Middle Life (1901–1932)

 

Rabindranath and his family left Shilaidaha in 1901 and moved to Santiniketan on the outskirts of Bolpur town in Birbhum district. [75] An experimental school called "Brahmacharyashra". [6] Mrinalini Devi, the wife of the poet, died on 23 September 1902 at the age of only thirty years. [6] Shamindranath, the youngest son, died on 23 November. [70]

In 1905, Rabindranath became involved in the anti-partition Swadeshi movement. [71] In 1908, Rabindranath sent his eldest son, Rathindranath Tagore, to the United States to learn modern agriculture and animal husbandry. [72] Rabindranath. [63]

During this time the financial crisis intensified at the Brahma Vidyalaya in Santiniketan. Besides, Rabindranath had to bear the expenses of his son and son-in-law's education abroad. [63] In this situation, Rabindranath was forced to sell his wife's jewelery and the house in Puri. [64]

Rabindranath's poetic fame had already spread in Bengal and abroad. After Naivedya in 1901 and Kheya in 1908, his famous book of poetry Gitanjali was published in 1910. [5] [65] [6] In 1915, the British government gave him the title of 'Sir' (knighthood).

In 1921, Rabindranath founded an organization called "Pallisangathan Kendra" in the village of Surul, near Santiniketan, with the help of American agro-economist Leonard Knight Elmhurst, Rathindranath Tagore and a few other teachers and students from Santiniketan. Rabindranath changed the name of the organization to "Sriniketan" in 1923. [6] Sriniketan was a symbol of Mahatma Gandhi and an alternative to the pro-independence Swaraj movement. It is to be noted that Rabindranath was opposed to the Gandhian movement. [69] Later, several experts, donors and other officials from home and abroad sent financial and other aid to Sriniketan. [90] [91]

In a number of speeches, songs and poems in the early 1930s, Rabindranath sharply criticized the caste system and untouchability of Indian society. [