Atulprasad Sen (20 October 1871 – 26 August 1934) was an Bengali composer, lyricist and singer. He is principally remembered as a musician and composer. His songs centred around three broad subjects- patriotism

Patriotism

Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...

, devotion

Loyalty

Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, country, group, or cause There are many aspects to...

 and love

Love

Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

. The sufferings he experienced in his life found their ways into his lyrics; and this has made his songs full of pathos.

Atulprasad is credited with introducing the Thumri style in Bengali music. He also pioneered Ghazal

Ghazal

The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...

's in Bengali, composing about 6 or 7 ghazals.

Early life

Atulprasad Sen's family hailed from the village Magor in South Bikrampur, Faridpur

Faridpur District

Faridpur is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Faridpur District has a population of over 1.7 million people and is situated on the banks of the Padma river . It is bordered by Madaripur, Narail, Rajbari, Magura, Shariatpur, Gopalgonj, Dhaka and Manikganj...

. He was born in his maternal uncle's house in Dhaka (as was the custom at that time). His father died when he was a toddler. Atulprasad was raised by his maternal grandfather Kalinarayan Gupta, who initiated him in music and devotional songs.

In 1890, Atulprasad passed the Entrance examination. Next, he studied at Presidency College

Presidency College

Presidency College could refer to the following Indian institutions:* Presidency College, Chennai* Presidency College, Kolkata*Presidency College, Bangalore...

 in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, and then went to London to study law. After successfully becoming a lawyer, he returned to Bengal, and opened up a law practice in Rangpur

Rangpur District

The district of Rangpur have 4924 mosques, 480 temples, 43 churches and six tombs.In an anthropologic view most people of Rangpur are having Rajbagshi blood in their veins...

 and Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

. Later he moved to Lucknow

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

, where he became the president of the Oudh Bar Association and the Oudh Bar Council.