Narayan Debnath
Indian comics artist, writer and illustrator
Narayan Debnath ( 25 November 1925 – 18 January 2022) was an Indian comics artist, writer and illustrator who created the Bengali comic strips Handa Bhonda, Bantul the Great, and Nonte Phonte in 1962, 1965, and 1969 respectively. He holds the record of longest running comics by an individual artiste for Handa Bhonda comics series which completed its continuous 53 years of running. He was the first and only comics artist in India who has received a D. Litt. degree. In 2022, Debnath was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.
Early life
Narayan Debnath was born and spent most of his life living in Shibpur, Howrah, India. His family hailed from Bikrampur in what is now Bangladesh but had migrated to Shibpur before his birth. In an interview published by Laalmati Publication in Narayan Debnath Comics Samagra, Debnath confessed that he was interested in visual arts from a very early age. The family business was retailing gold and he had ample scope to design patterns for jewellery. During the time of World War II, Debnath would study fine arts at the Indian Art College for five years.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Narayan Debnath” as indian comics artist, writer and illustrator. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as indian comics artist, writer and illustrator. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6965473. VIAF identifies the subject as 311844189. The Library of Congress control number is no2016140508. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 2022, 1962 and 1965.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Narayan Debnath”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Narayan Debnath primary sources, Narayan Debnath archive and Narayan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Narayan Debnath”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Narayan Debnath” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.