Byomkesh Bakshi

'Byomkesh' sitting in the center accompanied by his wife 'Satyabati' on his left and his friend 'Ajit' sitting on his right.

Who is Byomkesh Bakshi?

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.The creator of Byomkesh Bakshi character

Byomkesh Bakshi is an Indian-Bengali fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Referring to himself as a "truth-seeker" or Satyanweshi in the stories, Bakshi is known for his proficiency with observation, logical reasoning, and forensic science which he uses to solve complicated cases, usually murders. Initially appearing in the 1932 story Pother Kanta, the character's popularity immensely increased in Bengal and other parts of India.

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's most well known fictional character Byomkesh Bakshi first appeared as a character in the story Satyanweshi (The Inquisitor). The story is set in 1932 in the Chinabazar area of Kolkata where a 'non-government detective' Byomkesh Bakshi, owing to the permission from the police commissioner, starts living in a mess in that area under the pseudonym of Atul Chandra Niyogi to probe a series of murders.

Most of the stories are written from Ajit Kumar Banerjee's perspective, who meets Byomkesh in the mess at Chinabazar. Byomkesh later asks Ajit to live with him at his three-story rented house at Harrison Road as his assistant and chronicler. The only other person in his household is his attendant Putiram.

In the beginning of the stories, Byomkesh Bakshi is described as "a man of twenty-three or twenty-four years of age who looked well educated." Byomkesh is a Hindu and wears mostly a white shirt/kurta with a white dhoti, occasionally draping a shawl. He does not live in luxury but possesses numerous books. He travels frequently, and does not own a gun and does not consider himself to be an "expensive helper". He habitually smokes and drinks tea with milk. He is fluent in Bengali, Hindi, and English. Byomkesh does not like being called a detective, and thinks the word investigator' even worse.

Satyanweshi

It is the first Byomkesh adventure written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Ajit Bandyopadhyay lives in a hostel, along with some other people. Ashwini Babu and Ghanshyam Babu are two of the hostel inmates; they live next to Ajit. The hostel is run by a philanthropic homeopathic doctor, Anukul Babu. Ajit has recently become aware of some murders that have happened in their locality. They seemed to have been done by the same person, possibly a serial killer. This mystery occasions the arrival of the sleuth Byomkesh and his author friend Ajit to Balabantpur. The visit, however, is under the pretext of an invitation to take part in a hunting expedition. In the course of their stay, they unravel many secrets involving the residents of the palace and also about the topography of Balabantpur. Byomkesh is particularly intrigued by the character of Kaligati, the royal physician, and uncovers several clues which connect Kaligati with the disappearance of Harinath. It is discovered that Alaka is sexually frigid. But she was anxious to continue the bloodline of Himangshu. Not getting any sexual pleasure from his wife, Himangshu was attracted towards Leela, the daughter of Kaligati. On a previous hunting expedition Alaka had sent Leela with Himanghshu instead of herself accompanying him. Thus Leela became pregnant with his child. But Harinath the librarian loved Leela and wanted to marry her despite knowing she was carrying Himangshu's child.

Durgo Rahasya

Following Ramapati and Tulsi's visit, Byomkesh recalls the murder mystery of historian, Ishan Chandra Majumder, where Byomkesh along with Ajit and Pandey, tries to demystify the real reason behind the series of deaths in the family and the gold coin.Byomkesh investigates with the inspector on Ramkishore's fort and gets to know how Haripriya's dead body was found in the forest. Later, Ramkishore goes into a quarrel with his sons and decides to pass on his wealth to his favourite son-in-law.Byomkesh investigates Ramakishore Babu's case. He asks Pandeyji to get cerTaain clues for him. As he tries matching the angle, Byomkesh also confirms that he has seen Ramkishore Babu before.Ramkishore introduces Byomkesh to Manilal. Manilal convinces Ramkishore to let Byomkesh and Ajit stay in the fort. Ramkishore advises Manilal to be cautious always. On the other hand, Byomkesh tries to find out the secret behind Ishaan's mysterious murder. Will he be able to accomplish his mission?Byomkesh and Ajit continue their investigation by asking Bansilal about Ganpat's leave approval. After searching the location for a while, Ajit asks Sitaram to overturn the concrete slab were he finds an engraving written in Urdu.Byomkesh and Ajit keep an eye on Tulsi while she is being questioned by Bansilal. Even though Tulsi tells her father that she stole the pen, he doesn't believe her.

Seemanto-heera

Written in 1934, it is the third such work of fiction featuring Byomkesh and is written in first-person narrative, as experienced by Byomkesh's friend, associate, and narrator, Ajit Bandyopadhyay. Unlike most of the novels featuring Byomkesh, this one does not involve any violent crime or major plot twists. The story revolves around the theft of a priceless heirloom, the Seemanto-heera or "Frontier Diamond", belonging to the heir of the Roy clan, one of the minor rulers of North Bengal. Byomkesh and Ajit have been invited by the current heir, a young Rai Bahadur Tridibendra Narayan Roy to recover the diamond. The diamond had been in the possession of the ruler for generations and a legend had been built around it. According to the legend, if the diamond were to ever be lost, then the line of succession would end. Tridibendran was the sole heir of his line according to the rules of succession where only the eldest son became ruler, but he did have an uncle, Sir Digindra Narayan Roy who was the younger brother of his father.