Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, leading novelist and short story writer of Bengal, started writing stories when he was only seventeen. His novel Bardidi (1907) caused a furore in Bengal and heralded the emergence of a new star in the firmament of Bengali literature. In May 1916, he decided to devote himself exclusively to literature and the decade that followed saw the fullest development of his genius. During his period appeared among others Srikanta, Charitraheen, Datta, Dena Paona, and Pather Dabi. Saratchandra died on 16 January, 1938, at the age of sixty-two.