The historical and political importance of the word Kalapani is immense in the context of India, especially Bengal. Its mention is essential in a major chapter in the history of India’s freedom struggle. People identified as extremely dangerous to British rule were confined to the dark cells of the Andaman Cellular Jail, located far from the Indian mainland, near the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. The prison called Cellular Jail, built in the early 20th century, became synonymous with Kalapani.

This word was added to the Bengali language in relatively recent times. The basic structure of the Bengali language comes from Sanskrit. During the Bengali Renaissance, the basic structure of the language was elevated almost to the level of Sanskrit through the efforts of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and other scholars. What is that advanced level? The signature of that advanced level is the traceability of roots. The formation of words must follow certain rules. Naturally, if the path of the formation of a word is followed, then it is possible to eventually reach the origin of the alphabet and, through it, the root of the known concept of the creation of the world. With the advancement of civilisation, there has been a need for many expressions that are not present in the ancient vocabulary of Sanskrit. With the wave of new people, through contact with other societies, new words are being added to the Bengali language; that is a long-standing story. It is not known by what rules those words were created. Only their meaning is known. For that reason, it is not possible to find the source of their origin through the analysis of those words. Kalapani is one such word. It is easy to determine the time of its appearance in Bengali.

This word, which has emerged recently, raises questions about its origin. Is the origin of this word based on the black color of the sea water, as has been taught in Bengali education system? If the black water of the deep sea was the reason for the origin of the word “kalapani”, then all oceans would have been awarded the adjective “kalapani”. That didn’t happen. This word, which is also used in Hindi, the main language of North India, has no connection with the colour of the ocean water in that language. In that language, this word indicates a place-name. There are clear examples of the word ‘Kalapani’ being associated with the names of several places in India, other than the sea near the Andaman Islands.

The word ‘pani’ to refer to water is not used in Sanskrit. This word was introduced later. The word “pani” may have originated from the Sanskrit verb ‘to drink’. What is drunk is ‘pani’. Seawater, even though unfit for drinking, has still been called pani. That usage is not indicative of the high quality of language creation by the creators of Sanskrit. Is there any other characteristic other than the colour of deep sea water that forms the basis for the origin of the word “kalapani”?

Naru has a strong feeling that a reasonable explanation for the origin of the word Kalapani can shed light on the past of Bengal and India. Naru, who has been engaged in a lifelong search for the origins of the word ‘Bangla’, has discovered an unprecedented interpretation of the word ‘Kalapani’. This book is an attempt to bring that discovery to the readers.