Who wrote the lyrics of Bangladesh’s national anthem, “Amar Shonar Bangla”?

Rabindranath Tagore wrote the lyrics of Bangladesh’s national anthem, “Amar Shonar Bangla.”

Tagore wrote the song in 1905 during the first partition of Bengal, when the division of the region by the British government provoked widespread opposition. The Bengali lyrics express affection for Bengal’s landscape, seasons, fields, and cultural identity.

Bangladesh adopted the song as its national anthem in 1972, after independence. The country uses the first ten lines of Tagore’s original song for official purposes. The melody is based on a Baul folk tune associated with the singer Gagan Harkara.

A common mix-up is assuming that Tagore wrote only India’s anthem. He also wrote “Jana Gana Mana,” India’s national anthem, making him the lyricist of the national anthems of two countries. “Amar Shonar Bangla” is specifically associated with Bangladesh and is sung in Bengali.