, and their close friend, hugely successful crime potboiler writer Lalmohan Ganguly aka Jatayu, he solves tricky crimes throughout India and even abroad. Feluda is avowedly inspired by Sherlock Holmes. He uses acute observation skills and clever deductions (often humorously called his Magajastra or Brain-weapon) as well as disguises and sometimes martial arts to catch criminals. Despite being “clean” as a result of being written for a young audience, these 35 novels and stories are massively popular among all age groups. Many of the stories have been adapted for films, television, and other media. Ray himself adapted two of the stories into films.

Gargi – Detective Gargi Banerjee, created by Sahitya Akademi Awardee Tapan Bandopadhyay in the 90s, is a student of mathematics at Calcutta University and an amateur detective. She solves murders as well as thefts of historically significant valuables using her sharp intellect and clever deductions. She is often helped by her husband Sayan Choudhuri after exonerating him from a crime for which he was framed. Some of the 30+ books have been adapted into films and audio series.

Jayanta-Manik – Arguably the first genuinely superhit Bengali fictional detective series, the Jayanta and Manik stories were written by prolific and legendary author Hemedra Kumar Roy. Starting in the 1930s, these books caught the public imagination due to their rootedness in Bengali society, culture, and ethos. Among the pair, Jayanta takes the lead though both are physically fit, patriotic, and intelligent amateur detectives who use latest scientific and forensic developments to solve mysteries. The stories also feature Inspector Sundar Babu, a rather comical character.

Krishna – Written by the pioneering author Prabhabati Debi Saraswti, the Detective Krishna books were a milestone in their own right. Possibly the first series in Bengali showcasing a female detective, especially one created by a female author (who was a contemporary and dear friend of Rabindranath Tagore as well as a noted activist for women’s development), Krishna’s adventures were a remarkable call to awaken women’s self-belief and confidence. Krishna Choudhury, a young, urban, bhadramohila detective, stormed onto the scene in 1952. Over 11 books, she faces down orthodoxy, misogyny, and chauvinism as much as murderers, kidnappers, dacoits, and other criminals.

Kiriti – Another fictional detective who caught the popular imagination when launched, Kirit Roy was the creation of author Nihar Ranjan Gupta. Starting in 1957, Kiriti solves all manners of crimes in more than 100 novels and stories, accompanied by his friend and assistant, Subrata Roy, and his wife, Krishna Mehta, a Parsi lady whom he marries after meeting her during the course of an investigation. Kiriti is a tall, handsome, stylish, aristocratic, and eccentric professional detective who smokes a pipe and whose clients include posh and high-profile people. Several of his stories have also been adapted.

Kakababu – Kakababu (real name Raja Roychoudhury) is an adventurer and detective who solves mysteries with his nephew Shantu and his friend Jojo. He is a former Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, and lost a leg in an accident in Afghanistan. Unique in the whole gamut of fictional detectives because of his disability, Kakababu is indomitable and much sought after for solving dangerous crimes, including international ones. This immensely popular young adult series was created by Sahitya Akademi Award winning author Sunil Gangopadhyay in 1971. Several of the 42 novels of the series have been adapted into films and television series.

Mitin Mashi – One of the most famous of contemporary Bengali fictional detectives, Mitin Mashi aka Pragyaparamita Mukherjee, is a professional investigator. Created by renowned author Suchitra Bhattacharya, Mitin Mashi’s stories are unique in belonging to two categories. Fourteen of them are written for a young audience, but there are six books written for adult readers. Mitin lives in Kolkata with her husband, Parthapratim Mukherjee, son, Bumbum, and niece, Oindrila aka Tupur, who is also her assistant. Several of the stories see her travelling to different places on India to solve difficult and dangerous crimes using her intellect and initiative. Three of the books have been adapted into movies.

Pandab Goenda – The final name on this list is not of an individual detective but rather a group of young amateur detectives. A hugely popular series for young readers created by Shashthipada Chattopadhyay, Pandab Goenda is the collective name for Bablu, Bilu, Bachchu, Bichchhu, Bhombal, and their indie dog Panchu. Loosely inspired by the Famous Five books, this series is very much Bengali in both its characterisation and tone. Starting in the late 70s, the series has over 30 books in which these fearless and intelligent young kids travel across India on adventures, fighting all kinds of goons and criminals.

As mentioned at the beginning, there are numerous other detectives romping through the pages of Bengali fiction, sometimes in standalone stories or novels and sometimes in series. Some of them have held on to popularity over decades, while others have fallen into obscurity. Some of the more popular books are available as translations, though most are not. No need to worry, though, as this grand tradition has been taken up my several Bengali origin authors writing in English, whose works retain the Bangaliyana unique to these books while being much more accessible to the general reading public.

Manik Choudhury, though not a detective in the same way as those mentioned above, is nevertheless an investigator. He follows in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessors in using his intellectual acumen to solve mysteries, often finding himself caught in a tight spot, where physical acumen comes in handy. Though the mysteries are rather less human-oriented than those solved by the fictional detectives discussed in this post, the heart of the stories in City of Kaali is very much the evergreen tradition of Bengali detective fiction.

Have you read any of these books? If you have, what did you think? If you haven’t, which of these would you like to pick up? Let me know in the comments.

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This post is a part of BlogchatterA2Z Challenge 2026